Brewers have a ball... on the diamond

Ken, also known as @ontariobeerguy, shows off his umpiring moves
during one of the ball games. First, he told the batter that he was out!
Then he told me I was out of order! Then he said we were ALL out of
order!!! I felt like I had seen it in a movie or something. But seriously,
he was out there volunteering his time and doing something great for
the McMaster Children's Hospital, who saw the proceeds on the day.
But Ken won the 50/50 draw and did something even cooler. Read on.

So Sunday morning, I looked at all the empty beer cans in my basement. I then dumped them out of their trays into a big green garbage bag. Because I work at a Beer Store, I always take them back in trays. It's neater, easier for me and because they're upright, there's no can juice spillage. Which in the Summer, well, that juice can get a nasty smell pretty quickly. And the bugs, let's not forget the bugs.

But this Sunday would be different. My empties, rather than being applied to my next purchase, would go elsewhere on this day. I bagged up 155 empty cans and took them on a road trip to Hamilton. In a slightly less vague sense, I took them to Collective Arts Brewing. But in a far more specific sense, the empties traveled to the two baseball diamonds to the immediate west of the brewery.

You see, this was the site of the First Annual Collective Arts-Southern Ontario Beer Boys Brewers Ball baseball tournament. And the empties, as well as all the monies raised on this day, would go to a far more noble cause than my next beer purchase. In fact, all proceeds on the day went to McMaster Children Hospital. So basically, it was a day of baseball, drinking, more baseball and fun, all to benefit the kids. The hospital has long been a beneficiary to the generosity of the Southern Ontario Beer Boys, who are constantly holding events to raise them cash.

Peace out, homey! Tiffany, better known as
Traveling Pint, played on Team Insta, an rag-
tag assortment of Instagramers, bloggers,
vloggers and Twitter-Tweeters. The team
didn't win but in terms of combining beer
and baseball, they were true gold medalists. 

Once arriving, I quickly caught up with Steve and Neil, half of the Southern Ontario Beer Boys at the check-in booth. In front of them on the table was at least $300 worth of tasty craft beer to be raffled off. We'll get back to that in a bit because by the end of the day, that amount more than doubled. As well, there was a big-ass trophy just begging for a team name to be engraved upon it.

But first things first. I had to ask Steve how the S.O. Boys pulled all this together. "Organizing something is always a challenge because a lot of them were breweries and they only had five or six who could come out," he told me. "So if we do this again next year and hopefully we will, we'll have more because there was a lot of breweries that wanted to come out but they just couldn't get the bodies." (After the overwhelming success of this inaugural tournament, not to mention, the afternoon fun had by all, getting more teams next year will not be an issue.)

"I had spoken to Collective (Arts Brewing) back in January to ask them if they were interested in doing something for Mac Kids," he continued. "They said they had done a little tournament last year so they said they had no problem doing another tournament this year to help raise some money for the Children's Hospital. That's kind of where it started."

Paul, one quarter of the Southern Ontario Beer
Boys, also spent the day umpiring games. The
SO Boys have donated so much of their time and
efforts towards fund-raising in Hamilton, notably
to McMaster Children's Hospital. Pretty noble...

But time has a way of slipping through our fingers, like a bouncing ball between a shortstop's legs, so the S.O. Boys threw the tournament organizing into full gear as the warm weather finally hit. "The Summer went by pretty quickly and then we (SO Boys and Collective) chatted together at the end of July and said let's make this happen and here we are today," said Steve.

And what a day. Had it been held two days prior, the last day of Summer, no one would have been able to breathe, due to the heat. And the day before, the first day of Autumn, they would have been out there with parkas on - cold, overcast and drizzly. But on September 23, it was perfect baseball weather - just above 20C (70F), sun shining and spirits were high all day.

In the end, six teams were recruited, four of which were amalgams of local breweries - Collective Arts, Fairweather Brewing, Grain & Grit Small Batch Beers, Merit Brewing and shipped in from Guelph, Wellington Brewing. Another was local eatery, Lou Dawgs, which also supplied the food (pulled pork - tasty) for the day on the Collective beer patio. And finally a team of bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers and Twitter-Heads called Team Insta.

Joe Mrav, co-owner of Grain & Grit Small
Batch Beer in West Hamilton, comes off the
field as an inning ends. Joe told me that the
brewery couldn't field its own team, having
just nine employees (which is five more than
when I first visited in February) but that he
wanted to be part of the action anyway and
simply lent his talents to an amalgam team.

Wandering between the two diamonds for the better part of the day, I had time to talk to a bunch of friends from breweries, as well as finally meeting Facebook, Twitter and Instagram friends in person. One thing was clear. Everyone was having a great time.

When I went to the far diamond, the first person I met was Ken, aka Ontario Beer Guy. He asked where our man and Hamilton mainstay, Robert, aka Drunk Polkaroo, was on this sunny day. Well, the simple fact is we all knew. Polk, the 2018 Ontario Beer Writer of the Year (Have I mentioned this? Yes? No? Maybe once?) was working as he always is.

But we talked about how Polk, at the end of this week, was shifting within his grocery chain to another store where he will be working the night shift - 11 pm to 7 am - stocking the store. "Think about it," said Ken. "When Polk gets home at 8 am, that'll be his night-time. He'll be doing beer reviews at 10 am, rather than 10 pm. It's going to seem kind of crazy." Actually, I haven't thought of that. While the rest of us are blearily working on our second cup of coffee just to wake up, Polk will be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, just getting home from work and happily drinking and talking about tasty Ontario craft beer.

Now, for the record, when I posted a picture of Ken on Twitter, I noted that not only had he volunteered his day to the tournament umpiring but at 7-foot-2, he was also the official bouncer just in case rowdiness ensued.

Neil of Southern Ontario Beer Boys awarded Jill
Harris, the big winner of the Craft Beer Raffle. In
the end, with more than $600 of beer placed on the
table by players and breweries, it got split up five
ways. While all players were asked to bring one
beer to the tourney, breweries were dropping trays!

