ROTHBURY, MI - If it's free, they will come.

Bell's Brewery offered free tastes of its Oatsmobile Ale at the Bell's Brewery Tasting event during Electric Forest 2017 on Thursday, June 29, at Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Mich.

Bell's was the official host of the tasting event, and offered patrons the hoppy American pale ale for free at the Sherwood Ale House inside the Electric Forest venue.

The beer tent also features Founders Brewing, Unruly Brewing Company, Stormcloud Brewing, Pigeon Hill Brewing, Fetch Brewing and New Holland Brewing along with a host of varieties from throughout the United States.

The popular music festival officially kicked off its first-ever second weekend on Thursday. In its seventh year, this is the first time that Electric Forest is being held during two separate weekends. Weekend two continues through Sunday, July 2. Weekend one was held June 22-25.

Electric Forest organizers estimated first-weekend attendance at more than 40,000.

Representatives from Bell's were on hand at the tasting event with stickers, Koozies, pins and other merchandise.

They described Oatsmobile as "Two-Hearted Ale's little brother," which explains why some tasters thought they were drinking Bell's Two-Hearted.

"I like the fruitiness," said Dana Tack, 24, of Cape May, New Jersey. "I don't like hoppiness, but I like the fruitiness. It's good."

The Bell's website describes Oatsmobile as aromatic, approachable, unique, intriguing, happy-go-lucky and full-bodied. It's ABV is 4.3 percent.

"It's delicious," said Meghan Moore, 27, of New York City.

"I hate hoppy beers, but I like this," said Kyle Moore, 29, of Denver, Colo., Meghan Moore's brother.

They sipped their Oatsmobile while listening to music from The Movement in the background as they played on the Sherwood Court stage. A line stretched out from the beer tent into the field where people sat, stood and danced to the music.

Lightning put a damper on the festival's early arrivals on Wednesday night. Rain came down on the Rothbury area throughout the afternoon, and then thunder and lightning began around 7 p.m., prompting the closure of the campgrounds until noon Thursday. That created lines of vehicles outside the security checkpoints.

The storms also caused a two-hour delay in the music venue opening Thursday. It opened at 5 p.m. The delay also means the music and events schedules changed.

The Rothbury area could see more thunderstorms Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

More than 4 inches of rain fell in the Rothbury area on Thursday, June 22, and Friday, June 23, creating a muddy first weekend.

Musical performances at Electric Forest 2017 weekend two are underway. Tonight's acts include headliners HI-LO and Big Gigantic, along with EOTO, Sepiatonic, The Motet and more. Acts will take the stage on a nearly-continuous basis until about 12:45 a.m. Monday morning.

Second weekend headliners are DJ Snake, Flume, HI-LO, RL Grime, Thievery Corporation, A-Trak, Bassnectar, Big Gigantic, Claude VonStroke, Dillon Francis, Lotus and The String Cheese Incident.

The festival is known for showcasing a mix of roots, rock and jam-style bands, as well as some of the top performers from the house and electronic dance genres.

Find all MLive's coverage of Electric Forest 2017 here.