Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Matt Franklin will check with Teresa at Millstream and on the Aegon bus to see how much it will cost.

Brian Anderson will check on other options. Due date April 17th.

It was decided at the April 17th meeting that there was some interest by members in taking a bus trip to see some breweries in the Madison, WI area. I have attached some possible itineraries including a new addition since the meeting.

Please post your opinions, needs, wants, ect... here so we can make a final decision at the next meeting in May. Some things to think about are when, I am thinking June 7 or 28 because it is beer garden weather without melting and many of us may be heading to Madison again in August. Those are also the only two weekends in June that Tyranena does tours. Think about which itinerary you prefer or suggest different places and ideas. Remember, the more miles and time we have the bus, the more it costs. Also consider if you know someone that would like to come along so that we can fill a 49 passenger bus.

Lets get a lot of discussion posted so we can identify some issues to be researched prior to the May meeting. I would like to be able to leave the May meeting with an itinerary, Saturday for the trip, an idea of who in the club will come and if they know someone they would like to include. I want to be able to contact breweries with a schedule and book our bus.

Still sorting through all the Options, but one thing is certain. The 7th is out for me - another commitment. So, I'm voting for the 28th. There will likely be 2 of us going.

tb

My vote is for tour #2. I can go either weekend; the 28th sounds fine with me. Tour #2 hits the places I'd like to go the most and the drive times aren't too long between stops. We also want to make sure we have enough time at each stop so we can have more than one beer and enjoy the beer/tour/food etc. No matter what, it sounds like fun.

My vote is for tour #2. I can go either weekend; the 28th sounds fine with me. Tour #2 hits the places I'd like to go the most and the drive times aren't too long between stops. We also want to make sure we have enough time at each stop so we can have more than one beer and enjoy the beer/tour/food etc. No matter what, it sounds like fun.

Hey Larry just because you're president of the club, doesn't mean you get to vote twice.

Matt, is there a specific time that bus has to be back? Is it before mid-night?

I am just worried about the amount of time we have when we eat. Is grumpy Troll and Great Dane going to be able to seat and feed 50 people in 2 hours or less. Can we make a reservation for that many people? I would think we would be lucky to get served 1 drink if 50 of us are ordering. I'm not sure if they will let us do 50 separate check's either. The only other option is a free for all when we get in there. Eat if you want to eat, drink if you want to drink.

I would vote for #2 on the 28th. I can't make 7th.

Brian, not sure why my response got posted twice - I guess it was just twice as nice. I've discovered that I'm not available on the 7th, so the 28th works best for me too. Brian makes a good point about eating. I know that another club that did something like this and arranged ahead of time for lunch. It was a set menu for the group so everyone was served the same thing. Maybe not everyone's first choice, but I agree that there is no way they can serve 50 people at once in an hour's time. If we make arrangements ahead of time for lunch they can prepare it ahead of time and have it ready when we arrive. We should also inquire as to the space available for the group wherever we want to have lunch.

So far the 28th seems to be the date but continue to add in on that. The 7th may be too soon to arrange for the group. We may need to move in to July. I also feel 50 is going to be too big. We may want to keep the group to 29 or less so don't go inviting a ton of people yet. We need to make final decision at the next meeting on the 15th before we invite too many others.

A smaller group size will be easier to accomodate at the breweries. I have also added an additional itinerary to this post. It basically allows for a little more time and flexibility. It goes New Glarus, Ale Asylum (they do have good deli sandwiches and pizza and we may be able to arrange for something ahead of time), Tyranena and Great Dane. I threw Maduro on there so you knew I didn't forget it, but there will propbably be no time left for that one.

A smaller bus is cheaper too. I will get estimates. As far as when we need to be back, the longer we have the bus, the more it costs.

Would any of the restaurants be willing to set up a buffet for us - salad, cold cuts for sandwiches, maybe a soup and a couple of desserts? Then folks have choice, but cuts the time down a lot. They could be set up for us when we arrive. Fixed price per head, so the tab is easy to handle. You just have to adjust for the bar tab. They could even figure that in, too, by just including one or two beers per person into the bill.

tb

Good idea Tony. I was thinking of something similar.

Everyone, post any opinions you may have. Right now it looks like a June 28th trip and I will be gathering estimates and contacting breweries next week so I have some good information for the next meeting.

I'm good for the 28th. A buffet would be the way to go if anyone will do it.

Tom

June 28th works for me.

Dave

It's a little ways off but I should be good for the 28th.

Buffet sounds good. However, I would not include any drinks on that. I usually don't drink with my meals. Plus some will want more some won't want any at lunch time, so it is probably best to leave that seperate.

We'll figure something out. I usually just drink my meals!

From last nights meeting, it looks like we may only have about 14 people for the Wisconsin beer trip. That means we will probably rent a passenger van and find a driver to volunteer. Club will pay for gas, the van, and food/drink for the driver. We are doing the trip on June 28th so mark your calendar.

More details to come. Dave can you find out about cost for a passenger van rental?