V O L U M E 2 9 I S S U E 4
P A G E 3
As I sit here , I ’ m trying to decide what to write about . Not that I ’ m at a loss for words . I ’ m just wondering what you , the readers of this column , ( of which , there are probably not many ) would like to read about . I had an article all wrote up but it was about our families Beer travels this summer . So , I thought , do the readers of this column want to hear about ME and our Beery adventures or do they want something with a little more “ meat ” on the bone . In my past articles , I ’ ve generally focused on our Beer travels and such , which I ’ ll continue doing . But , that brought me to a question . I know that there ’ s got to be more people out there that have Beery adventures ( and live a more exciting life then me ) and I for one , would sure like to hear about them . What I ’ m saying is , write something and send it to Tom for publication . It would be great to hear from some other members about what YOU are doing and collecting , or even what the local Beer scene is like in your area .
With that being said , I will give you some of our Beery adventures and some food for thought . So ... Welcome to October !! It ’ s hard for me to believe that this year is already coming to a close . It seems like we were just at Schell ’ s Bockfest last February . It has been quite a “ Year of Beer ” for us again . So , with the leaves turning color and summer , but a warm memory , I think I will pop a top on a nice Schell ’ s Octoberfest and take a look back and reminisce about the past few months .
If you missed the Nordlager show in July , you missed a good one . This year we had the Legend and Mrs . Legend camp with us . On Friday afternoon , we managed to get our tents set up without too much trouble , right Murray ? Then in the evening we all walked over to the Northeastern bar for the nighttime festivities . The usual suspects were there , Wendls , Post , England , The Nordlager Boys and others I can ’ t remember now . The show on Saturday was bigger then last year and a free keg of Lake Superior Beer was tapped by 9 am . I think Murray was the first in line . The Northeastern had a live band on both nights , plenty of good food and a nice selection of Micro brews to choose from . I picked up a nice Northern tray for 10 bucks , the buy of the show , I was told . Put this show on your calendar for next year and come camp with us , if you dare .
If you missed “ Stubiefest ”, you missed another dandy show . The Billy can shoot was a “ Blast ”. Even a Budweiser tray took ample punishment . Ted Marti showed up and accepted the award for Firebrick “ Can of the Year ” from BCCA Prez , Joe Germinio , who traveled all the way from the Jersey shore . By the way Joe , how far is New Ulm from the Jersey shore ? Speaking of traveling , 2 collectors came all the way from Atlanta , Georgia for the fest . They were Paul Letostak and Neil Davenport . I had to rub my eyes when I seen those two . It had been about 7 years since we last shared a Beer . The local press was there and Tom , Ted Marti and Joe , made the FRONT page of the Sunday New Ulm Journal . A bunch of us were also in Monday ’ s paper as well . Went on a wild Hayride , stopped at Smiley ' s , Kegel Klub and some other party place . Then the evening was Karaoke time . I had the Vice Presidential Suite on Saturday night , which was a bed in Tom and Judy ’ s ’ camper , and believe me , I slept like a baby . A BIG THANKS to all Stubies !!!!!!!!!!
On September 29th Teri and I , went to what was billed as the Autumn Brew Review . This event is put on by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Association and was held at the historic Grain Belt Brewing complex in Minneapolis . There were 40 Breweries represented and well over 100 different Beers to sample . Teri and I met Bob Jackson and Jeff Lonto and we drank the best Beers in the state that afternoon . The line up of Beers was incredible to say the very least . Some of my favorites were a cask ESB from Summit , Breakwater Blue from Fitgers , Cabernet Stout from Town Hall and what was called , Ungespundet-hefetrub Pilsner from Schell ’ s , which is a Kellerbier . We
also got to sample Schell ’ s Snowstorm and it is a dandy . If you want to attend a Beer festival , all I can say is , this is one hell of a Das Goot time !!
Well , I ’ m thinking that by the time you read this , Guzzle and Twirl will probably be a memory or very close to it . As Barry Travis says , “ It ’ s the shortest day of the year ” and he ’ s not talking about the Winter Solstice either . I gotta agree . We blow into the hotel on Friday afternoon and before you know it , the Saturday show is over . It ’ s a “ Twirl wind ” of a weekend . I hope to see many of you there and share a Beer or maybe even two .
Of course , what would this column be without a Budwater rant ? The other day I was listening to the radio and a Michelob ad came over . The gist of it was that , you should not drink any Beer that ’ s brewed in someone ’ s basement . The meaning of which was directed at Home brewers . Well , Spud , I got news for you boys , the selling of your flavorless water is coming to an end . Deal with it . So now you have resorted to attacking Home brewers in hopes of turning people against Home brewers and locally made Beer . It won ’ t work , my friends . I ’ ll stop there , because if I go on , Tom will just edit the rest . Ha Ha .
Well , I promised some “ meat ” at the beginning so , here goes . I started collecting cans sometime in 1973 , around when I was 12 or 13 years old . Which seems like a lifetime ago . At that moment in time I had no idea where that first beer can would take me , nor did I even care .
The Beer can , has taken me , Teri , and even our two boys to places that we would of probably never seen . If it was not for the Beer Can , we would probably would not have seen places like , Santa Clara CA , Los Angeles , Toronto Canada , Nashville , Pittsburgh , New Orleans , Atlanta , Syracuse NY , Shiner TX and too many others to list . Also about 70 plus Breweries and Brewpubs across the country , and not to even mention all the wonderful people we have met through our travels .
I guess what I ’ m getting at , is that , I think this hobby , and yes , to me , it is a hobby , not a business , is about the People and the Beer itself . I see people paying big money for stuff and I ask , what really is this hobby about ? To me , it ’ s about getting together and sharing a laugh and a tall cool one . If I get something for my collection , that ’ s fine but I don ’ t worry about it anymore . The stuff we collect , I have no doubt , that the contents of which , was shared and laughed about in the past .
As Tom has said , you can sit home and look at your walls of stuff but what fun is that . I have seen collections that boggle the mind and seen some that all the person collects is Labels or Openers . It doesn ’ t matter . I think having some fellow collectors at your place to see your stuff and sharing a beer and a laugh is really what it is all about . At least that is what I think this Chapter is about . Look at where this chapter was just a few years ago . It was ready to fold up and die . Now , here we are a strong and vibrant chapter and might I say , having a good time doing it . I hope to continue the trend . Well , that ’ s the view from here and besides I need another Beer !!!
Now of course it ’ s time for my quote of the issue . “ Give me a woman who loves Beer and I will conquer the world ” Kaiser Wilhelm . Till next time , Jay .