The Best of 2019: The Mild But Still Wild

According to Steve, this may be the only photo with all the Southern
Ontario Beer Boys in one place. Keep it handy. The boys might need it as
an alibi one day. But I'll tell you this for free. The SO Beer Boys have
done a whole lotta good for the community in two short years. Besides
that, they put on the best baseball tournament ever with the Brewers
Ball now having finished its second year. Just a great group of guys...

Well, it's that time of year when we all look back, reminisce on the simple marvel of having made it through another and quietly say, "Wow, whatta hunk of shit that craptastic year was!" Then we happily look forward to the next year... which is likely to be as bad if not worse.

Wait... have I suddenly and unexpectedly joined the already-far-too-swollen ranks of the many Beer Twitter curmudgeons and cynics?

Nahhhh, just yanking your chain. I've always been a glass half-full kinda guy... with a light side salad of weird. For instance, right now, I can't stop thinking about the fact that there's one person in the world who has eaten more mayonnaise than anyone else on the planet.

When the Southern Ontario Beer Boys held their now-annual Christmas
Crawl through Hamilton this past weekend, did they ever get a group of
happy participants. Shown here at Grain & Grit Small Batch Beers, the
group went well into the night, socializing and drinking some great beers
from our Hamilton breweries. I was working so I missed it but is there
anything like a cool event to kill that dead time between Christmas and
New Year's Eve? Apparently yes and the Christmas Crawl is exactly it!

And I mean, seriously, the dude doesn't even know it! (Ladies, doing you a solid here by assuming it's a guy. Doing myself a favour by also not assuming it's me.)

So before we begin our descent into the Best of 2019, let's take a quick pause and look at some of the good in the year. To me, that starts with the Southern Ontario Beer Boys - Neil, Mike, Paul and Steve. Now together for a couple of years, these fellows raise money. Lots of it, too, for the McMaster's Children's Hospital Foundation. How much is a lot? Try $29,000 in two years. Through countless events, including their ongoing Cans4Kids initiative (whereby we donate our empties to them and they turn that into something good for needy kids) to their now-annual Brewers Ball, where breweries slug it out for Softball Supremacy at the diamonds near Collective Arts Brewing.

Another lager pretty much had this
locked up until I tried the Wellington
Crispy Forever Helles Lager. This one
really should be a year-round release.

It's always easier to look at the bad because let's face it, there's no shortage of that. But it's also nice to focus on the positive like Southern Ontario Beer Boys, basically a drinking organization with a charity problem. And we - but more especially the kids - love them for that. Good work, guys! I hope you carry on well into the Roaring 20s (Part Two).

Okay, the Best of 2019. As always, there are rules. Rule #1 - Ontario beers only! Lots of great beers out there but even more within our borders so let's discover those by drinking locally. Rule #2 - No repeat winners! If you were my Best IPA or Imperial Stout two years ago, you're not gonna be this year's Best Beer of the Year. You had your moment. Let others step up. That's why I include previous winners. So you can see that. And finally, Rule #3. Doug Ford's a dick. Nothing to do with beer and not so much a rule, I suppose. Just sayin'.

Okey dokey, let's get this annual shitshow started with...

Best Pale/Blonde Lager: Wellington Brewing out in Guelph is a bit of an anomaly for me. For starters, it's the only brewery in Ontario that if you asked me which are my favourite beers from them, they would both be stouts - their Imperial Russian Stout and their Chocolate Milk Stout. However, in Autumn, they proved that they're pretty damn good with the paler styles. They took their award-winning Helles Lager recipe and then tweaked it with Citra, Amarillo and Cascade hops.

I was first given this Beau's Night Marzen from my Beau's rep
Adam. To be honest, I was surprised by how much I loved it. So
much so that I went out and bought about seven or eight more.

The result? Their Crispy Forever Helles Lager, one citrusy beauty of a lager. Part of their Small Batch Seasonal releases in November, this one deserves year-round status as far as I'm concerned. (Previous winners: Muddy York Helles, Amsterdam Pale Rider, Cameron's 12 Mile IPL, Hogback's Vintage Lager)

Best Amber/Dark Lager: A classic German style, traditionally brewed in March, cellared for the Summer and released in the Autumn, Beau's All Natural Brewing's Night Marzen is a bready, malty beast of a beer. Beautiful clean finish and just heavy enough to carry some weight to its body. As soon as I finished it, I found myself wondering out loud, "Why are there not more Marzens?" Then I stopped talking to myself and had another. (Previous winners: Napanee Blacklist German Lager, Four Father's Shevchenko 9 Ukrainian Dunkel Euro Dark Lager, Lake Wilcox Mad Quacker Amber Lager, King Brewing Dark Lager, Mill St 100th Meridian Amber Lager.)

Released towards the end of 2018, I got my hands on Fairweather's
Barbarossa Dry-Hopped Imperial Pils early this year when I was in there
to buy (most likely) more High Grade IPA. Aside from the fact that it's
7%, this pilsner came with a fruitier aroma and taste than a regular one.

Best Pilsner: This will come as no surprise to the people of Hamilton and the surrounding area but Fairweather Brewing has an extraordinary knack for taking a traditional style and turning it on its head. Such was the case with their Barbarossa Dry-Hopped Imperial Pils. Whereas most pilsners come with that clean, grassy aroma, this one was loaded with a fruit nose. Whiffs of orange, pineapple, bit of melon, they took a pale ale flavour profile and dropped it in an Imperial Pilsner. At 7%, this had some heft to it and a deeper body than the colour would indicate. If it comes back around, grab it. This will show you what a pilsner truly can be. (Previous winners: Brock St Bohemian Pilsner, Great Lakes' Improperly Hopped American Dry-Hopped Pilsner, Steam Whistle Pilsner, Steamworks Pilsner, Black Oak Epiphany No 2 Pilsner, Rainhard Unfiltered Pilsner)

This one is not your typical Saison. This is a Saison that you
would enjoy on a Caribbean island. Like the label, it's all
palm trees and tropical fruits. It really, really surprised me!

