Drinking Beer: Festival

So, why is it called Finger Fest? I'm guessing that it is because of this lovable monstrosity: The Fingernail. It is alleged to be an acoustic shell---yeah, right. As to the analogy, I think most long fingernails are more or less symmetric, a property this landmark forwent to better do whatever it was intended to do. Certainly, its use of concrete and stucco is more creative than the Hollywood Bowl and other---more mundane---acoustic shells. Those colors. Course, what color could it be.

Be that as it may, it is a local favorite and dearly loved. Saturday, we set up the beer garden right in front of it, and had great seats for the music. Thai, Italian, Ribs, and sundry foods, were carried into the beer garden, but the beer had to stay in, which was just the way we liked it.

Interestingly, we were the only place in town where you could drink and smoke at the same time everywhere in the establishment. I don't smoke, but I know that more beer is sold when smokers are allowed to indulge. Directly by the smokers and indirectly by non-smokers trying to clear their throats. We had to shut down at 9pm, which was a bummer because we were probably doubling our income every hour by that time of day.

Money was important, because the state has changed the rules after lobbying by the bar and restaurant associations. A few years ago, we, as a non-profit, could buy the beer and charge a booth fee to bootstrap the finances. Later we could take a beer donation or a booth fee (rarely both). We as a club could make a few thousand dollars to give to, usually, childrens charities. After the lobbyists got through last year, we can't get donated beer or charge a booth fee. So with insurance costing up to $800 a day, the beer$, required fencing, armbands, you name it, we have started losing money on festivals. Presumably, that's what the lobbyists and legislators wanted to do: shut us down.

I had to work all day making it happen, so only a few beers---one of the hazards of helping put on these community happenings. A few, a brave few of the homebrew club ran the whole thing with the assistance of the winery reps talking about their wine.

In addition to the beers listed in the last post, we had three wines from Terra Blanca: Malbec, Cab Sav, and Viognier.

You can find the locations of the microbrewies whose beer we served and many more at the Washington Brewers Guild.