A guest article by beer ranger Eric Vigil:
A fabulous time was had by all at the 15th Annual Greater Peoria Area’s Jaycees International Beer Festival. There were 56 booths with beers from all over the globe. And Eric and Aaron were there to represent us at Millstream.
Here they are setting up the booth on Friday evening.
And then Ready for Business.
Of course Eric and Aaron had to test the New Windmill Wheat, John’s Grocery White Ale, Schild Brau, and Maifest beers to make sure they were properly chilled.
The Mike and Carrie Show, a local duet with a large local following did acoustic versions of many 80s hits and had the audience swaying with enthusiasm. Later on we met this couple Brittany and Brett from CR who were big fans of our beers.
Saturday, Millstream was helped by Lou and Deb, the hard working couple kept the first wave of beer drinker’s mugs full.
They were challenged by this family of beer drinkers who came well prepared; these sisters were assigned to bring back beer for the whole family with their dad’s great invention of the beer fest sampler tray. Dad was off relaxing with a portable table and chairs sending the children to forage. We never met this man, but liked his style.
Later in the afternoon, the second group of eager volunteers arrived at the Millstream Booth. Craig, Megan and Jean, three happy go lucky graduates from Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. Megan and Jean in particular have degrees in Chemical Engineering and were able to understand Brew master Aarons ramblings on the properties of Noble Gasses and the laws of physics in relation to the draft dispense of beer. They were incredibly peppy and stayed an hour after their shift was over, keeping those glasses full. We at Millstream lift our mugs to them and say “Hoch soll er Lieber!”
Lastly there was John S Rhodell, a famous local, brewer, with his Scotland Strongman and parade of bagpipes. This man carried a keg over his shoulder for a distance of greater than 100 yards and at the end of the parade, he lifted the full 15.5 gallon keg over his head before tapping it. Again at Millstream our hats are off to you, as we say, “Einer starker Mensch!” And wish that we had someone at our brewery to challenge them in a Keg hauling contest.
