Off the wall question. I am currently planning my trip to Basswood for June 8th. Yes, we are going by boat because of the health of others joining our group.

I am not a mix drink person. I am a beer person. I remember when I was younger my Grandfather would bring beer in plastic bottles. Is this still a thing or would I be better off just getting a 8 gallon keg. Keep in mind there are 6 people in this group trip and we are there for 7 days.

Any advice or guidance would be great.

Thank you

I tend to leave the booze at home.

Only occasionally, I have taken a 500ml plastic flask with my favorite spirits. Some small amount around the campfire at night.

Beer--not in this life time. And I do like my beer.

But not worth the effort to drag it all the out there.

Better things to do with my time while out there and sometimes just soak it all in, enough spirits for my body, mind, and soul.

Lemonade and Burbon or Vodka.
Hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps.
Expand your horizons, or for the rest of the group maybe.
Beer containers may run afoul of the rules.

You can get beer in plastic bottles at several stores in town. Same with plastic 375mL of bourbon, etc. We sometimes bring one of those for a nightcap, but beer just weighs too much. Plus it makes that first one back in Ely taste so much better...

You could pour into a growler or two, like this one at Menards:
Growler 64oz Menards

could keep it colder a bit longer

An old timer at the sauna recently shared his experience with plastic bottled beer. He said freezing it doesn’t negatively impact the beer & he uses it as ice in his cooler. I take two Nalgenes of beer for day one (fits just under a six pack).

JohnGalt: "An old timer at the sauna recently shared his experience with plastic bottled beer. He said freezing it doesn’t negatively impact the beer & he uses it as ice in his cooler. I take two Nalgenes of beer for day one (fits just under a six pack)."

Saunas are a great place to learn a thing or two.

My buddy and I are homebrewers. Well, he officially brews at a brewery now so I guess you could consider him a professional. Anyways, I know this maybe won't help if you don't do it, but we will bring our own homebrew up in plastic PET bottles meant for beer. I found a case of 15 25oz bottles with spare caps on Amazon for about $18. That's just under 3 gallons of beer. We brought it up in an Ice Mule and it kept cold for the 4 days we were up there.

Was it excessive and a bit of an extra nuisance? Yes. Was it totally worth having a cold one while fishing up there? Yes.

I'd have to do some research, but I wonder if you could bottle up some of your favorite beer in those bottles and recarbonate it with priming sugar or carbonation drops if there's enough yeast still in the final product. I'm not sure if it would work or not.

I've been through this process before. The beer was not worth it. Instead I learned that I enjoy brandy with a splash of water. We'll bring a box of wine as well. Bring whatever you need to make you happy, but cold drinks are a luxury I realized I don't need.

Sorry not much help, my wife and I like to bring boxed wine and a enjoy a glass or two in the evening while taking in the view.











T

My best friend (at the time) brought a keg one year. It really didn't go well. By the time you get to camp, all of the waves, shake that keg up pretty well, and it ends up being mostly warm foam. I would imagine if you had a calm day, and took it easy on the curves on the way to the lake, you could have a decent beer, that's perhaps not all foam. I'd think you could sink it down past the thermal cline, and keep it cold.

However, when I'm in the boundary waters, I want to experience it without being high or drunk. I want to remember my experiences. As well, there are far to many ways to get seriously hurt, I don't really want members of my group to even have a buzz on the way to the latrine. It just seems like a recipe for disaster, and an early end of a trip. If you're going to bring booze, please leave the hatchet home. There are sober people who fall and split their knees wide open on sharp rocks, booze isn't going to lessen those risks.

This community just lost a 62 year old man, who likely fell and hit his head on a rock, and ended up face down in the lake (bit of speculation). If you're going to drink, maybe do it at the end of the day, when you just have to safely navigate to the tent.

Set for 3 beer-batter fish frys.

