Yes yes, I know: we always have long weekends right? That’s our life over here! So to recap, on Friday, Ash and I got some stuff done – errands and whatnot – then we prepped a bit for Saturday’s brewfest by getting all our materials together. Had a bit of a regulator problem but we got it all working so we could split the tank for both kegs. Saturday morning around 8:30, our friend and his dad came over and we loaded all our stuff and headed to the coast. Panacea is about 50 minutes away and this festival is right on the bay. I should have taken more pictures but we were so busy!

We got our tent all set up and by 11, we were mingling with breweries and our other homebrew friends. (Southern Fields is just about the nicest, most accommodating set of folks from an actual brewery, I swear it.) Anyway, by noon, VIP were entering. The organizer said he sold 750 VIP tix and I believe it; it was packed! Early access folks came in at 1 then GA 2-4. By 3:15, our 9ish gallons were gone! To put this in perspective, in November we served at the big Tallahassee beerfest (and granted it had been rescheduled) but that event sold 2000 total tickets and we probably had 2/10 gallons left. Admittedly, since that one is bigger than the one this weekend, not everyone made their way to us or came back. At this one, it was small enough people came back for more. Anyway, our red ale went over great; it was the same recipe but with slight changes and they indeed tasted different from one another.

So anyway, it was a great time, wonderful weather too. We got home around 6 and then we went out to eat with our friend and his family and then we went back to their house and did not get back until 11:20. I was exhausted!

The next morning, I woke up semi-rested and a little sad and emotional, but that’s me in general. LOL. It was, however, my 43rd birthday. I began the day alone in the living room, sipping coffee, writing in my journal, and listening to Jimmy Buffett. Nice way to start the day! I did some laundry and beer stuff (cleaning, transferring) and then the family went to Nagoya. I wanted to pick something else but everyone loves hibachi and a birthday family meal isn’t fun if people are not happy, right? The rest of the day was nice too: I laid in the sun, took a brief nap, ate a piece of key lime pie, and then we went to the hardware store for things we needed. All in all, a really great day!

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MMMM today is freebie so I am picking a song I can’t stop singing and that’s it!