Dear Beerstock Revelers:
Here is the full info on this years Beerstock
This year Beerstock will boldly take beer, where no beer has gone before.
People interested in participating should coordinate with the Impaling Alers.
Cheers
COMPLETE BEERSTOCK INFORMATION: (read carefully, many answers abide within)
BEERSTOCK 5060-9 Saturday, August 11, 2018 (you’re welcome, and encouraged, to camp Saturday night)
(Please email Brian at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and share this information with your club members.)
WHAT IS BEERSTOCK 5060?:
In the summer of 2009 Beerstock 5060 was the first, legal get-together of homebrew clubs to share and taste each other’s homebrew and talk brewing across homebrew club lines. Thanks to the passing of Bill 5060, as of July 26th, 2009 it is now legal to have this type of event as long as all homebrew is free. Beerstock is like homebrew beer fest!
If your club is interested in attending and setting up a booth, please contact Brian at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Beerstock is organized entirely by volunteers and is designed to break even. (This is not a money-making event.) However, there has been a philanthropic addition to Beerstock the past few years with the help of the Lakewood Rotary club. Rotary club members come to Beerstock and help us by serving food all day on Saturday and early on Sunday morning. The money they make from these sales is matched by a grant from the Gates Foundation. This money is used to successfully fight polio in 3rd world countries. We are so happy to have this positive element part of Beerstock 5060. Yes, it is true, “Beer can save the world.”
This year the organizing committee has chosen the theme: To Boldly Go Where No Beer Has Gone Before. Your club can decorate your booth however you’d like, be it related to being lost in space or just celebrating beer in general.
LOCATION & DATE:
August 11, 2018 Beerstock 5060-9 is held south of Seattle at a private Ski Park near Orting, Washington.
Address: 17299 S. Pioneer Way, Orting, WA 98360
http://www.skiparklake.com
(If you have questions contact us, your Beerstock committee, do not contact the park about the event.)
BEERSTOCK 5060-9 starts serving beer at 1:00 pm, August 11, 2018 with an official opening toast at 2:00pm:
-Booth set-up starts at ~ noon
-Check-in booth opens at 1:00 pm
-2:00 pm parade & opening toast in an official Beerstock 5060-9 taster glass
-2:15 pm band plays its first set
-3:00 pm Skagit Valley Malt lectures in the Community Tent (by check-in)
-Meet homebrewers from all over the area
-6:30 pm Pot Luck, bring a side dish, snacks, dessert, salad, etc.
-after dark see the Fire Dancers perform
-Grilled sausages & burgers sold by the Rotary Club all day
-A new Beerstock t-shirt for sale (cash or check only)
-Camp overnight, please don’t drive drunk
-Sunday morning the Rotary club will sell eggs and bacon and coffee is free for all
BRINGING BEER TO SERVE:
Each club may bring as many different brewed beverages as they’d like to share with other club’s members. It is up to each club to organize this. You can bring beer in bottles, kegs, replicator or whatever. You can bring a lot or a little. All homebrewed beverages (beer, wine, mead, etc) are welcome as long as they are yummy. Last year total attendance was close to 500 with 16 clubs serving.
It is not required that all attendees bring a homebrewed beverage, but taste buds are a must.
There will be one booth per homebrew club (just like last time). Each club is responsible for their own jockey boxes and/or dispensing set-ups, signs, table, chairs, water, ice and shade tent. It’s nice for attendees to know what beer you’re serving, so an easily seen sign is exceptionally helpful. Please bring water for rinsing glasses, too. Feel free to decorate your booth to suit your fancy.
CHOOSING THE BEERS YOU BRING:
This is entirely up to you and your club. Bring as many or as few as you desire. If you only have a 4 tap jockey box and 8 beers to serve, split the time in half and ring a bell or blow a chorus of kazoos to draw attention to the fact that you are switching out kegs. You don’t have to limit yourself to beer, you may bring mead or Klingon Blood Wine, also.
BOOTH SET-UP STARTS at noon: (If you need 2 hours, feel free to come at 11:00am.)
If your club is setting up a booth, please plan to come at the designated set-up time to set-up your booth. Drive in and one of the organizers will show you to the homebrew fest circle and help you find where to unload your gear. After you are unloaded, please move your vehicle to the back parking area. No vehicles are to be left around the booth area. During the event we must keep the area open for a fire lane. Safety first! Important note: don’t forget to eat lunch. (Hint: cheese is good to eat before consuming alcoholic beverages--it slows down the alcohol absorption rate, so bring a baggie of mozzarella sticks and chow down all day.)
THINGS YOU’LL NEED TO BRING:
Please bring something for the pot luck dinner. Burgers and bratwurst with all the fixin’s will be sold by the Rotary club that will complement the pot luck. (All profits from the sales at the Rotary booth will go to polio vaccines.) There will not be plug-in’s available. You may bring a contained grill, as long as it does not drop ash or grease on the ground. As always, clean up after you leave, and please don’t dump spent charcoal. (The check-in booth has a few pieces of metal that can be put under grills to protect the grass.)
