So many beers, so few words. That has been my Modus Operandi over the past few weeks. I think I might change the name from Beer Living to The Beer Mime. If ‘The Artist’ (a silent movie) can win the 2012 Oscar for best picture, maybe Beer Living can win some award for best silent blog of 2012. Or in the words of Marcel Marceau, ” ” .
But I did have one beer story to relate. A few weeks ago we attended the 3rd Annual Deland Craft Beer Festival. We had a great time (which I will share with you when I get out of the glass box I’m trapped in……ah..sorry for another mime reference). At the festival we swung by the Orange Blossom Pilsner booth vehicle and had some great beer poured by head Orange Blossom Pilsner honcho Tom Moench. Orange Blossom Pilsner, Orange Blossom Pilsner 2, and Toasted Coconut Porter are all beers that I enjoy a lot. But when I saw Tom I was reminded of an incident at another beer festival years ago. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember it. Zoom backwards in time about 7 years ago. There used to be an annual beer festival at Universal City Walk (Orlando) . The first 3 or 4 years it was a nice event. But then the smaller brewers started leaving and the festival was overrun by offerings from the mega brewers. In addition to the number of beers decreasing, the number of people attending increased drastically. Beer tents would run out of beer a couple of hours into the festival. The remaining tents then had huge lines. We are talking 20 -30 minute lines. All for a 2 ounce pour. Needless to say that was our last year we attended. But back to Tom and the Orange Blossom Pilsner connection. So we were standing in this long slow moving line at the Universal City Walk beer festival for some beer that was rumored to exist at the end. The slowness of the line coupled with the empty beer cups were really starting to get the crowd riled up. And here comes Tom with a pitcher of OBP (Orange Blossom Pilsner) in each hand pouring beers to the people in the middle of the beer line. He ran out about 4 people in front of us and disappeared. I’m sure I might have sighed out loud as I relegated myself to standing in the line. But then he reappeared with 2 more full pitchers of OBP. As he poured beer into my clear Lexan festival cup, I remember him saying that these lines were way out of control and no one should have to wait in lines this long without a beer. Of course the beer tasted great and I’ve continued to enjoy his beers since. If you have never tried the beers, check them out. Quite tasty.
Now I’m off to continue my walk against the strong wind…….
Tom Moench of Orange Blossom Pilsner