Rivers Edge Homebrew Festiv-Ale (Quad Cities) July 18th

[arnold931]

Tony-It looks like I can help pour. With my family reunion this coming weekend, I probably won't have any beer left. But if I do I will bring it.

[tony b]

Excellent.

[tony b]

Folks, we could use some more beer for this event. We want to support the MUGZ club and for our Club to look good. This will be a good opportunity for us to recruit other clubs to come pour at our event.

You don't have to go and pour, we just need more beer!! Partial kegs and bottles are welcome!

Thanks!!

[andrewmaixner]

I'll bring a 6er of my light Belgian blond to the meeting to send with you guys

[tony b]

Thanks, Andrew!

[andrewmaixner]

Thanks, Andrew!

might want to post on friendbook or tweeter, or whatever it is that kids are doing nowadays-- email blasts? to bring to the meeting this week a bunch of random stuff to send with you

[tony b]

How clairvoyant of you, Andrew!

Folks, if you have beers to donate to the cause, please bring them to the Club meeting tomorrow night (Thursday, July 16th), if at all possible.

Plan B - bring them down to the Beer & BBQ Festival at New Bo on Saturday morning NLT 11:30am. Need to leave for the QC by Noon.

Volunteers - let's get together at the Club meeting to discuss ride shares and other logistics for Saturday.

Thanks!

[tony b]

Some last minute details from the MUGZ folks about Saturday.

Alright fellow Homebrew Clubs and Breweries

We are only a few days away from this soon to be epic event River Cities Homebrew Festiv-Ale, I am just reaching out to help us all dial in everything we all might need to know to make this event run smooth as possible.

-Event Location – 1815 2nd Ave Rock Island IL (Outside Plaza in front of Rock Island Brewing Company)

-Parking is available next to the post office on 19th Street behind the bus stop.

-Load In Noon – 1:30 I really need us all to be up and running by latest 1:45…just so we have time for any last minute tweaks.

-Tables You will find your table area marked out for you; most clubs will have a 6 foot table to work off of. We will be providing Ice for your brews to get nice and cold, please bring your own Jockey Box / Cobra Tappers / Co2 / tubs whatever you need to serve your amazing brews. If you need a couple 5 gallon buckets to house your corney kegs in let me know ahead of time and I can supply you with that or a tub for your bottled beer if need be.

-Gates 2pm we will start letting our attendees into the fest, please make sure you have all hands on deck at this point.

-Serving Attendees must hand you a ticket for a sample, its IL state law…those samples need to be 3oz pours. I understand that its hard to dial it in with some homebrew systems, just please do your best as my city liquor commissioner will be on hand at this event as also a strong possibility the state commissioner too.

-Banners You will be able to drape your homebrew club banner in front of your table, if you banners is over 6 Foot please wrap around your table. Also please bring signage for the beers your serving so our attendees will know which great beer of yours fits their taste at that moment.

-Staffing Only your people serving will get Glassware, Tasting Tickets and free pass into this event. Please don’t abuse this as I want this to be successful enough to make it twice as big next year. I understand you guys / gals will be partaking on tasting your brews and maybe sharing a bit with other fellow table pourers. I am just urging you to please take it easy, we are here to serve the public and show them what home brewing is all about. We need to be able to answer questions, describe said brews, recruit new members and most of all make a point we can brew a beer that can hang with anything they pick up at a Binny’s. If one of your club members get so intoxicated I have to say something he / she will be asked to leave immediately. I don’t want to be that dude…so lets stay aware of our goals and have fun.

-Clean Up All I am asking is just pick up after your club and your table area…simple.


-Surprise! As a way to say thank you to everyone who brings a beer to pour at this event, you will receive one raffle ticket to win some killer homebrew prizes thanks to our area homebrew shops U-Brew Moline IL / Camp McClellan Cellars Davenport IA Somethings Brewn’ Galesburg IL and I also included a few things.

1 – New 5.4 Gallon Steel Pin
2 – New Fast Fermenters
1 – New Cold Plate Chiller
1 – Used 5 gallon Ball Lock Corney Keg
1 – Used Barley Crusher – maybe used twice
1 - New Rye Pale Extract Kit
Maybe a few more things to come.

Again I just want to thank you and your homebrew clubs for your involvement in this event. This would not be possible without the dedication and passion you all in home brewing, I want us all to show these attendees how amazing home brews can taste and hopefully get some new people to take that step into becoming a stellar home brewer.

[tony b]

Well, we survived the heat! Overall, it was a very good day. Nice turnout. As expected, lots of good beers. MUGZ and REFS brought their A game. Our beers were well received, too! Thanks to everyone that donated. We ended up with enough beer to keep the white board list full all day between the kegs and the bottles.

The guys did an outstanding job running the event, especially when you remember that it's their first one! Lots of pressure, too, because they had to lobby to get a state law passed to even allow this event to happen. So, they were the poster child for this new law and both the local and state liquor board folks were on hand to see how it went. We had to tow the line on pour sizes and making sure that everyone put a drink ticket into our tub. I think a lot of their fears about drunk-fest were put to rest.

The one thing they did that was a very good idea, was they held a special raffle just for the brewers. As it turned out, every club ended up with someone who got a prize. Yours truly came home with a keg. The Craze guy next to us won a Fast Fermenter. We will be discussing this idea for our event at the next planning meeting on Wednesday (22nd) at Broken Spoke.

We did a lot of soliciting for our event. Handed out lots of flyers and gave posters away to the other clubs. Hey, we might even get the newly re-incarnated Powder Keggers to come pour!

[daryl]

We had a nice corner location - kept in the shade of the tent most of the event and periodic breeze kept us comfortable.

I agree with Tony, MUGS and REFS did a great job - we think they were pouring 36 beers at once (kegs, bottles, and one cask).

They were very appreciative that we came a poured for them, even some of the attendees were surprised we would come from CR to participate.....it was a nice venue; a pedestrian mall surrounded by a few restaurants and bars - the Rock Island Brewing Company has a very nice bottle selection. This event has ALOT of potential.

KUDOS to Tony for taking point on this and making it happen and for everyone who contributed beer.

As one of four on the Quality Assurance Team (Tony, Dan, Terry and myself), I can attest that our pours were all tasty.

[JsonParris]

Well we did it! We all pulled off a successful event on Saturday, Rivers Edge Homebrew Festiv-Ale. It was a hot one but not only did no one melt, but we gave the Quad Cities a taste of what homebrewers can do and that’s makes some amazing beers. None of this would have been possible without all of your involvement. I owe you and your clubs a huge thank you, this has been a dream of mine for a few years now and it was an amazing feeling to see it come true. You all did a great job for your clubs…be as proud today as you were on Saturday pouring beers to thirsty attendees and as passionate about discussing your brews with these people, you all earned a huge pat on the back from me. I want to give a special thanks to our sponsors as without them we could not have pulled off such epic gifts to our homebrewers…so thank you to Brian Traughber at U-Brew, Julie Keehn at Camp McClellan Cellars, Jim and Mary Smith at Somethings Brewn’, Boetje’s Mustard, Rock Island Brewing Company, Stecker Graphics and The District Of Rock Island. Also thank you to our awesome Reverse Collaboration Series Blue Cat, Bent River, Radicle Effects Brewerks and Great River you all made some really special beers. I heard nothing but positive comments from all the attendees, it was great to see people discussing beers with each other and not just a chug fest. I was able to sample a beer or two from every tent and I can honestly say you all brought your A game. I look forward into growing this event over the next few years and hope you all will be a part of this continued experience. Again thank you all so much for your support in making this happen…not lets get back to brewing!

Jason Parris

See you dudes next month!