Best Saison: I knew this would likely have little problem taking this category after I was gifted it by Ottawa Matty and Joel way back in the Summer. The Beyond The Pale Brewing's Saison Tropicale is exactly what you'd think. A Saison bursting with tropical fruit flavour. At a hefty 7.7%, there's orange, mango, citrus and even a little touch of pine (unusual for a Saison) to go along with that spicy Belgian yeast. One of the most Summer-oriented and refreshing Saisons I've every enjoyed. Even at that high ABV, I could see myself drinking these all afternoon. Then I could see myself falling over a whole lot. It's deceptively tropical. (Previous winners: Little Beasts' Really Good Friends, Little Beasts La Saison D'ete, Nickel Brook-Sawdust City 11~05 Saison, Four Winds' Saison, Collingwood Brewing's Saison Farmhouse Ale.)

Best Belgian Style Wit: To be honest, the field for this one was a little on the thin side. I don't think Ontario brewers are rushing to get new Belgian Wits out there. I only had a small handful of them this year and I'm totally that "I'll try anything new" guy.

The colour of this alone should say this is not your traditional
Belgian Wit. It's not. It's packed with fruit flavours that might
be considered a little foreign to the style. But it's pretty tasty!

That said, one really caught my attention when I was visiting friends in Whitby this past Summer. I popped into Brock St Brewing, which is just 10 minutes from their house, to grab some of their Traditional Irish Red Ale and Chocolate Milk Stout but also came across their Blueberry Belgian Wit. "A blueberry Wit?" I thought to myself. "Not exactly to style now, is it?" And frankly, it wasn't. But I'll tell you this for free. I went back for more after I had it. This had both a blueberry and blackberry flavour profile. The guy at the counter was telling me there was prominent hibiscus flower, as well, but frankly the dark berries probably overpowered that because I certainly didn't notice. You do lose a margin of that spicy Belgian yeast essence when it's this fruit prominent - actually, to the point that I nearly put this in the Fruit Beer category, instead. But this was one tasty-ass beverage, to be certain. (Previous winners: Amsterdam Spotted Cow White Wheat, Black Bellow's White Witbier with Elderflower, Railway City's The Witty Traveler Pint.)

Ironically, not 60 feet from this deck in Oakville is a river that
travels through the ravine behind my house. When I was a kid,
it was an actual shallow river. Frogs and salamanders and cool
stuff. Now it's a trickle. That tells me we're all gonna die. But
anyway, this is a really great American-style German Wheat.

German Style Wheat Beer: Okay, as opposed to Belgian Wits, there was absolutely no shortage of damn solid German Wheats this year. Probably had a couple dozen solid ones from Ontario brewers during 2019 so we have a pretty good field here. In the end, the one I enjoyed the most was a gift from DJ Jazzy Jeff Mitchell, the fellow who mans the beer fort, as well as other managerial responsibilities at Brown's, Your Independent Grocer, in scenic Stittsville, Ontario. (I'll admit I'm assuming it's scenic. It certainly sounds that way. Got that whole Petticoat Junction vibe to the name. But I'm picturing century-old homes with killer wrap-to-the-side front decks.) So another beauty from the Ottawa area, this time it's Stalwart Brewing's Down By The River American Wheat Ale. Very floral nose, a wee whiff of banana and citrus, just 5.3%. It was one of those Wheats where, on a hot day, you instantly think, "Yeah, man, I could go for another of those." An interesting Wheat in that it also uses oat malts-flakes in the mix. Gives it that extra oomph. Looks thin but sure doesn't taste that way. Really nice job, Stalwart.

Look, I'm not gonna say it's a total honour being paired with one of my
roast beef and Swiss Cheese on a super cheesy bun sandwiches. But, well
frankly, it is. Bask in the glory, dammit. I seldom dip into the Kolsch well
but there are some very solid ones out there, including this Braumeister
Rheinwasser Kolsch-Style Ale. Yes, yet another gift from DJ Jazzy Jeff.

(Previous winners: Chronicle Brewing-Wave Maker Craft Brewing Hasheeshian Hop Hefeweizen, Big Rig's Big Boot Hefeweizen, Side Launch Wheat, All or Nothing Hopfenweisse, Creemore Spring's Hoppy Hefeweizen, How Sound King Heffy Imperial Wheat.)

The Beau's Lug-Tread Honourary Best Kolsch: This category is named after the industry gold standard Beau's Lug-Tread for a reason. For the first few years of this, I ignored Kolsch-style beers altogether. Why? It's not a style that excites me. That said, I eventually realized through both customers and friends that it is an excellent gateway style from macros into the craft beer world. So I can't underscore the value it has within the craft beer community.

"Switchboard Susan, won't you give me a line?" Oh my, this
beer, what a Summer it and I had together. As 2019 was truly
the Summer of Sessioners for me, this one kept landing in my
fridge over and over and over again! I broke the glass (but I
think Polk has a replacement for me.) Don't care because I'll
keep buying it. This has as much flavour as any actual IPA.

Once again, courtesy of DJ Jazzy Jeff Mitchell comes the Braumeister Brewing (Carleton Place, Ontario) Rheinwasser Kolsch-Style Ale. To my mind, this is an exceptionally good example of what this style can be. Again, I'm not trying to damn with faint praise here because they're not exactly my go-to beers. This is a time-honoured German style. I mean, we're going back centuries here. Now does it help a little that a Germany-influenced brewery in Carleton Place is making it? Not gonna lie, doesn't hurt because you know Braumeister is gonna take a Kolsch pretty seriously. This is as crisp and clean as even the best lagers. On the nose, grassy, cereal, on the tongue, super light citrus, refreshing and ultimately, easy drinking. (Previous winners: Sawdust City's Adaptation Vic Secret Dry-Hopped Kolsch, Beau's Haters Gonna Hate Imperial Kolsch, Cowbell's Absent Landlord County Kolsch, Old Tomorrow Trach 85 Lagered Ale.)

Best Session/Light Beer: As crazy as it sounds for a dude who likes his IPAs big and his Stouts Imperial, this was actually the hardest category from which to pick a winner.

So to be clear, a Cream Ale won the Best Blonde Ale category? Really?
It would seem so. Whiprsnapr Brewing in Nepean, Ontario, found a way
to make a Cream Ale with maple syrup that I actually enjoyed. That, my
friends, is no small feat. They used it judiciously which certainly helped.

