Mental Floss

Shock Top Launches Adult Summer Camp Full of Beer

By Shaunacy Ferro

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Sharing a cabin with a bunch of strangers sounds like a lot more fun when you’re long past both the trials of puberty and feeling homesick for your parents. Alas, the joys of summer camp are sometimes wasted on the young.

Fortunately, a number of companies have realized that kids aren't the only ones who need an escape from normal life, launching a wide range of adult summer camps, where you can make new friends and learn new skills as a grown up, minus the mandatory curfews. This summer, the beer aficionados at Shock Top are taking the adult summer camp trend to its logical conclusion: all the fun of a Wet Hot American Summer-style camp with copious amounts of free-flowing booze. The company has created an adult summer camp sweepstakes with the company Camp No Counselors.

Comedian T.J. Miller (of Deadpool and Silicon Valley) who is part of the team launching Camp Shock Top, explains the appeal this way: “Sleep away camp is kind of tough as a 12-year-old, but I can go back at 35 and I can drink and I actually have talent at the talent show.” He tells mental_floss that he’s “obsessed with the idea of playing capture the flag at 35.”

Camp Shock Top

Yes, the camp will have all the classic hallmarks of a remote sleep-away camp, including games of tug-o-war, capture the flag, and beach volleyball. There will be archery courses, arts and crafts, floating trampolines, campfires, and talent shows.

“A lot of people didn’t have great camp experiences,” Miller says. “This is kind of like a redo.” Even if you did have a great sleep-away camp experience as a child, this one comes with perks like gourmet food, an open bar, and co-ed cabins.

The three-night camp will be held outside four U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Austin. And it’s free—admission to the camp is awarded through a sweepstakes. You just have to submit a photo of yourself “living life unfiltered.” Of course, if you don't win, you could always register for the regular Camp No Counselors experience, which runs about $500 per weekend.