Making Good On Our Promise To The Elderly

Rip Getting The Good Stuff to the Office

After several scheduling snafus, we finally were able to get together and gather the needed items for the tree for the Council on Ageing.  It's a good thing too, because the deadline was drawing near and we needed to get a move-on.

The trip to Costco is a tad away from Volusia County, so we packed up some beverages, A giant Chimay light up sign for Redlight Redlight, and a (we were soon to find out) delicious raspberry moonshine provided by my buddy Brett Maverick.

Getting to Costco was no problem.  Getting into Costco, no problem.  Picking up Depends and Ensure - somewhat awkward.  Of course, this was a big part of why we chose the Council on Ageing to help out this year.  I find an added benefit to charity is that you can arbitrarily put yourself in uncomfortable spots just for the sake of seeing how you will react to the situation.  We did get some funny looks while we were shopping and when Rip asked the person at the counter if they had Gold Bond, we could see all of the people in the pharmacy pointing and talking about us. Who knows - maybe they thought we were shopping for our grandparents.  Maybe they thought we were pulling a prank.  Who knows.

When we took the shopping cart to the front and the cashier started pulling our supplies out of the cart, I did explain to her what was up.  Standing there for the entire time it would take to check out would have been a tad weird, and I didn't want to do that to her.

Out the door and out to the car, we loaded up the supplies and popped open the moonshine that Maverick gave me.  Holy Moly smooth.  I had gotten a bottle of strawberry shine from him in the past and made some great strawberry moonshine frosting for a brownie cake that I made for a party at Davinci's.  That stuff was good.  This stuff - next level.  No burn, no pain, just good.

Heading home, we decided to stop in at Casey's on the Corner for some good grub before we headed to the County Building.  We always get treated well by the folks at Casey's and they are kind enough to have veggie dogs for those of us unfortunate enough to be non meat eaters.  Having a Veggie Chicago Dog at Casey's is one of my favorite things to do in DeLand and it seems extremely appropriate to indulge in such a treat today.  Add to that some beer, and it is a fine day indeed.

We sauntered into Casey's and saw they had Sam Adam's Winter Lager in, so it seemed like a no-brainer.  I ordered the veggie quesadillas (which are unbelievably delicious) and a Veggie Chicago Dog.  Mary at Casey's is always nice about letting me choose the veggies in my quesadillas, so I'm able to switch it up.  And of course, that most delicious of dogs, the Chicago Dog and an MGD to finish it off.

So off to drop off The Good Stuff at the County Building.  As I had documented in a prior post, this was the scene of a gut-wrenching realization to me that there are a massive number of people right under our noses who do not wants bicycles, Apple products, or any other ego-building gift for Christmas.  Many people, I found, just need some necessities to keep them going.  Not an epiphany that I'm particularly proud of.  These facts are staring us in the face all the time - just a moment to stop and witness it gave me some clarity.


Rip and I walk into the County Building and there was a young couple looking at the tree and pulling some of the angels off the tree.  This gave me a good deal of hope.  Being that the tree was not in a very conspicuous spot, the fear was that it would be up and forgotten with little attention paid to it.  Many of the angels that had previously sat on the tree were now gone, a good sign.     

Making the delivery was a great feeling.  Both myself and Rip felt it and we immediately started the inevitable discussion on what it is going to be like to get older and perhaps be left in that same type of situation.  Not a great conversation, but certainly one that concerns all of us from time to time.

As a company, Renegade Reps has yet to realize its full potential.  This year has definitely taught me that charity has to play a major role in our business model in order for us to maintain the momentum we need to keep going.  It is rejuvenating to give and we need that when times get tough and we seem to work a lot for a little bit of gain.  We are discussing of course, the many fundraisers we will do for ARK and I would like to continue to help the elderly.  Personally, I'm considering doing a major walk of some sort.  Something that can provide a challenge both physically and mentally.

Whatever the continuation of our business throws at us, we have given the upcoming year a name.  That name is 2013:  The Year of Good.  Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Cupcakes and Charity

Doing things for other people has a rejuvenating effect on you.  Being a naturally pessimistic person, it helps me on a personal level.  It's also nice to be able to bring beer and animals together.  I find that beer people tend to be dog lovers and it's a natural tie-in to fund raise for animals under the beer platform.  This being said, I had a particularly rejuvenating and inspirational experience this past Saturday.

