Location: Southport
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2015; 2:00-6:00 pm
Amanda had signed us up to do this “street festival” and we arrived at 1:45 pm for our check-in with a guy who looked at us suspiciously and asked which group we were affiliated with. After saying that we weren’t with anyone, he
finally gave us the “staff” bracelets
and sent us to find someone called Carolina at the first beer tent. There were 2 such tents at either end of the
strip where the festival was being conducted and both were near the music
stage. At least we would be
entertained. We found Carolina and she
asked if I could pour. I said that I
hadn’t done so before but since Amanda was pouring as well, I would join her in
the activity. After all, I had spent a
career observing bartenders doing it!
 |
| Beer and Taco's - Recipe for a great afternoon |
There were about 12 types of beer and Amanda and I were
responsible for 6 of the so called “craft
beers” – though all were by ‘Sam
Adams’. Since they were higher in “Alcohol content”, we were pouring them
in smaller containers than the other 6 beers, which were in bigger cups. The nozzles were attached to some sort of a
trailer and the kegs were at the back. I
was struggling with it at the beginning, and there was a lot of foaming. Amanda is good at this and coached me on the
pull, wrist position and the release.
One of the beers was a “nitro”
and the pour on this one was very different. Unlike the other beer, you had to
be extremely careful and slow when you poured this. It took me a long time to get this right and
even then I had to put several glasses away to allow them to “settle”.
Our strategy was to have 2 of each type ready to go on the
table. As the people in the front came
over and picked a glass up, we would replace that with another. I kept getting better with practice and soon
it became second nature, though there were a few for which I needed time to
settle the foam. In fact, at one stage
watching me pour the “nitro”,
Carolina came over and said that she hoped someone as skilled would replace
me. Well then! In terms of the beer, I had “Stout”, a “Hefeweizen” and a “Cherry
Nitro”, which had a lovely looking red hue.
It was fun for me and Amanda to track which beer was more popular with
the attendees. Traditional stuff at the
other end was more popular, though as the afternoon wore on, our specialized
ones were being ordered as well. At one
stage one of the beer “tapped out”
and caused a minor “beer explosion”. But
the process was fast moving and all we had to do was tell Carolina and she got
someone to fix it.
The crowd increased as the afternoon progressed and I was
pleased to see plenty of dogs and kids, making this a family outing. We were right outside the ‘CTA’ exit, meaning all the visitors who
got off the train were stopping at our station first. More importantly, since we were next to one
of the music stages we spent the afternoon listening to the “90s cover bands”, making this one of
the more pleasant project experiences. The
place smelled of tacos and we were looking forward to the end of our shift, so
that we could go and sample. I asked
Carolina for recommendations and she told us about 2 or 3 places that we should
visit. One of the gentlemen working with
us was doing his best sales pitch to customers and engaged them in discussions
around their selections. Well, more so
with women than men. At 6 pm our
replacements arrived, including some professional bartenders - for whom I had
a new found appreciation. We were ready to go explore the fair and it had been
a nice activity on a nice day. Plus, I had a crash course in the art of beer
pouring. One never knows when that may
come in handy.
No comments:
Post a Comment