Pigs & Pints

THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO THE FESTIVAL ON SUNDAY MAY 6, 2012 10am to 6 pm

TICKETS GO ON SALE SATURDAY, APRIL 14th

Big Humans $40.00 (21 and up)

Little Humans $5.00

---

NOTE:  DON'T LIKE READING.  TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS SATURDAY FOR OUR  MAY 6TH (SUNDAY) PIGS & PINTS FESTIVAL AT THE CIVIL LIFE BREWING COMPANY IN TOWER GROVE SOUTH.  Tickets will be available at the Block in Webster Groves, at Sump Coffee, from MacLocalBuys and of course at THE CIVIL LIFE BREWING COMPANY.

A few weeks back, I received a phone call from Brian Dougherty at the Block Restaurant http://theblockrestaurant.com/ in Webster Groves (Get there for dinner when you can, have the pork chop.) Brian and I used to play amateur soccer together for JB Marine when we were in 8th grade. We probably were like awesome or something. He and Marc Del Pietro (who used to come into 33 and sit at the bar with his wife Amy) opened the Block Restaurant and were interested in doing an event with us at the Civil Life. 

Luck would have it as it was something in my mind as Dylan http://www.thecivillifebrewingcompany.com/Site/Brewers_Blog/Brewers_Blog.html, Mike and I had been discussing ideas for festivals.  A pig roast was our one great hope for the spring.  But time was getting away from us. And honestly, it just isn’t always easy to throw one more task on the responsibility pile.  

About a week and a half later, Chris McKenzie from Macs Local Buyshttp://www.macslocalbuys.com/ (who used to play soccer with my older brother Jim sat at the bar and pitched an idea to me for a pig event  with his buddy Nick Kluesner, a farmer raising Red Wattle Pigs in Marthasville, Missouri.  Chris does local buys for individuals wishing to get locally raised and well cared for animals. He has just recently started his company and it is definitely a company to keep your eye on... or maybe your stomach.  We are getting a few nicely sized Red Wattle Pigs from Nick and Nick is going to speak a little at our festival.   The Block is going to prepare them!  And not only that, the Block is also going to prepare enough tasty sides that 400 people will have their fill before the day is out. 

Chris sat at the bar and the ideas began to flow. I thought piggeriffic because sometimes odd things pop into my head.  Chris knew Justin from Yellow Tree Farmshttp://www.yellowtreefarm.com/ really well and Justin from time to time stops in for a pint at the Civil Life.  Justin is the go to vegetable farmer for the areas top restaurants.  And Chris knew Scott at Sump Coffee http://www.sumpcoffee.com/ who has quickly become “the must have a coffee from place” in South City.  He also has a beard that rivals (is better than but don’t tell) Dylan’s and I know Dylan had beard envy (but he won’t admit it) when Scott was in having a pint a bit ago.  Respect.  

Chris then called up his friends Stickley & Canan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDderpgKdnQ (I would now like you to pause and watch the you tube video and imagine yourself at our festival eating pig, listening to music and having the time of your life) to play some music and Celia http://www.celiaisrock.com/press.html, whom he knows from Family Fun night at Hartford Coffee.  This just wouldn’t be a festival if we didn’t allow kids.  

I then spoke with Dylan and Mike.  They thought brewing a beer for a festival was quite a good idea and well, what a great time to release our American Pale Ale brewed last week which pays homage to the genesis of the American Craft brewing movement. 

I then realized how LOCAL this festival was becoming and I remembered my friend Liz Fathman, who co-wrote a book about Missouri farmers with Maddie from Local Harvest and thought. This was in her wheelhouse.  And below is the longest link that I think is even possible. http://www.stlmag.com/Blogs/Relish/March-2012/A-Sneak-Peek-at-Missouri-Harvest-The-Coming-Soon-Book-by-Maddie-Earnest-and-Liz-Fathman/ (SIGNED COPIES WILL BE ON SALE ON MAY 6th!) I sent her an email and she’s in.  And we are honored to be purchasing vegetables for the event from our South City Friends at Local Harvest. http://www.localharvestgrocery.com/

Everyone that knows me knows I have a sweet tooth. So we had to have dessert and I thought of Dave Bailey at the “Range” http://www.baileysrange.com/ would be just the person to make some ice cream for us. Dave and I have known each other for years as he opened the Chocolate Bar next to 33 Wine Shop when I owned it.  Chris knew Christine Augustine, at Pint Size bakery http://pintsizebakery.com/St._Louis/Welcome.html (soon to open on Watson in South City) and we thought let’s have her produce some tasty morsels as well and give her a big South City welcome. 

And Bread... we couldn’t have a pig roast without dinner rolls from my friends~ Tim, Tony, Josh, Anne and Lydia at Companion.  http://www.companionstl.com/ Head down there on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and enjoy their fresh bread market open to the public with great prices.  Get there early and you will see so much bread you would think you were at a bread market. You’d be correct.  You may even see me as I pick up fresh bread for the Civil Life every day. 

Now I needed a poster and a way to tell you.  Luck would have it, my friend, Teresahttp://www.beingtree.com/ was able to put it together on short notice.  By short notice, I mean I called her and said can you do it and she said yes!  She’s a vegetarian.  “Hello, have you meant my friend Irony?”  She designed the pig holding the pint with the bowler on.  Every time, I look at it,  I start laughing.  Pigs don’t have opposable thumbs, but they do have livers. I have known Teresa for over ten years as she and Patrick (our bartender/resident Dr./www.hurleyhouse.com ) are married and over the years I have served many a drink and had many a laugh in their company.

And when I think of what it means to be a local business operating in a difficult world sometimes stacked against small businesses.  I think about my friends that are bringing this City alive with their businesses.  I think about how far we as a country have come in realizing that supporting your local small businesses is the absolute best way to improve the community you live in.  

But that you already knew.  And I know many of you wake up every morning like me and think about Local, Local, Local.

And now I think about Pigs and Pints and Chris, Maddie, Liz, Scott, Christy, Dave, Brian, Marc, Justin, Celia, Teresa, Dylan, Mike, Nick, Josh, Lydia, Tony, Amy and Tim that are part of this festival with us.  And I think about Stickley & Canan who are going to play music while the Block cooks a few hundred pounds of pigs. And I think about all the beer flowing out of our taps.  I think about kids running around and I think how I really wish I would have gone to this festival as a child.   

Believe in your local businesses and believe that Pigs and Pints may just be the best value and hottest ticket.  If you want to talk about pumping money into your local economy, this is a good way to do it and support many of us in one day.  

Family friendly and over 8 hours of fun.  So get a group of friends together, carpool the way people used to, walk or ride your bike if you can and head on down or over or sideways to our humble micro-brewery on May 6th.  Come early, stay till 6.  Even take a break in between and come back!  Though me thinks, once you are in, you’ll probably just stay.  

Come by the brewery soon (TICKETS GO ON SALE SATURDAY,  APRIL 14 NOTE: TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE BLOCK AND AT SUMP AND THROUGH CHRIS AT MACS LOCAL BUYS)  We don’t think a value this good with so much included will last very long so please find us soon and buy some tickets.  

As an added bonus we will have several of our favorite local brews from some of our great local brewers on hand to try as well.  So many of our local micro-brewers have become great friends over the past year and we couldn’t think of a better way to think local than to have their beers poured side by side with ours on this day.

Even if you can’t make it, please continue to support your local purveyor, whether it be a farmer, a brewer, a writer, a butcher, a baker and candlestick maker.