Christine and Ann making plans for who knows what.
Dave entertaining us on Sunday as we dodged the raindrops.
Jim - one half the Stink Eye BBQ team.
Bob - the other half of the team. - house in background is his Dad's which was flooded out last year- water was up to the bottom of the swing. House is completey gutted and has new plumbing, wiring, new windows and lots more work to go.
Drew - The Louisville Chicken King and one heck of a good friend.Hi All,
Wed. 23 Sept. 2009
If you are reading this first, stop now and go to Part 1 and read forward.
Let's see, I left off with surprising Rick and Cathy. Well by this time, the beer tasting needed to get into full swing as there were many people hovering around the sampling tent waiting for the starting gun to go off. Our method of testing is to have 36 different beers iced up and ready to go and to just forge ahead - we tried to do sampling of styles of beer at one time but frankly it became unmanageable and as the sampling went on, the ability to focus became harder and harder.
Wed. 23 Sept. 2009
If you are reading this first, stop now and go to Part 1 and read forward.
Let's see, I left off with surprising Rick and Cathy. Well by this time, the beer tasting needed to get into full swing as there were many people hovering around the sampling tent waiting for the starting gun to go off. Our method of testing is to have 36 different beers iced up and ready to go and to just forge ahead - we tried to do sampling of styles of beer at one time but frankly it became unmanageable and as the sampling went on, the ability to focus became harder and harder.
I pull a bottle from the rack, announce it's name and style then the pouring begins. Everyone has a mini beer glass into which I pour a small sample of the beer - from there it is tasted and then we try to critique the beer , likes/dislikes, would I drink it again and where can I get a whole bottle of this liquid gold? Alas some beers are tasted and spat out. (some deservedly so) some just because the style is not to the persons' liking.
Well after about 18 beers , the tasting is in full frenzy and the head is feeling it - so I handed off the duties to Tim and took a breather - I can tell you that this was the last time I visited the sampling tent as I just got caught up with visiting everyone.
One of my visits was over to the Stink Eye BBQ tent.
Yes we have a team of professional BBQ'ers who make the pilgrimage each year from Indianapolis. Bob's parents owned the house two doors down from Ann and Dave and he is in the slow process of rebuilding after last years flood. Bob and Jim come down, this year with 2 smokers and cooked pork shoulders on day 1 then beef briskets on day 2. Bob and Jim also bottle and sell their BBQ sauce. (I took home a case) it's delicious and the meat was cooked to perfection falling off the bone and melting in your mouth.
We also have Louisville's Chicken King - Drew Patterson there with the Broaster Chicken trailer. Drew keeps the best fried chicken flowing to the food tent along with potato wedges and every ones favorite - deep fried mushrooms. - You MUST be there when they come out or they are gone in seconds. So with all this wonderful meat and the plethora of dishes brought by those in attendance, we feast, and eat and consume until we can't eat any more. We then loosen our belts and squeeze in just a few more treats from the desert tent. Needless to say, if you left hungry it was your own fault.
I must not forget to mention that while all this is happening we are being infused with wonderful live music. Ann and Dave's next door neighbor, Gary, a musician in his own right, invites his friends and all other comers to a massive day long jam session on his front porch. He has it wired for sound and the music is enjoyed through out the Beer Fest site without becoming over bearing. Sitting and listening to them play is so relaxing and many a sing-a-long's occur through out the day.
Well as you may have guessed, This is a marvelous day where the food and beer is good and plentiful. As the sun starts to dip over the horizon, Ann lit all the strategically placed candles and Tiki lamps giving the party a wonderful glow. I on the other hand was glowing as well. The beer started to catch up with me and I had a hard time navigating - OK I was stumbling - but with direction. Hours passed and I found myself sitting in the drivers seat of our van with Christine saying to me she'd been looking for me for 45 minutes. I was in no shape to drive - didn't even consider it - (OK I passed out - I admit it - I'm a lightweight) Christine maneuvers me over to the passenger seat and the next thing I know I'm in our bedroom being told to go to sleep. (no problem there)
Amazingly, the next morning comes with me feeling pretty good with only a very slight hangover. I'm not sure about the rest of the people who slept at our house that evening but I was in good shape. (now the real story is that I woke at 5a still feeling quite drunk, made coffee, went back to bed and didn't crawl out until 11a feeling so much better) As the guests awoke Christine had coffee ready and everyone gathered on the front porch to take in the morning and prepare for day 2 of the Beer Fest.
Day 2 is always low key with only about 20 people in attendance max. We get more of a chance to visit with each other and to sample more beers. All told there were 125 different beers registered this year and even a few home brews on top of that. Unfortunately Sunday's weather was in and out of clouds all day with a few intermittent showers thrown it. This however did not deter the proceedings and Day 2 was enjoyed as well. I was careful to not consume as heavily and made it through the day without stumbling. HAHA
Well after about 18 beers , the tasting is in full frenzy and the head is feeling it - so I handed off the duties to Tim and took a breather - I can tell you that this was the last time I visited the sampling tent as I just got caught up with visiting everyone.
