Let’s bring the empty kegs back to the brewery!

I don’t think I can say it any better than the source, so today we’ll have a celebrity guest blogger, Scott Smith of the East End Brewing Company tell you about the ride:

THE END OF PEDAL PALE ALE 2009:
By now, you’ve probably heard about the way we like to roll out (ahem) our Summer Seasonal, Pedal Pale Ale each Spring. Namely – by bicycle, and this past summer 500 of you managed to play a part in our delivery ride, pulling 3 half barrels from the Brewery over to the S. Side’s Over The Bar Bicycle Cafe (OTB). Well, now that Summer is clearly gone (I think?) and the last stores of Pedal Pale Ale are starting to dwindle, I’ve decided that we’re going to send it off in style this year – with another bike ride of course!

REVERSE KEG RIDE – SATURDAY NOV 21st:
“This ride is so much fun – You really need to do this more than once a year!” If I had a beer for every time I heard that after the last keg ride…well I’d have a lot of beer. And you know what? I actually do have a lot of beer, so you know I’m not lying.

Since we’ve already delivered the beer, we’ve got something slightly different in mind for this ride: We’ll start right where we left off last time, at OTB on E. Carson St. and follow the EMPTY kegs back home to East End Brewing, officially closing out Pedal Pale Ale season for the year.   At the same time, we’ll reluctantly welcome winter’s chill with the official debut of this year’s first batch of Snow Melt Winter Ale!  (Yea, I know Fall usually replaces Summer, but we all know that Harvest is still in the mix, and that we run our seasonal beers for 2 seasons around here.  So don’t start getting picky with me now, or so help me, I’ll turn this tandem around RIGHT NOW and you can just walk the rest of the…. a-hem.)

So, like the “Regular Keg Ride”, the “Reverse Keg Ride” will be a slow, meandering tour of the greater East End, partly on trails, partly on city streets, and hopefully not too much cooler than the Spring ride.  When WE get to the brewery (no riding ahead folks!), we’ll put the empties up on keg washer, and tap a fresh FULL keg of Snow Melt Winter Ale.  And the first round is on me!  Actually, it’s the ONLY round since we still can’t sell pints.  But you can always get a Growler of it to go.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS TIME?
Aside from the directional changes, and cooler weather, and the release of a different beer, there’s one more BIG difference.  We’re not just doing it for the beer this time.  We’re doing it for charity.  We’re asking for a donation of $5-10 per rider, and all the proceeds will be split evenly between our two charities: BikePGH – working to make our streets more bike friendly every day, and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank – working to put food on the tables of people who need it the most!

So I hope you’ll join us.  It’s a great way to help the city we live in be a better place, a great excuse to get out on your bike with some friends, and have a bit of fun at the same time.  All of the details for the ride, and our list of Celebrity Keg Pullers can be found here, so spread the word, and be sure to bring a couple hundred GOOD FRIENDs along: http://www.eastendbrewing.com/node/733

THE PARTICULARS:

• Date: Saturday November 21st, 2009
• Time: Brunch at OTB@10am-noon, Registration 10am-Noon, Departure: Noon O’clock sharp!, Arrival: maybe between 1 and 2pm
• Starting Point: OTB Bicycle Cafe
• Destination: East End Brewing Co.
• Distance: Somewhere around 7 miles.
• Pace: Gentle.  Remember that part about pulling kegs – granted, they are empty, but still… I’m pretty slow.
• Return trip: Sorry folks, you’re on your own. Though maybe you left your car at the brewery when we did the Spring ride?….No?
• Kid friendly: There have definitely been kids on this ride in the past, and they are certainly welcome this time.  But the ride is on OPEN CITY STREETS, and a decent portion of this trip will be up one looong hill.  But the pace will be gentle, and we plan to obey the law and stop at all red lights and respect one-way street designations. Oh, and of course the kids don’t get a beer at the end of the ride. But maybe we can swing some hot chocolate.

Not a member of Bike Pittsburgh? Join today! We need you to add your voice!  Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride.  For more info, check out: www.bike-pgh.org/membership