If you want to set your tuckus down while you savor a brew, bring a chair. You’ll want to bring things like sunscreen, bug spray, tent and warm clothes for the evening. Bring any water or non-alcoholic beverages you’d like to drink. It’s usually quite hot this time of year, so drink lots of water. It’s also helpful if your non-alcoholic beverage is an anabolic energy fluid, because “it’s got electrolytes”. Also, bring your own rinse water and ice. You'll need cash or checks for various things, such as, T-shirts, band and fire dancer donations, sausages, etc. The Rotary club will be accepting credit cards.
A flashlight and battery powered lighting for your booth at night are helpful when the sun sets. Hint: Ace Hardware has round, battery-powered, hanging LED lamps that illuminate a fairly wide area. There will be a little light around the band, but your taps will need to be lit by you after dark descends. The band will be using the only electricity available.
Remember if you pack it in, you must PACK IT OUT. Leave your booth area and landing pad as clean as you found it. After packing up on Sunday, please walk your area and pick any paper scraps, bottle caps, feathers or butts out of the grass and throw them away. Thanks so much, this kind of clean-up really helps us.
CHECK-IN DESK:
In the middle of the event will be the check-in desk. You will see it as you walk to the event from the back parking area. Please check-in. At the check-in desk you will fill out a name tag with your name and club affiliation. (If you are a guest of someone from a club, please write down your friend’s club name.) Next you will need to sign a short waiver stating your club affiliation, that you are at least 21 years of age (bring yer ID) and various other safety details. Then the Beerstock staff will give you a couple of 2$ food coupons, a Beerstock 5060-9 taster glass and serve you your first homebrew! You will then be released to roam club booths as a free-range sampler. Pace yourself, you won’t want to miss the night-time entertainment!
Each year the check-in desk and organizing committee chooses a theme. As stated earlier, this year it’s “To Boldly Go Where No Beer Has Gone Before”. Beer in space is the theme and any space shows are welcome. The check-in desk and t-shirts will fit this theme. You don’t have to follow the theme, but you’re welcome to get all “spaced out” with us if you’d like.
$$$:
To keep this legal, Beerstock 5060 is an invitation only event that is sponsored by donations from Washington homebrew clubs. We request that each club to collect a donation of $25 per attendee. This is a donation out of the goodness of your heart, it is not a ticket sale, and by law, it is not required. Rather than having each person in your club donate individually, pick one person from your club to be the Beerstock Rep. Your club’s Beerstock Rep will collect donations from his or her members and give it to the Beerstock staff.
What will your donation get you? We will have glass taster glasses with the Beerstock 5060 logo provided to all who attend! As always, we will rent numerous porta-potties. Your donation also covers parking, park rental fee, prizes, printing, plates, silverware, entertainment, coupons, morning coffee and hair-of-the-dog, etc. You’ll also get a couple of coupons to use at the Lakewood Rotary food booth. Any left-over money is donated to the Lakewood Rotary club to fight polio around the world. (This money is matched by Bill Gates, himself.) And unlike most beer fests, at Beerstock the beer is always FREE all day, all night and even the following morning, if you’d like.
RULES, AGE & OTHER SPECIFICS:
Each attendee must be a Washington homebrew club member or the guest of a homebrew club member. Yes, you can bring guests, but your guests will also need to fill out a waiver at the check-in booth, just have them write your club’s name as their club affiliation. All beer drinking attendees must be, at least, 21 years old.
There are a few homebrewers who have requested bringing their young children and it has worked well in the past. You may do this, but they must remain under your care and watchful eye at all times. This is an adult event with lots of people drinking. Consider this when making your decision. We also ask that the adults be considerate of the kids in attendance. They will be running the world when we are old and grizzled.
CLUB OF THE UNAFFILIATED:
If you are a homebrewer, are not in a homebrew club and would like to attend Beerstock 5060, you may join the Club of the Unaffiliated. Write this on your sign in sheet when you arrive. Contact Alison at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you want to serve beer.
WEATHER:
The tribble with August is that it is usually quite warm and sunny so bring sunscreen, but remember to bring warm clothes for the evening. Did I mention bringing water to drink? If it is raining, bring an umbrella and water-proof shoes. If it’s windy tie down your tent/shelter poles to gallon jugs and “party-on, dude”.
FIRE & SAFETY:
No open flames or fire-pits are allowed. The owners might provide one free-standing fire, but otherwise, fires are prohibited. This is a beautiful, pristine park where many events are held on weekends in the summer, please leave it as clean as you found it. For example, smoking cigarettes is allowed, but PLEASE put butts in a can or an ashtray. “Keep your butt off the ground, the solar system is not your ashtray.” Ha ha. And please, no confetti.
Gas grills are fine. Please bring something to put under them so that grease does not get on the ground. If you must bring a charcoal grill, you’ll need to cool down your coals and take them with you when you leave. Please don’t dump ash or coal. Thanks.
This is a large group of homebrewers having fun, but on rare occasion uninvited towns folk have arrived late at night. Keep your eyes open to this and let the organizers know if you see any nefarious people or unruly Klingons about. Keep your valuables safely packed away or in your locked car.