Why? Because if Ontario craft brewers have got one thing nailed down tight, it's session ales. There were literally more than a dozen, even two, I would consider potential winners in this category (which I'm sure is gonna make 2020 just as tricky.) In the end, I had to kind of stand back and simply look at what landed in my fridge the most. Though it was a tight race between this and another great one, it would appear that Muddy York's Switchboard Session IPA took up more fridge real estate than Number Two. That's not surprising. This is a fantastic beverage. At a reasonable 4.9%, this has all the flavours you would want in an IPA leaning on the hazy side. Orange, melon and citrus, this is the ultimate hockey-watching beer. The one that'll let you stay awake even if it goes to overtime and then a shoot-out. Is there any higher praise than that? Oh, I think not. Canada! Hockey! Yes!

I don't drink a ton of Brown Ales but apparently, when I
do, they're all killer. As a single in Wellington Brewing's
Re-Boot Mix Four, Volume 7, Old Buddy Espresso Brown
Ale was rich, deep and also on par with a Porter or Stout.

(Previous winners: Grain & Grit Light Ray Session IPA, Muskoka Detour, Great Lakes' Sunnyside Session, Flying Monkeys' Genius of Suburbia, Great Lakes Citradiction Extra Pale Ale - now revamped as a tasty-ass New England style.)

Best Blonde Ale: Want me to hate a beer? Put maple syrup in it. That stuff, as preciously Canadian as it is, belongs on pancakes and French Toast, not beer. So anyway, this year's winner has maple syrup in it and is a Cream Ale to boot. Rules are meant to be broken, I guess. Because the best Blonde Ale I had this year came courtesy of my Nepean Beer Store Brother Ben and it's actually a small brewery from his town. Whiprsnapr Brewing is not a big name in Ontario circles... not yet, anyway. But their The Mick Maple Cream Ale? Oh my, that was some kinda tasty. Just a lightest taste of maple syrup in this 4.5% offering added a whole dimension to a traditional Cream Ale. I really loved this. (Previous winners: Grain & Grit Bee's Knees Blonde Ale, Nickel Brook Cause & Effect, Lake of Bays Summer Session Ale - formerly Wild North Summer Sunset Session, now Paddle On Session Ale.)

Is this a true Ontario Craft Beer bromance? Oh yes,
I should say so. After both getting splashed in the
dunking booth at this year's Southern Ontario Beer
Boys' Brewer Ball, held in September at the softball
diamonds beside Collective Arts Brewing, our guys
Drunk Polkaroo and Sawdust City Brewmaster Sam
Corbeil cuddle up for bro-warmth. (It was chilly!)

Best Amber-Dark Beer: I didn't enjoy this until near the end of the year but once I did, it was game over for this category. As part of their Welly Re-Boot Mix Four, Volume 7 (Wellington had three Re-Boots in 2019 and yes, we got spoiled), their Old Buddy Espresso Brown Ale was a freakin' gem. I wouldn't know an espresso if a pretty waitress handed me one in a Paris cafe but I know coffee all too well. Roasty, nutty, licorice, coffee and deep-bodied, this beer has some serious flavour guns. When it comes to dark, rich beers, Wellington just keeps on knocking it out of the park. Fantastic job, gang. (Previous winners: Redline Brewhouse Leather Interior Brown Ale, Cameron's Dark & Sticky India Brown Ale, Mill Street Tankhouse Ale, Parallel 49's Gypsy Ruby Tears, Wellington's Terrestrial India Brown Ale, Cowbell's Doc Purdue's Bobcat West Coast Red Ale.)

Well, folks, that's it for Part One of this annual opus I call "Best Of." Next up, those hoppy ones we all know I favour. After that, it's the dark and dirty ones... that I also favour. And then finally, the people and places that made Ontario craft breweries such cool destinations. So yeah, long story short, you have three more of these to endure. Be strong, be brave. But to you and yours, a very Happy New Year and we'll see you again when January 1st, 2020 rolls around and suddenly, we can all see without reading glasses. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion 3.0

When we stopped into Grain & Grit Small Batch Beers, we were all
pretty pumped to see Joe Mrav, co-owner of the brewery with his wife
Lindsey, working the counter. I'd say he was thrilled to see our huge
posse but the place was already jammed! Here, Drunk Polkaroo and
the lovely Lady Polk are glasses full up with Joe. Fantastic brewery!

Okay, let's wrap up the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion, shall we? Mostly because it happened more than a month ago. Besides that, I am busy trying to sort out my Best of 2019 list and what I'm seeing so far is this. Thanks to Ben, Matty and Joel, Ottawa, our nation's capital, is very well represented.

But we're not just there yet. I have this nasty tendency to jump ahead when I should be acknowledging the past. My bad. I'd like to be able to say that's my worst trait but I have many far, far worse.

However, pulling Craft Brewery Invasions together seems to be repetitive behaviour of mine so let's emphasize one of my selectively few solid points as a carbon unit on this mudball. Done a few of these before - Whitby in 2017, Barrie and the Muskokas in 2018, IPA Brew Day in Huntsville back in April - but those places are not where I live. The Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion is very much where I live. There was a seriously stronger element of "Don't Screw This Up."

Candice and Glenn crashed at my place on the Friday
night. Candice took my son's David bedroom which he
never uses, preferring the couch in his alcove. So when
I woke up Saturday morning, I was informed by David
that "There is a beautiful woman in my bed." My son,
someday that will be about the best news ever for you!

It had to be a lot of fun. It had to be the most comprehensive group of breweries for the out-of-towners who have heard me sing the praises of our local beverage makers. It had to be perfect.

I don't do perfect. On a good day, maybe I can scrape up a mediocre. I was gonna need some help. Fortunately, I had a couple of stellar compatriots right here in Oakville ready to step it up to A-Game levels - Greg and Kimmy. We each brought our skill set. Greg was the Type A dude all the way, drafting up driving and brewery schedules right down to the minute. I'm more the Type B guy, just a leaf blowing in the wind, going in any direction the breeze dictates. Kimmy, suffice it to say, was the solid balance in our troika, bringing her level-headed savvy and brewery connections into the mix. And truth to tell, it all meshed beautifully. I'm going give all three of us a pat on the back. The 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion saw us visit eight breweries on a Friday night and a Saturday day-run - the largest Craft Brewery Invasion to date. This was a geographical chunk of brewery real estate that was, indeed, well-represented.

