TeamGoodBeer
This year we sponsored two Ragbrai teams. Team Wimpy now has catchy Millstream Logo’s on their two Ragbrai Buses. We also sponsored Team Good Beer, which is a team that I rode with last week. We had some very catchy jerseys, and made a big ’splash’ on Ragbrai.
Our team was focused on trying to change the palate of the beer drinking on Ragbrai. To this end we called ahead to every bar on the route and tried to convince them to carry something better than the Big Bland Three beers. The ones that agreed ended up on our ‘bar guide’ which we handed out during the ride, and posted to all the Ragbrai websites. We also teamed up with one of our sponsors, Old Capitol Brew Works, to get the word out when they got an outdoor ‘beer tent’ in Ragbrai towns.
One of the best stories came from Redfield, Iowa. This is a town west of Des Moines and normally out of our distribution area. The owner of the bar was convinced try carring our beer. His wife tried to talk him out of it, saying that ‘no one would show up’ to drink that stuff and they would be stuck with it. They ended up buying four cases of Millstream. When our team of 20+ riders got to the bar in the early afternoon, they only had 3 bottles left to sell!
Thanks to Ladora, Iowa, for putting Millstream Schild Brau and German Pilsner on Tap at their Ragbrai Tent. They said we even out-sold Miller (but not Budweiser with their fancy aluminum bottles)! I hope they raised enough money to purchase their new firehouse.
Our jerseys have Lederhosen on the front and beer bubbles on the back and were a big hit. We even fielded several offers from people who wanted to buy the jerseys off our backs while we were riding!
TeamGoodBeer on the last day before we all rode into Muscatine together:
The Firkin Bus
We also received plenty of press coverage:
Des Moines Register - No we aren’t Team Firkin, but good coverage nonetheless… and yes, we really did have big ‘beer spill’ on the bus!
The cover of Go Iowa City
Oh last but not least, we have here a photo of non other than former presidential candidate John Kerry enjoying a Millstream Rootbeer float with one of our Teammates. Good job Emily!