In addition to my other fun activities, I work with the Cornell Alumni Network to "pre-interview" students in the local area who are applying to Cornell University.  It's fun and I've gotten to meet some really amazing kids.  I was able to meet an applicant this past weekend that I really hope gets into my Alma Mater.

I was notified in plenty of time by the Alumni Network to contact the applicant and completely forgot about the request.  It wasn't until I received a reminder a week before my report was due that I realized that contacted the student and asked if we could meet.  She contacted me back almost immediately and gave some times we could meet.  It was a very busy week for me and my time was very short, so I asked if we could multi-task and meet up at a fund raiser I was doing for The Animal Rescue Konsortium, the animal rescue who we do our charity work with.

The reply I got was awesome.  It read:

Mr. Carpenter,

The fundraiser sounds great! Does 12 pm work for you?

I am a huge advocate for rescue animals, having three myself and certifying one as a therapy dog. On this note, I am the founder of Kate's Charity Cakes, a non-profit organization that sells homemade baked goods and donates 100% of proceeds to different charitable organizations. If you would like, I am willing to bake some animal themed cupcakes that you can sell for your cause. If it wouldn't tie in, since I don't know what is planned, then I look forward to the interview.

Thank you,

Katie Batchelor

What luck!  As it turns out, Miss Katie Batchelor not only offered to do something incredibly kind for ARK, but also gave me a great argument for why she should be admitted into Cornell.

As it turns out, not only did she create delicious pastries to donate for the fundraiser, she completely caught me and everyone else off-guard for the quality of the work.  Each one of the cupcakes she delivered was very highly detailed and were perfect for the occasion.  The cupcakes were unbelievably delicious and the buzz quickly got around the fundraiser about how great they were.  In the end, we sold every one for $5 each!  This is a windfall for ARK, who operate from a very small budget.  Needless to say, Katie's contribution will be felt for a long time.

It is easy to get bogged down in business and not see the kindness all around us.  Again, I have a terrible streak of pessimism that I have to beat out of myself every now and then and re-establish my childhood faith in humanity.  Coming across folks like Katie provides a great aid in doing so.

If anyone would like to show Katie some support, help her with her business, or shoot her a kind note to tell her you appreciate her kindness, her charity's contact info is:

Kate's Charity Cakes

KatesCharityCakes@yahoo.com

Here's to everyone at ARK, to the folks at Davinci for allowing us to hold our fundraiser there, to those who came out to support, and to Katie and her mother for doing such a kind thing for ARK.  Cheers!  

Charity for the Elderly

At this time of year, it seems like every person you come across wants you to donate for a cause they really believe in.  It gets so common that you may become desensitized to it.  I'm guilty of it too - I always ask for people to donate to a local animal rescue that I really believe in.

This past weekend, I came across one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen.  I was cutting through the lobby in the County Building in Volusia to use the restroom and there was a Christmas tree with those ubiquitous angels on it.  Figuring it was a tree for needy kids, I started turning the little requests around and was expecting to find "a new bike," an "Optimus Prime talking mask," or even a "Fragglestick Car."  What I found was foreign to me.  I found things I didn't comprehend at that moment.

I was seeing words like "depends" and "sweatshirts" . For a few seconds I was dumbfounded.  That was when I realized it wasn't a tree for kids who need toys, this was a tree for the elderly who were in dire need.  The fact that they were in need was not so dreadful - there are tons of needy people on this planet.  The elderly are not exempt from hard times.  The dreadful part was not that they needed things, the pain lay in what they needed.  

The list of needed items does not go much beyond basic toiletries, towels, clothing, and cleaning supplies.  How bad off do you need to be to want cleaning supplies for Christmas?

It's a painful reality sometimes in this land of plenty.  I live comfortably in a nice house, drive a new-ish car, buy a great bottle of whiskey whenever I want it.  We have so much in the United States, how is it that any group simply gets left behind to such a degree that their Christmas Wish is solely utilitarian and necessary for basic comforts?  I have my own opinions, but that's not important.