Okay, I've gone through Cameron's in Oakville, Stonehooker in Port Credit, Nickel Brook in Burlington and Clifford in East Hamilton.

Here's Kimmy and King City's Graeme swapping beer
notes at Fairweather Brewing. Graeme, as well as
Sudbury Danny and Guelph Curtis, all provide me
with an invaluable service. As two homebrewers and a
Cicerone, they will correct me when I'm wrong on any
given beer. When you make as many mistakes as I do,
that's insightful collective expertise in my back pocket.

Let's run down the last four then, shall we?

From East Hamilton, we all traveled west to the Twin Newbies of the McMaster-area turf - Grain & Grit Small Batch Beers and Fairweather Brewing, each outstanding in its own way.

Landing first at Grain & Grit, I was pumped to see Joe Mrav, who co-owns the brewery with wife Lindsey, actually working the bar along with his troops. That takes me back to their early days (all of two years ago) when the pair had little choice but to show up six days a week. Because owning a craft brewery is glamourous, right?

With the addition of Nickel Brook's Brandon at Clifford, this had become - by far - the best attended Craft Brewery Invasion, as it included Danny, Polk, Lady Polk, Big Peezy Paul, Glenn, Candice, Graeme, Curtis, Nichole, Kimmy, Greg, David and myself. And I thought it may get even bigger when we crossed paths with Hamilton Craft Beer Couple, Paul and Kristal, at Grain & Grit. They, of course, joined us way back in April at the Huntsville Brewhouse when we created our Lake of Bays Bucket List IPA. Alas, they were just stopping by but at the same time, pretty happy for the opportunity to say "Happy Invasion" to everyone. Yeah, it's a small world but I feel like we took up at least half of it on November 2nd.

"Okay, does someone have a permit for this bear?" Kat
seems to be saying. This St Bernard-Great Dane mix was
called Frank. He weighs in at a hefty 160 pounds, about 10
pounds shy of me. We ran into him here at Grain & Grit
and again at Fairweather Brewing a few minutes away.
The reason he was not inside? There was no room for him.

I tell you our roster size simply for this reason. Okay, sure, pretty proud of me, Greg and Kimmy. But the actual reason? Both Grain & Grit and Fairweather were already "It's Saturday afternoon" jam-packed. And G&G is not what you'd call spacious by any means. We descend on both with a Party of 13? Make sure your property insurance is up-to-date and you have the extra kegs readily available.

But the thing is anyone in our group from, say, Oakville to Guelph is within striking distance of these two breweries. We post their pictures often, describing their beers in elaborate detail, carefully wrapped with colourful praise. (Nod to Christmas Day there.) I personally send them in Beer Mails across the province and they have always been well-received. The out-of-towners HAD to go to these two breweries. None of their products ever see the inside of an LCBO in Ontario. Retail at the breweries only. Our friends literally have no access to the beers from these two unless they are gifted them.

So yeah, we were going. No doubt. To me, these two particular breweries were pretty much the ones the out-of-town folks wanted - or perhaps needed - to see the most.

Okay, look at Nichole's glass. Now look at Candice's and Glenn's. Now
look back at Nichole's. And now back at Candice's and Glenn's. Okay,
so a friend named Nichole brought her Game Day face to the Invasion.
That's why we are so fond of her. You know, it wasn't all that warm out
on November 2nd (despite the fact Glenn has no coat) but all of us were
pretty happy on the patio at Fairweather. Okay, for starters, it was the
only place to sit so there's that. Drinking on a cool day is so Canadian.

Grain & Grit was a stop many longed to see and we warned them, "Hey, the place is not huge." I think they got a sense of what we've been talking about these past couple of years. Kimmy checked into it and for X dollars (I forget how much) we could have taken a tour. Which is great, except for one thing. You can see the entire set-up the second you walk through the front door. So a tour? Perhaps not all that necessary. In the end, I think that may have impressed out-of-town Brew Crew the most. That a brewery this small - truly the working definition of a Small Batch brewery - produced such big beers. Believe me, it has impressed the rest of us, lo, these not-that-many years.

Fairweather Brewing, a three-minute walk away, does offer a little more leg-room, so to speak, but the place is a bit of a mystery wrapped in a riddle cloaked in an enigma to even us locals.

Dave at Collective Arts, left, gave probably the best brewery tour I've
ever been on and the poor guy... well, it was our fifth stop of the day and
a couple of us (so mainly, me) were a touch chirpy due to the prior influx
of beer. Nothing mean, mind you. Chatty might be a better description.
But man, did this dude know his stuff. I may go back and do a sober one.
As you can see, both Big Peezy Paul and Lady Polk were listening here.

They had social media presence. And then they did not. Nobody really knows what happened and there's no one there to really respond to whatever happened because they've gone completely off the social media grid. Trust me, we've all had those "Well, this is just total bullshit! Why do I bother?" days when it comes to social media.

All of that being said... who gives a damn? We're there for the beer and they do that very, very well. Their Silky American Oat Porter and High Grade IPA are two of the absolute finest examples of their styles I've ever enjoyed. You wanna speak loudly in the marketplace without social media? Make beers this excellent. That'll shut most people up. (But, y'know, social media so not everyone.) And even though the place was packed, we still managed to score some seating on the patio. It was a brisk but not brutally cold day so we were all happily onboard.

Collective Arts Brewing, if you put a sign like this on your
barrels, you have to know that's like an open invitation for
people like us. The scofflaws. The renegades. The somewhat
inebriated. Besides, Drunk Polkaroo barely touched it. It was
a passing tap at the very most. Anyway, we're all banned now.

Our second last stop - so Brewery #5 on the day - was Hamilton's biggest gun, Collective Arts Brewing. Thanks to the generosity of Toni Shelton, we got a comprehensive tour of the place... which is huge. Used to be the Lakeport Brewing plant. Prior to that, the Canadian plant for Amstel. It's got some serious history.

Some personal history for me, too. I remember driving there from the west end of Toronto back in the Summer of 1985 during the Beer Store (Brewer's Retail) strike. I think the strike lasted a month. (I wonder if anyone reading this even remembers that. I'm thinking you'd have to be at least 55 years old now.) I waited in line for well over an hour and walked away with three cases of Amstel. That's all I could carry as there were no carts available. The restaurants had every single cart tied up. Solid enough beer for a macro drinker but oh my, dark times. So yeah, not exactly my first time at that brewery.

