What Happens at Madness Days…

Fire and dance were two common themes throughout the weekend.
Fire and dance were two common themes throughout the weekend.

1,600 gallons of propane. If that’s not madness, I don’t know what is. 

My phone rang shortly after my dearest friend and Melvin Brewing Operations Director, Rob Albee, left the brewery on a critical errand. The tone in his voice was oddly familiar–a tone that is just short of laughter, slightly concerned but utterly confident in the validity of his question: “Before I purchase 1,600 gallons of propane, can you please confirm this what you want?” Frankly, I highly doubt that this little store in Jackson Hole has ever fulfilled an order of 1,600 gallons of propane before, but considering we were about to throw a mini burning man-esq party in the sleepy tiny town of Alpine, WY, it was indeed 100% accurate. 

Madness Days took a turn this year– “turn-up” the hip kids might call it. When John Ripley, Founder of Imagine Nation, suggested we incorporate poofers and fire-breathing torrent guns, I was equally as intrigued as I was delighted. Grinning slyly and heart jumping I thought, “pure madness.” Shortly thereafter, Jeremy Tofte, Founder, dropped a line to me confirming an intimate Friday night hip-hop show with none other than the Bay-area native, Lyrics Born. To top it all off, we hosted Wyoming’s largest skydiving rendezvous to date. Let’s just say that this year’s Madness Days graduated beyond the humble class of “backyard camping and BBQ.”

If there is one thing that seems to be consistent in the world of Melvin Brewing, it’s momentum. It’s as if we hit that flow state when the creative ideas and positive encouragement to attain nothing less than the “impossible” starts to peak. The concept of Madness Days sparked over a sinful amount of beers in the corner of Thai Me Up about four years ago, and here we are hosting over 500 guests, over 5 bands/djs, countless amounts of pints and a festival beyond what we dreamt up. We nearly doubled the population of Alpine, WY for this weekend. Momentum. As for the momentum of the weekend specifically, well that started over a cup of tea inside the decrepit  Chevrolet art car so tastefully  placed atop a random hill of dirt on the property. After months of planning, a week of building and many sweat-drenched brows, we gazed towards the entrance of the property witnessing an entourage of vehicles ready to experience the madness set forth. 

Have a scroll and witness the energy of the weekend by means of photo documentation.

-Danielle

Local food trucks lined up to keep everyone’s bellies full. Buffalo Bill’s and Delish is local to Alpine, Little Red Cafe is a Wilson favorite, Ophelia’s hails from Idaho and Snoasis calls Star Valley home.

Teton Surf Co. kept us surfing the Snake River Reservoir all day on Saturday while others rafting the Snake River with Lewis and Clark River Adventures.

 

Cut La Whut, our resident DJ, stoked the crowd for a dinner dance party.

 

Tea on Art Car Hill was the spot to witness the sunset over the Idaho hills.

 

Thanks to our generous sponsors, every guest received a pair of Wigwam socks and Kate’s Real Food Bar.

We hosted the largest skydiving rendezvous in Wyoming to date with 100+ jumpers. Thank you to Snake River Skydiving for organizing such a successful event!

 

Lyrics Born and his band played an intimate two hour set as Friday evening set sail.

 

Fire and dance were two common themes throughout the weekend.

 

BIG Thank you to all of our Partners that contributed to this Madness. Until next year.….

Photos By Orijin Media and Fredrik Marmsater