In August I attended MASHOUT, a yearly campout weekend where members of homebrew clubs from several mid-Atlantic states gather along with family members for two days of drinking, partying, drinking, eating, drinking, swimming, and drinking. We also drank. The event is sponsored by BURP, and it's held in a big field on private property in western Maryland. About 80 people were there this year, and it was the biggest crowd in its 8-year history.

The scenery was very pretty out there, and the beautiful weather made it just gorgeous. I set up my tent right after my arrival on Friday afternoon, and went over to meet the other early arrivers. The people were as friendly a group of homebrewing partyers as you could want. We tasted and talked til the sun went down.

Dinner consisted of what we all brought, and the motto was: share and share alike. There were grills and a campfire and we all ate and drank our fill. There were dozens of kegs, and coolers of bottles.

Staying up drinking til after midnight you might expect that Saturday morning would be quiet. Not so. By 7:30 we were tasting more beer and cooking breakfast. The festivities continued non-stop all day. Some people went swimming at nearby Rocky Gap State Park, some took bike rides, some hiked in the woods, and some never left the field. We played frisbee and shot water balloons and visited each others' tent sites. And drank.

By Saturday night everyone had arrived. There were about 100 different kinds of beer, including about 30 kegs. The food spread was to die for. We sang songs around the campfire. The weather was just great, you could see more stars than you could count, and there were no mosquitoes!

Sunday morning the fun continued. There was a porter contest judged by three BURPers, and someone brought a case of Celis White, which is no longer being distributed in Maryland. Slowly our numbers dwindled as people packed up and left. I had so much fun that I joined BURP - my 6th homebrew club.

Each year BURP sends MASHOUT invitations to AHA-registered mid-Atlantic area clubs. I strongly recommend attending. You can bring the family, it's very inexpensive (only a $5 port-a-potty fee), it's no further away than Ocean City, and it's fun!