Homebrewing Event Table Ideas

[brandon03]

I have a friend who runs a non profit organization and he sets up various events as fundraisers. He is doing a convention in April and is bringing in several celebrities. While his events are not in any way beer related, he has offered me a table at the convention at no cost to setup a Homebrewing booth to try to sell some of my logo merchandise that I have created.

Has anyone ever done anything like this? I know I am not allowed to give out samples or anything like that, but I am looking for ideas on what would be interesting to show. It is indoors, so I can not do a “brewing demonstration,” but I thought I could setup some things to peek interest.

Some ideas I have had:

• Set up some brewing equipment (unlit burner and kettle, fermenting/bottling buckets, wort chiller, a homebrew keg, etc)
• Display some ingredients (some malts/grains/extracts/hops)
• Cap some bottles with my labels on them to display (probably filled with water so I don’t run a risk of someone ending up with a beer)
• Maybe set out some tip sheets (Getting Started, Equipment Needs, Recipes, etc.)

Other ideas are appreciated!

 

[bobeer]

maybe get little cups of grain and hops for people to look at and or taste and smell? Get a bag of extract too so you can explain the different ways you can brew at home.

maybe you could also make a small batch of wort so people could taste what beer is like before yeast get at it.

 

[erick0619]

Have a sign in Sheet and give them the option of putting an email address. The reason I say this is because I assume you are a homebrewer looking to go pro and you are looking for exposure. Once you have their emails you could possibly try and set up a tasting for who ever was interested enough. Sorry for the wall of text, it just sounded pretty good in my head lol

 

[singybrue]

a plastic carboy of fermenting beer

 

[brandon03]

a plastic carboy of fermenting beer

Would there not be an issue transporting the beer during fermentation? That could be a good "demonstration" item, if I pitch the yeast a couple days right before the event to show some active fermentation.

I don't have a plastic carboy, only a couple glass ones, but I do have a plastic 6.5 gal Big Mouth Bubbler that would work.

 

[kombat]

I know I am not allowed to give out samples or anything like that

Why would you not be allowed to give away samples? I understand that you can't sell samples, but what's the law say about giving it away? As long as you're not providing it to minors, aren't you allowed to give away alcohol on private property? You'd have to clear it with the venue, but isn't that as far as it goes?

And even if there are laws covering this, it might be worth looking into getting a simple permit to allow you to give some samples away. It might be trivially cheap. When I got married, we had an open bar (well, pre-bought wine and beer) and didn't charge anyone any money. We got a special event permit from the town, and it was only like $50. It was for that one night and one location only, but for $50, it might make a big difference if it means people can actually taste what you're advertising.

 

[singybrue]

That's what I was thinking, an actively fermenting carboy of beer is pretty cool looking.
I would just do a simple blonde ale or something you don't care too much about, as you will be messing up the fermentation temps for a while. Don't bring your DIPA with $40 worth of hops!
As far as transportation, stick it in a plastic milk crate with towels as needed to stabilize, drive carefully and don't knock it over!

 

[brandon03]

Thanks for the ideas, I will definitely be incorporating some of these. I've also thought about kegging up some homemade root beer and selling cups of it at the event.

 

[brandon03]

Just wanted to update on this post. The event was this weekend and attached here is a photo of my booth. It turned out really well. A lot of people stopped to talk about homebrewing and beer in general. Plus, I managed to sell a little of my logo merch