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...