AlphaBeer Makes The Grade

For two weeks leading up to October 22 I didn’t get much sleep. I kept having nightmares about K and Q and X and the rest of the alphabet. I wondered, would I be able to find N? Would O be in stock? And just how many pounds of pretzels could a room full of beer drinkers actually eat?

October 22, you see, was the fourth edition of AlphaBeer. And I’m happy to report that not only did we successfully try twenty-six craft beers, one for each and every letter of the alphabet, but we did it having an absolutely amazing time.

There were several attendees who’d been to a previous AlphaBeer. One gent informed me that he’d only missed one out of the four. Several others asked, before the night was even over, when there would be another. That is a testament to all of the people that made such a great event possible.

First of all, special thanks to The Blackstone Hotel. They went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect. I asked for the space, access to a large cooler, pitchers and bowls for each table, and ice. Not only did they provide those but they also set up the room, provided a riser and podium for our speaker, put every single beer that I’d been delivering in the previous two days on ice, set up each table with the cups and pretzels I’d brought and even set up glasses, pads of paper and pens for each seat, and stayed with us to make sure everyone was happy. Truly, truly phenomenal service that left me in awe.

Huge thanks go to Kyle McHugh. He truly is an expert and has a passion for the art of craft brewing that showed in each letter he introduced. Next time you want to pick up a libation of any sort, visit him at Drinks Over Dearborn and he’ll get you exactly what you need.

Thanks to popchips for donating boxes and boxes of their delicious – and only 100 calorie – bags of potato goodness! I think I ended up running more chips than beer that night….

Everyone would have gone thirsty if it weren’t for my fantastic AlphaBeerCrew! Jeff Brown, Tammie Josifovich, Agatha Kublaski, Nkosi White, and Jeanelle Sims poured for a room full of beer lovers for over three hours! That’s a lot of work and they did a great job!

Relive the evening with me through these great pictures taken by Jim Goodrich (and a few by Cara Carriveau). Cheers!