When Adam from Beau's popped in...

"Holy crap, it's THAT GUY!" says Adam from Beau's. "Holy
crap, it's THAT GUY!" says me. I was pleasantly surprised
when Adam from Beau's popped into my Beer Store a couple
of weeks back. He stopped in with their new Mix-Four, a very
cool gift. The Mix-Four has a couple of newbies in it so yeah,
I wanna piece of that! Their session IPA and Helles Lager are
part of the new pack, as well as Full Time IPA and Lug Tread.

I was working in the back of the Beer Store one day recently when my young coworker, Jordon, our senior part-timer, came back to fetch me.

"The Beau's rep, Adam, is here and is asking for you," he said. "Do you know EVERY craft beer rep?" 

Well, actually, no, I don't. Like not every craft beer rep in the Province. There's a bunch. But I most certainly know the ones that circle my orbit here in the GTA. The ones up in Sudbury or over there in Ottawa? Not so much. But I'm sure they're very cool. Just like Kelly from Saskatoon. Sorry, other Las Vegas tourist from Wisconsin, yes, I know I'm from Canada but no, I've never met Kelly. But I hear she's lovely. There's like 33 million of us. I'm happy if I can keep track of 100. Or even 50.

So anyways, I come out to meet Beau's Rep Adam, knowing full well I don't know a Beau's Rep named Adam. Except I did. You see, while he's not my Beau's rep, he's a Twitter friend. A few days prior, I had posted a picture of Beau's new Good Time Session IPA as part of a big session beer afternoon I had that weekend.

These were the two from the new Beau's Mixed Pack that I was the most
eager to try - their Good Time Session IPA (which I had enjoyed once
before) and most especially their new Helles Lager. Both Wellington and
Muddy York Brewing make exceptional Helles Lagers so I'm always very
happy to see a new brew join the ranks. Summer-Time is Helles Time...

So Adam hopped onto the conversation and chatted away about it. I love it when a brewery rep or their social media pros or even on rare occasions, the owner themselves hop onto our Beer Twitter Brew Crew chatter because, hey, they know their product better than we do.

My thinking is - and my high school teachers would concur - if you can teach me anything, well, that's quite an achievement. Where craft breweries have a significant advantage over high school here is that I actually do want to learn more. Algebra? Yeah, not so much. (Also, four decades later, still haven't used it in real life, much as I predicted all those years ago.) So I had a great chat with Adam before he had to move along and deal with actual customers!

Released a couple of Summers ago, Beau's Full Time IPA made a big
splash in Ontario. As per their usual modus operandi, all natural and
organic ingredients, ending in the brewery's traditional result. Tasty!

But before he left, I got a parting gift of the new Beau's Mixed Four. Okay, the good news first! The company has shifted away from their traditional four-packs of 600-ml (20 ounce) bottles to a more convenient four-pack of 473-ml (16 ounce) cans. Why is that more convenient? The cans fit better in my fridge than the bottles. How does this affect you? It may not. I am primarily more worried about my convenience, rather than yours. Get over yourself. (Joking. Or am I?)

Okay, the even better news now? The pack has two new beauties in it that I think you may really enjoy. (Well, okay, I did. Once again, get over yourself.) As well as the traditional Lug Tread Lagered Ale and Full Time IPA, joining the ranks this time is their new Good Time Session IPA and Helles Lager. So how were the two newbies? Pretty damn good. In the case of the Helles, great, even.

Back when Beau's switched from these 600-ml bottles to 473-ml cans for
their Full Time IPA, I had one thought. Looking up to a top shelf in my
Beer Store cooler, I saw that we had one box of the bottles left. So then I
figured, well, no one's gonna drink those if we have the cans, which oddly
would have been true. So I bought the last dozen. And then I drank them.

The Good Time Session comes out in a Summer that is stocked hard with new session craft beers. Seriously, you can't move two feet without tripping over another good one. *Looking around* Okay, maybe that's just my room. That said, it holds it own over some serious contenders. Some beautiful citrus on the nose of this 4% brew and nicely tangy on the tongue.

