macq

WARNING: This blog is hominy free....

This has been a very busy year ...Just when I have made plans to have more "balance" in my life, something comes along to fill the void. I have taken my beer to several beer festivals this year. I had planned, when making my comittments, that they would not all come through at the same time...But of course they did and I hate to say "no" where beer is involved..among other things.

I spent this last weekend in Guerneville, Ca. on the Russian River...Wow...It was very nice...Much more mellow than the Boonville affair but a little less structured as well. No stalls set up for the next day or specified camping...just the concept of those things But still a great experience. I arrived much later Friday night than intended due to stopping in at a new place in Sebastopol along the way...The place is "Hopmonk" and is an upscale beer bar/restaurant/music venue...A past owner of the company I work for opened it, so I felt compelled to stop...for a few minutes.

When I settled in to listen to a live band (not the headliner) in the beergarden, I noticed the 2 guys who were from another brewery that were supposed to be holding down a camping spot for me in Guernneville... Thery confessed that they had decided to not arrive until after the main band finished playing...they were willing to pay my entry fee if I stayed...so I did. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band was the headliner...I hadn't sen them since the days of living near the Maple Leaf in New Orleans...So how could I say "no"...see what I mean????

The band was great, the food was good and the beer selection was outstanding...One of my friends even brought cigars...what an evening...Except for the part where I had only one bar on my cell phone and had to stand near the mens room to get reception...everyone assumed I was in line...so I had to keep waving them through like a highway worker...

We even found a 24 hour Safeway to get a few items for breakfast...Sebastopol has gone big-time!!!
We arrived at about 2 a.m, but thanks to a full moon, we found a place to lay our sleeping bags near the river and just slept under the stars...a tent would have actually spoiled the experience...so my initial disdain melted away to peaceful bliss for the night.

We did have to move in the morning and set up our individual beer stations, but as the sun came up we realized that only a few other brewers had shown up early, so we had our pick of the most pleasant spots Everything went smoothly...the event was a combination beer fest/bbq cookoff for a charitable organization and so we were fed breakfast (in trade for beer) by various cookers who DID stay overnight... If you've never had pancakes and bacon cooked over a smoker with black pepper sprinkles, doused with maple syrup, run right out now and do so...almost as good as chicken and waffles

The only group of food professionals sillier than brewers are bbq cookers...so we had quite a morning..beer and bbq before 11 a.m...not for everyone, but it worked for us...Let me put in a plug for Johnny D's BBQ, out of Vallejo, Ca...Quite tasty..plus he loved my beer... I took a total of 4 kegs..a Kolsch, Blonde Bock, Export and Schwarzbier...most was gone by the end of the festival...the rest we consumed that night.

The festival was down behind StumpTown Brewing and so the brewpub had a party all day and night as well both Friday and Saturday...After hours was reserved for overnight campers and we all went up for a taste of anything but beer...One of the brewers saw that I was drinking Cazadores tequila and suggested that a try a pineapple juice back...I thought he was crazy...but I triedn it...and proceeded to have copule more...I won't tell you how it tasted...that will be the interactive portion of this blog when you get back from the pancake binge... Try it...I think you'll be happy, happy, happy

I took some pictures, so I'll try and get them posted and then finish this blog later...