Adult Social Hour (Beer and Cider)

Number of People: One lead, one assistant, plus many (10?) helpers are recommended. On-island, tasks for the crew can be divided between setup, serving, and cleanup. Depending on the preferences and skills of the helpers, this can be split up or combined; for instance, larger people hauling kegs and smaller individuals serving is a fine split, and perhaps the same person will set up and clean up. Sometimes enthusiastic souls are happy to perform more than one set of tasks, and sometimes the crew likes to split the duties — flexibility and teamwork are the keys to a successful crew. Social hour is all seven evenings and about every-other evening is an acceptable expectation of participation.

Budget: About $1300 was spent in both 2024 and '25, with an additional $400 required for keg deposits which was then refunded.

Responsibilities: Plan, communicate with Conference Services and the Logistics staff member, order, buy (with your own credit card), pick up, deliver, refrigerate, organize/train helpers, set up, manage ice, and clean up daily. If kegs are used, a deposit will be required and all kegs must be returned after the conference. Some of these responsibilities may be shared with the assistant lead.

Ordering/Shopping: The ordering should be started about 3–4 weeks prior to the conference. Purchase must, by law, be done in NH; since 2023 the City Tobacco & Beverage Center has been used (806 U.S. 1 Bypass, Portsmouth NH; 603-433-8333 or <thecitycustomerservice@gmail.com>). 

It is best to do all the ordering from one retail location not far from the Isles of Shoals dock, and 'The City' is only six minutes away. They are also very helpful over email! Seek the shopping list and other records from the previous Social Hour Beer Organizer (Matt Ronn <mattronn@gmail.com> and David Mellen <davemell48@gmail.com> have been the leads recently). Choosing what to serve is not always straightforward — availability is sometimes problematic so extra time is needed to make adjustments to the original requests.

The beer lead usually must pay in full including deposits and submit the receipt to the conference treasurer for reimbursement; communication with the conference treasurer is also part of the planning process.

Quantities (2023): 72 gallons of keg beer and about 5 gal of canned beer was consumed with about 200 adults registered; that calculates to about 0.385 gal of beer per registered adult which is 4.1 beers per registered adult (12 oz beers). It’s best to save the canned beer to the last night partly to make cleanup easier but also because it is best to consume all the kegged beer; if anything is left over, it should be in cans. We also consumed about 60 cans of alcoholic ciders in 2023 (the DownEast was the most popular, Citizen Cider 2nd, and Woodchuck cider the least popular). The beer and alcoholic cider totaled $1,284.

Quantities (2025): About 80 gallons of beer and 6 gallons of cider were consumed. The beer quantity was perfect; the cider ran out with one night to go. A little over 7 gallons of beer was canned, which was used the last night after the eight kegs had run out. The kegged beer is less expensive, more pleasing, and less wasteful. The largest kegs (half barrels) are the least expensive but only three can fit in the refridgerator at once. Because of that we bought three full-sized kegs and five "logs", also known as "sixtels", which are 1/6 of a barrel. These are more expensive than full-sized kegs, but more versatile and easier to move around.

Delivery: Since supplies go out on a very early boat the day of the conference, beer must be loaded into the dock supply sheds the afternoon or evening before. Someone needs to be at the dock 1/2 hour before the supply boat is scheduled to leave and help with hauling to the boat, but this should be a separate volunteer job. A keg hand truck is very helpful both on the dock and on the island. Once on the island, the Pelicans will deliver the beer to Newton, but they won’t refrigerate it (they don’t know what needs cooling and it doesn’t all fit in the refrigerators).

It is advisable for the beer lead to arrive on island on an earlier boat both to refrigerate the kegs and because arrival on the conference boat does not leave enough time to set up for the first evening. Boat schedules vary from year to year, so research, planning, and communication is required for this part of the process.

Draft Box (aka Jockey Box): If available, dispensing beer from a portable draft system is the best way to serve from kegs because it is efficient, chilling, doesn’t add oxygen to the beer, and allows for several styles to be available each evening. The spectrum of beer taste is wide and it is appreciated to have lighter beers, darker beers, bitter beers, smooth beers, lagers, and ales — when drafts are being poured, there is no single dominant style. It does appear that more beer is consumed when kegs and a draft box are used. The downside of serving through a draft box is the extra equipment, the CO2 required (5 lb. tank), extra hook up time each evening, and the need to clean the lines. About 3 lbs of CO2 was used in 2023 at about $8/lb; in 2025, it was closer to 4 lbs (at $9/lb).

Communication: Arrangements need to be made with the Logistics coordinator <logistics@starisland.org> and with Conference Services <conferenceservices@starisland.org> but recently this has been handled by the Social Hour Coordinator collecting all Social Hour needs. Communication with Logistics is necessary for boat schedules, managing delivery, shed storage, and parking. Conference Services provides the pitchers (eight), glasses, cups, a large bowl or tub for cans and ice, a presentation easel, tables, etc.

On-Island Schedule: Re-stock the refridgerator in the morning. In the evening, set up the table and draft box, and transport the beer and cider — this should begin around 4:45 with the lead or assistant and one other helper. Servers start at 5:20. Breakdown begins at 6:15 and involves cleaning the taps/lines, moving the equipment, and refrigerating anything left over. Extra beer in the pitchers should be discarded.

Return: Make sure the kegs and any equipment gets on the luggage boat going back to the mainland. Bring back the kegs and retrieve the deposit. Timely return of kegs often involves a special parking arrangement, since most personal vehicles can't hold all your luggage as well as the kegs and equipment. A separate trip to return the kegs is usually required.

Follow through: Summarize and pass along information that will be helpful for future conferences.

Notes from specific years

2025

Beer:

• Old Brown Dog, Finestkind IPA, Wildcat Tracks Lager (Smuttynose Brewing)

• Czech Pilsner (Moat Mountain)

• Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada)

• Harpoon IPA

• House Lager (Jacks Abbey)

• Full Clip (Stoneface Brewing)

Cider:

• Original, Peach Mango, Guava Passionfruit (Downeast)

• High and Dry (Stowe)

• Blueberry (Woodchuck)

• Original Dry (North Country)

• Angry Orchard variety pack

2024

Beer:

• Old Brown Dog, Finestkind IPA, Wildcat Tracks Lager (Smuttynose Brewing)

• Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada)

• IPA, Rec League (Harpoon)

• House Lager (Jacks Abbey)

• Full Clip (Stoneface Brewing)

Cider:

• Legendary Dry (Stormalong)

• Wits Up (Citizen Cider)

• High and Dry (Stowe)

• Blueberry (Woodchuck)

• Original, Peach Mango, Kiwi Guava (Downeast)

Last Update: David Mellen, July 2025  [BC, ed.]