It's hard to believe, but I quaffed my first official Summerfest beer 25 years ago.

It was cold, delicious and tasted so fresh that -- even though I could see half-barrels under the beer stand -- I actually wondered if there was a pipeline directly from Miller Valley to the lakefront.

It's not a reach to say that I've consumed hundreds of beers over the years at Henry Maier Festival Park, but the memory of that first waxy cup of golden goodness washed over me last weekend -- when I served my first official Summerfest beer.

Thanks to the fine folks at Summerfest and Major Goolsby's, I worked as a bartender on the north end of the grounds near the Potawatomi Bingo Casino Rock Stage with Miller Lite and 94.1 WJJO and 95 WIIL ROCK.

A lot of people may read this story, the latest in our "Shift Switch" series, and say, "That's not really bartending. All you're doing is pouring beer. It's not rocket science."

I can't argue.

But after spending just a few hours on the other side of the counter, I realized there is a lot more to the gig than I realized. In order to make $6.65 an hour plus tips, you have to handle cash and work a register. You have to check IDs. And, you have to pay attention to avoid a poor pour.

Pouring a perfect beer is a skill that can be made more difficult by temperamental customers, coughing kegs and -- I never would have imagined this -- windy conditions.

My journey behind the bar started roughly two weeks ago, when I attended an orientation program for bartenders on the Summerfest grounds.

The meeting lasted about an hour, and the first thing I noticed upon entering was that a lot of people already knew each other. Major Goolsby's has had a booth at Summerfest for 34 years and for the past several years has managed all of the tents serving alcoholic beverages on the grounds, excluding the Water Street Brewery and Jo Jo's Martini Lounge.

There are close to 700 bartenders working the festival, and many of them are veterans who have worked several years. There are teachers on summer vacation, hairdressers, accountants and office workers -- all trying to earn a little extra money and have some fun.

"A lot of people come back, year after year," a manager told me. "You almost have to know someone to get a job here."

Normal shifts for Summerfest bartenders run from from noon to 6 p.m., 3 p.m to midnight, 6 p.m. to midnight and a Marcus Amphitheater shift from 5 to 11 p.m.

At the orientation, we were handed a sheet of rules, some of which were pretty basic:

• Wear your uniform (mine is a black Miller Genuine Draft T-shirt);
• Wear your name tag;
• Wear shoes and socks (no sandals, flip-flops or open-toed shoes);
• No gum chewing or Bluetooth earphones;
• Hats must be on straight and portray a brand that you are selling;
• Check IDs for anyone who appears to be under the age of 35. (We received tips on how to spot fake IDs via lumps, bumps, layers and modifications.)

After hearing about the basics, we got down to basics: beer.

We watched a video, produced by Miller, about pouring the perfect beer. Key elements include grabbing the tap close to the base, which opens and closes the line more quickly, and finding the proper angle (roughly 45 degrees) for the pour.

Summerfest officials are adamant about "pouring to the line," -- which is a reference to the line near the top of the cup. The perfect pour will bring beer to the "line" and a thin head of foam slightly above. Although a tap beer costs $5, the folks at Goolsby's work on a very small profit margin.

Beer stand managers are adamant about pouring to the line and not wasting product. You won't see a Summerfest bartender letting a tap flow to avoid foam. You won't see beer spilled behind the counter, at least not very often. One manager told me he'd only seen one or two collisions between bartenders in five years. That didn't surprise me. The folks at Goolsby's have the beer selling thing down to a science.

The stand where I worked sells Lite and Genuine Draft for $4.50 a cup, Blue Moon for $5 and Sparks Plus, a caffeinated malt beverage that sells for $7. We also sold bottled water ($3) and snacks ($3).

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Posted by High_Life_Man on July 1, 2009 at 8:55 a.m. (report)

Did this job for many years in the 90s. Lots of fun and not unusual to walk would with a couple hundred bucks in tips (AFTER tipping out beer runners and cashiers). Heard it's not the same after Goolsby's took over the entire operation. I swear, back in the day, tent captains got a bonus if they exceeded a certain cup count per barrel. Thus the encouragement of the short pour.