Hey Brewsters, we've been asked to brew beer for CHIditarod, Saturday March 3rd.
CHIditarod is an annual shopping cart race that raises food and money to fight hunger in Chicago. Every March they collect tons of food for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, as well as raising tens of thousands of dollars for community grant awards given out by the CHIditarod Foundation throughout the year.
On Saturday March 3rd, over 100 teams of five racers will push/pull shopping carts on a course that has them visiting five bars throughout Ukrainian Village & Wicker Park. Each team is in costume, some of them acting in character all day long, and everyone is drinking from late morning to sundown. The day ends at Mahoney's for an award ceremony.
CHAOS has been asked to brew beer to share at the pre-race gathering, and also produce 36 award 5-packs of beer for the winning teams for 2018 (they have a lot of award categories.)
PRE-RACE BEER TENT
For the pre-race gathering from 10am to 12:30pm at Hubbard & Wolcott, we will have kegs and bottles to serve samples at a CHAOS tent, like a really small version of what we do for a party. Burnt City brings around 8 kegs each year for the morning gathering, and they always run out of beer.
– EVERYONE is welcome to brew for the pre-race gathering.
AWARD 5-PACKS
For the award beers, the winning teams are announced at a ceremony after the race ends at 5pm, but the awards are handed out at a later date (Time & Location TBD). Each team will get a five pack of CHAOS beers, and I would like it to be five different beers in each pack. We want to be more selective about the award beers, so please put your A-game on for this.
– Maybe we should evaluate the beer donations and pick the best five?
CHIditarod is a great cause, but it's also crazy fun, everyone that steps up to get involved will have an amazing time. I have started a spreadsheet for beer donations and volunteers.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SPwWqWMuWCQWgqwF4pqi7iAF6OYTVtNc...
For the last 10 years I've volunteered as a Bike Marshal for CHIditarod, basically a mobile squad of baby sitters. CHIditarod racers are encouraged to sabotage each other, and the drunken hijinks needs to be reigned in from time to time. I made the following CHIditarod videos, let me know if you would also like to volunteer during the race as a Bike Marshal.
Someone sabotaged the start of the race on this one
Sounds awesome Steven. Count me in for brewing for this!
Yeah, I'm in, sounds like fun!
Signal Boost! There was a lot of initial enthusiasm about brewing for CHIditarod on Sat Mar 3rd.
Has anyone brewed? This is your last chance.
It would be great to have more kegs to serve before the race. Boollish, a NEIPA???
SIGN UP!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SPwWqWMuWCQWgqwF4pqi7iAF6OYTVtNc...
I'm taking care of most of the award pack beers. Can anyone donate 12 ounce bottles?
I'm kegging my Irish red ale on Monday.
I may also be able to donate bottles for the award pack. Do you need 35 bottles from each brewer? If so, do all 35 need to be the same beer?
I brewed a Pils for this. It's a bit over a week old and should be done in time.
Jon, thanks!
Jeff, I decided the award packs can be random (needed beer for my bday party!) 35 12oz bottles would be great, but even a 12-pack or a case could help out.
Burnt City is donating beer again but cannot send people to the race to serve it, so we are now the only beer vendor at the start of the race. Kind of weird we're handing out Burnt City beer, but being the only beer station on site is a very good thing for us :)
That is weird, but we'll take all the free beer attention we can get!!
I'll have an American pale and red IPA ready by then and can donate 10 bottles from each.
BC has a wedding to go to. They have been huge supporters of Chiditarod from the beginning, but weddings happen.
People are used to BC serving at the start, so it will be a good hook for us. I think they do cans, but I'll check to see if they have kegs.
Hey Brewsters,
CHIditarod is three Saturdays away, so make sure your beer donations are ready to serve by Saturday March 3rd.
Matt, I placed your TBD entry in the keg section of the spreadsheet.
We could use more beer at the start of the race. If anyone has a keg or bottles to donate, let me know and signup on the spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SPwWqWMuWCQWgqwF4pqi7iAF6OYTVtNc...
How did I fall so far behidn on this? I've reduced the OG of my beer and I'll brew it tomorrow (Feb 16).
Will be pushing it hard, but I think 10 days is enough for an IPA.
I am hosting Open House on Sat Mar 24, and the folks from CHIditarod will be at CHAOS to hand out awards to the winning teams.
This works out well for us as it should bring in a few dozen people throughout the day.
I will be brewing. The CHIditarod folks will be taking over the front bar area. It looks like we'll wrap up by 7pm.
That's great! I'm liking this partnership....
Alright, we are getting close to showtime this Saturday morning.
If it wasn't painfully clear from the signup sheet time slots, THIS IS A MORNING GIG. We are serving many kegs of beer to over 500 people from 9am to Noon.
First, I really need help Friday night to get our equipment cleaned and ready to go first thing in the morning.
Can anyone help Friday night?
LMK what time is good.
Second, we need a vehicle at 8:45am to transport kegs, taps, jockey boxes, cups, ice, and signage. We do not need tables and a tent. A CAR WILL WORK, truck would be nice.
Matt, can you help with transport?
Chuck said he could if no one else is available.
Steven I'm kegging the NEIPA tonight for fast carbing, so I'll be around Friday to make sure it's pouring fine.
2 things:
1) If we are pouring from 9AM to Noon, we need more than 15 minutes to setup. I can help you make signs on Friday, but give more than 15 minutes.
EDIT: Just saw the schedule. 1 hour should be fine. That said, what is our plan for ice, are we getting it in the morning or are we going to get it on Friday and then stick it in a freezer?