The Helles Lager has some serious competition, as well, in the form of Wellington Helles Lager and Muddy York's Gaslight Helles Lager. These two beers are my Helles Bar of Distinction. You're either over them (none yet) or under them. Once again, Beau's proves that they're willing to play with the big guns here. Their 5% Helles is all straw and lemon on the nose, sliding nicely down the throat. Doesn't beat the other two but, man, it hangs in beautifully against some serious players in the Helles Division.

Here's my man, Robbie Levin, with my little big guy,
David, not too long ago at Cameron's Brewing here in
Oakville. I messaged Robbie a few days ago to ask him
a question and found out that he had moved to Barrie
to be closer to his daughter. I didn't know. But man, I
sure applaud that! I believe family always comes first. 

Anyway, it was great to meet Adam. Always fun when you finally meet someone you've talked to a bunch of times on social media. Afterwards, he noted that between my hair and his beard, we could combine to do a great Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. Well, I hope he can sing. I sure can't.

And speaking of Do I Know Every Craft Beer Rep In Ontario (since that's how this all kicked off), no, I don't. I also know Sales Managers and in a few cases, owners.

Case in point. Went into work early one day last week so I could grab some Harvey's (next door to my Beer Store) before my shift. A guy inside Harvey's is waving at me like a man on fire. I thought, "Hold on. Is that... ???"

It was. Cameron's Brewing Man With A Plan (and also their sales manager) Clint. Haven't seen Clint in a while. But always great to see him. He's one of these folks whose enthusiasm is infectious. Not a bad thing for me to catch a whiff of on my way into work, to be frank. I usually don't bring my own. And because I believe there are no coincidences in this universe, I had talked to my Cameron's guy, Robbie, just the night before, only to find out that he left the brewery back in March, moving to Barrie to be closer to his daughter. To me, as a Dad myself, well, that's damn cool.

From no IPAs to three IPAs within a few weeks. Cameron's Brewing will
release its Jurassic IPA (right) very soon and will be following it with two
IPAs that they're brewing up here on behalf of Skeleton Crew Brewing,
out of Onalaska, Wisconsin. On the left is Skeleton Crew Evil Genius
Session IPA (4.5%) while in the centre is Skeleton Crew Knucklebone
IPA (6.5%). All of these images came from the LCBO search website.

There is a young fellow with Clint named Matt. He's Robbie's replacement so yeah, he has his hands full.

So Clint introduced us, telling Matt that I'm this big social media guy (ehhh, not really true) and a big Cameron's supporter (okay, very true.) I consider Cameron's to be one of the more under-rated breweries in Ontario. I also have a feeling that's about to change. Big time. And man, some craft beer lovin' people in the Sudbury, Guelph and Ottawa area are in for some Oakville-style treats very soon!

Clint told me some big beers are coming down the pipe from the brewery. What, I smiled, you mean the new Jurassic IPA and the two you're making for Skeleton Crew Brewing?

Cameron's Brewmaster Jason Britton: "I call
this little ditty Donny Stay The Hell Away From
Me Because I'm Brewing Your Damn IPAs."
Well now, that's music to my ears. Thank you!

Pointing to me, Clint turned to Matt and said, "See what I mean?" Actually, I was told and simply confirmed it with Rona, the Retail Manager at the brewery. A friend had found it on a Twitter site that I think is called LCBO Finds.

This means I can finally stop harassing poor Jason Britton, the Brewmaster at Cameron's. Look, I'm not saying the guy runs into the Employees Only brewery section at the south end of the facility every time he sees my car. But I will say this. He absolutely runs into the Employees Only brewery section at the south end of the facility every time he sees my car.

So coming up (within a few weeks) will be Cameron's Jurassic IPA, which is 6.8%, 68 IBUs and loaded with Citra, Summit and Simcoe hops. The two they're brewing up here for Skeleton Crew Brewing out of Onalaska, Wisconsin - the 4.5% Evil Genius Session IPA and 6.5% Knucklebone IPA - I have no details on as of yet. But I will get deets soon. Well, so long as I see Jason before he sees me. However, Clint told me Matt would be dropping some off to me at the Beer Store, probably this week so you'll all know soon enough. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Back soon with a funny story about how Ottawa Matty's scoring of beer pictures, well, it turned into an actual thing! And you will never guess who the reigning champ is. But until then, I remain as always...