Burlington Beer Fest, Part One

When they check this selfie out with sober eyes, it's gonna be all...
"What is Brenda looking at?" That would be me, taking a picture of
these fun-loving people at the soggiest beer fest ever, the  first-ever
three-day Burlington Beer Festival on a very rain-soaked Saturday

It was the second-saddest confession ever uttered by a Beer Musketeer when Cat told the rest of us that she had never been to a craft beer festival.

The first saddest confession? That would come from Glenn wisely sharing this little tid-bit of info while Cat was away at Music Camp in the boonies and far from striking distance.
Glenn: I have a confession to make.
Me: Uh-oh... *buckles into desk chair*
Stevil St Evil: *eagerly awaits news of Durham Region's first gay marriage*
Glenn: I drank a Coors Light.
*stunned silence*
Me: The gay marriage would have been more welcome news...
Stevil: Was someone holding a gun to your head?

But that's Glenn, always providing the three of us with W-T-actual-F moments. But I am happy to report that Cat is no longer a craft beer festival virgin, having attended Day Two (Saturday) of the first ever three-day Burlington Beer Festival, held July 18 to 20. Did she enjoy it? Oh hell yeah, she got wet... Granted, that sounds a little more salacious than it actually is. The truth is we all got wet!! Yup, while the Friday portion was held under sunny skies and the Sunday fest was overcast but dry, we got dumped on by rain on Saturday - heavy rain, light drizzle (fo-fizzle) and intermittent get-them-hopeful, stopped-for-five-minutes parts.

Trish Watson, whose business card proclaims her both
"Beer Goddess" and "Co-Founder" of Ottawa's Turtle
Island Brewing Co., happily mingles with a fest-goer...

And when the organizers of the first-ever beer festival in my town decided to throw it, they went big - a three-day beer festival is more than a bit ambitious. Even Toronto's are held at a day, maybe two. So it was the sink-or-swim inaugural dance. And? Oh baby, much like us on Saturday, it swam. While the rains on Saturday may have put a slight damper on the size of the crowd, there was no raining on the spirit or enthusiasm of those who attended. You know the best thing about drinking some awesome craft beer in the rain? You know that soon into it, you won't care that you're drinking in the rain. Dollar store rain ponchos and umbrellas happily dotted the grounds at Spencer Smith Park as brewers such as Nickle Brook, Cool, Steam Whistle, Amsterdam, Mill Street, Brick, Granville Island, Flying Monkeys, Samuel Adams, Hop City, Creemore Springs, Beau's All Natural, King, Trafalgar Ales and Meads and Cameron's bravely manned their tents in the inclement weather.

Brew-Ha-Ha was one soggy but happy beer warrior at
the Burlington Beer Festival. Rain? Bring it on, bitch!!

Hell, Alexander Keith's, promoting their Hop Series line, brought an ultra-cool trailer that set up as an open-fronted bar.

But it was the breweries that Cat and I were less familiar with that drew our attention and the first one that caught our eye was Underdog Brewing out of Oshawa, a rookie brewery that seems to be going the Steam Whistle route and making one beer really well - their All or Nothing Hopfenweisse, a German style wheat. How green are these guys? This was their first ever beer festival which is a little odd since the first ever Durham Beer Festival was held the previous weekend. Why weren't they there? Believe it or not, they were told there was "no room" for them. No room for a Durham brewery at a Durham Beer Fest? As Cat noted afterwards, "Hey, you make room!" Hey, Durham's loss was Burlington's gain as this hefeweizen was outstanding. The first sip - no joke - bubble gum. But that quickly fades as the wheat, hay and light fruit hits your tongue next. Then come the light but noticeable hops! Wow! A dynamite beer that Cat and I went back for twice! Already this brewery is living up to its "Beer with No Excuses" motto. Count the pair of us as huge fans!

Who's more yellow? Cat in her dollar store poncho or
the Underdog's Brewery fridge. I say the fridge...

Plus as the friendly dude manning the booth noted, Ontario now has access to a great wheat beer year round. Sold!!! As they cleverly noted on Facebook the following morning, "It's a good thing that beer is 90%+ water anyways! Who doesn't like a little rain?" Indeed...

Next up was Ottawa's Turtle Island Brewing whose booth was manned by "Beer Goddess" and co-founder Trish Watson herself. While Cat went for their SMASHed Cherry Ale, I opted for their Imperial Maple Stout - at 11%, perhaps the strongest beer at the fest. While her cherry brew faded softly and nicely on the tongue, the maple was a bit sweet and overpowering in mine - still a strong and warming offering on a soggy day. But we both returned for their 6.5% Ixcacao Triple Chocolate Stout and *ding, ding, ding* we found the Turtle Island champion! Sweet chocolate and coffee on the nose, it turned bitter-sweet chocolate in the mouth. All three were solid offerings but that chocolate stout was delicious!

Right across the way from Turtle Island was Maclean's Ales out of tiny Hanover, Ontario.

This is how wet it was on Saturday as these maidens fair
went full-poncho on the tent strip, laughing and singing
the entire time. That, folks, is how you do it in the rain...

Now I actually know Hanover. One of my oldest friends, Dave, who I met when I was five, his late-father Herb and mother Marilyn both hail from Hanover. They met when Herb was playing sax in a jazz band and Marilyn joined as the singer. To that end, some 25 or so years ago, the band had a big reunion and Dave and I dutifully drove up to enjoy the festivities. Herb was very much a second father to me growing up and pretty much the coolest Dad ever so, man, I know good things come from Hanover. And guess what? Maclean's Ales Ltd didn't disappoint. With assistant brewer Mike and marketing manager Curtis manning the booth, we were told that founder Charles Maclean created the brewery in 1993 after returning here from touring the British countryside on a motorcycle and falling in love with their beer styles. The Maclean's Pale Ale was a perfect representation of a British Pale Ale, a carefully-struck balance between malt and hops, light fruit and caramel malt on the tongue. We loved it. We also tried their Farmhouse Blonde, which may have been made specially for fest as RateBeer refers to it as 'retired'. But it's all over their Facebook so maybe it's back in circulation. It was quite nice... but a little thin compared to the Pale Ale, another that we went back for twice more.

Hey, you meet a Canadian Chiver at a local beer fest,
you take his picture. It's pretty much legally mandated...

Okay, I'll be back in two days because I've just touched on some of the less familiar brewers who I thought were highly deserving of praise. I really loved all three and heartily applaud Underdog... who I believe won't be one for much longer. We'll be hitting the craft world's big boys tomorrow - the likes of Barrie's Flying Monkeys Craft Brewers and their session IPA, a saison out of my hometown Nickel Brook Brewing, a dandy dark lager from Side Launch Brewing out of Collingwood, Brampton's Hop City's Hopbot IPA, as well as three great ones - a saison, milk stout and pale ale - from Beau's All Natural Brewing out of Vankleek Hill and much much more.

And that's not even including the shenanigans of the Smoking Tree Tribe people, of which we were charter members, the friendliness of pretty much all the booth workers, the hefty number of porta-potties on hand (and why Durham could learn from us), a sweet meet with the ladies from St Louis Wings, a Neil Diamond sound-alike/look-alike in a sparkly shirt who had all the Poncho Ladies dancing, praise for the organizers, and taxi-cab follies, not to mention a short-lived, beer-fuelled Skype session with the Ultimate Master Of The Beer Fest, Stevil St Evil. The present Beer Musketeer Fest Score is: Cat 1, Glenn 1, Don 4 and Stevil 285... give or take.

But until then, guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here... As always, I remain...