Ken laughingly corrected me, noting he was only 6-foot-6. Frankly, I say, let's split the difference. For those keeping score at home, let it be known that Ken is now officially listed in the books as 6-foot-10.

But Ken also made a pretty huge gesture at the end of the day. After his ticket won the 50/50 Raffle, he donated his winnings of $110 right back to the cause. Quite a guy. An 6-foot-10 Ontario Beer Guy, if you will.

The rules on the day were Softball 101. You pitch to your own team but each batter only gets three pitches so you better hit one of them. But one thing I noticed through the afternoon was, as often as not, if a batter whiffed on all three pitches, the other team started chanting, "One more pitch! One more pitch!" Like I said, the afternoon was built more on fun than anything else.

That's not to say there wasn't some friendly competition. I was watching the Wellington ballers play one of their games and they seemed to be such a cohesive and skilled unit that I finally asked a player if the squad played together in a Guelph softball league. No, he noted, saying a few of them probably played some after-hours softball but this was their first time together as a team. Pretty impressive.

There you go. The first ever team to have their name
on The Collective Cup Brewer's Ball championship
trophy was Fairweather Brewing out of Hamilton.

In the mid-afternoon, before the playoff rounds even began and I was on my way home, I called for a Wellington and Collective Arts final. I was half right. Wellington did make the final but were up against Fairweather Brewing, who eventually won the whole shooting match.

Now let's get to the best part of the day - that Craft Beer Raffle. When I arrived there was probably $300-plus on that table. By the end of the day, there was so much ($600-plus worth) beer on the table that they decided to turn it into several prizes.

At the beginning of the tournament, Steve told me, "Yeah, I had asked for one beer from each player to be included in the raffle. It was literally a last minute idea, like five days ago and 'How can we raise a little bit more money?' so let's see if everyone can bring one beer. So that's at least $300-$400 worth of beer that someone's gonna get for 10 bucks." What he wasn't anticipating was that people and breweries would continue to add to the already-generous pile through the day. By the end, it was simply too much for any one person to win.

The guys from Wellington relax before a game with some beverages in
Solo Beer Cups that I feel certain must have been Gatorade or an energy
drink of that sorts. Because no way was anyone drinking beers on this
fine, sunny day at a baseball tourney featuring the people who brew it.

Unless it was me. Or that 6-foot-10 umpire. I was long gone at this point but I gave my 50/50 and Beer Raffles tickets to Tiffany, aka @travellingpint with strict instructions never to inform me if I won. (She would have totally told me, I'm sure. No one listens to me... with good reason.) But in the end, they split all that beer up into five prizes, Steve said.

"We raffled five different beer prizes," Steve messaged me. "There were three mixed two-fours of Wellington Upside IPA, Hamilton Brewery Riley Red Ale and Muskoka Detour. (The next prize was) one case of a pair of every Collective Arts beer currently produced. And a grand prize of all the individual beers that people donated - from short cans to bottles of Barrel-Aged beers." In the end, Jill Harris of the Fairweather team won the big prize.

The winning team from Fairweather Brewing all seem to be signaling
something... holding up one finger each. But I can't quite decipher this
code. Are they pointing to the sky? Is this to indicate a number of some
sort? Who can tell. But I bet they were Number One on this day of ball.

And in the end, just how much was raised for McMaster Children's Hospital, I asked.

"I need to hear back from Collective," said Steve. "But I'm pretty sure it was over $1,000. I spoke with Parker Neale (Senior Development Officer) of McMaster Children's Hospital today and they were most appreciative of the effort everyone made. A future cheque presentation with Collective Arts and Southern Ontario Beer Boys will be scheduled (shortly) at the hospital."

So a great day of fun in the sun, baseball and beer, all for a great cause. Let's face it. No one lost at this tournament. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

Cameron's gets tribute on garage

When Jennifer Blattman in Ottawa decided to paint a mural on
the back of the family's garage, they chose a scene that is VERY
familiar to me. The label of Cameron's Brewing's 12 Mile India
Pale Lager. Jennifer told me she and her husband were leaning
towards something tropical but opted for their favourite label...

When you think about it, Oakville and Ottawa are quite a ways apart. I mean, we're talking a distance of 486 km (302 miles) from each other.

So I was a little surprised to see my hometown homeys, Cameron's Brewing, get honoured by a family up Ottawa way.

And what an honour it is. Jennifer Blattman and her husband wanted to paint a mural on the back of their garage. At first they were thinking about something tropical - you know, beach, palm trees, ocean, something like that. Soothing, relaxing, vacation-like.

"I want a tropical mural, to be honest," she told me, "but after a phenomenal tour of Vancouver Island, I changed my mind."
The couple decided something a little more Canadiana would be a better fit. But what they went with caught us all off-guard. They painstakingly reproduced the label of Oakville's own Cameron's Brewing 12 Mile India Lager (to my mind, the best lager in the province.)

On September 15, she posted the picture to Twitter, noting, "We finished the mural on the back of our garage! Credit to Cameron's Brewing for the design. It doesn't get more Canadian than this. #12Miler." And just like that, my favourite local product was honoured from a family a six hour drive away.

As you can see from the Camerons-Mobile driven by the
co-owner and president, Bill Coleman, Jennifer is right
when she says, "We love all their can designs but especially
the 12 Mile (IPL). So much Canadian love!" Well, Bill, I
guess you can see your rebranding really took off with us!

Cameron's, of course, instantly retweeted it, saying, "This may actually be the greatest thing we've ever seen!" And, of course, since Cameron's and I follow each other like we're international spies, that's how I saw it... and then retweeted it myself, saying, "Wow! Check this out. @jblatts painted the Cameron's Brewing 12 Mile India Pale Lager label scene on the back of their garage. So awesome!"

Within minutes, people were jumping on with "likes", as well as my Twitter buddy, Sudbury Homebrew marveling, "That is a thing of beauty!"

