If you haven't read Roger's posts about the Madison, Indiana, Ohio River Valley Folk Festival, then go back a week and bring yourself up to speed. Roger did a great job of summarizing our overall theory and ethics and applying them to yet another AB atrocity. In the end, integrity won. Craft beer outsold the multi-national corporate swill by a landslide. The Folk Fest attendees and Madison natives showed their true colors by rising to the occasion to support regionally-brewed, independently-owned, hand-crafted, Indiana beer... American beer. The first keg of beer to blow was a double India Pale Ale (100 ibu, 10% abv) that we dubbed ANTI-CORPORATE IPA.
Banner courtesy of Ted Miller (Brugge Brasserie) and the Indiana Brewer's GuildWhat's wrong with this picture:
Steve Thomas (of Thomas Family Winery, pictured below) and I were sharing our disappointment with the festival committee's poor decision making skills, inept ability to communicate, and absence of virtue when it was jointly decided that the weekend would play out much better if we kept our discontent amongst ourselves and our big mouths shut. Right at that moment a female voice called out from behind the Bud Light table,
"Steve, are you almost done with that cigar?"
"Why, yes, I am," Steve replied, "Is it offending you?"
"Yes, it is," she retorted.
"Well, your beer is offending us," I interjected, glancing momentarily at Steve as if to say 'so much for that'.
"It's not my beer," she spat.
"Well, then you should be even more ashamed to be serving it," I replied.
The committee member responsible for the AB presence quickly threw a warning flag. The lovely Bud trailer volunteer that had expressed disdain for good tobacco (and good beer by default) quickly charmed me into an apology and, as she predicted, we were "friends before the end of the weekend". hrmmph.
Steve Thomas of Thomas Family Winery, Madison, Indiana.
Steve's most awesome draft trailer.Yes, I have draft trailer envy. btw Harvey, where the &%@$ is mine?
The weekend wouldn't have been complete without Jim and Debbie Frasier, homebrewers, FOSSILS members, Rich O's regulars, devote Folk Fest volunteers, and fascist-killing machines:
Louisville's own Bridget Kailin
Louisville's own Bridget KailinMy good friend Robert (pictured below) almost boycotted the festival after he found out about the AB fiasco. He picked up a keg of Elector prior to the festival and showed up Friday morning with a crate of hand-thrown, NABC/'09 Folk Fest mugs! He sold them all and we filled 'em up all weekend.
As noble as it sounds to say, "Support Your Local Brewery," the only wholesome thought I can muster is "Fuck Budweiser".
Cheers!
Cheers!
3 comments:
I understand passion, and believe in standing for what is worthy. The superior quality and taste of well made craft beer will speak for itself without lifting a hand against the proponents of the least common denominator, corn-rice swill pawned off as beer.
Ill will and anger are not a good fit with delicious craft brewed beer, and it leads to stress, heart trouble and bad breath. As was said by a wise hombrewer and slightly modified here, "Relax, have a craft brew!"
Good on Robert. He was the one thing I really missed by not going this year. I'll have to congratulate him for ingenuity in the face of crap.
Good to hear about the landslide!
It was great talking with you on Saturday. And good to see another picture post...each one's a thousand words, right?
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