Stout Night Planning, Jan 21st, 2.0

Preparation:

Sunday the 15th-

-Construct a tent with wood and plastic covering.  I would prefer to have some of the following people there that are handy (Iggi, Chuck, Bill, Dan (Lager or McCarthy), Dave).  As of now, me and Iggi are slated for it and I'm sure we could knock it out, but it'd be nice to have at least one more person.  The frame will definitely be going up Sunday.  The finishing touches will be done on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday and Friday 19th and 20th-

-Clean the place up.  We have to move everything that we can off of the perimeter to upstairs to maximize our space potential.  We also need the space looking fresh and presentable.  I’d like to get Iggi’s wooden artwork hung.  That can be done anytime.  Me and Iggi can pick up the parts on Sunday. 

-Think of ways to decorate and then execute.  Chili lights?  A Pinata shaped as a Chili?  Better lighting, definitely.  Me and Stephen were talking about putting up some sort of shade over those harsh lights.  We also tooled with the idea of using those lamps we used for the stage at Ides to create ambient lighting.  If you have anything that you think would help with this (beer posters or anything that would spice up the place), please let me know.  We will also need to make a chalk sign advertising what’s currently on tap and what’s on deck.

Things we need: 

• Tables:  Some sort of tables that are inconspicuous and high, something we can put in the middle of the floor inside and outside, that takes up little space but allows you to set your drink/chili down.  If anyone has any ideas for something like this, let me know.  Hopefully we can think of a way to diy it creatively. 
• Tents, tarps, or canvases that could work for covering tents.  If anyone has anything laying around that they can loan, contact me. 
• Volunteers who may be willing to relieve chili servers for an hour at a time.  You can volunteer one hour or more, doesn’t matter.  Whether these services will be needed will be solely up to our chili-making guests. 
• Desserts or sides- It’d be nice to have a small table for these.  Let me know if you want to make brownies, pecan pie, or anything. 
• Monies! Any Alchemist who wants to front money for any expenses like we did for Ides, please contact me!  I don’t expect that this will cost anything close to what Ides did.

Execution:

We’ll need volunteers and I want these to be primarily alchemist volunteers.  If you’re not an alchemist and you’re still interested in helping out, let me know. 

Ticket person:  This will have to be an alchemist or someone we trust as much as an alchemist (like Kelly at Ides). This person will be handing out 3 red colored tickets.  Each will be good for a serving of 5 oz chili.  This will be traded off for the chili to the chili servers or one of our volunteers at the chili table.

Chili Table Ticket Person:  The lucky guest will receive a yellow ticket in return for their traded chili ticket.  This ticket is good for a beer paired to the chili.  This job can likely be handled by one of the alchemists that are serving chili since some of us are making chili.  (Sidenote:  Whether you want to serve your own chili is optional.  We can always have one volunteer handling three different crockpots).  Those bringing chili who are outside the club will likely want to man their crockpots, although…

Chili Server Relief:  I will be providing the option for those who are bringing chili to us from outside the club to be relieved for 30 minutes to an hour at a time.  I’ll need several volunteers who won’t mind stepping in for this small amount of time to relieve them. 

Bartenders:  We should only need two at a time, 3 if it’s busy.  Let me know how long you want to volunteer for.  I’d prefer this to be someone who brewed for the event and also someone who is familiar with what makes a stout different from other beers (low hopping in most cases, roasted and kilned barley malts, etc…).  With this basic knowledge you should be able to describe the different beers we have on tap and tell how they are different from one another. 

Carb maintenance/supply runner:  You’ll be in charge of making sure the kegerator is carbing fine but also of running supplies to anyone at the chili table who might need them (napkins, cups, spoons, and beers as well).  I also want this person to be on top of any food/drink spills we might have.  Dave, Niilo, and Bill are the first three alchemists that come to mind as ideal for this job since they have a good familiarity with carbing.  If you think this is too many duties, we can split them up further.

Fire maintainer:  Ideally Iggi can do a lot of this, since it’s his place.  Someone needs to make sure nothing gets burned down and that the fire doesn’t go out.  

If anyone wants to donate a beer to be given out to chili competition winners as prize, please let me know.  I will probably be donating a beer (Parabola maybe?) but it’d be nice to have something for a second place or whatnot. 

I’d also not mind doing a raffle for something, so if you have any ideas as to what we could raffle, let me know. 

Instructions for Beer or Chili Donors:

Please email your name and a description of your chili and beer to blindside8zao@yahoo.com .  You may also post your info on this thread instead.  If you’re part of a catering company or any sort of food organization that you want to rep, feel free to include this info.  Also feel free to bring any propaganda.  If you’re submitting a beer please give the following info (I just lifted it from the old ides thread): 

The Minimum

Name of your brew:

Brewer:

Asst. Brewer (if applicable):

Ale, Lager, or Cider

A description of your brew:

And.. if you have the info

Starting gravity:

Final gravity: 

% Alcohol:

Yeast:

Brewing Method (grain or extract)

If you’re brewing for the event, please please please have it there at least the night before (Friday).  If you can, bring it earlier.  Also, many kegs were not properly carbonated for Ides.  That was ok since many of them were ciders.  However, now that we’re doing beers, these really need to be properly carbed before-hand.  You probably want to get working on that now.  If you don’t know how to carb a kegged beer (I think everyone giving a beer knows), please ask someone.