Anyway, where was I? Oh right, the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion so let's fast-forward 34 years to November 2019 again.

Glenn had to come back to my place in Oakville on the Sunday because he
forgot his bag at my pad. While here, he and I talked about Curtis, shown
above with a knight's suit at Clifford Brewing in east Hamilton. Glenn
asked, "Is it just me or is Curtis, like, the nicest guy in the world?" No, I
answered him, "I think Curtis makes Tom Hanks look like a scheming,
miserable bastard." And then Glenn and I probably talked about beer.

So we had the big tour at Collective Arts Brewing and I gotta say, pretty much the best leader ever in a young guide named Dave.

This guy seriously knew his stuff. The history of the place (too young to remember the Brewer's Retail strike but that's cool), what they're doing they're now (some of which I did not know) and some of their plans for the future.

I mean, he was seriously great. What young Dave got as an audience: two beer bloggers, one vlogger, three homebrewers, two Beer Store employees and one Ontario Beer Writer of the Year. All of us on our fifth brewery of the day. The poor guy.

I'd like to say we weren't terrible because I don't really think we were. But some of us (myself, leading the pack) may have been a little bit of a handful. That said, the great majority, including all of the women for sure, were, to a large degree, appreciative and respectful. (At that point, I realized the only thing I had eaten all day was a Timmie's bacon breakfast sandwich. You know how you can drink yourself past hungry? Yeah... so, me.) Sometimes, with a few brews in me, I don't remember "listen" and "silent" are spelled with the same letters. All I know is I woke up Sunday feeling a tad guilty.

Here's most of our Brew Crew at Merit Brewing in Hamilton. It would
appear that I'm standing on a chair to take this photo which was likely
very ill-advised at this point. Anyway, the 905 Halton-Hamilton Brew
Crew here, from left, Drunk Polkaroo, David, Graeme, Lady Polk, very
blurry Candice, Danny and Greg. It was simply a fantastic and fun day.

Anyway, Dave, both Greg and I myself are willing to come back, pay full-freight and listen to you do your thing without any goofy interruptions. I get the feeling I may have missed a few things.

Okay, last stop. Merit Brewing in central downtown Hamilton. Thank frikkin gawd, finally food! Merit has always done the sausage thing very well (like 12 different versions) but they've now added burgers to their repertoire. And man (I said, looking in a mirror), did some of us need that!

Merit's beers are on par excellence-wise with both Grain & Grit and Fairweather. Just freakin' outstanding but you can only get them retail. Their Young Rivals IPA has long been a favourite of mine. That's what I enjoyed, washing down my burger and fries.

The day after the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion
is when my boy, David, and I took Sudbury Danny to the Tim
Horton's by his hotel for breakfast. Danny was driving all that
way home and we wanted to make sure at least he had some
food in his stomach. But here we have a Leafs fan and a Habs
fan happily sitting together, proving that food conquers all...

But that's a wrap on the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion. Greg, Kimmy and I want to thank, in order, Cameron's, Stonehooker. Nickel Brook, Clifford, Grain & Grit, Fairweather, Collective Arts and Merit all for being such great stops for our out-of-towners and letting them know, hey, our craft breweries down in this neck of the woods are second to none. As Drunk Polkaroo is wont to say, we are seriously spoiled when it comes to craft beers in this area and we all know it.

To the four lovely, lively ladies involved, co-organizer Kimmy, Lady Polk, Candice and Nichole, thank you all for lending a little gender equality to our event and, well, just enjoying the ride alongside a bunch of rowdy guys. All of you spared us hailing down Ubers and the like by providing rides from place to place, which was awesome. (Greg actually had transportation in place but we never needed it.) Just a fantastic gathering of friends, who are now considered family.

But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. I'll be back soon with the Best of 2019. But until then, I remain...

Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion 2.0

What happens when you find a Hab in the corner? You double-team the
guy! Poor Danny, down from Sudbury, just looking to have a good time
got the gears from Greg and myself for being a Montreal Canadiens fan.
Danny, since the two teams are basically neck-and-neck in the standings,
you may have the last laugh yet. (But you won't because the Habs suck!)

Okay, so Day 2 of the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion was basically the main day.

I mean, we had Friday night set up at two breweries, Cameron's in Oakville and Stonehooker in Port Credit, for any early birds, just as Matty, Ben and Joel had done in Ottawa this past Summer. But co-organizers Kimmy, Greg and myself knew that Saturday was, in essence, the real deal. The Big Tamale. The Whole Enchilada. Other Mexican food.

Saturday was a five brewery day... that turned into a six brewery day. But we'll get to take in a minute.

Our Saturday would begin at Nickel Brook in Burlington and if you know anything about me, it's that Nickel Brook and I go back a fair ways. Co-owner John Romano (with brother Peter) was the first brewery owner I ever met and for every other brewery owner I would meet subsequently, John set the bar pretty high for honesty.

Nichole and Curtis came down from Guelph for the
905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion and,
while she planned to only stay for a brewery or two,
Nichole was having so much fun, she pretty much
ran the entire day with us. Cool to have them both!

He is pretty much the most "No BS Zone" guy I've ever met.

Much like Cameron's the night before, Nickel Brook would be our launching for the Saturday festivities, the big day of fun.

Now I had been in contact with Retail Manager Robbie and said to him, "If there's any way John could be there, that'd be great." Robbie promised nothing owner-wise, though added if anyone wanted a tour, he'd be more than glad to walk us through.
More than good enough. (And hey, we got John.)

That tour never happened because Nickel Brook became the humongous Meet and Greet for the day. Homebrewer Graeme came down from King City. Hamilton artist-cartoonist David arrived from the Hammer. Nichole and our favourite Ciccerone Curtis came in from Guelph. And this was just adding to the core group from Friday - myself, Beer Bro Glenn, the always-lovely Candice, Sudbury Danny, Newmarket's The Big Peezy Paul, Polk and Lady Polk and my Oakville compatriots and co-organizers Kimmy and Greg.