One of my visits was over to the Stink Eye BBQ tent.
Yes we have a team of professional BBQ'ers who make the pilgrimage each year from Indianapolis. Bob's parents owned the house two doors down from Ann and Dave and he is in the slow process of rebuilding after last years flood. Bob and Jim come down, this year with 2 smokers and cooked pork shoulders on day 1 then beef briskets on day 2. Bob and Jim also bottle and sell their BBQ sauce. (I took home a case) it's delicious and the meat was cooked to perfection falling off the bone and melting in your mouth.
We also have Louisville's Chicken King - Drew Patterson there with the Broaster Chicken trailer. Drew keeps the best fried chicken flowing to the food tent along with potato wedges and every ones favorite - deep fried mushrooms. - You MUST be there when they come out or they are gone in seconds. So with all this wonderful meat and the plethora of dishes brought by those in attendance, we feast, and eat and consume until we can't eat any more. We then loosen our belts and squeeze in just a few more treats from the desert tent. Needless to say, if you left hungry it was your own fault.
I must not forget to mention that while all this is happening we are being infused with wonderful live music. Ann and Dave's next door neighbor, Gary, a musician in his own right, invites his friends and all other comers to a massive day long jam session on his front porch. He has it wired for sound and the music is enjoyed through out the Beer Fest site without becoming over bearing. Sitting and listening to them play is so relaxing and many a sing-a-long's occur through out the day.
Well as you may have guessed, This is a marvelous day where the food and beer is good and plentiful. As the sun starts to dip over the horizon, Ann lit all the strategically placed candles and Tiki lamps giving the party a wonderful glow. I on the other hand was glowing as well. The beer started to catch up with me and I had a hard time navigating - OK I was stumbling - but with direction. Hours passed and I found myself sitting in the drivers seat of our van with Christine saying to me she'd been looking for me for 45 minutes. I was in no shape to drive - didn't even consider it - (OK I passed out - I admit it - I'm a lightweight) Christine maneuvers me over to the passenger seat and the next thing I know I'm in our bedroom being told to go to sleep. (no problem there)
Amazingly, the next morning comes with me feeling pretty good with only a very slight hangover. I'm not sure about the rest of the people who slept at our house that evening but I was in good shape. (now the real story is that I woke at 5a still feeling quite drunk, made coffee, went back to bed and didn't crawl out until 11a feeling so much better) As the guests awoke Christine had coffee ready and everyone gathered on the front porch to take in the morning and prepare for day 2 of the Beer Fest.
Day 2 is always low key with only about 20 people in attendance max. We get more of a chance to visit with each other and to sample more beers. All told there were 125 different beers registered this year and even a few home brews on top of that. Unfortunately Sunday's weather was in and out of clouds all day with a few intermittent showers thrown it. This however did not deter the proceedings and Day 2 was enjoyed as well. I was careful to not consume as heavily and made it through the day without stumbling. HAHA
Next morning , we got Alex and Michael out the door at 5a on their way back to Annapolis, my Dad left at about 7a for Pittsburgh and Ann was gone by 9a returning to Indianapolis.
That night it rained hard and a few of the tents met their demise when too much water accumulated in the top.
That night it rained hard and a few of the tents met their demise when too much water accumulated in the top.
As is tradition, Christine and I help break down the Beer Fest - returning all the chairs, tables and tents to their respective storage areas. Since we are strong proponents of recycling, Christine separates out all the beer bottles by color and gets them ready to be taken to the recycling center. Trash is picked and in general everything is put away until next year. We would have had more help but we got a wake up call at 5:30a that morning that Rick had passed away so Ann along with Drew and Vicky had gone to be with Cathy. We understood completely. So with Sam and Dave's help, we got the area squared away in about 4 hours.
That evening, Christine and I met Linda at the Horseshoe Casino ( formally known as Ceasers and called "The Boat" for short) for a wonderful meal at Jack Binons Steakhouse - their #1 restaurant. Linda always treats us so well and we certainly enjoy using her comps.
We had met early for dinner and were home in good time to relax and for me an early bed time as I was running on empty after a hard weekend.
That evening, Christine and I met Linda at the Horseshoe Casino ( formally known as Ceasers and called "The Boat" for short) for a wonderful meal at Jack Binons Steakhouse - their #1 restaurant. Linda always treats us so well and we certainly enjoy using her comps.
We had met early for dinner and were home in good time to relax and for me an early bed time as I was running on empty after a hard weekend.
I'm coming into the home stretch of my visit and for all this time, Christine didn't have to work. But she was scheduled for the next three days. Linda offered to give her some time off, but I insisted that she work as I had some running around to do and plenty of chores to accomplish while home and I referred to do these by myself. With that, I will end Part 3 and post some more pictures. Part 4 is yet to come so be watching for it.
Love Scott
Love Scott
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