Pouring Brews

Last year when visiting Bend, Dad and I attended Bend Brewfest and I posted about that here.  This year I decided to volunteer for the event!  I knew that I wanted to attend but I’m not much of a beer drinker so I figured that volunteering would be the best solution.  Not only did I get to still check out the event, but I also got a free shirt, mug, and tasting chips.  So basically, you pour drinks for five hours and you get some drinks on the house!  Actually I got extra drinks on the house since I worked a closing shift (Thursday 6:30-11p) and after taps closed all of us volunteers went back-stage (literally) and we were poured some of the specialty beers that cost extra chips to taste.  I tried Gilgamesh’s Mint Kolsch and it was pretty good, I like that it had a good mint flavor without a weird aftertaste.  Added bonus, a super low IBU aka bitterness rating.

When I arrived to check-in as a volunteer I was randomly assigned to pour for Maui Brewing.  My card read “Maui Brewing.  Bikini Blond Lager.”  And yes, I made a joke referencing how I’d have planned my outfit and hair color better had I known beforehand.  I was also asked a few times while I was pouring where my grass skirt was.  My standard response: I left it at home since I knew it’d be breezy that evening.  I was supposed to pour with another person at Maui Brewing (all pourers were volunteers, no brewery representatives poured) but we weren’t busy/popular enough so they took him to another area that was getting much more attention from the drinkers.  I then became Bikini Blond Lager girl and Mana Wheat girl.  Which was fine with me, because it was a bit crowded in my corner.  Maui Brewing sent over cans rather than kegs so I had a large plastic tub behind me filled with cans and ice.

Mana Wheat, Bikini Blond Lager

After about an hour of pouring I wasn’t as thrilled with having cans.  My fingers were cold from reaching into the ice tub and my index finger on my right hand was not happy from popping so many tops.  I swear my finger still hurt two days later!

I really wanted to try the Mana Wheat because it was brewed with pineapple juice and a lot of people asked me about it.  But as long as I was wearing my green volunteer shirt I was prohibited from drinking any beer.  If I did I could get in trouble and the event shut down.  It got tiring to explain to people why I didn’t know more about the beer than what was written in the beer guide that everyone was given.  Especially when they 1) obviously had tasted a few brews already and 2) didn’t understand that I was not from Hawaii or Maui Brewing.  Not sure what part of my “tan” screams Hawaiian…  But most people understood once I explained that I can pour or I can taste, I can’t do both.  In those cases they were happy to hear which one I was pouring more of and the feedback I’d gotten.  (Bikini Blond started strong and stayed strong while Mana Wheat got popular once people heard it had pineapple.)

The guy pouring the next station over and I chatted and laughed about the characters we saw throughout the night.  We spotted a guy with neon MC Hammer pants and neon sunglasses….hard to miss.  Then there was a bachelor party group that was dressed up as scouts (both boy and girl) and uber-nerds (cowlicks and pocket-protectors included).  Great people watching event.  I had a lot of fun and would seriously consider volunteering again next year.  But if I work another closing shift I’m remembering a light jacket, it got cold at about 9:30!

I still haven’t gotten to try either of the beers I poured but next time I go to Whole Foods I’m buying a can of each!

Loves.