It's a recipe for disaster. My brother-in-law (who once got ejected from a Redskins game that we went to together), me without Kelly to keep me in line.... and tons of beer. It's a fine line... it COULD be tons of fun.... or it COULD be a complete debacle. Thankfully, in this case it was ridiculously fun.
Here's the deal... I volunteered to pour beer for the Northern Virginia Brewfest at Morven Park in Leesburg last weekend. I'm not sure why, really... it just sounded like it would be alot of fun. However, I knew it would be more fun with someone that would also be of the opinion that pouring beer all day Saturday was a great idea. That's where my brother-in-law came in. I called him at the last minute. The conversation went like this:
Me: "Hey, Bryan, I'm volunteering at this Brewfest thing in Leesburg... I'll be pouring beer all day... It sounds like fun to me... 50 or so breweries will be there and we'll man the kegs. I think we probably can drink free beer too."
Bryan: "I'm in."
So... that part was pretty easy. Once we were there, we lobbied hard to get assigned to pour a microbrew and not get stuck with Coors light or something lame-o like that. Thankfully, we got Magic Hat Brewery which is based out of Vermont. Bryan was pouring Circus Boy (a Hef/Wheat Beer) and I was pouring the (as I would soon find out) wildly popular Magic Hat #9. Well, once we got our assignment.... here's where we really got full of ourselves.
We immediately start talking everyone up... which is kind of hilarious. When you're pouring, what is essentially, free beer... You become an absolute Rock Star. The fun was in meeting people... we had different objectives, though. Bryan (who is happily single) starts flirting with any woman under 40 (just to make them feel good, he says) and that was his deal. I just wanted to talk to some new people. I wasn't looking to 'make friends' necessarily... because, in reality... I've got enough friends (and can barely keep up with them), so... having some disposable friends for the day that I don't have to invest time into is a great idea (as long as you've got "real" friends, too). No pretense, no deep dicscussions... just cheap talk about nothing in particular over a decent beer.
Anyway... now that we are everyone's new best friend, in pretty short order we started to develop quite a line.... which attracted even more people. We tell everyone that will listen, "#9... Best beer here... tell your friends" (I mean, we really should have been put on the payroll... we were pimping Magic Hat quite respectably) ... and follow that up with plenty of "cheers" and "enjoy" after pouring their beer. In between, we would ask to no one in particular.. .. "everyone having fun?!!" and, then occassionally and for no reason, yelling "#9!!!!" and then cracking each other up. Anyway, people were really into it.. talking to us like we were old friends... one guy even went and bought us food. At least 2 people took their pictures with us. We even had regulars! It was surreal.
Oh, and people just assumed we worked for Magic Hat. At first, we told them we were just volunteers.... after awhile though, we just went with it. We'd tell people... "Magic Hat and Ben & Jerry's.... that what we're known for in Vermont"... Others would come up and talk to us about a particular city in Vermont and say they just got back from there... we'd answer something nebulous like "Great! Did you enjoy it? Cool... NEXT in line!"
One girl (who clearly was a global warming freak) asked us about the Hummer that was on display next to us: "Oh, tell me you didn't drive that here!" Which I answered... "We're from Vermont... of course that's not ours." (because, you know, everyone in Vermont drives old Volvo's that are converted to run on recycled vegetable oil).
Anyway... as you've probably already figured out... we were SOOOOOOOOOO full of ourselves.... I can't quite pinpoint why it was so much fun... but it really was. I told Kelly that it was the most fun I could imagine having without her... in fact, for the next one... I'm going to make sure we can do it together. The only drawback is that I was, literally, pouring beer in my dreams.... which isn't so fun. All in all.. I can't wait for the next one (in October)... if you're up for it... join me... check out the website: http://www.novabrewfest.com/
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Notes from the Northern Virginia Brewfest
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3 comments:
Nice! Brewfests are great. As a proud Vermonter, I will attest that Magic Hat is one of the top three breweries in the state (behind Long Trail and Harpoon). And I don't drive a Volvo.
-Kevin
I have to tell you- I visit your blog (by way of Courtney's...I'm her neighbor) from time and time and usually get a good chuckle out of your posts. But this weekend reading it proved to be educational in additional to entertaining.
I heard this from my husband's one-sided phone conversation with a friend this weekend: "Magic Hat #9...dude, where am I supposed to get that?" I butt in and said, "Maybe @ Total Wine? It's a brewery based out of Vermont. #9 is one of their most popular beers!" Following his incredulous look, I said "Ask me how I know that." with a big ole' proud smile. :) I answered with, "From the less than six degrees that separate people in the blogosphere...I read it on Courtney's friends' blog. You know? The funny guy that posts about duping...I read you a few of his entries...He volunteered at the Brewfest we wanted to go to (but had other plans) and was pouring Magic Hat #9."
Maybe we'll meet you @ the Brewfest in the fall...or if you visit Courtney and the family some time. In the meantime, thanks for the entertainment and the education! ;)
Glad to hear that I know fall into the category of "edutainment"... by the way... Magic Hat #9 (and Circus Boy, for that matter) can be found at the Target in Leesburg for about $9. How's that for informational?
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