If there are any groups that regularly conduct fund-raising efforts and need to find a beneficiary from time-to-time, maybe consider an elderly group.  As a civilian, I know I have forgotten about the needs of these folks.  And if you are reading this and have a desire to help out, the tree is located in the Volusia County Services Building and the donation center is in Room 100 in that same building (same room as Veterans Services).

We're going to try to get something going between now and Christmas so please keep your eyes peeled.  Cheers!

Hobgoblin and the World of Beer in Viera

The Goblin has officially hit the east coast of Central Florida!!!  The approach of Halloween allows us for one month to get a sighting on the elusive and clever, yet friendly English Ale - Hobgoblin.

When the Renegades began putting together these little events to highlight the delicious Goblin and offered up  some really cool mugs to go with them, we had no idea what the demand would be, or that it would be so high!  Our idea was to get some Hobgoblin mugs out to a few bars and get some Goblin into the mugs and into the hands of consumers.  Not a lofty goal, but definitely something to build on, right?


As it turns out, the demand for the Goblin and the support mugs has been more tremendous than any of us expected and we have already run short on mugs.  In fact, every event that we have done with the Goblin has resulted in the mugs lasting no longer than 90 minutes and the Goblin being poured out so fast that the bartenders have to line up to get it poured.  The bars have even had to change the rules to allow for refills at a discount.  This has worked out extraordinarily well!

Renegade Rip was at this event at the World of Beer in Viera and had a great time.  The event itself began at 4:00 and (as earlier stated) the mugs did not last until the sun was down.

Luckily, the World of Beer staff was also carrying some of the sister components of the Hobgoblin family, Scarecow Organic Ale and Wychcraft.  The Scarecrow is in limited availability on draft here in Florida (I believe only 5 kegs came to the state) and its Organic stature makes it a beer that everyone wants to try and invariably enjoys.  Wychcraft was in bottle form.  The Wychcraft is a biscuit-y blonde sporting Fuggles and Styrian Golding hops to give it that "obviously English" character.

Scarecrow, himself on draft at this time, is a citrus-y Golden made with organic barley malt and hops.  Rarely seen in the United States on draft, it is very exciting to see the Scarecrow here in the states.


Between the three of these English brews, the night seemed to belong to England and her under-appreciated malted wonders.  It's great to see these brews gaining presence and getting their names out there.  I myself, am especially hopeful that I will get to try some Scarecrow on draft before it is gone.

Looks like Renegade Rip gets all the fun and I'm left having to write about his Adventures with the Renegade Reps.  But as I sit and pour myself a pint of Monty Python's Holy Ale, I do not feel so bad after all.  Cheers!

Solar Bears Out Of Hibernation

The Renegade Reps love 'em some hockey.  Woefully, being fans of northeastern sports - none of us have had a team to pull for in the state of Florida.  That all changed when the Orlando Solar Bears announced they would return to the ice.  I myself have seen the Solar Bears live some years ago before their league folded.  I dug the vibe of the Home Team and was not at all happy when the league went under.

Well, earlier this year the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) announced they had approved the Minnesota Wild affiliate Orlando Solar Bears to "come out of hibernation."  Season tickets?  Oooooh yeah!

Game 1 finally comes around on Friday, October 20 and off to the game we go.

First of all, the Arena was sold out and the crowd was abuzz over the new team.  The food vending has improved from hot dogs and popcorn to all types of adventurous food (for a stadium) and they have installed a Gentleman Jack Lounge and lots of Jack Daniels at the bars.  This makes me personally very happy, being a lover of Jack, but they threw in an extra bonus that I did not even know - they charge the same price for Jack, Single Barrel Jack, and Gentleman Jack!  Not that a $9.00 pour makes you feel great, but at an arena, nine bucks for Gentleman Jack does not sting so much.

On that front, the arena has also brought in some craft beers from Craft Brewers Alliance (Kona, Widmer, Red Hook, etc.) and have picked up Guinness and Heineken.  Not so bad for Florida.

