“Ales, Pales, Sticks and Stouts”
Having just completed its 16th season with more than 300 playing members on its roster, the Milwaukee Hurling Club is renowned in the world of Gaelic Games for its success in spreading Ireland’s signature stick-and-ball sport across the North America.
But keeping a club like this running year after year takes financial resources; for example, the club imports scores of hurleys (the ash sticks used to play the sport), sliotars (balls), and helmets directly from Ireland every year. In addition, the club maintains traveling teams, holds youth workshops in area parks and schools, and sends several club members to sanctioned coaching and refereeing classes every year.
To help cover the cost of “doing hurling,” the MHC is hosting its fifth annual beer tasting fundraiser, “Ales, Pales, Sticks, and Stouts,” on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Hoyt Park, 1800 N. Swan Boulevard, Wauwatosa.
Like the game of hurling itself, “Ales, Pales, Sticks and Stouts” offers an ample serving of Celtic culture.
The highlight of the event is a menu that includes more than 50 varieties of great brews. Some of the intriguing titles on tap include Wells Banana Bread Beer, Left Hand Milk Stout, Anchor Humming Beer, and Ommegang Three Philosophers. Wisconsin-bred beers are represented as well, with samplings of products from New Glarus Brewery, Milwaukee Brewing Company (the source of Milwaukee Ale House’s potables), and Black River Falls’ Sand Creek Brewing Company.
Of course, any Irish-themed event needs music. Opening act Atomic Whiskey Test offers good-natured toe-tapping tunes to get the party started, while Gaelic-infused rockers Whiskey of the Damned will shake the rafters with hard-drinking songs in the tradition of the Pogues and Flogging Molly.
And all this takes place in Hoyt Park’s beautifully restored Grand Hall, Situated in a lovely natural setting and recently reopened after an amazing community-based revitalization, it’s full of retro ambience, complete with freshly burnished woodwork and homey fireplace.
Admission is $35 at the door, with special Designated Driver pricing of $10. Advance tickets can be purchased for $30 each from the MHC website at www.hurling.net.
