When we arrived we were given direction by AleFest's organizer, Mr. Joe Waizmann. The rules for volunteers were as follows:
1) Make sure you have a server's license
2) Make sure you take tickets
3) Pour to the top of the logo on the glass
He then said thanks, told us there would be free beer afterwards, and left us to our own devices.
We took a look around the room, and decided it best that we serve from the Schlafly table - a beer we're fairly familiar with, and a brewery that has sent the Hoosier Beer Geeks free beer before.
Schafly was a good choice. The nine varieties of beer (Pale Ale, American Pale Ale, No. 15, Unfiltered Wheat Hefeweizen, Extra Irish Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Coffee Stout, Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout, and Oak Aged Barleywine) provided plenty of choice for anyone, and allowed us plenty of options when pouring our own.
A few thoughts:
1) It was really great to hear from our readers - your compliments are greatly appreciated, and it's really good to know that people are reading and enjoying the site. We hope to keep the good work going.
2) While I'm sure the ticket method makes the lawyers happy, it's not very effective. While we were sure to take tickets for every drink we poured, there were more than enough spare tickets to be found on the floor throughout the room. If you were desperate enough, all you had to do is look down.
3) There was more than enough variety in the beers through the room, but (despite the fact that they're not all distributed by World Class Beverages) it would have been nice to see more members of the Brewers of Indiana Guild at the fest. I'm sure that's up to World Class, though.
Of course this was the first time for this event, and it's bound to be better next year. I would seriously doubt that anyone left unhappy. I know I saw plenty of people that were perhaps a little too happy.
My last note: When the six o'clock hour rolled around, I made my way to the restroom, where I overheard the following conversation while waiting for a urinal.
Guy #1: "Is yours yellow?"No, it wasn't.
Guy #2: "Mine's yellow."
Guy #3: "Yeah, mine too."
Guy #1: "Well, we were drinking that good shit. That wasn't Miller Light."
I should look into volunteering for beer festivals around here, assuming I'm pouring and not sweeping up vomit. It seems like the number coming up this year is at least double of what we had last year.
ReplyDeleteInstead of posting my own about AleFest (because a lot of it would be the same), I'll just post my thoughts here:
ReplyDelete-Aside from our First Friday events, this is my first time as a volunteer pourer at a beer event, and it was a blast. While most of my time was spent talking to those who came to our table, I did take some time to go talk to people at other tables.
-Schlafly's beer selection was impressive and gave us plenty of beers to sample from. We sampled so that we could talk more intelligently with you.
-I didn't hear any good piss quotes, like Mike did, but I did hear enough people ask what was the lightest beer we had. Something like Miller or Bud. Way too many people going "ooo, Blue Moon", which was at a nearby table. I'm guessing those were Larry the Cable Guy fans (who was performing in the same complex).
Ya know, you guys oughta be ashamed of yourselves.
ReplyDeleteAshamed for promoting and participating in a beer festival where:
A) There was a whole lotta great beer
B) 700 to 800 people had a great time
C) A business, World Class Beverage, spent a ton of dough with the despicably capitalistic concept that attendees might actually buy some of their products sometime in the future
Shame, Hoosier Beer Geek, shame!
Thanks for the guilt trip, Charlie. Guess I gotta go to confession at lunch today.
ReplyDeleteForgive me fadda, for I have sinned...