Brewery employees, such as Ottawa-area sales rep Micha Miljevic, (@Awesomedefender) were equally blown away by the spectacular tribute, saying, "This is particularly amazing. #ottawa #beerlovers #represent. Nicely done, @jblatts. #Cameronsforthewin"

I would go as far as to say the Cameron's 12 Mile India Pale Lager mural
is now the most prominent feature of Jennifer's backyard... although it's
tough to beat an in-ground pool. Still, that mural is year-round. The pool,
not so much. But hey, that's a pretty cool thing to look at while seated.

So what kind of work goes into a project like this? Said Jennifer, "It took 30-plus hours, using masking tape, four-inch paint rollers and a Grade 6 geometry set. I recreated the mural in PowerPoint to scale so that we could then figure out how big to make the stripes. My husband is a detail guy so he took care of everything after the stripes! All the hard work!"

One nagging question I had was simply this: The wrap-around label for the can simply isn't long enough to fill what seems to be a 20-25 foot width of the garage. How did they fill it in? Simple enough, she said. "We added the mountains (on the right) to complete the Canadian landscape."

When my son, David, and I popped into Cameron's yesterday to
fill a couple of growlers with the brewery's new Haze Across
7 C's Pale Ale, part of their ongoing keg-only Hazy American
Pale Ale series, on hand to greet us was Cameron's sales rep
Robbie Levin. This beer should be an easy sell for Robbie.

And finally, Jennifer, what did your friends think about your artistic venture? "My friends love it! They came by throughout the process, always looking for updates. It's what we see when we're sitting at the back of the yard beside the pool. So we wanted to make sure we loved it! And we do."

Now here's an interesting tidbit about both Jennifer and my favourite Cameron's beer. When the World Beer Awards were held in Norfolk, UK back in mid-August, only two Ontario breweries won World Style Award Country Winners for their submissions. Muskoka Brewing in Bracebridge won Best Specialty IPA for their Berry Springer Fieldberry Milkshake IPA and the other was Cameron's for the 12 Mile India Pale Lager in the Hoppy Pilsner category. So it turns out we aren't its only fans, that much is certain. But still, that mural... unbelievable.

Okay, speaking of Cameron's, my boy and I popped in there after work yesterday so that Dear Ol' Dad could get a couple of growler fills.

Since Cameron's Brewmaster Jason Britton's new Hazy American
Pale Ale Series is keg-only, that means you better have some growlers
handy and be in the neighbourhood if you want to sample it at home.
I, in fact, DO have growlers available and they're two minutes away
from me. So I was in there for their Haze Across The 7 C's Pale Ale.

Was it 12 Mile India Pale Lager? Actually, no, I buy that by the can when I'm there. As I mentioned in my last blog, Cameron's Brewmaster Jason Britton has launched a keg-only Hazy American Pale Ale Series at the brewery. I have no idea how many different ones they'll do. But I knew this for a fact. I was going to be there for the first one.

Just a few days ago, they launched the first - Haze Across The 7 C's Pale Ale so I grabbed a 2L (64 ounce) growler and a 1L howler for my pale-ale-lovin' coworker, Jonny. This was an impressive start. Though lighter in body than I expected, the 4.5% sessioner was a tasty one. Hints of mango, citrus and orange on the nose with light pine on the way down, this was a dandy little brew. I will be heading back for more soon enough. And Jason, my man, with an eye to the future, the hazier and juicier, the better! Hit me with your best shot. Fire away. (I feel like that's been said.) Okay, Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

All the shenanigans at the OBAs 2018

This Twitter pic on the night of the Golden Tap and Ontario
Brewing Awards comes from the camera of Shelley Beirnes
(@BSGShelley) who works for BSG, a company that supplies
breweries with both ingredients and technical support. Without
sponsors, you can't pull these events off so thank you to Shelley!

Okay, so I've dealt with the announcement of the Golden Tap Awards 2018 Best Beer Writer of the Year in my last one. If you missed it, it was my buddy, Robert Arsenault. If you don't know who that is, you can also call him Drunk Polkaroo. And if you're still not sure who that is, just go with "Your Majesty" or "Most Esteemed Writer." You should always bow. I do. But, hey, if you can do a good curtsy, go with that. He accepts both. And I may just get a Knighthood out of this. Sir Donny of Hop Haven or some shit like that. Don't worry. I'll still drink with you. Like Polk, I'm a man of the people.

But while the night for me was mostly about Polk, it wasn't completely about Polk as other stuff happened, too. Lots of people there and turns out I knew more than a few. Though some stories do still involve Polk... because hey man, shut up, he was my ride back to Oakville! So let's dive into the 2018 Golden Taps and Ontario Brewing Awards night, shall we?

So anyway, I got to meet Jordan St John and Robin LeBlanc, the co-authors of two editions of The Ontario Craft Beer Guide. At this point, I should mention I haven't actually read their books, which go into elaborate detail on the Craft Beer Movement in Ontario from the beginning to, well, now. But I will buy them now that I have met them both. I like to check out the authors before I invest my cash. Except for comic books. There's a trust factor ingrained from youth there. But their work does sounds like stuff that a guy who writes about craft beer should probably know and appreciate.

Okay, with the help of Erin, left, and John, right, both Robin
and Renee Navarro got together at Little Beasts Brewing in
Whitby and created the "Really Good Friends Saison", which
was a damn fine beer. The name comes from what you say to
Grandma or Uncle Bob when they ask about your same-sex
partner. You know, "Just friends." But part of the proceeds
went to PFLAG Durham (parents and friends of lesbians and
gays) so that's cool. It's an early contender for my Best Saison.

That said, I doubt anyone's surprised I've just been winging this all along. (My brain: "And will continue to do so regardless of what I read on the crapper." Me: "Shut up! I'm not typing that!")

Jordan is the guy I basically met as he was coming through the front door. So he had little choice but to talk to me. Some people are blessed with bad timing. We chatted there and at several other junctions through the night including an after-party bar for a night-cap. He seems like a really great and incredibly astute guy on all matters beer. But here's the thing. He's a writer. You want the real sense of a writer? Read their work.