Boathouse Brew Pub in Ely sells plastic growlers of their beer. I have taken those in a couple of times and they work well. I have also used the 64oz Hydroflask growlers. If you can get it in there cold, and keep them out of the sun it will still be cool on day 3 in my experience. Definitely nice to have a cold one, but the weight is noticeable for sure

I use the insulated Hydroflask growlers. If you want to maximize the duration of the beer staying cold, fill your growler with ice and water at home. This will pre-chill the growler. On your drive up, stop at a brewery on the way to or near your entry point--Castle Danger is my personal favorite if heading up the Gunflint. Dump out the icewater at the brewery and fill with your favorite beer straight from the tap. If kept out of the sun and limiting the number of openings, the beer should stay cold and carbonated for a few days.

Look up the liquor stores in Ely and call them to see if they have beer in plastic bottles. They used to have these in stock just for this reason. Another suggestion is to get a beer growler or two.

Our groups have never brought alcohol. For the same reason we don't bring bottles of Coke. No way to keep things cold.

On a side note I can't imagine needing a sedative like alcohol in the BWCA to enjoy it.

One last thought. A few years we were on a lake when we could clearly hear people in other camps laughing and loud in the evening/dark. No one wants to be near "that guy"

We have never brought alcohol.

But then a couple years back someone produced a flask around the fire one night and then someone else did...must have been a conspiracy--no one informed me. We ended up having fun night, and it never got loud.

This year I'm hearing rumblings about a few who are desiring beer batter fish....so we'll see.

Cigars are an annual part of the trip, though.

ockycamper: "

One last thought. A few years we were on a lake when we could clearly hear people in other camps laughing and loud in the evening/dark. No one wants to be near "that guy""

I think “that guy” is gonna be “that guy” regardless of if there’s booze around or not.

I'm also a beer guy but not lugging that in. I do take a box of sangria and its nice to have a small cup or two before dinner. I also like to take a flask of coconut rum and I mix that with my orange gatorade powder and water. It's pretty tasty.
Funny because it's not about getting drunk or even buzzed its just a great way to end the day and it also mixes things up a little. After nothing but coffee and water all day a little sip of Sangria sure hits the spot! And it's good at air temp as well.

The only plastic beer I could find in Ely last summer was a 32 oz. Steel Reserve. Tasted like crap. Loved it.
Go red wine and vodka/crystal light. Kegs a lot of work.

Did someone say drinks?
I take whiskey with that squirty MIO stuff they sell these days. I take the energy kind for my caffeine in the morning and the other one when i don't need the boost. No I don't drink booze in the morning. Just saying MIO has duel uses.

I wonder about those 1 gallon mini kegs you can buy at the liquor store. It’s aluminum and contains beer but would that be classified as a “can?”

MidwestMan: "

ockycamper: "


One last thought. A few years we were on a lake when we could clearly hear people in other camps laughing and loud in the evening/dark. No one wants to be near "that guy""

I think “that guy” is gonna be “that guy” regardless of if there’s booze around or not. "

There’s plenty of “that guys” who give them a beer and they become that guy who would not be otherwise.
My favorite was when I arranged someone to come in and paddle out with me as the two guys I was paddling with 14 days were flying out.
The outfitter sent me in a steak and a few beers. Boy was that a good deal after 14 days out there with 12 to go…

thegildedgopher: "I wonder about those 1 gallon mini kegs you can buy at the liquor store. It’s aluminum and contains beer but would that be classified as a “can?”"

I can imagine getting conflicting answers from the USFS on this - but I once asked about those exact mini-kegs, and was told by someone answering phones at the Ranger Station: Yes, you can take that. No, we don't recommend it. This was about 8 years ago.

Thanks everyone for the responses. We decided since we are taking a boat with motor we would bring a keg. Yes, it does sound like a lot but there is 6 of us total going and we are there for 7 days. We are all in our 40's. None of us are big drinkers we would just like to relax at the end of the night.

If you haven’t already, check this thread in the Food & Recipe Forum.