Good lord I am tired. I didn't think I'd make it into work today but I'm here. Posting of course, ha ha.

Ok, let me hit my quick thoughts before they get out of my head:

1. There will be a Dragon Brew Swap 3 next year at MOTD.
2. It will be in the same location, the rec room at the Adventure Center.
3. The capacity will NOT be increased. From a quick polling of the swappers this year's crowd was perfect. The room was full but not crowded.
4. The Beerlympics were much more popular than I imagined. It was like pulling teeth to get 4 teams together for it and no one else ever expressed an interest in it. But that was some crowd cheering everyone on. It'll be bigger next year.
5. I've enlisted Jsouz to officially do the play by play again next year since he did such a great job this year. Thanks so much for doing that.
6. I'll see about having the beerlympics up on the stage next year so all can see.
7. I need more workers for next year. My volunteers this year were outstanding. A HUGE thank you to Barry, Robin, Collin, Jeff, Holly, Eric, Carol, Cherie, Francis, Greg, Teresa, Jonathan, Scott, John, Steve & Pam, Tori, Rick and anyone else that lended a hand. You enabled me to enjoy myself more this year than last year.
8. The prizes were a royal pain in the *** this year despite my streamlining of the process. I received a complaint that they didn't get announced as I had planned at 8pm. The person that complained was quite rude and all I have to say is, **** happens man. You can have a plan and a schedule but you can only do what you can do. This was a lot of work and the prizes shouldn't be your main priority. If they are then go buy lottery tickets and skip my event next year.
9. Prizes will be very limited next year if at all. I'll probably get a custom Whalen **** made again and maybe 2 other prizes and that's it. The focus here needs to be the beer and the beerlympics.
10. We had Kirby from the Capital Brewery and Mike from Lakefront Brewery in attendance. Both are Brewmasters at their respective breweries. I'd like to get more brewer to the event so that we can learn more about beer, how its made, how to properly pour a glass, when to chill glasses, etc, etc.
11. I'll gladly take suggestions and comments. Please try to phrase them that way instead of complaining. I've already received several very good suggestions (Beerlympics on the stage, 4 check in lines for the first hour) which I'll incorporate into next year. So please, feel free to give me yours so we can improve on the event.
12. There will be no waivers to "sign" or bring next year. When you go to purchase a ticket through the NAM store you'll electronically agree to the waiver there and we can skip that whole process at the door. That should help things. Thank you to everyone in line who chided me with a good sense of humor about the "fast line". I still think everyone got in quicker than last year but there's much room for improvement and we will do so.
13. People using that side door was a problem. We have a main door and check in table for a reason. If you need to bring in beer early we can make arrangements but next year I plan to have that door locked from the outside and anyone using that door will be asked to stop.
14. Trash this year was reduced from last year. That was a nice surprise given the crowd was twice the size. Spillage was also in the normal range and less than last year. I attribute that to the extra space to where people aren't elbow to elbow. Thanks to everyone who cleared their area before leaving. For the ones who left their trash, I'm tellin' your mama.
15. I want to thank the Home Brewers. This was my first time doing that and there's a lot of improvement needed there. I apologize for not having the judges' notes for you. I'm working on finding them and if I do I'll get them to you ASAP. I'll also be scanning and emailing you the recipes from the others. I do hope you consider doing it again next year.
16. I'll be officially changing my name on here soon to BrewSwapGuy. Why? Cause I am tired of explaining PassatDoTd and more people are beginning to know me as the guy who puts on the Brew Swap. When I signed up on NAM I was not yet sold on the MINI. I used my handle that I was using on some VW forums for my wife's VW Passat. The DOTD was my employer at the time, the Department Of Transportation & Development.
17. Please tell me what you liked and disliked about the Swap this year. Will you come back again next year? What can I do to make it more fun? What do you want to see? Let me know by posting here.

Thank you all for making it such a great event. I may do the planning but you guys make it such a great event.

I'll see some of you in August, the rest of you I'll see next year. We should have a cabin next year as well so you'll need to stop by and see us!

Matt

 

Matt,

Great job this year. I just realized I forgot to get you that Creemore Springs lager. I will bring you a six-pack next year!! Promise. Thanks for all your hard work.

 

Matt this was by far the most exiting event I have been to... just too much fun for one place...

thanks for your hard work... and if I can help lemme know

 

Show up next year with that tiara, those sunglasses and the 1st place medal around your neck. Then try and add a second 1st place medal to your collection.

 

awwww yeah!

 

No complaints whatsoever. I had a great time and am looking forward to next year. Speaking of which, can I sign up now? Thanks Matt and all the other volunteers who helped out!

 

Lots of Fun Matt! As I was a last minute sub I was not prepared for the Olympics but it was still fun, but "angry losers" need medals too.

 

I had lots of fun, thanks for letting me in and all the hard work

 

Matt,

I think the Swap went flawless. The location was 10 times better than last year. Regarding the drawing, I had to leave early, for the Drive-In movie, but winning a prize was not my reason for being there... the trading of beers was the reason.

I will be glad to volunteer next year.

Great job as always. Look forward to BS3 next year.

 

Sometime in the near future I will have the list of what beers I was able to write down.
I hope I got them all...With 250 people and with all the beer in attendance, I may have missed a couple. Please let me know if I missed yours and I will put it in the official scribe notes!

 

Matt,
I had a great time indeed and certainly plan on being back for the DragonBeerSwap 3 and possibly even MOTD 6.

I can't think of any improvements though.

People seemed to like the beer I brought and I liked all the beer I got, well, all my friends seem very imressed. At the brew swap I introduced quite a few people to Cola Weizen, which is half Coke and half wheat beer, a drink very popular in Germany and pretty much on any bar/restaurant menu.

