Beau's All Natural Brewing's 5th Annual Oktoberfest in Vankleek Hill, Ontario

Beau's All Natural Brewing's 5th Annual Oktoberfest in Vankleek Hill, Ontario

This weekend Vankleek Hill was the host to Beau's All Natural Brewing's 5th Annual Oktoberfest. A shuttle from Ottawa to Vankleek Hill got me there but there was also a bus from Montreal. I attended only the Saturday and am sure to return next year.

Not only was there a wide variety of splendid Beau's beers but there was also an extensive cask section with beers from a whole bunch of different breweries. In addition to beer there were lots of different restaurants from the region slinging their wares. Being a German festival there were lots of presumably tasty meaty dishes (if you are into that sort of thing) and the vegetarian options were few and far between. However, the Brisk-ain't this vegetarian ordered from The Branch restaurant was absolutely delicious.

On the beer side, Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale was a real standout to my taste (review upcoming) so I am pleased to report that Steve Beauschene announced that this beer will be brewed regularly by Beau's and distributed along with the rest of their fine brews.

I only choose to try two cask beers and, through no fault of anybody, their flavours were a bit all over the place. I happened to order two beers that were at the very, very end of their respective casks so I ended up getting quite a bit of sediment which kind of threw off the flavours; however, many people seemed to spend all day in the cask section so I'm sure most pours were fine and tasty.

Other than food and beer there were more fun (and hilarious) activities (beer dunk tank!) than you could shake a stick at including a homebrew competition (yum). Not to mention the whole thing raises a tonne of money for the many worthwhile causes that Beau's supports. For more information on that I suggest you head over to the event's webpage.

On top of ALL that, Rich Aucoin and the Mahones took turns rocking our worlds at the main stage. The Mahones were just awesome, speed folk metal on the accordion - I mean you gotta love it. Unfortunately, the shows were a little behind schedule so, in order to make the last shuttle back to Ottawa at 9 PM, I had to leave before Sloan took the stage. I really would have to see them but that in no way takes away from this awesome event and wonderful atmosphere.

Big Red Cherry Ale (cask) - Mill Street Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 7.0%

Big Red Cherry Ale (cask) - Mill Street Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Ottawa) 7.0%

This cask wheat ale looks a lot like tomato juice: very red with a slight brown hue and very cloudy in a glass. The aroma is slightly hoppy with cherry and a tartness mixed with some subtle wheat touches that reminds me of rhubarb.

The taste has some wheat and coriander flavours along with the cherry, which is quite moderate actually, somewhat tart with some sticky red sweetness. The high alcohol content comes across quite clearly in the finish. There are almost more yeasty flavours in this cask version than there are cherry flavours though it is still quite clearly a fruit beer.

Merry Time Pilsner (Cask) - Pump House Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton)

Merry Time Pilsner (Cask) - Pump House Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton) 5.6%

A very light mango or passionfruit hop aroma; grain and malthouse also. Yellow and cloudy in a glass with a thin white head with good resilience and lacing. Lots of grain and malthouse in the taste too, a bit raw, some barnyard with a little hay and vegetal hops and the barest hint of citrus (lemon). No sign of the more exotic hops tones I initially picked up in the aroma.

Merry Time Pilsner (Draft) - Pump House Brewery (Canada - New Brunswick - Moncton) 5.6%

A dry hops and malt taste that is just a little bit nutty with a nice grain background flavour. The aroma is one of dry hops and lightly grain. Clear, pale gold in a glass without much head. A good Euro style Pilsner.



These two different formats make beers that are quite different, though there are similarities, which just goes to show how different a beer can be as a result of cask conditioning.

Fredericton Craft Beer Festival 2013

Fredericton Craft Beer Festival 2013

The inaugural Fredericton Craft Beer Festival took place this past weekend (March 9th, 2013) at the Delta Fredericton. The event was well attended and thoroughly enjoyable with an impressive selection of great beers. Where some beer festivals have a number of international lagers that we've all had before, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival was a tribute to craft beers and had none of these "filler beers".

I was very pleased to be able to try beers by Bushwakker, based in Regina, Saskatchewan and by Shiretown out of Dalhousie New Brunswick. I'm not normally able to get my hands on these brews so that was interesting.

