In the depths of the pandemic lockdown, when people around the world were feeling isolated and depressed, a group of Kansas City beer geeks started a group called Quarantined Beer Chugs. It was a simple thing—people took selfie videos of themselves chugging beers and goofing off—and it was just the thing many people needed to brighten their day in those dark months.
We found the group through the late and great Rodney Beagle. The 3Halves Brewing brewmaster was one of the group’s top contributors and promoters, and it captured his spirit and zeal for life.
Well, the quarantine is over but the beer-chugging community remains vibrant. Last weekend, a group member who is a Buffalo Bills fan reached out to KC locals to make some connections in the city before the Bills traveled to KC for their playoff matchup.
The Bills fan, who goes by the name of Char Les, said he left impressed by the atmosphere at Arrowhead.
“While I hate to admit that I am still sad that the Bills season is over and what looked like a great chance to get back in the Super Bowl slipped through our fingers again, I look back at my time in Kansas City this weekend with a huge smile,” he wrote. “The beautiful stadium, the volcanic energy and the earth-shaking sound shows me all the legendary hype I’ve heard about that place for so many years was as real as ever.”
Of course, Sunday was a sad one for the Bills Mafia and their supporters—Bills fans tend to be friendly and fun, and are a second team to many fans in Great Lakes states—but Char Les says that he was saved from the depths of depression by warm-hearted Chiefs fans.
“The heartbreak Sunday night was awful. But, my new FRIENDS that I made in Kansas City, lifted me up off the ground and helped me hold my head high because I have so much to be proud of and be excited for,” he writes in a post on the group. “These people didn’t even know I existed before Saturday. They just saw me in my somber, knew how I felt and knew the decent thing to do for a fellow passionate lover of a football team. The kindness, generosity, energy and quality of character the people of Kansas City embody is truly spectacular.”
He says he’ll be back next year, and hopes to return the favor for his “newfound family” by picking up Chiefs fans “after your team falls short of victory.”
See the full post below.