Most everybody who tried it was seemingly pleasantly surprised.



I'll be better prepared and will have a partner in crime, most likely my girl friend. It was tough representing at the own table and visiting other tables at the same time. I'll also bring smaller sample cups.

 

I had a great time both volunteering & swapping. I can't think of any improvements. My only complaint is that when I got home I put all my beer in the fridge & now I don't have much room for food. Ahhhh well I guess I better get to drinking

 

Well he hadn't won the medal yet, but...

Matt, awesome job on the swap, it turned out to be an amazing event!
It seems mathematically impossible, but it sounds like everyone came home with more than they came with. I think that running the events next year is an excellent idea, but I'd probably can the trivia event. Personally, I'm all about trivia and especially beer trivia, but it just seemed like it took long to do it. All in all, a total success!

BTW, Chris thanks for all the beer man! When I got home, Stacey had a big ol' smile on her face when she saw all that in the cooler!

 

A few of us took a road trip to Sylva, NC to visit the Heinzelmaennchen Microbrewery and pick up a few growlers of their altbier. Dieter, the brewmaster there, would be an excellent person to invite.

We're already planning the 2nd annual "More Beer, Fewer Speed Trap Troopers Growler Run" for next year's MOTD

 

Multiple replies to the posts above:

Amy, no you can't sign up now. But be sure and do so next year right when it opens. This year it took 30 days to sell out. I'm hoping it goes faster next year.

David, you did the best you could on the shortest of notice. No sweat. Thanks for filling in on that team as they would have been out if they hadn't gotten a 4th. No medals for 4th place. You should be shamed.

Suji, glad you enjoyed yourself. Keep the car on all 4 wheels next MOTD.

Steve, glad to hear you thought this year was improved from last year. I think we've definitely found our home for the event. And the people who left weren't SOL on the prizes. I have around 6 or 7 that I'm holding for people who left the swap. As long as they'll pay me the actual cost to ship them I'll send them on out to them.

Stacey, thanks for being the scribe. I can't wait to see the list and check out what was brought from where.

Herbert, I'm so glad you reminded me about the Cola Weizen. I'm going to try that this week!

Ash, I've heard quite a few people say they left with more than they came. Some of the non-drinkers brought beer anyway to give out to people, others just had too much and didn't want to take it. If I had a car this year I would have gladly scooped up any left overs.

And yes, trivia is gone for next year. It did take awhile but shortening it just seems a waste as its more fun with lotsa questions. Don't worry, 3 new events will arise and I'm pretty sure one will be Thumpers (also known by a thousand other names).

Terry, can you get me the contact information for Dieter?

 

Matt,

Great time, great event!. I didn't swap but what i had in growlers to give in samples went fast. Met some great people and just had a blast.

Oh yes, the prize I won will be put to good use.

 

Sure!

His URL is http://www.yourgnometownbrewery.com/.

He and his wife are both great folks. They suggested a place for us to grab a bite to eat within walking distance while they filled our growlers, and the food was fantastic! We then walked back to the brewery to pick up our growlers, but didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Dieter since he was "running an errand". Turns out he was down at the parking lot checking out our MINIs

Edit: Just found a picture that ProfessorZoom took of us hanging out with Dieter. He's the guy in the purple shirt, and the microbrewery is the building directly behind his head.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/penfold...7600182927215/

 

Terry,

Thanks for the link. I'll email him sometime soon just as a heads up for next year and I'll add him to my spreadsheet so I remember to contact him again at the end of the year.

Paul,

Let me know how that Brewery tour is.

 

No problem Matt. I got a shirt and glass I hadn't planned on, plus I got to drink more beer. I'm good.

One thing I would suggest to attendees: Bring a partner. It's hard to work your beers at the table and walk around sampling. Barry was good enough to cover for me while I was doing beerlympics so it worked for me. Plus he gave me a bunch of beers as he doesn't drink them. Double bonus to Barry!!

 

Matt, no complaints (Other than the fact that you mis-read the winning ticket on the Waylen, it's supposed to be pronounced "drill·sling·er" ) No worries though, I got TSW Springs at the Monte Carlo Night so all's forgiven

The space and number of participants was perfect
I missed the Home Brew competition, didn't even see it
Putting the Beerlympics on/in front of the stage would work great.

If we manage to get a room (good luck there ) I'll be more than willing to help out, just let me know what you need

BIG THANKS to you and those who helped you out, AND a big THANK YOU to Chad/Detroit-Tuned for the cool glasses

 

Yeah well you keep mis-spelling Whalen. Until you learn to properly spell his name, NO **** FOR YOU!

Congrats on the springs you bastage.

There will be rooms. Just call once a month or so.

 

Oh yeah Matt, I forgot to give you the business card for Brusin' Ales in Ashville where I went to pick up my beer. They had a great selection of beers on hand but the owner is more than willing to try to get what ever beers people are looking for. The drive over was pleasant enough & was only 90 miles from the dragon so I plan to preorder my beer from there again. They have a website if you wanna check them out for next year
http://www.bruisin-ales.com/

 

Matt, Good Job

I think it went off without a hitch. My wife was worried that the Olympics were going to be a college fraternity drink-fest throw-back, but she knows I need more then 2 beers to get sideways She ended up the evening telling me how much fun she had. She was my Swapette, while I was manning my table she was out on the swap mission.
Thanks Again

 

Yeah, my bad, Waylen (from Way Motor Works) installed my camber plates @ the Dragon, so I keep getting the spelling mixed up Guess I'll have to do penance by installing the springs myself

As for the room, we got on the wait list for Lodge rooms and are 1st on the Cabana Room list

 

Matt, thanks for organizing the swap. We had a great time! And it was a fun time participating in the Beerlympics, too. We are looking forward to it again next year, and will be putting a team together, also.