I did exactly that. He recently visited Brussels, the capitol of Belgium, where all those tasty beers originate and wrote a piece on that. A little chunk of it was beer; there was tons of their history and their present. All capped off with some phenomenal photography involving their architecture. I'll include the link at the end but I was captivated after the first photo. One helluva writer, too.

Robin was working the room as she knew everyone there and when she finally came in my direction, I did exactly what I have long instructed my son, David, to do for either gender.

On the left is Scott Pepin, one of four co-owners of Brock
Street Brewing. On the right is the young man who says
he's a better carpenter than Jesus. Oh wait, I said that,
not him! Well, I stand by it. Think Noah could have used
a little help with that boat? I ask you. Where was Jesus?
Now, we wait as Don slowly determines his eternal fate.

Put out your hand for a handshake. If they want a hug instead, they'll let you know. I put out my hand but Robin called an audible for the hug so yeah, you don't argue. Like David, I'll always take the hug.

Didn't get a chance to really talk to her until later. But when I did, well, you know how you meet with someone in person that you only know online to actually talk for the first time? Whether you realize it or not, your guard is up, at least a little. That is, until she opened with "How's David?" Yeah, my guard disappeared faster than the superheroes at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. So we had a wonderful talk about my boy, another about a sibling in her own family and then, her story about Las Vegas!! She had won an award for a food blog and scored a free trip there. She didn't have much free time - just one day from the sounds of it - but it seemed like a great time. So I found the link to her Vegas story and read it. And I smiled. Everything I love about Vegas, she does not. I absolutely love the noise, the lights and the undeniable cheeziness of the strip. She's not a fan. She found an awesome comic shop - something we do have in common - and went straight for the indies whereas I would have been all over the Marvel, DC and Image stuff.

Drunk Polkaroo poses with Renee Navarro, the
other half of the "Really Good Friends Saison"
by Little Beasts and the lady telling us all that
beer could use some diversity. Craft beer isn't
just for white males, it's brewed for ALL of
us!! Everyone! Her Twitter: @35mmMonkey.

It was an absolutely fascinating read on the exact same place - from the complete opposite direction. I loved it so I'll link to that at the end too. Such a cool lady, as well as fantastic writer. So glad to finally meet her.

Let's move on to my man, Josh Beaven, my younger brother from another mother. I was there maybe 20 minutes, when I heard, "Donny! Donny!" Turning around, I saw Josh, one of the seven-member crew who did the Whitby Craft Brewery Invasion in December. I knew he was going as he had posted on Facebook that he was invited to be on the Brock Street Brewing party bus heading to the the OBAs. No handshakes here. Total hug moment!

I consider it very cool to just know this guy because he has fantastic, self-taught skills that I certainly don't. A carpenter by trade, he is the dude who will be putting a lot of the final wooden touches on the retail portion of the new Brock St Brewing at Dunlop and Brock Street in Whitby. And I can guarantee you this right now. When my man, JB, is done, it's gonna look bitchin' as shit.

But I also knew THE question would come back up. "When are we gonna do one of those limousine brewery tours again?" Lemme do Vegas in October, buddy, and we can arrange that next one afterwards. Because, shit, that was a whole lotta fun.

Now here's a man with an interesting story. Mark Woitzik,
centre, book-ended by Drunk Polkaroo (YOUR 2018 Best
Beer Writer of the Year) and some skeevy hippie looking
dude, is not only a craft brewery co-owner in Whitby but
also a very successful lawyer in that town. My Whitby pal,
Johnny, still maintains that one day Mark will be the Mayor. 

The age range of the participants was mid-20s to late-50s and we all had this in common. We loved drinking great craft beer from breweries like Brock St, 5 Paddles, Little Beasts and Town Brewing and tooling through Whitby in a limo. Some activities cross generations without a seam. Apparently, drinking in a limo is one. Who knew?

But here's a little story. When I was in Vegas for New Years Eve to see the Toronto Maple Leafs play there against the Golden Knights, Josh messaged me to ask for my home address so he could send me some Beer Mail from Brock Street and also a proper Brock Street pint glass. Why? So I would come home to Canada and have some fresh Ontario craft beer. Love this dude. It was a "Lemme get your picture" night, for sure.

So let's move on to Mark Woitzik, shall we? Okay, Mark is one of four co-owners of Brock St Brewing, along with Cliff Vanclief, Scott Pepin and Victor Leone. But Mark is the one in charge of their social media so he got to know of me quite well a couple years back.

Carpenter Josh poses with Brock St Brewing's gold, silver
and bronze at the OBAs. Josh later posted a video of them
winning the gold for their Bohemian Pilsner in which you
can hear me yell, "That's what I'm drinking right now!
Get it in ya!!" Ah yes, a moment caught in time. Funny.

I was mentioning Brock St in this space with some frequency simply because I very much liked them. When David and I first visited back in July 2016, Taylor, the sweet young lady at the counter (yes, I still remember her name and no, I don't know why I just walked into the kitchen), saw him peeking into the back and invited him to go check out the big shiny vats. He was gone like a missile. I mean, he left a damn vapour trail. I took like a dozen pictures of him back there. Young boys, shiny stuff - you know the drill. He talked about it all the way home - or at least, 20 minutes into the drive on the highway at which point, he fell asleep (as he always does.) Prior to that, I had met some of their young crew at a  Burlington Winter Beer Fest where they were taking on all comers with a mini ping-pong table. They smoked my ass. I think I got one point. Then in the Summer, they got a mini pool table and called me out on Facebook for a match. Turns out that was Mark. (I passed because that's a long drive just to get my ass stomped again.)

Now back in September 1991, Mark was paralyzed after severing his spinal cord during a university initiation accident. Being in a wheelchair didn't slow him one bit.

I got your Whitby Craft Beer Mafia right here, being
represented by John and Erin of Little Beasts Brewing
and Mark, Victor and Scott of Brock Street Brewing.
Between the two breweries, SIX awards returned to
Whitby after the Golden Tap and OBAs that night...

