Thirsty Orange Beer Extravangaza
Well brew fans Aaron has been at it again and check out what he has planned for us on April 14th. For those of you who have not been introduced to Aaron, he is the mastermind behind the famous first run of Kingsport Octoberfest. I had a chance to get out to Kingsport last October and man what a fantastic festival that was so I have no doubt that The Thirsty Orange will be just as cool. Hit up the website soon and grab your tickets. For $38 bucks for VIP and $30 for general admission why the heck not? For the general admission folks you get a commemorative sample glass and a picture in the beer booth as soon as you walk in at 1 pm. Personally I am going to hit it after a few, makes for better pics. If you come up with the extra $8 bucks and hit the VIP you also get a firkin of a special brew to enjoy with the artisan cheeses you get to sample. Also VIP’s get to roll in an hour before (noon baby) the general admission folks which gives you plenty of time to sample the VIP only brews. Yesssss. You are going to have to split at 5:30 which is plenty of time and since it is in the Mellow Mushroom parking lot you know where to get some tasty dinner. Also 100% of proceeds go to benefit pints for prostates.
Now from the info I have been able to compile and some secrets I was able to pull from Aaron – but only after hours of water boarding with a fizzy yellow watered down substance (nice to be politically correct, ain’t it). First of all there are going to be over 14 breweries representing their crafts bringing you around 40 or so different brews to sample to your liver’s content. I hear that Highland will be bringing a cask of Gaelic Ale aged in a Rum barrel and the Moca Stout aged in a bourbon barrel. I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it. Also Fat Maddy brewery will be making their debut at the fest. Nothing better than a new brewery hitting a festival and giving us folks a chance to savor their wares. Infusions will be running amok with flavors of chocolate, mango and other fruits, jalapeno and various spices. I don’t know about you but I love it when brewers let their talents fly and come up with this crazy stuff. Some work and others do not but it is still cool to see what they can dream up. Also each brewer will be participating in the Iron Brewer challenge where they get a set ingredient list for the base brew and then they get to add one specialty ingredient. The brew procedure is their own choice so this will be cool to see what they can pull out there butts for this one.
Other points of interest to note; this will be the first ever appearance of The Barley’s Angels. For years the beer scene has been overflowing with dudes. No
longer folks. Nowadays you find women owning craft breweries, becoming world class brewers and basically reaching for craft brews more and more. Nothing better than getting punched in the grill by a chick for grabbing the last KBS. There have been organizations created by these wonderful ladies to help to encourage women to open breweries, become brewers and make us guys recognize. There are two such organizations, one being The Pink Boots Society and now we have a sister society in The Barley’s Angels. Check them out and ladies if you enter the promo code barleysangels and score a few bucks off the ticket price.
What would chugging beer be without music? You will have the pleasure of playing your air guitar with 4 bands that will be jamming all day. Check them out on the Thirsty Orange website here.
Man I am stoked for this festival. Aaron has jammed a lot into a cool personally sized festival. To recap: VIP $38 bucks, in at Noon out at 5:30, special brews, commemorative glass, special firkin to pair with artisan cheeses, beer photo booth, you get to hang with me, etc. General admin $30 bucks, in at 1pm out at 5:30, glass, beer photo booth, ect. Make sure to sign up on twitter to be informed of special happenings during the day as well. Everyone is going to have a bad ass time at this festival and if you don’t, you are not doing it right.