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!

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!

World of Beer - Westchase ARK Event

We had an opportunity to raise some money for the animal rescue at this event, and a huge thanks to Nicole and the other folks at WOB for helping us make this happen.  This is the happiest of situations for me in this business.  I love selling beer and I love making people happy.  But what I really love is to round all of this out with helping animals.  It's warming to have large and diverse groups of people come together, make the plans to help a good cause, and lots of people show up to support it.

Also, the folks at WOB agreed to donate $1 to ARK for every pint of Boulder Beer sold!  Again, a HUGE thanks to the folks at World of Beer.

Of course, this is a beer event and I was excited as all get-out to try the Nitro Flashback for the first time.  Boulder makes Flashback year-round, but this is a special occasion that they charge it with Nitro and I have yet to have had it.


Flashback is a dry hopped brown ale at just under 7% alcohol that has 5 additions of Cascade hops.  Massive citrus on this one and the balance created with the chocolate malt make for a very complex brew.  The nitrogen adds such a creamy characteristic to this beer and it also moderates some of the hops a tad.  The nitro is a beer that could do well as a year-round offering.

It began pouring rain, of course, at about 5:00 and the forecast showed no sign of reprieve.  This really sucked because the folks from ARK traveled all the way from DeLand for this event and I wanted it to be as successful as possible for the doggies.  They set up at the front of the building and created a nice showing as we were also auctioning off our limited release Sweaty Betty and Hazed & Infused posters.  This meant we were going to be taking donations at the door, WOB was making a very generous donation, and we were auctioning posters so this event was bound to be a success.

I met up with Beth from JJ Taylor and Nicole from World of Beer and we started getting some drink on.  I was also able to meet some of the doggies in the bunch including a beautiful and well-behave Pit Bull puppy that belonged to one of the bartenders.  It's always great to see the love that people have with their dogs, and especially to see them bring a Pit Bull out and show the world that they are not vicious killers.  


For Boulder drafts, they had Kinda Blue, Mojo Risin', and the aforementioned Flashback Nitro.   We began the night drinking on some Kinda Blue and needless to say I moved pretty quickly to the Risin' and to the Flashback, and back to the Risin', and back to the Flashback, and so on and so dizzy.  As I always say -  I love my job.  But I love it more when we get to make people happy AND support a great cause.  Cheers to everyone!  


NOTE:  When I was packing for my trip, I threw in a bottle of Port Brewing's Older Viscosity; a 12% bourbon barrel aged strong dark ale that pours like a river of 30 weight.  This brew is pretty rare and I have been waiting to share it for 2 years.  This seemed like the perfect time given the generosity of World of Beer and the hard work that everyone put into this event.  Needless to say it didn't disappoint.  This brew rates 100 out of 100 on ratebeer and it definitely was apparent why.  To make things even better, there was a loyal WOB customer who had just reached his 1000th beer, so we were able to share it with him.  Made for a great time and everyone loved this beer.  












 

ARK at Beer Festivals

In case you haven't run into the Renegade Reps at the Jupiter Beer Festival, the DeLand Craft Beer Festival, or the World of Beer CraftFest, you have missed the newest addition to our repertoire.  Over the past few weeks, we have been given permission by the event organizers to bring the Animal Rescue Konsortium (ARK) http://arkfl.rescuegroups.org/ to our events and raise money for this no-kill shelter.

Maximilian is a weimeraner / whippet mix

As a 3-Dog owner and many-time cat owner, I am so thrilled to be able to help out such a group.  There is a common thought among those who rescue animals that they are not sure who saved who.  I do not have the vocabulary to describe to anyone who has not experience this truth how true it is.  Saving an animal is restorative.  It can take a person who has given up on humanity and make them feel like there really is good in the world.  You get to be a part of a group of people who can look at another life form and feel like they really can make a difference.  You get to feel the genuine emotion and appreciation of a life force who knows that you made that difference.  And believe me folks,  saved animals do know that you saved them.....  

Mariah is Available for Adoption Now!

You may know that the Renegades themselves are donating 10% of our annual profits to this wonderful group of humanitarians, but you may NOT know that we have been able to gather some fine artists to lend their hands to making our fundraising both fun and effective.  Thanks also to Mr. Jeff Brown of Boulder Brewing allowing the Renegades to use the Boulder logos and branding to add some spice to this custom artwork.  The collective willingness of all of these people to give has given a new life and meaning to what I do, and I continually find myself feeling an overwhelming joy that I have not professionally felt before.

Let's face it, beer lovers are animal lovers.  What better thing than to take beer and animals and put them together to create an opportunity to enjoy one while saving the other? If you see ARK at one of our events, please be kind and donate to the cause.  You are sure to get some beer-related stuff as a "thank you."  In fact, we'd like to change culture into thinking of SWAG (Stuff We All Get) into a new term, SALG (Stuff Animal Lovers Get)!!

The dogs pictured here are available now.  For the month of February, if you adopt a pet at ARK the Renegades will reward you with a 6 pack of craft beer to enjoy while learning your new family member.