When the team announcements began and the crowd was fully seated, the energy was insane.  When the players came onto the ice, being introduced one-by-one it was easily apparent that this team was here to stay.  There was an immediate love between these fans and this new franchise.  The biggest cheers came for team captain Ryan Cruthers, in part due to the simple fact that he is captain, but he had also been the team's top goal scorer thus far and had led the team to an 8-2 win the previous night at the Florida Everblades out of Estero.

The visiting team jumped out to a 1-0 lead and that was quite a buzz kill.  However, when the Solar Bear Mathew Siska netted the next goal, the place went total bat-shit.  It was incredible.  The sirens, the lights, the cheers and whistles of the crowd - unreal.

This Solar Bears team is very soft on the boards, but is certainly not afraid to throw off the gloves and get down.  They are also not afraid to use their bodies to block shots.  Patiently aggressive, watching this team is gonna rock.

The game continued on with the teams swapping goals and tying 3-3 going into overtime.  After a 5 minute overtime, it was shootout time.  The first 5 scorers did not hit the back of the net, so it became and goal-for-goal situation with the Everblades shooting last.  Scary to watch.  The Bears finally took a lead when the 6'5" Kyle Medvec skated toward the net and just let loose a massive slapshot over the goalie's stick side.  That score was met, unfortunately by the next Everblades skater and the shootout continued until Sean Lorenz hit the back of the net, leaving goalie John Curry to save the day.

When the Everblades skater tried to put the puck to the blocker side, he was stuffed and the crowd once again blew the roof off the arena.  An unbelievable way to bring a team back to their home crowd.

This game had it all - tons of fights, awesome goal scoring, and a shootout victory to ice the cake.  This year is gonna be great.  Cheers!

Boulder Beer Cold Hop at ABBEY

I finally, finally, finally got some Cold Hop local to me!  Drinking one as I write this and I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

For those who are not initiated - Cold Hop is Boulder Beer's release as a British Style Pale Ale, the brewery's description as such:

"With a nod to our founders' roots as homebrewers, we tapped into the expertise of an old chum, Charley Papazian, author of "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing".  Expanding on one of his favorite recipes by giving it our own twist, our brewers crafted Cold Hop - a cult favorite here at Boulder Beer Company.  Rich golden malts from Great Britain combined with rare, aromatic and flavorful Czech and New Zealand hops make up the backbone of Cold Hop, our modern take on British-style ale."

At 6.3% ABV and 46 IBUs, this brew is made with Willamette, Czech, Saaz, Hallertau, Hercules, and what is apparently a massive amount of Nelson Sauvin hops.  Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaah!  A grapefruit lover's sticky and resinous wet dream.  

We ran into this great brew on draft for the first time this year in South Florida and have been dying to get some draft in our local market.  Well, ABBEY hooked it up last night.  My Sunday is spent drinking on the Cold Hop.

Get down to ABBEY quick and ask for some of this unbelievable brew.  But don't ask for too much 'cause I need my fair share.  Cheers!

Bourbon Barrel Aged "Bad Moon Risin" at Davinci

Boulder Brewing made one of those serendipitous mistakes that turned into gold when they produced the "Bad Moon Risin'.  I place it in parenthesis because apparently the brewery was issued a Cease and Desist by a Maryland brewery who owned the name and summarily changed it to "Black IPA".  There was so little of it, who cares.  The point is that the original "Bad Moon Risin' was an unbelievably delicious and boozy 10% black IPA that occurred when a brewer accidentally placed some black malt on top of the Mojo Risin IPA and created this dark, roasty, hoppy brew.

No matter anyway, since we only got two 5 gallon kegs of it in Florida with no promise of it going much further than that.  If you remember, we reviewed this a bit ago when a select two bars got the early edition of Bad Moon Risin' and we drowned our happiness in its' deliciousness.

So I got word a bit ago that they had held some back and aged it in Bourbon Barrels.  Whaaaaaaaaat?

We distributed these two kegs to two of our favorite Florida locations - The Ale and the Witch in St. Petersburg and Cafe Davinci in DeLand.  Renegade Vinnie was lucky enough to work The Ale and the Witch event which actually occurred during the New Moon.  The second keg, the one at Davinci is laying in wait.  Keep your eyes peeled and "yaw eah to the groindstone" and we'll announce the tapping at Davinci.  Cheers!

