Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, The 16th annual (lucky guess) MHBA campout is almost here. This is a reminder of the upcoming event and a test of the "BMEN" (beer makers emergency network). So what do we have in store? Funny you should ask. The event occurs in early August which is also the time you will hear many Harlys traveling west toward Sturgis. All you have to do is drive west to Cokato MN and look for the signs. That's right - real signs. For those of you who are not familiar with the location, we will be camping in a group area which is on the east side of the Collinwood County Park. There are limited facilities but the area does have a nice beach, important shelters, shade trees, and did we mention beer and food? Lots of beer and food. Mike and I will be BBQueing up some tasty critters. Some may have feathers and others may have hooves. We believe in PETA (people eating tasty animals) so bring something to share, bring a few beers, bring a chair, and plan on spending the night. Also available for it's first public usage is the new and improved Club Cooler. How can you improve something that has been around for so long? I'm glad you asked. The club cooler is a basic cold plate and two tap handles. Hidden inside the cold plate were three (that right three) unused circuits. So if you do the math, we had adequate plumbing for 3 additional tap handles. Kurt actually marked out three additional spots on the front of the cooler so all we needed to do was acquire the hardware, drill the holes, and connect the hoses. During the research portion of this enhancement, we found out that the out fittings were very small orifices causing very slow product flow. Slow flow is good for something but not on a hot day so the orifices were replaced with the beer style. The original size was actually for soft beverages. So there you have it. The dates are August 2,3,4. You go home on the 4th. I don't remember all styles of the competition but remember Open lagers was one of the competition styles. So mark your calenders, mash your grain, add your yeast, clean your bottles, or just save a few partial kegs. We will have ample C02 and fittings for both Pepsi and Coke style tanks. More information to come. This concludes the test of the BMEN. Should this have been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed to seek shelter in the closest beer serving establishment that is connected with the network. Have a great afternoon and weekend and don't keep it so quiet. Rick Oftel