Okay, story to go with this one. John was bidding on this autographed
(on the back) picture of Gord Downie at a Silent Auction a couple of
Summers back when someone kept bidding $10 more each time. He had
to track the person down. "He was a kid in his early 20s," John told us,
"and when I found him, I said to him, 'Look, I've partied with Gord and
the band and you are NOT getting this picture!' Finally, he stopped his
bids and I won it. But I think I scared the shit out of him." I have no
doubt. John added, "This story better be in your blog!" So here ya go.

But there were even more people who joined us but couldn't stay for the day. They basically dropped into Nickel Brook to say hey to all the folks they talk to regularly on Twitter but had never met in the flesh.

Our favourite Peel Region high school teacher, Paulie G, who has a pretty big aversion to crowds, stopped by to meet everyone and see the people from Beer Twitter. Also joining us was Burlington's Dan from @CraftBeersBlog, who could only stay briefly because he was in the middle of packing to move up to Port Sydney, Ontario, where they've already received 85 feet of snow.

But you know what was the most welcome with this Brewery Invasion - something we haven't really seen in the past? Women. Candice has joined us on a couple (the Whitby and Barrie Brewery Invasions), this time we also had Kimmy, Lady Polk and Nichole.

Glenn and John in deep conversation during our time at
Nickel Brook. Every time Glenn visited me when I lived
in Burlington, Nickel Brook has been a must-visit for
him. But he hadn't seen their new tap-room and lemme
tell you, he and everyone else were very impressed with
the new space. A real cog in the Burlington community. 

It wasn't exactly 50/50 but hey, this time, roughly a third of the Brew Crew were female and that's not a bad start. If nothing else, it could possibly mean we guys might just act a little more civil. In theory anyway. Okay, bad theory. Sorry.

But I had to tell Nichole a little story. But when we did the Ottawa Craft Brewery Invasion in August, Curtis was part of the crew. While we set up camp in Waller Street Brewing, a trio of people came into the place - an obvious couple and a young lady. When I saw the young lady, I thought, "She seems somehow familiar. Do I know her?" I didn't really look over at them much because we were in the middle of our tour but I couldn't shake the feeling. My Spider Sense was tingling. Eventually I shrugged it off, realizing there was literally no chance I'd know a woman in her 20s living in Ottawa.

As we gathered on the sidewalk afterwards, plotting our next course, the couple and single lady popped out of the place. She gave Curtis a little peck on the neck and the three of them quickly disappeared into the day. Suddenly, I realized, "Holy shit, that's Nichole." The couple turned out to be Curtis' brother, Mitch and his wife, Anne. But I had on some level recognized Nichole from her tiny quarter-inch wide avatar on Twitter. So it was a genuine pleasure to actually meet her.

When John Romano says please do this, we do it. He gave
us all Nickel Brook toques and said, "Wear them and pose
in front of a Clifford Brewing sign!" And that is precisely
what we did. Brad Clifford thought it was hilarious when
we all told him. So here's (left to right) Nichole, Big Peezy
Paul, myself, Glenn, Candice and David. We stylin' here!

I'm not sure how long we stayed at Nickel Brook - well over an hour, certainly - but eventually it was time to move along. John sent us out with parting gifts, though - Nickel Brook toques - and a very specific set of instructions. For that story, read the cutline under the photo to the left. He's a wascally wabbit and an imp, that John.

While Grain & Grit Small Batch Beers and its neighbour, Fairweather Brewing, were originally next on the agenda, Polk had made an additional suggestion on Friday night. That we go from Nickel Brook to Clifford Brewing in the east end of Hamilton as Stop #2.

Being as Clifford is the reigning Canadian Brewery of the Year after the 2019 Canadian Brewing Awards, well, pretty hard to say no to that suggestion. It also gives you an idea of how fluid these brewery invasions are. You can plan to the Nth degree but things will always change on a dime. The Craft Brewery Invasion Universe unfolds as it should.

Well, lemme just say flat-out that it was a great suggestion as Clifford Brewing was hands down my favourite stop of the day.

Brad Clifford started up Clifford Brewing in 2015,
at first contracting out their Porter and Pinball
Wizard Pale Ale. Eventually he found the location
of their brewery (398 Nash Road North) and began
to create their bricks-and-mortar facility. They
finally opened their tap-room and retail in 2018.
Since then, *bam* the place has just taken off...

For starters, while most of the day's breweries were new to some members of the Brew Crew, they were all very familiar to me. Except Clifford. I had never been.

I know it is the closest brewery to the Polk's Stoney Creek home and I also know the pair were at its Grand Opening of its bricks-and-mortar facility in 2018. Clifford had previously contract-brewed its award-winning Porter and Pinball Wizard Pale Ale. Alongside Muddy York's Porter, Lady Polk has long been a fan of Clifford's Porter. (I'm also a fan.) And they both regularly sing the praises of owner Brad Clifford. So really, what more recommendation do you need? It's the Polks. If they say it's a worthy and necessary stop, it is. Period. Nuff said.

They weren't wrong. Holy crap, whatta space! Right off the top, 10,000 square feet of former industrial - I think Brad told me what used to be in there (because that's the kind of question I would ask) but honestly, I forget. I mean, who cares? It's a killer-huge brewery now. And Brad has gone open-concept where the tanks are right alongside you - always a personal preference for me. Yeah, you're having a tasty beverage but the tank where it may have come from? Oh, about 25 feet over there. You can touch it if you want. And the games. A legit working pinball machine, air hockey, all sorts of fun stuff. But really, just a great set-up, tons of tables, tons of leg-stretching space, tons of brewing equipment.

On December 14, Drunk Polkaroo dressed up as Santa
Claus and held a Toy Drive at Clifford Brewing. The
drive asked for an unwrapped toy and a $10 donation
for a free pint with all the toys going to young children
in need. Here, Brad, left and a helper load all the gifts
into a minivan. Santa Polk was a resounding success!

This was the brewery where both the Polks (Rob was trapped at work during Stop #1) and Brandon, Nickel Brook's social media liaison, would join into the fun. I saw him at Nickel Brook but his jumping aboard was a pleasant surprise. Great guy. We were basically a traveling circus, picking up more performers along the way (heavy emphasis on the clowns... but not Murder Clowns, just the regular ones.)

Meeting Brad was great. Super good-natured dude, happy to answer any questions about the brewery, the challenges or the industry itself.