He continued on, got a law degree, opening a successful law firm in Whitby with a partner before he was one of four life-time Whitby residents opening Brock St Brewing in April 2015. Believe it or not, with four breweries in town, Brock St is the longest established at just three years old. So when Little Beasts Brewing collected their Best Newcomer Award last Thursday, Brock St knew that feel, having won it in 2016.

But as the night progressed and the drinks multiplied, Mark took me and Drunk Polkaroo aside and said he wanted us to create our own beer in one of his specialty three hectolitre tanks once their new three-storey brewery-restaurant-private club opens, likely opening towards the end of November. Polk and I just looked at each other and he said instantly, "Triple IPA!" Yes, likely followed by another Triple IPA using different hops the following month. Mark, we're down if you still are. I'll let (yass, "let"... right) your staff kick my ass at mini pool table if that's any incentive.

My hometown homeys, Cameron's Brewing, had a great night at the OBAs, collecting six trophies, just as Wellington Brewing did, making both the big winners of the night.

Jason Britton, top centre, and his brewers hold up the six OBAs
they won last Thursday. At the time, Jason told Drunk Polkaroo
and myself, they had big new beers coming down the pipe. It didn't
take long to find out as just two days ago, Cameron's announced
the release of Haze Across The 7 C's Pale Ale, the first in a series.

I'll talk about Wellington soon as I tried both their Welly Rebooted Volume 3 and Volume 4 four-packs at the same time and want to include those, one of which was a gold medal.

So back to Cameron's. Polkaroo and I caught up with Cameron's Brewmaster Jason Britton, who told us the brewery was releasing some big stuff very soon. "An IPA?" I instantly asked. He smiled, as he's grown used to that question from me and said, "Even better." It didn't take long to find out what. Two days ago, the brewery announced they were launching Hazy American Pale Ale Keg Series, with the first outing, Haze Across The 7 C's, now available. It's not being canned but is available for growler pours. Have I mentioned the brewery is literally two minutes down the hill from me? (Three if I get caught at the one light.) They are about to see a lot of me and my growlers in there.

Anyways, as I said, Wellington and also Longslice Brewing's wins at the OBAs will be coming up in separate as both are doing big things right now that deserve separate attention in this space. Very soon. I promise.

Okay, as I said earlier both Jordan St John and Robin Leblanc wrote some excellent pieces and that I would link to them here. Here's Jordan's piece: An Outsider's Look at Brussels followed by Robin's piece called: Vegas, Baby, Vegas! But Scooby Doo Gang, I'll be back really soon with that new Cameron's beer, as well as the look at Wellington and Longslice. Until next time, I remain...

Drunk Polkaroo FINALLY gets his big night...

Here he is at the podium. That exact moment when he went from the
Drunk Polkaroo to the award-winning Drunk Polkaroo at the Golden
Tap Awards ceremony at The Berkeley Church in east Toronto on
Thursday, September 13th. This year, the Golden Taps were held in
conjunction with the Ontario Brewing Awards so, wow, what a night!

On Monday, September 10 late at night, I got a Twitter message from my buddy Rob, who most of you know better as Drunk Polkaroo.

I had taken to referring to him as Best Beer Writer in Ontario for 2018 in our private messages, thinking THIS would be the year he would finally get that title at the Golden Tap Awards. 

As we all know, Ben Johnson, who is an excellent journalist, had won the title for an unprecedented four years' straight. Which is precisely how long this one particular award has been around - four years.

However, I made a serious miscalculation last year. I bet Polk that he would win the Best Beer Writer. But here's the thing. Johnson wrote a piece on Sexism in Ontario Craft Beer Labels and Marketing in early 2017 that was pretty much worthy of the crown all on its own. Just reading it, I knew it took him three, maybe four months, to cull that amount of information, quotes and response to the issue. He then pulled it all together into one really stellar piece. Possibly one of the best pieces I've ever read. That's not easy. So maybe last year was not my best time to actually bet on it. 

But, of course, I made that bet anyway, based on the sheer volume of beer writing and videoing Polk does in one single day, every day of the year. Instagram craft beer posts, Twitter craft beer posts and daily video craft beer reviews!

Kathryn, aka Mrs Polkaroo, now has to cop a loftier
and referential approach to her hubby, Rob, on texts.
"Can you take out the garbage?" will now be "If it
will not sully your hands, could you please take out
the garbage, Mr Award Winner?" Not gonna last long.

And hey, just for shits and giggles, he'll write a blog or two every week. So I made that bet and then lost that bet, also losing my dignity (as Donny Vegas) and worst of all, a six-pack of fine craft beer.

That why I would only privately guarantee him he would be a winner this year. In previous years, I had been saying it on social media and I feared I had given him the Pro-Line Jinx. That simply means if you bet on the Maple Leafs to win their game, they will lose. Every time. Even if they're five-goal favourites. So I gave Polk only quiet, private assertions that he would take it this year.

People were jammed around Polk all night after he
won the award, including Sawdust City Brewmaster
Sam Corbeil. Just three weeks prior to the event, Sam
and the rest of the brew crew from Sawdust drove to
the famous Grotto owned by Polk and Kat with a pile
of beer just because. They ate, they drank, they swam.

So back to Monday's private message. He told me it looked like he'd lost again because he hadn't heard anything. Why, I asked back, when was the awards night? Thursday, he replied. Oh shit, I said. He was right. If you haven't heard anything three days prior to the event means, yeah, that's a no news is bad news scenario.

The next night, just two days before the Golden Tap Awards, I got another message from Polk. He asked if I could keep a secret - like pinky-swear, hand-on-your-heart, scratch-your-ass keep a secret. Sure, I replied. I mean, I don't really listen all that closely to people at all so technically, that makes me an excellent secret-keeper. About 10 seconds later, another message popped up. Just two words. It said:

I. WON.

I. Lost. My. Shit! I jumped up so quickly that my chair, even on roller wheels, hit the ground behind me hard. I'll paraphrase the rest of the convo in teenage girl.

Me: OMG. So happy!
Him: OMG. So humbled!
Me: OMG. I'm so going!
Him: OMG. Hitch a ride with us!

