Dave's Beer Page

Friday we toured the Cargill malting plant in Jefferson. In the 1970s, this was the largest malting plant in the world. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos during the 2 hour tour but they had beer at the hospitality tent afterwards. All's well that ends well.

Friday evening we attended a number of " hospitality " events. Too bad the Capitol Brewing Company had to close their beer garden at 9PM due to the complaints of neighbors who moved in and found the noise objectionable. I would think Capitol should have squatter's rights!

Saturday morning we " hopped " in the back of the company truck and went to Olin Park where we set up for the 1 PM opening when 6000 people would arrive. From about 10 to 1, we had an opportunity to sample some of the finest beers in the midwest - and then some. These are the photos before the thirsty throngs arrived.

Setting up in our little corner of the world. We were in one of 4 BIG tents.

One of the big tents. It's quiet now but 3 hours later the lines would be 15 deep.

My favorite spot - the Meadery. " Quit wine-ing, drink Mead. " Outstanding!

And the cider wasn't half bad either! Hic!

People started to line up 5 hours ahead of time. The rest of the shots are after the flood gates were opened.

Beer apparel was everywhere.

I counted at least 10 musical groups.

American capitalism at it best!

My empty sampling glass in it " holster. " One cannot lose one's sampling glass! Time for another beer.

T shirt witticisms were abundant.

Our friends from Indianapolis with some great Wit beer.

The Mad Hatter's crew from Michigan.

Tom, Mike, Dave and Greg. We were pushing the t-shirts so I put mine on backwards so folks could see what it said. We sold all but 2!

An eclectic group of people attended. Hey, it's Wisconsin!

Even a short rain shower didn't deter the folks from drinking --- er I mean sampling.

The " Oom-Pah " band was outstanding and played most of the day.

This poor dude oom-pahed the whole day - but at least he could play tunes and still hold a beer! Some folks are so talented.

Julie Andrews had the wrong lyrics.....

Even 2 hours later the lines to enter were looooong.

Are those tats or socks?

And these last 3 are random shots from the serving side. It was late and I the camera was slightly out of focus.

And the day ended at 6 PM. After a complimentary meal, we headed to Angelic Brewing Company for more beer and entertainment. The end of a great weekend. Thanks, Mike, for asking us along!