seansolo8
Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2014
- Messages
- 19
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I've lived in New Orleans for 3 years, and have been loving beer for... well a lot longer than that. But somehow I managed to miss out on NOOT until this year.
Just in case you're not aware of this 5 year old event: it's a very large and growing annual fest hosted by The Bulldog pub and the Louisiana SPCA. All proceeds benefit the SPCA and it is a great way to sample and enjoy beers from all over the world, from local kitchen-based hombrewers to international powerhouses, while helping the animals! Admission is free, and samples are purchased via drink tickets sold online or at the front gate. There are also raffles and various merch for sale, as well as on-site adoptable pets, live music and food trucks.
Myself, my wife and my mother decided to volunteer even though we'd never been before. And lucky us! The volunteer coordinator Jeff assigned us to help with their first ever BJCP homebrew judging event. We helped the judges sample and tally votes for 44 different beers, and even got to sample quite a few ourselves. As a novice brewer myself, I really enjoyed this opportunity to talk to some of the brewers and judges, to see and taste what they were doing and to see how my own concoctions stacked up to this year's winners. Incidentally, my personal fave came in second, which tells me my palate is in pretty good shape as well. It also gave me the inspiration and courage to commit to competing next year.
We spent the bulk of the day on this project and did walk away having tasted our fair share of homebrew. On the downside, by the time we switched over to patron mode, a lot of the beer had run dry and we still had a fistful of tickets left. So I didn't get to taste a lot of the non-homemade stuff I was interested in. I'm not complaining for myself, because we had a lot of fun and it all went to a good cause. But there were a lot of people at the end of the day with a lot of leftover tickets and very little to choose from. So I might suggest that they sell the tickets in smaller bundles than 30, or that perhaps the beer vendors stretch their supply just a little. Yes, it's great that all that money went to the SPCA and there was no wasted beer; but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people are less likely to attend again having felt they didn't get their money's worth (there are no refunds for unused tickets).
All in all though, it was a great day. The people and dogs had fun in the sun, a LOT of great beer was shared, and they ended up raising over $200,000!!
I would heartily encourage anyone near the Gulf Coast try to attend this event, and even volunteer if you're able. For more info, here's a linky-dink:
http://neworleansontap.org
Just in case you're not aware of this 5 year old event: it's a very large and growing annual fest hosted by The Bulldog pub and the Louisiana SPCA. All proceeds benefit the SPCA and it is a great way to sample and enjoy beers from all over the world, from local kitchen-based hombrewers to international powerhouses, while helping the animals! Admission is free, and samples are purchased via drink tickets sold online or at the front gate. There are also raffles and various merch for sale, as well as on-site adoptable pets, live music and food trucks.
Myself, my wife and my mother decided to volunteer even though we'd never been before. And lucky us! The volunteer coordinator Jeff assigned us to help with their first ever BJCP homebrew judging event. We helped the judges sample and tally votes for 44 different beers, and even got to sample quite a few ourselves. As a novice brewer myself, I really enjoyed this opportunity to talk to some of the brewers and judges, to see and taste what they were doing and to see how my own concoctions stacked up to this year's winners. Incidentally, my personal fave came in second, which tells me my palate is in pretty good shape as well. It also gave me the inspiration and courage to commit to competing next year.
We spent the bulk of the day on this project and did walk away having tasted our fair share of homebrew. On the downside, by the time we switched over to patron mode, a lot of the beer had run dry and we still had a fistful of tickets left. So I didn't get to taste a lot of the non-homemade stuff I was interested in. I'm not complaining for myself, because we had a lot of fun and it all went to a good cause. But there were a lot of people at the end of the day with a lot of leftover tickets and very little to choose from. So I might suggest that they sell the tickets in smaller bundles than 30, or that perhaps the beer vendors stretch their supply just a little. Yes, it's great that all that money went to the SPCA and there was no wasted beer; but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people are less likely to attend again having felt they didn't get their money's worth (there are no refunds for unused tickets).
All in all though, it was a great day. The people and dogs had fun in the sun, a LOT of great beer was shared, and they ended up raising over $200,000!!
I would heartily encourage anyone near the Gulf Coast try to attend this event, and even volunteer if you're able. For more info, here's a linky-dink:
http://neworleansontap.org
