Drink and be hoppy.
I have been a homebrew-motherfucking-meister since about Februaryish, now. My fridge is staying stocked with fine brews and I'm now a braincell mass murderer. I drink the equivelent of a Listerine injection to the cerebellum about every 3rd day. I only stay sober for long enough to stay employed.
I currently have two 5-gallon fermenters going. In my basement I'm lagering 40 pints of Bock beer and in the kitchen I have 5 gallons of American Amber bubbling along. I hope to have both bottled and done by June 6th. For those of you unfortunate enough to live East of 65, South of Algonquin Pkwy, or North of the river, the evening of June 6th and all day on the 7th is Portland Festival. Those of you who know me in real life understand why Portland Fest is my favorite holiday. Portland Fest is like Fat Tuesday, St Patty's Day, July 4th, and a highschool/family reunion, all rolled into one!
Portland Fest may, however, be a bit sketchy this year. Usually we rely on a key group of people to do most of the organizing for the festival, and this year there have been some personal misfortunes that have affected a few of those folks. Due to these occurances, much of the planning didn't get done on schedule. No advertising has been begun, alot of the vendors have yet to be contacted, and I fear that the band on the 7th will be subpar. In the past we've had some pretty fun acts. Typically, the headliner will be a washed-up 70s or 80s band. We've had The Guess Who (American Woman, No Sugar Tonight, etc...), The Marshall Tucker Band (Can't You See, Fire On The Mountain), and others. The opening acts are usually a combination of local and tribute bands, some of which have been pretty good. Last year we had Kiss Army, which was awesome. Another time we had Metal Legends, who played old Metalica, Danzig and Pantera tunes. Once again, awesome.
I hope we have a good group this year, but I guess it won't be the end of the world if we don't. Portland Festival is about celebrating pride in the neighborhood, heritage, history and working-class lifestyle of Portland Residents. Like everything in Portland, the festival is supposed to be a little grittier and a little more real than the counterparts in other parts of town. Portland Fest is not the fucking Gaslight Festival, and it sure as hell isn't the St James Art Fair. Portland Fest is roughnecks, bikers and hooligans drinking beer and partying with all of their kin and old friends. Whiskey will flow and blood will certainly spill. There'll be singing and crying, warring and lovemaking. I look forward to it all year long, just like any true Portland boy does (especially the Irish ones). I want to raise a few glasses, throw a punch or two, gab about auld lang syne with some buddies, dance with my girls and eventually stagger home.
I currently have two 5-gallon fermenters going. In my basement I'm lagering 40 pints of Bock beer and in the kitchen I have 5 gallons of American Amber bubbling along. I hope to have both bottled and done by June 6th. For those of you unfortunate enough to live East of 65, South of Algonquin Pkwy, or North of the river, the evening of June 6th and all day on the 7th is Portland Festival. Those of you who know me in real life understand why Portland Fest is my favorite holiday. Portland Fest is like Fat Tuesday, St Patty's Day, July 4th, and a highschool/family reunion, all rolled into one!
Portland Fest may, however, be a bit sketchy this year. Usually we rely on a key group of people to do most of the organizing for the festival, and this year there have been some personal misfortunes that have affected a few of those folks. Due to these occurances, much of the planning didn't get done on schedule. No advertising has been begun, alot of the vendors have yet to be contacted, and I fear that the band on the 7th will be subpar. In the past we've had some pretty fun acts. Typically, the headliner will be a washed-up 70s or 80s band. We've had The Guess Who (American Woman, No Sugar Tonight, etc...), The Marshall Tucker Band (Can't You See, Fire On The Mountain), and others. The opening acts are usually a combination of local and tribute bands, some of which have been pretty good. Last year we had Kiss Army, which was awesome. Another time we had Metal Legends, who played old Metalica, Danzig and Pantera tunes. Once again, awesome.
I hope we have a good group this year, but I guess it won't be the end of the world if we don't. Portland Festival is about celebrating pride in the neighborhood, heritage, history and working-class lifestyle of Portland Residents. Like everything in Portland, the festival is supposed to be a little grittier and a little more real than the counterparts in other parts of town. Portland Fest is not the fucking Gaslight Festival, and it sure as hell isn't the St James Art Fair. Portland Fest is roughnecks, bikers and hooligans drinking beer and partying with all of their kin and old friends. Whiskey will flow and blood will certainly spill. There'll be singing and crying, warring and lovemaking. I look forward to it all year long, just like any true Portland boy does (especially the Irish ones). I want to raise a few glasses, throw a punch or two, gab about auld lang syne with some buddies, dance with my girls and eventually stagger home.