10 Reasons You Should Attend Firkin Fest Today

Sure, the most obvious reason to go to Firkin Fest today in Argenta is the beer! Great breweries from Arkansas and around the world are bringing fun, creative and hopefully tasty brews for you to sample. So you've got that. But I've come up with 10 more reasons. 10 MORE REASONS! Just for you.

1. The weather is going to be perfect. Forecast starts at about 80 degrees and sunny at 6pm, the start time, and ends up about 70 degrees by the end at 9pm.

2. It's Stevie Wonder's birthday. C'mon. It's very superstitious, the writings on the wall...

  

3. There will be music from talented local pop singer/songwriters Isaac Alexander and Jason Weinheimer. 

https://isaacalexander.bandcamp.com/

4. There's food from eight local restaurants: Arkansas Ale House, Damgoode Pies, Old Chicago Pizza, Skinny J's, @ the Corner, Cafe Bossa Nova and Zaffino's by Nori.

5. It's Friday the 13th, so you really don't want to go camping or something do you?

6. It's just fun to say. Firkin Fest. Fun Firkin Fest. A freakin' fun Firkin Fest. Go ahead, try it. Now imagine it after a few beers.

 

7. The event is Benefiting the Argenta Downtown Council. Drink for a cause! 

8. You never know what you're going to get when you tap a frikin. Case in point? Watch the video below:

    9. It's Friday! You'll still have all weekend to do the things you need to get done this weekend!   10. None of the current candidates for president will be in attendance! Zero!  

See you there!

I Love That Firkin Beer

Rare Beer Tapping @FS_LittleRock Thurs Jan 30th firkin of @Diamond_Bear Paradise Porter with Dekuyper Hazel Nut Liquor and Cacao nibs 6PM
— Woo Pig Brewey! (@WooPigBrewey) January 27, 2014

Yes, another firkin coming up. You won't hear me complaining though as I think they're pretty fun and can get sort of creative sometimes, although I've also had my share of boring ones. That's the fun in it I guess. The one above from Diamond Bear definitely has me intrigued though.

So what is a firkin and what makes is special? Well if you don't want to click that handy link there from Examiner.com then I've paraphrased a bit below:

"A firkin, which is derived from the Middle Dutch word vierdekijn (meaning fourth), is actually a small barrel of beer that is one-fourth the size of a regular barrel of beer. As opposed to a standard beer barrel, which contains 117.34 liters or roughly 30.96 gallons, a firkin full of cask ale will contain a volume of 40.91 liters or 10.79 gallons. These volume sizes are provided in U.S.-based gallons.

The firkin is typically dedicated to housing Real Ale (i.e., cask-conditioned ale), or beer that has not been cold-filtered, pasteurized and carbonated by outside equipment. The ale beer that is housed inside the firkin is naturally carbonated by its resident yeast and its ingredients have not been processed in any way outside of simple fermentation by the yeast. In essence, firkin-contained Real Ale is comparable to the ale beers that were produced hundreds of years ago, before industrialization subjected them to processes that removed and/or killed the yeast, stripping the beer of many of its inherent vitamins (especially the B vitamins), minerals, and perhaps most importantly, taste."

So now you know! It's really just another way to enjoy some beer, like I need any excuse to get out and drink a few.

Here's a video from a recent Diamond Bear firkin tapping at Andina Cafe here in Little Rock. For the record, that's me standing over Bonz' shoulder at the :25 second mark, looking thirsty (and shockingly sober).