I don't know if it's a deal-breaker for you or not, but in order to take advantage of the cash and free beer contest, you'll have to go to Hoegaarden, Belgium.
Rockford and the city of Bruges (pronounced "Brooj"), Belgium have something in common. Both our cities love beer. Both our cities also have in-town brewers who make incredibly good beer. However, Bruges has made an interesting move to get the beer from the local brewers to every tap in town. They've installed a "beer pipeline."