Also Picaroons had a cask version of their Yippee IPA that was just amazing. The most surprising beer of the festival had to be Moosehead Cask, it was flavourful and really interesting - not what I expected from Moosehead to be honest.

As fun as the festival was I feel like I could have had a better time if the event had done a better job of getting information to us. When I arrived I was handed a roll of tickets without explanation. None of the volunteers inside the venue that I asked knew what the tickets were for. I eventually went back out to the gate, asked the staff there and found out that the tickets were for the "Garrison Beer Education Room" but with no indication as to what the "Garrison Beer Education Room" was.

I eventually made my way to the Beer Education Room and, to my utter astonishment, found what seemed like more than a dozen more ales, barley wines and bock beers to sample by Unibroue, Brooklyn brewery and plenty of other breweries that had not been advertised in the lead up to the event and were not even included in the beer checklist pamphlet I received when I arrived!

Jackpot.

... Except, the Garrison [District Ale House] Beer Education Room closed an hour before the end of the main event and precisely ten minutes after I discovered it, bummer. However, I still got to try Brooklyn Brewing's Monster Barley Wine and their Local 2, so I'm grateful for that.

Edit: The organizers of the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival contacted me after this post went up to explain why the Garrison Beer Education Room worked the way it did. According to them the Beer Education Room had to be treated as a separate event due for licensing reasons as a result they weren't able to promote in the same way as the main event. This explains a lot and I am grateful to the organizers for reaching out to me to explain this.

All in all, I am very glad I went. The venue was very nice, it was a great opportunity to meet some brewers and fellow beer geeks and to try a wide variety of really excellent beers. The VIP ticket was definitely worth it as the pass got me admitted to the event a half hour early and gave me access to the Bushwakker beers for only $10 more. Also the free chips and popcorn was a nice touch and the water jugs at glass rinsing station were always kept full. Next time (and I'll happily go again) I won't leave the Beer Education to the last few minutes. Also, it would be nice to be able to buy a few bottles to take home though I'm sure that would be another regulatory nightmare for the organizers.

Best Bitter (cask) - Picaroons (Canada - New Brunswick - Fredericton)

Best Bitter (cask) - Picaroons (Canada - New Brunswick - Fredericton)

Very much hoppier than the regular version: resiny and fresh cut grass as well as a fairly bitter aftertaste. Still not a hop bomb by any measure. Also there is none of the caramel flavour I associate with Picaroons beers. Well balanced with malt, roasty and a little sticky but I still found it hop forward. I had the good fortune to have one of the first pints out of this cask and I found it was quite a bit hoppier than my second glass; quirks of cask beer perhaps.

This event at Marky's Laudromat Espresso Bar on January 10th was being held to raise funds for the employees of the Garrison District Ale House that has been temporarily shuttered due to fire damage.

Two Delicious but Temporary Offerings from Rockbottom (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax)

Wreckoning - Rockbottom Brewpub (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 10.0%

Yikes, this Russian Imperial Stout is not messing around! On account of its strength, I wouldn't mind if they sold a 8oz version rather than only the 12. On account of its taste, I wouldn't mind getting a barrel to take home with me; but more on that later.

Wreckington smells punishingly high in alcohol with lots of dark fruit and bourbon tones: delightful and dangerous. Nitrogenated by a sparkler faucet this stout has a velvety smooth, creamy head. Black and more or less opaque in a glass.

The taste is just, wow. Bursting with flavour: dark and milk chocolate, molasses, fruit esters, vanilla as well as oaky wood tones, dark fruit and bourbon-like tones. So good and, as I have already mentioned, not messing about. As a result, beer geeks will flip for this one while many others will turn up their noses at a beer so strongly (and awesomely) flavoured.

Blackened IPA - Rockbottom Brewpub (Canada - Nova Scotia - Halifax) 6.8%

A strongly green spruce aroma with a hefty dose of sweetness. A shade more brown that black but just about opaque in a glass with just a touch of sediment. Lots of that same spruce flavour in the taste with plenty of wooden tones and a green cut grass taste that comes through with an astringent quality and a chest warming feeling that conveys its high ABV. This cask ale was of normal carbonation but pleasantly just on the cool side of room temperature having been sitting on the bar in a kirkin sized thermos for about three hours before I got my pint. A lovely cask ale, makes me wish I was in Halifax for every Firkin Saturday at Rockbottom.