Daytona Beer Festival and a Firkin

We were able to do a fundraiser for the Animal Rescue Konsortium coupled with a beer festival in Daytona, and got a firkin to boot.  I was really looking forward to this one!

Woefully, I met up with Josher at Davinci the night before for ONE since I wanted to meet up with Mr. Dan Reed to talk about an event we had coming up.  Given that Josher won't let you walk away from a bar without offering to buy you enough drinks to put an Irish dockworker under the table, I had a terrible headache that morning and really did not feel like drinking.  This sucked because I knew there would be a ton of great beer at this one and a lot of other reps to drink with.  Add to this, we had a second firkin from Lazy Magnolia and given how I felt about the first one, I really didn't want to miss out on this one.

So Renegade Rip came to pick me up at the house to carry out to Beach street for set-up around noon.  The event didn't start till 2:00, so I figured maybe I could heal a bit before the event started and get on some brew once we started pouring.

We got set up at the booth being accompanied by the staff at Davinci, whcih made me really happy.  Good folks and fun, and I figured I could sneak away and be part of the firkin getting tapped in the pumpkin patch that was being set up for the pumpkin beers.  By the way, that is an awesome idea setting up a pumpkin patch like that this time of year, an idea that should be stolen......

Once we got all set up, Mr. Rob Nelson came over because I told him we'd split off a Westvleteren since he wasn't feeling 100% the previous night for the Trappist Dinner and missed out on the Westies we were pouring.  May as well get some hair of the dog.  What a spoiled life we live to have some Westvleteren as hair of the dog - in plastic cups no less.


Either way, it cured my pounding head and I was now ready to slurp and burp.  It worked out well also because I was sharing a booth with Terrapin and Bell's and really wanted some Moo-Hoo and Hopslam.  So the first thing I did was pop open a bottle of Moo-Hoo.  Maybe not the best beer for the hot weather, but I haven't had one in a bit and I love this beer.  Of course, the Hopslam was to follow.  Aaaand then of coourse I split a Sweaty Betty and an Indian Summer with Rip afterward.  Feelin' pretty good at this point.

We get rolling and Vinnie calls me over to pop the firkin.  This firkin as described by the brewery, by the way was:

Southern Gold with pumpkin, brown sugar, nutmeg, and aged rum-infused vanilla bean.

CUMINAYAY-HAAAAAAH!

I get over to the pumpkin patch and we get the firkin all set up.  Without a rubber mallet, we had to use a hammer and wrap some towels around it.  Not too sure about it, but oh well.  I grabbed the hammer and hit the bung a few times, which was not budging.  After gathering some balls after getting heckled by the guys, I finally got a good whack on it and the faucet was in.  Of course, there was beer spraying everywhere, but collateral damage as far as I'm concerned.  Once the cask got aerated a little bit, we were finally ready to pour some out.  I look up and there appears to be an endless sea of cups stretched out at me for a taste.  

Holy Cow was this beer good. Everything that was in it shone through in perfect balance.  I really thought I had hit the mother lode with the fresh peach firkin we got from Lazy Magnolia last week, but man was this one close if not better.  Add to that, I had a ride home.

I was able to get a pitcher poured and walk it over to the booths to let the volunteers have some.  Twice I had to go back for refills before I even got to the booths because people stopped me for some.  Quite a compliment.  Once I did get to the booths, it didn't last long.  Back and forth, back and forth - and lovin' it.  This brew was definitely the hit of the event.  I myself found I couldn't get enough and was drinking it like water.  In fact, at one point I lost my pitcher and filled up a Diet Coke can with some of that goodness.  Unreal.

Top off all this good beer with an appearance from Daneaux of Mermaid Juice fame tapping some Dave-O IPA that he had made.  Long story on this brew and I will post about it later.

All-in-all a great day and a massive THANK YOU to Renegade Rip for being the driver.  Safety first and my day would have been a lot different if I had to rely on my own wheels to get me home.  Cheers!