Ommegang – Ft. Kent – Keller

So, I just got back from a great week long vacation, and I was all over the place!

Brewery Ommegang

See the rest of the pictures from Ommegang HERE.

The trip was kind of a three part trip, first to Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY, second to Ft. Kent, ME, and third to the Bottle and Cork in Dewey Beach, DE to see Keller Williams. It was both a long week and a fast week if that makes any kind of sense. It started last Friday July 31st with Erik, Robert, and myself going up to Brewery Ommegang to volunteer for their Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (BCTC) event. This is the third year Robert and I have done it and the first Erik has joined us. It was very similar to the last two, but with a couple legal changes. It seems Ommegang ran into some issues with the State of New York and beer festivals in between last years and this. For my volunteer shift I was pouring beer for a brewery from CT called Olde Burnside Brewing Company, they were pretty nice guys and I had a blast. Both Friday and Saturday nights were of course big party nights, tons of fun.

Ft Kent ME

See the rest of the pictures from Ft. Kent, ME HERE.

From Cooperstown we travelled to Ft. Kent, ME which is pretty much the northernmost most part of Maine. It was a 12 hour drive from Ommegang to Ft. Kent. We stayed at this cool lodge called the Trackdown Kennels & Lodge. It’s basically a hunters lodge, but since it was off season it was just a cool chill lodge for us to kick it in. We then spent the next two days with Robert’s family, who’s father is originally from Ft. Kent, for his parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. I originally was a little hesitant in going up, I had never even met his parents before, but soon after we met them I knew we would be OK. Ft. Kent is very laid back, almost additively so. Once I really got use to the vibe (which was just about when we were leaving) I could have kicked it there for quite a while. The Anniversary party was pretty much a family reunion with about 90 members of his family there and people traveling in from as far as AZ and CA, it was very cool.

Keller 22

See the rest of the pictures from Keller Williams HERE.

Then from Ft. Kent we travelled back to DE, it was about 13 hours, which is actually the fastest I have ever made that drive. I had been to Limestone, ME twice, which is very near Ft. Kent, and if my memory serves me right it was closer to 18 hours both times, so I was pleased to say the least. We got home about midnight-ish on Wednesday and on Thursday Robert, Karen, and I were leaving to head to Dewey Beach to see Keller Williams at the Bottle and Cork. There were a bunch of people we were meeting down there for the show; Craig, Alycia, Abby, and Wooly. The show was tons of fun though it took quite a while for the crowd to really get into it, lot of talking and such, but hey it’s a bar I guess. Keller played a ton of cover songs, so that’s both cool and also a little disappointing just because I would have liked to see more originals. Anyway, after the show we all went back to Abby’s dad’s beach house in Millville and hung up late and then got up early and got going. Friday Robert and I were wiped and we actually cut the beach portion of the trip a day short, originally planning on staying until Saturday.

Overall it was a really great trip, and a great way to spend a week off from work. Hopefully there will be more great trips like that in the future. If you want more details on anything or have any questions let me know, I just don’t feel like typing too too much right now.

4 Responses to “Ommegang – Ft. Kent – Keller”

  1. David Says:

    Dude – looks like a blast! Maine looks stunning!

    What were the changes you mentioned

    It was very similar to the last two, but with a couple legal changes. It seems Ommegang ran into some issues with the State of New York and beer festivals in between last years and this.

  2. Brian Says:

    Three that I noticed: (1) there were signs that said no alcohol in the campgrounds (yeah right, at a brewery weekend long campout beerfest…) (2) this year you had to use tickets to get a beer sample. The tickets were free and you you starter with 12 and could get as many more as you needed. Really after the first 30 minutes I don’t think any breweries were even taking them anymore. And (this is a big one) (3) all the breweries had to be registered with the State of New York. No big deal for anyone that distributes there, but a totally big deal for others that do not like Iron Hill, Stewart’s, Lost Abbey, and Russian River. They were given the opportunity to register, but it was a few hundred dollars and the process took a few months – so if everything wasn’t in line it wasn’t going to happen. Bizarre.

  3. John Says:

    Did they still hand out free cases of beer for helping?

  4. Brian Says:

    I wouldn’t call them “free”, but yeah, we got paid with a case of beer for every 4 hour shift we volunteered. It was actually tricky to add 3 cases of beer to the car when there wasn’t any extra room in the first place.

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