Addressing the May 14 meeting of the Rotary Club of Katy at its May 14 meeting at the Club at Falcon Point, 24503 Falcon Landing Drive in Katy, Wild West Brewfest event chair David Loesch told club members that their volunteer-led hard work paid off – with a record-breaking $106,000 raised at its March 2026 craft beer festival. The previous year’s event raised $100,000, he said.

Over 230 community volunteers came to Typhoon Texas, 555 Katy Fort Ben Road in Katy, in late March to stage the three-day craft beer festival, which also featured a wine grotto this year, Loesch said. More than 6,500 beer and wine enthusiasts – hailing not only from Texas but also from Arkansas, Colorado, Washington, Oklahoma and Kansas – attended the event, and survey participants gave the festival high marks in a post-event questionnaire. The survey, in addition to its use by the service club as a tool for continuous improvement, is required by the City of Katy, which contributes hotel occupancy tax dollars (HOT funds) to support the tourism-related event.

Among the survey findings:

· More than 97% of respondents rated the festival as either excellent or very good

· 98.2% said that the event was very organized

· 94.2% said that they would recommend the event to a friend

· 96.8% plan to return to the event in 2027

Comments about the beer, food, multi-band entertainment and volunteers were positive as well, Loesch said.

Dates for the 2027 event had not been set by the time the Katy Times went to press for this story.

Profits from Wild West Brew help fund a variety of the Rotary Club of Katy’s community initiatives, including donations to area nonprofits and scholarships to selected Katy ISD seniors.