But also on hand was his father, Barclay, or just "Barc," as he prefers. I'm guessing he's probably late-60s and lemme tell you for free, this is one animated and enthusiastic fellow. I was heading to that special room where you conveniently get rid of the beer you've recently imbibed when he approached me and we engaged in a very lively conversation.

Turns out he's a pretty big fan of the attention his son's brewery gets on social media and actively thanked our entire group for doing what we do pretty much daily on the interwebs. Drinking beer and praising it is remarkably easy but okay.

My Oakville co-organizer Kimmy didn't like a photo I used in the
last one (it was a group photo so let's face it, someone's always got
their eyes closed) so here's a better one of my friend. Clockwise
from bottom left, Glenn, David, Kimmy herself, random stranger,
Lady Polk, Danny and Greg all raising their glasses on November
2 on the Fairweather Brewing patio. Yup, November 2nd and we all
sat on a patio, drinking beer. Could we BE more Canadian? Nope.

But as he continued on, I began to realize that some of this was aimed at me specifically. You'll see why in a second. When he asked, "But you know what my favourite part is?" I respond with my usual erudite, "Dunno, whazzat?" His eyes lit up. "Your pictures from Vegas!"

Ahhh, turns out Barc is a pretty big Vegas fan, too. He follows me on Twitter so he's been watching all these Vegas pictures I post on my many trips to Sin City. And, apparently, loving them. Talked to Brad afterwards and he noted, "Oh yeah, he's just like you. Constantly going to Vegas."

Well, that's cool. So I said, "Look, one of my things down there is repping Ontario craft breweries by wearing their T-Shirts. So remind me and I'll buy one of yours on my way out. That way I can rep Clifford Brewing in two weeks when I'm back in Vegas."

Barc was having none of that. "No, you will show me the T-Shirt you want and I will give it to you!!" Okay, what can I say? I respect my elders so game on, Barc!

November 18, 2019. At The D Hotel and Casino on
Fremont Street in Las Vegas. Under a spotlight in the
casino, Clifford Brewing of East Hamilton gets it rep
moment in Sin City. Barc was pretty happy to see it,
I reckon. And Brad? Told me to bet it all on black...

Long story short, if you haven't been to Clifford Brewing in east Hamilton, GO! Like now! The place is amazing and the beer - particularly their Super Crawl Hazy Pale Ale - is fantastic. But don't ignore their Porter, either. It's won a combined two golds and three silvers at the Ontario and Canadian Brewing Awards. Not too shabby.

Also, it should go without saying - and yet I'm about to say it - if you haven't seen Nickel Brook's year-old tap room, get yer butt over there, too. Some of the finest sours and Bretts in Ontario. Make a few damn fine IPAs, too.

Okay, next up is the final installment on the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion where we, as a group of reckless and by the end, soused warriors, take over Grain & Grit, followed by Fairweather, take a super tour at Collective Arts and finally, drink and dine like queens and kings at Merit Brewing. What can I say, it was one helluva day. And the Brew Crew finally got some female representation so I'm pretty happy about that. Mostly because I suspect that if they put their minds to it, they could drink all us guys under the table. Gotta respect that.

But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion 1.0

Every journey begins somewhere and the journey to the 905 Halton-
Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion began at Cameron's Brewing in
Oakville on the Friday night. The brewery stayed open an extra hour
so we could marshal our forces. That'd be me, Sudbury Danny, Greg,
Lady Polk and Drunk Polkaroo, all enjoying a beverage at the brewery.

Truth to tell, I had kind of forgotten about the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion.

Not because it wasn't fun. No, it was A LOT of fun but it happened over a month ago, I was in Las Vegas for a eight day trip since, then, well, work happened and shit slips my mind. Regularly.

But Greg, who co-organized the day with Kimmy and myself, popped into my Beer Store last week to pick up that special edition of Nickel Brook Brewing's Glory & Gold Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cuvee that I had offered up on Twitter. He DMed me in milliseconds when I threw it out there. Not at all a fan of Cuvee's but much appreciate my Nickel Brook dude, Brandon, thinking of me.

Glenn and Adam Cherry, co-owner and Brewmaster at Stonehooker
Brewing in Port Credit, raise a glass during our visit. Since opening
in the Summer, Stonehooker has earned a lot of praise. They always
have a wide variety, some dynamite IPAs and are simply finestkind.

Granted, Greg also *huge sigh* brought his empties back. Greg's my good buddy so I'm not gonna say that's a dick move. Totally is, though, dude. (Kidding, empties are just part of the job. Yours were nothing compared to others.)

But while he was there, he mentioned that we hadn't seen each other in the month since the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion. One night, the following day, seven breweries.

When he mentioned it, I stopped and thought, "I don't think I ever wrote about that." You know, precisely the sorta shit I might just write about in a space exactly like this??

As lame as it sounds, I blame Vegas. No joke, when I return each time, you may as well call me "Tabula Rasa" because frankly, at that point, my mind is a blank slate. My first shift back at the Beer Store, I stared at the alarm touch-pad, unable to remember my PIN. It's all of four digits.

Adam takes us all for a tour of the brewery, including Polk, Candice
(kinda hidden behind Polk), Kat and Kimmy. It was Kimmy who did
the organizing for the Stonehooker portion of the evening as she's
gotten to know Adam pretty well since they opened in the Summer.

Been the same for years. I drew a blank. I think someone's dropping goofballs in my Stone IPAs down there.

Okay, let's get this party started. Which is precisely what we did on the evening of Friday, November 1st. We were not the full squad yet but we were a decent core of it.

Rob, aka Drunk Polkaroo and the lovely Kat, aka Lady Polk had decided that they had missed too many of these Brewery Invasion shindigs so this time, they were full steam ahead, lending us a certain level of Ontario Craft Beer Royalty in the shenanigans. Also, as Hamilton was key to this invasion, well, you gotta have the Polks. That's their wheelhouse.

Okay, so the first stop on Friday night was Cameron's Brewing in Oakville. Basically, our launching pad for the evening.

Greg and Candice give us a howdy from the Brazilian food-
truck that was out front of Stonehooker Brewing. From all
accounts, the food was amazeballs. And hey, a Brazilian food-
truck is just a damn cool thing to have out front of a brewery.

