Kate Day is Coming Up

Howdy all. With Kate Day a little more than a month away (February 9, to be precise), we thought we’d provide some information about how it will shape up. We'll be doing a couple of things differently this time around. The biggest change is that we will limit bottle sales to two per customer, without any additional allotment for Imperial Pint Clubbers. This was a tough call to make, but we figured it was the fairest way to spread the love around. We're also running a contest in which you can win an entire case of Kate. Here are the details:

• Approximately ten barrels of Kate were brewed, which will be divided evenly between bottles and draft. Bottles will be made available at the same time as the tapping, and not a moment sooner.
• Due to the high demand and limited quantity (about 900 bottles), we are limiting bottle purchases to two per person. Last June, we sold out our entire stock of bottles the first day, and we're hoping to stretch things out a bit this time.
• No Growlers of Kate will be filled.
• Same as last time, we will issue numbers to people in the order in which they arrive. Your number holds your place in line, freeing you up to wander about freely until 1:14.
• If you're just coming in for a glass of Kate and aren't interested in purchasing bottles, don't worry about arriving early or getting a number - we should have plenty of draft Kate, at least for a couple of days.

We all had a terrific time on Kate Day last June. Folks were waiting on our doorstep by eight in the morning, and by the time we started issuing numbers around nine, the line stretched down the block. Here's a video our friends Nancy and Brian from Atlantic Media shot that day. We're thinking that perhaps things might be a little more low-key in February, but we have no way of knowing for sure. One thiing we do know is that we'll have a great time again in February. We're looking forward to serving you that day.

Flex Your Literary Muscles & Win a Case of Kate!
You can win an entire case of our hard-to-get Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout, but you're going to have to show you really want it. None of this random entry stuff - any nincompoop can have his or her name pulled out of a hat! In order to win a case of Kate, you must impress us and your fellow beer lovers with your literary prowess by authoring a beer-related poem, essay or short story.
• Works must be original and can be either about beer, inspired by beer or otherwise relating to beer.
• Seven First Prizes, single bottles of Kate, will be awarded to winners in the following categories:

• Poems: sonnet, haiku, limerick, ballad or free verse
  
• Essays: between 500 and 2,000 words
  
• Short fiction: between 500 and 2,000 words
  

• A Grand Prize of a case of Kate will be selected from among the First Prize winners.
• Entries will be read by a panel of local literary luminaries and barflies and will be judged for originality, adherence to form, and how much the panel likes them.
• Entries must be submitted by email, regular mail or in person by midnight on February 2, 2009.
• Winners will be announced on Kate Day. Winning entries will be posted on our website and displayed in our front window.
• Winners do not have to be present on Kate Day, but must pick up their prize in person by the end of February.
• Entries must have sufficient merit in order to receive a prize. In other words, if yours is the only sonnet submitted, you may not win simply by default; we reserve the right to withold prizes if no entries in any given category are deserving.