If you like beer and having your eyes opened to new brews, Carpentersville’s Carpenter Park is the place to be Saturday.

From 1 to 4 p.m., the Carpentersville Rotary Club will be hosting Blind Flights, a fundraiser during which attendees will do blind taste tests of 4-ounce pours from six local craft breweries and two home brewers.

“It’s always a fun surprise to find a new favorite and also a shock to find that your favorite go-to beverage is actually your least favorite in a blind taste test,” said Andy Sauder, who is part of the event planning committee.

Breweries scheduled to participate are Black & Gray, Crystal Lake, Emmett’s, Holzlager, Lucky Monk and Sew Hop’d.

Homebrews are being provided by Bill Becker and Matt Weeks. Between all of them, there will be 13 options.

Billed as a picnic-style craft beer tasting in the park, patrons will vote on their favorites in each style category and brewers will be on site to talk about what their companies produce.

Organizers say they hope to draw at least 250 beer enthusiasts to the event, which debuted last year.

Sauder, who also is an East Dundee Village Board trustee, said, “The idea is that you can try a few similar beers without seeing who the brewer is, making it a blind flight. The experience takes a little extra work to set up but is the only way to truly know which one you prefer.”

Participants will try all the beers in a category and then vote for their favorites using their phones to scan a QR code.

“But we won’t let them know who the brewer is for each tap until after they vote, when we announce winners at the end,” said Sauder, a designer for Zeller Marketing & Design in downtown East Dundee.

The club will be awarding trophies to the top vote-getters in three categories: hoppy, sour/fruity and lawnmower beers.

“Lawnmower beers are an informal category that include any summer beer that is a go-to for drinking in a lawn chair after mowing your yard,” Sauder said. “This includes lagers, American pale ales, some Belgians and anything with a lighter ABV [alcohol by volume].”

Heather Zabski, another planning committee member, is a self-described “big craft beer nerd.” She helped create the tasting format and recommended and invited breweries to the event.

Blind Flights will feature a wide array of styles, including her personal favorite, West Coast IPA, and a cask-conditioned bitter from a home brewer, said Zabski, deputy director of the Fox River Valley Public Library District.

“The music is another highlight of the event. We have the Porch Flies coming again this year. And I’m excited that we will be having tacos this year [from Carpentersville’s La Alcancia Taqueria],” she said. “What could pair better with beer than tacos?”

Raffle items donated from local businesses include a bike from Main Street Bicycles, a wall of beer and bourbon blind flight tasting kits.

All proceeds will go to the causes supported by the Carpentersville Rotary, including winter coats for kids in need, education scholarships and local food pantries.

Admission is $30, with a $5 reduction for not drinking beer. For tickets and information, go to www.carpentersvillerotary.org.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.