Hear ye! Hear ye! Bring out your BOCK!, Bring out your Bottles!, Bring out your Trash!

Tomorrow, Friday March 7th, is the beginning of Bockfest. Yes, the weather may turn out to be frightful, but you don't need to be frightened of the malty goodness and fun that will be going on downtown all weekend. In this newsletter we will give you some information on the Bockfest parade, the Bockfest competition, the need for your empty bottles, and a reason to go to Pittsburgh.

If you have questions or concerns, you can reach me (Darryl) at 513.235.8712.

Bockfest Parade - Arnolds Bar and Grille - 5:30pm Friday

Ok, here is the last minute plan for the parade. Bring your monk outfits and wench outfits down to Arnolds on Friday afternoon. Dan Listermann has constructed a Bloat-mobile (similar to Fred Flintstone's favorite mode of transportation) that will hopefully be able to deal with whatever weather arrives tomorrow afternoon. In addition to Dan's fancy footwork, the Bloat-mobile will also be powered by a few monks pulling it on a long rope. As usual, our wenches will be there to support the tireless efforts of these dedicated monastic drunks. This year they will be providing clippety-clop, clippety-clop sounds with their hollow coconuts (think Monty Python). Any monks not pulling the Bloat-mobile are encouraged to grab a whacker and begin chanting. A whacker is a small board used by the monk to enlighten his thick skull by hitting himself in the head while he chants (again Monty Python and the Holy Grail). And finally, I think we might have another appearance of the Big Bottle of Beer for strong monks to carry as their burden of bockfest. We will also have a van pulling a trailer (easier to be in the parade than to find a parking spot for the Bloat-mobile trailer).

Bockfest Competition And Meet the Brewer - Bockfest Hall - 12:00pm Saturday

Registration: 12:00 noon, Judging: 1:00pm, Awards: 3:00pm

The Bockfest competition will be held Saturday at Bockfest Hall. If you are going to be attending the competition, please arrive early. From 12:00 to 5:30pm the Bloatarian Brewing League will also be hosting a Meet the Homebrewer event where the brewing public will have a chance to meet local homebrewers, learn about brewing beer, learn about judging beer, and learn about enjoying all things beer. We will have some ingredients to touch and smell, lots of info on yeast, and maybe a couple of pieces of equipment to stand around while we talk.

There will be a raffle (prizes to include pounds of hops, that's right, pounds), there will be Bloatware, and there will be fun.

We need your bottles

The AHA Commemorative Mead needs a home and it would like to live in your empty 12 ounce bottles. If you have a big stash of empty bottles, talk to Rob Westendorf. If you know a friendly neighborhood bar that you can ask to save their empty bottles that you will gladly pickup on a regular basis, then go for it, and talk to Rob Westendorf. If you have some means to sponsor bottles for the commemorative mead and would like to contribute, talk to Rob Westendorf.

TRASH XVIII Competition in Pittsburgh

Three Rivers Alliance of Serious Homebrewers (TRASH) is hosting their 18th Annual Homebrew, Cider and Mead Competition Saturday, March 29, 2008. Entries will be accepted between February 25 and March 16, 2008.

See you at Bockfest.