Imminent Liquidation - The Aftermath

First off, I'd like to extend personal gratitude to Paul Pendyck and the staff of The General Sutter Inn and Bulls Head Public House in Lititz, PA for hosting the inaugural "Imminent Liquidation" bottle share event.  Also, a big "thank you" to my fellow Team D(r)INK members Brandi, Dan and Kristen, Dain and Jill, Heath and Kim, and Deuane and Carolyn for assisting me with the planning and execution of this event.  Finally, a shout-out to Dean for coming early and helping out!

OK, now that the formalities are out of the way, let's talk beer.  And let me tell you, there was PLENTY flowing on Saturday afternoon in little ol' Lititz, PA!  Brandi, Dean and I arrived at The General Sutter at around 10:30am on a misty March 5th morning to set up some things for the event.  Dan, Kristen, Dain and Jill met us there early to help out, but to my surprise, the folks at the General Sutter were about three steps ahead of us, having already set up the water and rinse stations, seating, greeting table, raffle tickets and gift cards.  Paul was also preparing a special firkin of Jolly Pumpkin Nightmare Before Vicious (a sour wheat IPA), which Al's of Hampden in Enola, PA graciously donated for the event.

Firkin of Jolly Pumpkin "Nightmare Before Vicious"

  After enjoying a few samples (and getting in my lone beer review of the afternoon), people started to arrive, bottles started popping, and beer began to flow.  At first, it was extremely difficult to actually enjoy a sample of beer, because as soon as I'd pour something, somebody would come over to me with another awesome bottle.  When attending an event like this, you really need to avoid getting caught up into the "quantity over quality" competition, because you will surely LOSE!  Indeed, it is extremely difficult to pace yourself when ten beers you've never had before are suddenly flowing before your very eyes!  Needless to say, I'm not the "noob" I was a few years ago, so I was able to be a bit more selective, thus reducing my chances of becoming too inebriated to really enjoy the event.  Some of my personal highlights of the day were: East End Gratitude '05 (Al from Al's of Hampden brought a vertical run of '05 through '09!); Ithaca 13; Captain Lawrence Smoke from the Oak aged in Rum Barrels; and Three Floyds Broo Doo (I actually brought this... never had it before!).  Check out some pictures of the spread below...

Beer aside, it was also a fantastic, incident-free social event that brought together lots of folks from all around Central PA.  I received tons of positive feedback from all attendees about the venue, staff and food, so I am confident that "Imminent Liquidation" will become an annual beer event and gathering.  If you missed out on the festivities, never fear... things look promising for the Second Annual Central PA Bottle Share Event!  Cheers!

Me, Dan, Paul and Deuane