Jordan St James, the co-author of two editions of The Ontario
Craft Beer Guide with Robin LeBlanc, chats with Polk in the
aftermath of the Golden Tap and Ontario Brewing Awards. It
was a night where MANY people would be talking to Polk,
making it probably his best night ever. Dude is a social beast!

And so it was set. I would hitch a ride with Polk and the lovely Kathryn and off to Toronto we would go Thursday night. But folks, lemme tell you, even on the drive in, it was like he still had "do-I-deserve-the-win" doubts about it. At one point, on the drive to collect the award, he decided the award must be "Favourite" Beer Writer, not "Best." That's the only way he would have won, he surmised, because Ben is a better writer. (For the record, people, it's Best, not Favourite. Also, he knows that now.)

This is the same conversation we had last Summer when Polk was convinced he would never win as long as Ben was writing about beer. No, I pointed out even back then, they were very different writers. Both, in my old editor eyes, are equally excellent writers. They simply bring different strengths to the table. Ben's style is very hard-hitting, brash, take no prisoners. You almost feel like there's bits of blood around his desk when he's done. Polk's style is that easy-going, how-you-all-doing, this is what I love about Ontario Craft Beer friendly chat.

While, of course, Polk won Best Beer Writer, Erin, right,
won Best Newcomer Brewery at the Golden Tap Awards
just minutes before (or after - it's a blur) for Whitby's
outstanding Little Beasts Brewing. More on her and the
other winners in tomorrow's blog. But, man, great night.

Ben is that crazy-ass, bracing, naked jump into a ridiculously frigid lake at the cottage. Polk is the hot cup of cocoa, the cozy fireplace and warm blanket wrapped around you after that skinny-dip. Both great. Very different.

Okay, let's fast-forward and get to the damn event itself at The Berkeley Church in east Toronto. It's two floors of craft brewers, craft beer fans, food and great craft beer. Which bids just one question. Why is this not an ACTUAL church?? Hell, this godless heathen would go. I might never leave. No other church in the world would ever be able to make that claim.

So Polk, Kat and myself walk in, knowing he's won. But no one else knows. And I mean, it's packed with every big name in the Ontario Craft Beer Industry. Owners, brewers, employees, fans - everyone. No mascots, though. Ontario craft breweries don't make that kind of dough - you know, #MascotMoney. Budweiser has Clydesdales; craft brewers made actual beer that doesn't like Clydesdales' piss. It's a trade-off. I like our end better.

So, of course, with two ceremonies coming up - one for the Golden Tap Awards, the other for the Ontario Brewing Awards - we grab beers and mingle.

The lovely Kat snaps off a selfie with herself, Robin LeBlanc,
Jordan St John, the co-authors of The Ontario Craft Beer
Guide and, of course, her hubby, the Drunk Polkaroo. Says
Polk: "Three of my favourite people in one photo. I don't get
to hang out with Robin and Jordan much but I treasure when I
can." Having met both that night for the first time, I get that.
Also, Robin has mastered the skills of doing the party horns and
still holding the beer glass. Skills like that will stead you well!

It's not a huge place, though sizable enough for a slammin' party, so I was spotting people I know in the industry, left, right and... okay, that's odd... not one was centre. Statistical anomaly?

Saw John Romano, owner of Nickel Brook Brewing, Oshawa's coolest carpenter Josh Beaven, Mark Woitzik, owner of Brock St Brewing and my brother from another mother. And so many more. But you know what? That's tomorrow's blog. This here's about my dude, the Polk. Your 2018 Golden Tap Award's Best Beer Writer of the Year! Oh damn, gotta get to that part!!!! Pretend you didn't read that. It was still a secret. Or was it?

Kat confessed to me that she had spilled the beans to friends at Muddy York Brewing before the announcement. And I almost did to Jordan St John, co-author of two editions of The Ontario Craft Beer Guide with Robin LeBlanc. You see, I was wearing my Drunk Polkaroo-Donny Vegas Inception T-Shirt. Long story short, it's a cartoon of Drunk Polkaroo wearing a picture of me wearing a T-Shirt of the actual Polkaroo from Polka Dot Door. (If you actually want to know, it's in my last blog about artist David Buist. You can see the link top right.) So I explained the whole Polk-Donny Inception thing to Jordan and he asked, "Does that mean he...??" I nearly nodded yes but caught myself, shrugged and smiled, "If he does, it's because of this shirt!" After the whole T-Shirt explanation, Jordan simply said, "I really like the follow-through," meaning that it started as a silly Twitter suggestion and turned into an actual article of clothing.

The thing about Polk is that he's anything but a
beer snob. Instead, I would call him a Craft Beer
Enthusiast, you know, if you have to label things.
(You really don't have to! It's fine if you don't.)

So the Golden Tap winners are up first but this hall, man, it is jammed with brewers and brewery workers, mostly for the Ontario Brewing Awards, which follow immediately afterwards. Every table along the walls around the building has beers you can sample. Many also have food - which is good because if you work at a craft beer brewery, you want those food freebies.

Most of the brewery crews are from out-of-town and have been in Cabbagetown for the day. Some, several, most... none of the folks there are feeling any pain. So Golden Tap organizer Cass Enright, the man who started the event, as well as runs bartowel.com, a comprehensive beer-everything website, is up on stage and begins to read out winners.

(Let me quickly explain that while the Ontario Brewing Awards are judged by actual brewers, doing blind taste-testing, the Golden Tap is voted on by you, the beer-drinking public. It is basically The People's Choice Awards for beers and breweries in Ontario.)

I immediately get to the front. I have no idea when Polk's name is gonna be read into the microphone but I wanna be up close and personal when it is. So basically, I'm leaning on the stage, just waiting.

"Hey, Peter Bulut, owner of Great Lakes Brewing
in Etobicoke, how do you feeling about Drunk
Polkaroo's big win at the Golden Tap Awards?"
We'll take that thumbs-up as a positive thing.

Winners are announced. Each is heartily applauded. Winners come up, get their certificate and exit stage-left.

