One good thing about Facebook is that it recommends things that match your interests. It will also tell you about events your friends are interested in attending. Between that cross section, we typically get informed about a lot of beer related events. On an early July evening my wife informed me that she found an event on Facebook just across the river from us called Bluegrass & Beer. Like peanut butter and jelly, a match made in heaven. Later that week we were strolling down a path in the Caponi Art Park with the distant sounds of a fiddle dancing off the leaves.
We’d never been to Caponi Art Park and rounding the bend we were surprised to find a natural amphitheater with a large paver stage at the bottom. Four men stood on one end facing a small crowd on the hill. As we had arrived slightly early, the sounds we had heard were just a short warm up. We found a spot on the hill, unfurled our blanket, and settled in. Samantha got in line for some Urban Growler beer and when she returned I went in search of food.
After a bit of a walk, while passing a couple of grumbling seniors that were inquiring why the food was so far away, I entered a clearing with a stone sculpture and the the New Bohemia Wurst+BierHaus truck. I think the primary reason for the distance is to prevent the generator from colliding with the performance. A short while later I clumsily returned to our blanket with cheese curds and bratwurst in tow. As we took our first few bites, the music began.
There is something about the birds chirping, a warm evening, kids frolicking in the sun, and hundreds of folks tapping their toes to the twang of bluegrass that makes you wish that time could stand still. I believe the turnout for the event was much higher than expected, since Urban Growler ran out of beer within 30 minutes of the Sawtooth Brothers’ first song. I was one of the last people to get a pint as the tap tender was frantically swapping cups out to eek out the last of the beer. Their Cream Ale ran out first so there was only one choice, but any beer is better than none. The line reached halfway down the hill and an hour later an announcement was made that more beer had arrived. The crowd cheered, and the beer began to flow once more.
It was a wonderful evening in the park. Besides a few hiccups I think the event was a success. They’ve since planned a second Bluegrass & Beer event so I’m banking on the fact that Bald Man Brewing can learn from Urban Growler’s mistakes. If the music is half as good as the Sawtooth Brothers it’s worth the price of admission.
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