Fat Boy Deluxe

Here it is, the official announcement:

What: Bootleggers Bliss
When: Sunday, November 5, 2006
Where: Time and Place TBA

So here’s the deal, you might have seen the post on Steve’s blog, but here’s a little more detail. There’s a concept called “potlatch”, which Steve elegantly explains in his post. This comes down to a festival and an exchange of gifts (non-monetary) and that’s what this is, a festival celebrating bikes and beer in all their glory. In a sense, this is a lot like SSO’s Punk Bike Enduro, but with a couple of exceptions - the biggest being this is not a singlespeed only event. This is a celebration of all bikes, whether you like 30 gears or 1, whether you prefer big wheels or little wheels, whether you insist on coasting or pedaling the entire time…as long as it’s a bike and your legs are the power plant you can participate. The other big exception is there will be no prizes, no swag, and no monetary entry fees. Each participant however is required to bring something to the gift exchange and that should be a 6 pack (or growler) of your very own homebrewed beer.

The idea here is to celebrate bikes and bring more people into the homebrewing fold.

If you brew beer and don’t have a batch ready, well get to brewing! If you have never brewed before, but are interested, you’ve got three options:

1. Get yourself to a local homebrew shop, get yourself setup for beggining brewing ($65 or so), pick a beer and brew it. Local shops: myLHBS in Falls Church, VA operated by Derek.  Out in the Fair Oaks area, you’ve got Jay’s Brewing (both Derek and Jay are mountain bikers) - as with most homebrew shops, be sure to check their websites for hours of operation. In MD, I’ve been to MDHB in Columbia, MD and there’s also The Flying Barrel in Frederick, MD…something to think about after you hit up the Watershed.
2. Get yourself to a fellow homebrewers house to brew a batch. We have strategically placed homebrewers all over the area. If you want to give brewing a shot before purchasing any equipment, then this is your best bet.
3. Get yourself to a Brew On Premise (BOP). This is a place where you brew a batch at an offsite location and when it’s all done you go back and pick it up. Shenandoah Brewing is a BOP. The good thing about a BOP is you are brewing under a watchful experienced eye and there is no need to purchase equipment, but the bad part is for the price you pay you could easily purchase all the equipment to do it yourself.
4. Get yourself on the good side of a fellow homebrewer who is participating. This rare option of participating without brewing is available because each participating homebrewer is allowed one non-homebrewing guest.

If you take option 1 and either of those shops is out of your general vacinity, let me know and we’ll track down a homebrew shop for you. Also, let me know if you’d like to take advantage of option 2 and I’ll put you in touch with a fellow homebrewer. Option 4, well you’re on your own with that one…

So quick recap, Bootleggers Bliss is going down on Sunday, November 5, 2006, with a rain date of November 11. You can ride any bike you want, but a 6 pack (or growler) of your finest homebrew is required. Each homebrewing participant is allowed and encouraged to bring one non-homebrewing participant. We are trying to spread the love here folks, help us out!

For exact details (time and place) and any questions/information, contact me.

DT