Now keep in mind, I have my back to the audience. Finally, Cass says, "... and the winner is Robert Arsenault, the Drunk Polkaroo." The place goes ballistic! This gynormous sound-wave bitch-slaps me from behind. The shock-wave makes my eyes bleed. Internal organs rupture. Equilibrium is gone. Okay, not really, but holy shit, it was loud! People went absolutely nuts.

He basically gets mobbed by friends and admirers when he comes off the stage and lemme tell you something else for free, he was the Belle of the Beer Ball for the remainder of the night. Now, most of these people know him up-close-and-personal after three years of his Polkapalooza Craft Brewery Road Trip Tours to, now, many dozens of breweries across Ontario. Some have stayed open late just to accommodate the arrival of Polk and Kat in their towns.

He has long been Craft Beer Royalty in Ontario... but now, he has the crown.

The first time Polkaroo and I met, photo courtesy of
my boy, David. I think the reason we became good
friends is that it looks like we are both dressed by
Stevie Wonder. Make that Steve Wonder on drugs.

Except for one thing. It hasn't actually been that long. I always thought we met back in 2014 or so. Not even close. As I checked back, my first contact with him was on March 31, 2016, just two and a half years ago. And I think he'd only been at this beer video thing for about a half year at that point.

That's a lot of progress in a remarkably short period of time. When I first saw his work, I loved it. Just this regular dude with a colourful shirt and a fedora on, sitting behind his basement bar, talking about beer. On the ride in, Polk cracked, "Three years ago, I was just a fat drunk. Now I'm a fat drunk with an award!" His perspective but certainly not mine. The weightiest think about him in my mind is his accomplishments, going from someone nobody knew to someone everybody truly loves and respects in such a short time. Weight? His words carry more of that than his body.

The bonus to a Joe Lunch-Pail like himself winning, he added, is that now other regular folk may start following suit and try their hand at beer writing. I hope he's right. Ontario's Craft Brewing Industry can use all the support it can get. But hey, Matt Allott, the owner of Manantler Craft Brewing in Bowmanville, caught Polk hitting the stage on video and it's worth the watch right here at: The King Gets His Crown! But Scooby Doo Gang, I'll be back tomorrow with that look at all the shenanigans at the 2018 OBAs tomorrow! Until then, I remain as always...

The art wizardry of David Buist...

David Buist "hoped" I would like the caricature he did of
my son, David. Uhhh, no. I didn't like it. I loved it. Besides
being an incredibly thoughtful gesture about a young fella
who is my pride and joy, he also totally nailed the picture.

I'll be honest. It doesn't take much to throw me. While my physical body is firmly rooted on terra firma due to gravity reasons (until Premier Rob's Brother tries to repeal the Law of Gravity using the "Not Withstanding" clause), my mind is usually drifting up there in the clouds. It's very pretty. You all look like ants from up here. Puny, puny ants.

When I looked through a bunch of old public school report cards - now decades old - that my Mom had saved (because that's what Moms do), there was a recurring theme in many of the teachers' comments. It was "Donald can be a daydreamer." These days, that's called ADD - attention deficit disorder - and I think some parents put their kids on medication for it. That's like that make me glad that I was born when I was. It seems to me if you're on medication, you are more unlikely to gaze out the window and imagine the Hulk and Thor smashing it out on the very ground where recess is held. I used to. Thor usually won. It's the hammer. You can't beat the hammer, man.

But again, I suppose I can be caught offguard because it happened recently. One day I was on Twitter and I saw the little private mail alert.

Every artist has to have a self-caricature and thus, David
Buist created his. Having never met him, I'm not sure if
he captured himself perfectly but there can be no fault in
his choice of attire. Especially with the season coming up.

I clicked on it and saw it was from Hamilton cartoonist-artist David Buist and he had done a new caricature. Not of me. He'd already done that. It was of my son, also named David. His message was simply: "Was trying some more caricatures and gave a shot at your son. Hope he likes it. I couldn't find a perfect picture to use so I used a few and hoped it worked out."

I was stunned. As you can see above, he nailed it. That picture was David... and then some. Like the Grinch, my heart swelled to be three times larger that night. So now, it's like up to a walnut. Also my eyes got leaky. I hate that. I don't know what that's called but it makes it all hard to read stuff. (Offstage Whisper: "It's called crying, you moron!" Me: "Shut up!!! I was not!!")

Now it's one thing to do a caricature of me. I was flattered that someone thought I warranted the attention.

When I was in Las Vegas during the Stanley
Cup run back in June, some radio station
went on Twitter and said, "Send us your best
cartoon and we'll publish it on social media."
So I instantly went to David, sending him a
picture of Lady Liberty outside the New York
New York Resort and Casino, wearing the Las
Vegas jersey and said, "Gimme your best."
They never used it but with a good reason.

But it's quite another to do one of my son. You see, that's a huge step up from flattery, landing on a much-higher separate plateau called Honoured and Thrilled. I felt honoured. Hugely so. That's my son, folks. So of course, I thanked him profusely. So that's the story behind that story. But I'm a day-dreamer, remember, so here's another story about artist David Buist that few (or none) of you may know.

Way back in June, I flew to Las Vegas because the Golden Knights were in the Stanley Cup final against beer writer Adam Kemp's much-beloved Washington Capitals. A Vegas radio station on Twitter said, "Give us your best cartoon of your Las Vegas Golden Knights and we'll declare the winner on our social media." So I instantly messaging David, told him of the contest, sent him a picture of the Statue of Liberty (outside New York New York Casino and Resort) wearing a Vegas Golden Knights' jersey and basically said, "Send me a cartoon." Well, within the hour, my phone was chirping. David had done it. So I fired it off to the radio station and said, "Here's your winner," explaining who the artist was, where he was from and all the stuff you tell them.

They frikkin' loved it!!! But there was a hitch. You see, the Stanley Cup was only three games in. Washington was up two games to one and at my urging, David had Lady Liberty hoisting the Cup. The station told me privately that it was one of their favourites but they couldn't jinx the Golden Knights by posting a Won-The-Cup picture. Sports is hugely superstitious. In retrospect, I get that. Bad Karma, voodoo and stuff.