Now, Cameron's traditionally closes at 6 pm on a Friday but I talked to Head of Sales, Kyle Riddell, who in turn talked to Director of Operations, Clint Israel, and the brewery stayed open for an extra hour so that we could marshal our forces. Also out-of-towners, such as Sudbury Danny, really wanted to see the place. Being a hometown boy has its advantages.

Now granted, both Kyle and Clint would have happily arranged for a tour except for one small thing. The brewery portion is being ripped apart to add new tanks. A portion of their core beverages are being brewed out-of-house simply because they don't have the capacity. Cameron's is looking to level that playing field a little.

Now the game plan was that me, the Polks, Greg and Danny would meet at Cameron's to wait for "The Big Peezy" Paul, coming from Newmarket, as well as Glenn and Candice, coming our way from Oshawa. But I warned Polk ahead of time that Glenn has this habit of getting side-tracked somewhere along the simplest A-to-B route. It's his hallmark.

If I thought Glenn and Candice were gonna get
side-tracked, I clearly had no idea what The Big
Peezy himself was capable of. Paul completely
overshot Oakville and just kept driving out to
Cambridge so he could pop into Barncat Artisan
Ales. Not exactly a quick sidetrip but their beers
are definitely worth the extra travel. Solid call...

Sure enough, I got a message from Candice, who was driving, saying that Glenn had insisted on a couple of Toronto stops along the way - Rainhard Brewing, Shacklands Brewing and The Indie Alehouse, all of which are in Toronto's somewhat traffic-congested west end. Only Glenn would think that was a good idea on a Friday night.

No matter. People catch up wherever they catch up. But we did have some fun at Cameron's, which was a great kick-off to the big weekend. Clint and Kyle made sure everyone's first beverage was on the house (thanks, guys!) and, of course, most of us were all about their big Summer releases, the Jurassic IPA and the Skeleton Crew Knucklebone IPA.

In retrospect, looking back on Cameron's over 2019, I suspect they created Skeleton Crew to be the off-shoot that does the beers that brewmaster Jason Britton has previously shied away from but knew in his heart of hearts, "Well, to some degree, you have to play to the market" - you know, the IPA haze bombs, the sours and other less-traditional styles. In a lot of ways, I admire Jason's previous resolve.

That said, my hophead patience was rewarded this past Summer with the release of two IPAs and one session IPA all in the space of two weeks. I think they knew, "We have a cash cow living just three minutes up the hill. This guy could pay our Hydro bill for a year!"

Hamilton artist-cartoonist David Buist had his own unique take on the
Skeleton Crew Skull-Mobile, which in actual fact is a 1966 Cadillac that
has been redone as a cool-looking hearse. A big hit at the various events.

(Jason, if it's any help, don't bother with Brut IPAs. That fad lasted all of 10 minutes.)

Anyway, because of my friendship with the brewery, our initial meet-and-greet at Cameron's set the tone for the evening. And I thank them for that. You guys rock and certainly deserve the many accolades you've received in 2019.

But it was Stop #2 where co-organizer Kimmy saw the spotlight shine on her and again, deservedly so. You see, our next destination was Stonehookers Brewing in Port Credit.

When co-organizer Greg and Drunk Polkaroo get to talking, you
just know it's about world politics and the socio-political impact
of the partisan divisions with society itself. Yeah, I'm just shittin'
ya. The pair talked about beer, more beer and then finally beer!

Since the brewery opened in the Summer, I think Kimmy has spent as much time there as the co-owners, Ross Noel and brewmaster Adam Cherry. While I met Ross just once in passing - long enough to introduce myself - it seemed Kimmy has a real connection with the Stonehooker folks.

She not only got a tour arranged for us prior to our arrival, it was actually run by Adam himself. That's right - the owner took care of us on this beautiful November evening.

Happily hoisting his own product right alongside of us, Adam regaled the Brew Crew with stories of the brewery's origins, the various challenges and pitfalls of business ownership and basically answered any questions we had.

And if you know this Brew Crew, as well as bringing along our thirst, we come armed with questions. As crazy as it sounds, I think we're always excited to discover a brewer is just a Regular Joe or Jane like the rest of us.

"No, Glenn," Adam patiently explained, "That is not what Stonehooker
means." Poor Candice shifts uncomfortably as Glenn labours under yet
another misconception. I'm joking, of course. We gave Glenn a list of
some acceptable questions long before we allowed him into the brewery.

I'm not saying we put them up on a pedestal or anything but then again, yes, we absolutely do and the Brew Crew is always thrilled when the hop-and-malt gods walk among us.

And the brewery name itself? Well, let's clear that up quickly as it's been known to raise an eyebrow or two in the past. Stonehookers are the men who, back in the mid-1800s, sailed along the northern shore of Lake Ontario. They quite literally would hook stone out of the shallower waters and drag it up onto their boats. Those stones were then sailed to the wharf at the base of Bathurst Street in Toronto where they were transported via horse and cart to be used as foundations for buildings or the base for roads. Keep in mind, there was no concrete or cinder blocks back in those days. But that stone-hooking often took place in Port Credit where the brewery is located.

Cheers at Stonehooker Brewing for a successful start
to the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion.
And wait until you see what's coming up because on
Saturday, the Brew Crew swelled with countless more
participants and six breweries visited in one single day.

But back to the brewery invasion at hand. The big beers here were their flagship Broad Reach Nor'easter (New England) IPA, their Three Sheets Belgian IPA that Polk was very insistent that I try (no surprise there as it's fantastic) and, of course, their Mae West Bodacious Orange Milkshake IPA. I believe Kimmy and I were both singing the praises of the Mae West on Twitter late into the Summer so there was some interest in that one, for sure.

Anyway, Adam, thanks again for charting our course (you see what I did there?) on a Friday night and making the beginning of the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion such a fun start to the proceedings. And, oh, Paul, the Big Peezy? Yeah, after a side-trip to Cambridge, he finally caught up to us just as Adam's tour of the brewery ended. That's our Peezy, always charting his own individual course.

Okay, next up, our first two stops on Saturday - Nickel Brook Brewing in Burlington and Clifford Brewing in East Hamilton. This is where it gets crazy as the Brew Crew more than doubles in size and the according shenanigans basically triple. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Back soon with Part Two of the 905 Halton-Hamilton Craft Brewery Invasion. Until next time, I remain...