On the rainiest day in Chicago history, a dedicated crowd of approximately 75-80 members and guests crowded under the permanent shelter and a virtual village of E-Z Ups to sample eight commercial beers, homebrewed beer and root beer, and the food entries in our annual War of the Ribs/Chili/Salsa/Desserts.

Given the smaller attendance and the travel difficulties, we limited the beer list to those that were stored closest to the picnic site or brought by attendees (special thanks to Greg Brown of Mickey Finn’s for enduring a 3-hour drive from Libertyville!). This was half of those originally advertised, but proved to be the perfect quantity for our own “Barmy Army.” The menu: America’s Brewing Baltic Porter, Founders Centennial IPA, Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen, Lagunitas Dogtown Pale Ale, Mickey Finn’s Hefe Weizen, Ommegang Rare Vos, Sprecher Hefe Weiss, and Southern Tier Phin & Matt’s Pale Ale.

Attendees voted in the featured food competitions and the winners were awarded attractive trophies. We also had separate blind judging for chili and ribs and awarded 1st place trophies to the champs. There were only 3 rib competitors this year, but remarkably we had 11 chilis, 13 salsas, and 7 desserts.

The Winners:

Ribs – Popular Vote and Blind Judging (identical results)
1. Randy Mosher
2. Paul Marvine
3. Pigsilicious

Chili – Popular Vote
1. Thomas Griffin
2. Robert Watts
3. Doug Lenzo

Chili – Blind Judging
1. Julie/David Rice, Fred Hersh
2. Robert Watts
3. Thomas Griffin

Salsa – Popular Vote
1. Ray Spangler (special guest Bloatarian)
2. (tie) Linda Maher
2. (tie) Camille Romero

Dessert – Popular Vote
1. Jennifer Caputo
2. Julie Rice
3. Nancy Cline

Thanks to everyone who braved the elements to turn doom and gloom into a wonderful afternoon of beer, food, and friends. While we hope for better weather in 2009, this year’s edition will stand as one of our most memorable picnics ever.

Published by f96h2