2) Man, 5 kegs is a pain, so we can either bring 2 jockey boxes or just bring one 4-jockey box and a picnic tap (or one of Reed's faucets). LMK what you want to do.,
-James
Picnic tap for odd keg out makes sense. Unless we have some people with some extra beer they want to donate that would help fill the last jockey box.
I just asked the Chiditarod folks if it is cool to start pouring at 9:30. By 10am, they are getting flooded with people. The Burnt City beer will be onsite in sixtels tapped and ready to go, so one person could pour their beer while we are getting ours ready.
The start is a five minute drive from CHAOS, maybe 15 minutes if we stop for ice. If we get everything cleaned and ready to pack Friday night, we could leave CHAOS at a little after 9am.
It would be cool if all the beers are served at once. However, the NEIPA will be gone very quickly, so we could put the fifth keg on when one kicks.
Hey Steven, this is all subject to change, but I would 100% recommend more time for us unless you want to aim to tap the Chaos beer at 10AM.
The night before, here's what we should do:
Clean the jockey box.
Stage kegs, and gas.
Make signage for beers.
Pack up extra tools (wrenches, screwdrivers.
BTW, they have a full breakfast ready for volunteers at 9am (eggs, bacon, pancakes, and coffee.) They are crazy about bacon, and they prepare a ridiculous amount of food and coffee. Sorry it starts so early, but there are some cool perks.
I hear the ghostbuster gear is still around. Anyone want to be a roaming keg?
Didn't see your post James, I agree we need to get everything squared up Friday night. It would be good to get your consult on the bev tech stuff. I'll devote my evening to getting it all done.
Sorry steven, I don't have transport for this.
What time do you typically get off work? On Fridays I typically stop for a beer at Goose but I can meet you at the clubhouse.
Alright, looks like Chuck is on our crew, I will call in another favor.
I'm flex on Friday, whatever works for you guys timewise, let me know.
Steven - Do you need me to transport stuff for you? Looks like I can get free now.
I'll be there to help out on Friday!
Rich, Chuck just agreed to help in a PM convo. If you want to join him and come along for the fun of it, that's cool. Otherwise, it looks like we're good.
LMK if you're on board, I'm going to submit a list of volunteer names. The only let registered volunteers into the starting area.
That's ok, I have an event later in the day anyway, so I can just be Chuck's back-up if he can't make it(which seems backwards). Sorry, when you asked me the other night I didn't realize this was all happening so early or I would have helped out, wasn't really following this because I thought it was a conflict with the other thing I volunteered for.
Thanks Rich, we should be fine. If all else fails my GF can rent a car.
Well, call me before you do that...
Hey Steven, does Friday at 7-9pm work for you? I would budget 2 hours to stage and clean everything.
Friday from 7-9pm is perfect, thanks.
I can also use my wife's car in the morning to drive stuff down there, since I already signed up for serving I can show up early and help setup too. Just gotta get it back to her after dropping stuff off, she needs it later. If Chuck doesn't want to get up early and drive in from the south, I can handle the early driving shift.
Hey Steven, when are we done volunteering? How long do you think will break-down take? Is it usually a hang around afterwords kind of thing?
Jay, I checked in with Chuck to see if he wants an out. My sense is he wanted to do it. One option could be that you handle the morning pickup, and Chuck could take over for the afternoon return.
Matt, the racers take off at 12:30, and it takes a half hour for the dust to settle. I imagine it would take a half hour to break everything down and pack up, which would put you back at the brewhouse around 1:30.
If there is still beer after the start, and people want to hang around for the finish, racers return the starting lot.
Do you still need any help with cleaning up Equipment Friday night?
Do you still need any help with cleaning up Equipment Friday night?
Hey, looks like we're going to be fine prepping tonight, but if anyone wants to help organize the storage room upstairs, we could always use extra hands.
We'll be there at 7pm, hope to wrap up before 9pm.
Here's the schedule and map of where we are setting up, you have to check-in at the volunteer registration tent to enter the starting area (gate on west side of Wolcott north of Hubbard.)
8:50am - Chuck and I pack up at CHAOS
9:15am - Unpack at Chiditarod & Setup
9:30am - Start serving
12:30pm - Race starts, break down and pack up
Here's the map, note that Hubbard is blocked off
CHIditarod numbers are in: $55,588 for The CHIditarod Foundation and more than 16,000 pounds of food for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Thanks to Jeff, Boollish, Jay, Matt, Jon, and Chuck, hope you guys had a great time. Between Burnt City and CHAOS, we served 50 gallons of beer in around 2 hours. We nailed our part, hopefully we can collab again next year.
That's a nice photo of James - are you making a juicy NEIPA more juicy?
www.singingboysbrewing.com
I made NEIPA-mosas. 10% Champagne, 10% OJ, 80% beer. The ratio actually worked out really well.
I am hosting Open House this month Sat Mar 24 from 1-7pm, and the organizers of CHIditarod will be setting up in the bar handing out award beers to the winning teams (around 30 teams of 5). They also invited their entire volunteer staff to come by and purchase swag (around 250 people.)
I doubt everyone shows up at once, but it looks like we are going to have a crowded Open House around 3-7pm. They wanted a day event, so I skewed it to late afternoon early evening so people can get a morning brew in. I will be brewing at 1pm. People can brew later on, just realize there will be a lot of people walking through checking out the space.
I still have a bunch of packaging work for the award beers, and I'm going to have 3 kegs on the keezer. I have a friend that is a chef, might do a Taste of Cerveza de Mayo theme.
If anyone is willing to put a keg on, it should be a fun day.