Beerfest and Barrel aged barleywine/Ron & Gordon news

If I'm not mistaken, Beerfest will be Saturday, September 8th (the 2nd Saturday in September). If I'm incorrect in that assumption, I'm guessing it will be the next following Saturday. I will have that set in stone very soon. It was meant to be addressed at the last meeting but there was a situation that prevented that, keep reading.

I don't know if you heard, but Ron & Gordon were injured Friday afternoon (06/08/07)while trying to prep the barrel for the barleywine in our backyard. When they lowered the smoldering sulfur sticks into the barrel (to kill off mold), the barrel exploded. And I mean with a thunderous explosion sound that shook the house and barrel pieces flying approximately 100 feet or so. Ron suffered second-degree burns on his entire left hand and spent the entire night in emergency rooms and eventually was transported to Miami Valley Hospital Burn Unit where he spent the night and most of Saturday. He's home now, but is obviously unable to use his left hand for a minimum of two months.

Gordon suffered a large area of first degree burns and some severe bruising on his leg where the barrel lid hit him. He was sent home Friday night.

First thing is we all hope that Ron and Gordon will be OK. If I hear any further information I will pass it on. Second, we need to see what we will do with the beer that was supposed to go into the barrel. For now, I think the beer will be OK for a little while yet. Most likely, we are going to need the help from other members of DRAFT to get things going again. If anyone has any thoughts or wants to help out in some way, let me know and I'll keep track of any and all input.

My inital thought towards the beer is to use oak chips or to blend the old oaked barleywine to give it the oaked appeal. If there are any better suggestions, I am most definately open to them.