GARAGE SALE & BEER ARTS:
To take some of the burden off of the check-in booth, this year these things will be sold at your club’s booth. So, if you want to sell some of your used brewing equipment, please feel free to sell it at your club’s booth. We are very happy if you want to sell “beer art”. These are items made with beer in mind, items made with beer parts or items made with beer geeks in mind. Feel free to sell these wonderful creations at your club’s booth, too.
TRASH:
We will have trash cans at various locations, along with recycling bins and plastic silverware collection boxes. (I clean and sterilize the silverware each year.) Please keep Mother Earth in mind when throwing things in the trash and recycling bins.
Sunday morning, if you have room in your vehicle, PLEASE take a trash bag or two. Take a bag of recycling and put it in your recycling bin at home. We will put the bags by a sign next to the road. We are grateful to those who so graciously helped by taking trash bags last year. The Beerstock staff’s vehicles are often overloaded with tables, tents and all of the other things it takes to put on Beerstock, and are hard pressed, each year, cramming in those last bags of trash as we are the last ones to leave the park on Sunday afternoon.
DOGS:
Friendly dogs are welcome at the park as long as you keep them with you on a leash and scoop their poop. Yes, they must remain on a leash and be well behaved even if they are from the planet Canineus Prime. Please be mindful, there were a few complaints in the past. As owner, you are responsible for their actions, well-being and enjoyment of the event. Bring your own plastic baggies for poop scooping. Trash cans are available in various locations around the event, as are porta-potties.
CAMPING AVAILABLE:
You are more than welcome to camp, in fact, we encourage it! This is a large park with beautiful, flat, green lawns. Don’t forget your flashlight! If you think you might be camping, let your Beerstock Rep know, so he or she can inform us. We need a fairly accurate count for planning the camping area and breakfast food. There will be breakfast available for those who sleep over provided by the Rotary club. You will receive a $2.00 off coupon for breakfast. Coffee is free, as will be some other breakfast snacks. Please don’t camp on the putting greens or pass out on the dom-jot table.
As requested, we’ll put a couple of porta-potties near the camping area.
NOTE: The camping area is for SLEEPING. If you want to keep partying, please do it in the Beerstock circle. Concerning noise, please be considerate of those sleeping around you, sounds carry far in the valley.
CURFEW?:
Well, we’ve never had one of these at Beerstock, but there have been some problems late at night in the past few years. I’m voting for everyone to try to go to bed by 2:00 am. This is just a suggestion--a general goal, of sorts, to plug into your noggin. We will request that the volume on music and other revelry in the Beerstock circle be turned to a lower volume around midnight.
CAMPER TRAILERS/ RV’s:
Great news! There is room for camper trailers & RV’s at the Ski Park in the parking area. There will be signs showing you where to park your campers, space ships or trailers in the parking lot. There are no RV hook-ups available. There will be maps showing where to park, camp, set-up, etc. at the check-in desk and at the entrance. The map will also be emailed to each club’s Beerstock Rep before the event that he or she can share with their club members.
Please, no camping, drinking or tap-dancing on the putting greens. (Yes, there is a 6-hole golf course on site.)
PARKING:
Please, carpool as much as possible, because it’s good for Mother Earth. Park your cars and land speeders in the back parking area.
WEB SITE:
Most information will be shared by email with your club via your club’s Beerstock Representative (Beerstock Rep). We ask that this person share the information we send with his or her club members by email and/or at club meetings. (Each club needs to choose a Beerstock Rep from your club to be in charge of this.)
We also have a yahoo groups web site and we hope it works soon when the new owner of Yahoo Groups gets organized. You will need a yahoo email address, but don’t’ worry, it’s free and easy to get one. After you join the Beerstock web site, you can change your email address to your usual one, if you would like. Google “yahoo groups” and search Beerstock 5060.
Here we will post this information sheet and some pictures of the event from past years. It is not an advertising web site that will send you posts every week, it is just a place for photos and this information to hang out. It is up to you, who have attended in the past, to generate excitement amongst your club members.
NO PUBLIC ADVERTISING:
We want to remind you that Beerstock 5060 rides a fine line and it is a “private” event organized through and for homebrew clubs. It cannot be advertised to the general public, this would make it illegal according the Washington laws. We dearly want Beerstock to be able to continue. This is why you don’t see advertisements for Beerstock at your homebrew shop or in breweries. It breaks our heart, but over the years we’ve had to ask a few folks to shut down Facebook Beerstock pages they’ve set up. We understand the need to have a central place to share Beerstock fun. Hopefully your club can find a more secure, less public place than Facebook to share communications and Beerstock plans. Facebook has become so public that people are losing their jobs over Facebook posts, or not getting hired because of posts on Facebook. (I have the strictest settings on my Facebook page, and still strangers leave strange comments on my posts. I am aware of the shortcomings of Facebook, and therefore, do not post anything about the robot pickles I am creating to take over the planet.)
MAIN BEERSTOCK STAFF:
Joe Germani, Brian Searfass, Lisa Searfass, Brian Craig, Daniel Howe, The Joys
We all volunteer to put on Beerstock 5060. We have lots of extra helpers and are grateful to all of them.
BEERSTOCK 5060-9, Saturday, August 11, 2018
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