The Drunk Polkaroo-Donny Vegas Inception shirt
was a hit, as I wear a T-Shirt of Drunk Polkaroo
wearing a T-Shirt of me, wearing a T-Shirt of the
actual Polkaroo from TV show Polka Dot Door.

But if they had won the Cup, oh man, Vegas would have seen that cartoon all over social media!! As you can see, I kept the cartoon. Maybe some day. Given their off-season acquisitions, maybe soon? (But not before my Toronto Maple Leafs.) But David's art has been seen in the Vegas strip before so here's another story from the daydreamer.

You see, I was headed down to Sin City for one of my what must seem to be endless trips there during this calendar year and I decided on Twitter to get some suggestions of new Ontario craft brewery T-Shirts to wear along the Vegas strip. I think it was my April trip. So, like I said, I threw it out there on Twitter and, of course, got dozens of suggestions. At 272 and counting, Ontario has no shortage of great craft brewers and when I travel, I like to show 'em off.

Eventually, someone on Twitter said words of the effect of "You should get a shirt of Drunk Polkaroo wearing a shirt of you wearing a shirt of Polkaroo from the TV show." Little light-bulbs went off over heads and Polk tweeted, "David Buist, can you help us out?"

And thus, as it was written in the Ancient Scriptures, the Drunk Polkaroo-Donny Vegas Inception T-Shirt was born, using the design that David sent us not even 20 minutes later. No one on the strip had a clue what the shirt was or what it meant. One college bro asked me if it was a band logo. Of course I smiled and said, "Yeah, brother, killer trash metal band in Toronto, Canada called the Drunk Donny Polkaroos. Check 'em out. They're f**ken dope." With a promise to You Tube it, off he happily went. (I am such an ass-hat. Why does anyone ever listen to me about anything? But he was also pretty hammered so no way he remembered that name.) So yeah, no one knew what the shirt meant or was. But we knew. And I had to give our craft brewers one day off. Also, when David Buist draws you a shirt design, you get that sucker printed on fabric and wear it.

When our man, Drunk Polkaroo, who loves filling social
media with his poems, had a recent Dr Seuss streak in his
odes, David, on his own, decided to put some of them to
art. This is as good or better than anything I've ever seen
in a children's book. And believe me, as a parent, you
become pretty familiar with those. Just a classic style.

So who is the man behind these wonderful and whimsical cartoons? The man who took the time to draw and send me one of my son? That's a good question. So I decided to privately ask him a few of those very questions myself.

Turns out David does programming and database works for a school, a full-time job he smilingly refers to as "nerd stuff." But "I've always been a doodler and loved drawing since I was a kid. Most of my notebooks in school had the margins full of little sketches and characters. A lot of my meeting notes (as an adult) still do today."

But as a married father of three daughters, it's children's book art that he gravitates towards "because it totally fits my style and it allows a lot of freedom. You can really have fun with it. I did my first one, based off a children's song my brother made and we had fun creating it together. I've done a few since and have a few in the works." (More on his most recent release at the end.)

Barrie Beer Brother Hago Vanayan loved David's art for Nickel
Brook's Wicked Awesome IPA so much that he made it into the
background for his phone and sent me this screenshot. When my
man Hago was sent his caricature from the Hamilton artist, he
marveled, "I thought I was looking into the mirror! He totally
surprised me with it. I think I'll be using it as a profile pic for a
while to come." Like I said, you feel honoured when he does it.

David told me he didn't have "a specific person that I look up to in terms of my style but I love going through and looking at all styles of art. I follow a lot of artists on Twitter and it's amazing how much talent is out there. As far as kids' books go, I did love Where The Sidewalk Ends and was a huge fan of Dr Seuss, as well as Robert Munsch. I was also a fan of some of the comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side."

Being married with kids means "things are always so busy around my place (so) I've really learned how to cram in my art time when I can. I think my dream job (would be having) no job, though retirement is a ways off. I just have so many (artist) things that could fill my time if I had more to 'waste'."

Now David and Drunk Polkaroo can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the first beer writer caricature the artist did was for his fellow Hamiltonian, the Polk himself. So I asked Polk what he thought when he saw it.

"The first time I saw it, I was stunned. I couldn't believe anyone would bother being that creative about a fat guy who talked about beer all the time. I got a little choked up when Dave first did those drawings. It's an honour to be immortalized, more than once. He really captures the joy in our hearts, I believe."

And when Polk had a long go of putting a Dr Seuss spin on his many poems, artist David jumped right in and started illustrating it. That thrilled Polk.

One of my all-time favourite David Buist Ontario
Craft Brewery cartoons is the one he created for
Collective Arts' Ransack The Universe IPA that
also featured himself. The colour, the style, wicked.

"The Dr Seuss ones were a point of pride as I was seeing my words come to life in a most unexpected way. Not many people know but I'm a huge Seuss fan. Yertle The Turtle is my fave. (Sidebar: Also mine. It was the first book I could recite as a pre-schooler from beginning to end.) We have had conversations about a possible collab of my words and his art into book form (so) you may see something sometime in 2019." 

And, of course, his thoughts on the classic Drunk Polkaroo-Donny Vegas Inception shirt? "The Inception (shirt) was one of the highlights of Dave's work for me. He is a treasure more people should and will know about in Ontario craft beer and beyond. Dave is a kind-hearted fellow who I got to spend an afternoon drinking beers with a three of Hamilton's finest craft breweries. He's a passionate and creative guy who is just fun to hang out with." 

Okay, as I said, David has just released a children's book with author Travis M Blair called Mythical Creatures Legendary Histories: Haiku A To Z. Here's a Twitter link to a video on it, featuring Travis and David with the separate link to Amazon. Check it out at: David's Cool Chrildren's Book  Looks like a lot of fun. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am out of here. Off with the Polkaroos for the Ontario Brewing Awards tonight, which should be a blast but until next time, I remain, as always...