The Brock Street (soon-to-be) Boom!

Brock St. Brewing co-owners Mark Woitzik and Victor Leone took Johnny and
I on a tour of the get-closer-to-completion new Brock St Brewing facility located
at Brock and Dunlop Streets in Whitby. Between my restaurant-managing pal
and my beer-loving self, it was a pretty informative tour. Probably looking at a
late-October or mid-November opening and I tell you, I'm planning to be there!

The last time I was on this lot, it was a fenced-off area, strewn with little more than gravel. Gotta be honest, much like me with my shirt off, it wasn't much to look at.

But as any builder can tell you, you have to start at the foundation and then build upward. (Sadly, my foundation broke down by the end of my 20s. I've been the "before" fitness club picture ever since.)

So that was on December 9, 2017, the day of the famous - some would say infamous - Whitby Craft Beer Brewery Invasion where eight of us piled into a limousine, drove to four separate Whitby craft breweries and drank deeply from the well of top-flight craft brewers. The long white limo made it seem a little more sophisticated, at least at the beginning.

However, by the end, you had eight pasty-white incredibly buzzed people from the suburbs, ranging in age from their 20s to their 50s, all singing Wu Tang Clan in a confined area. Imagine not even the 1980s group but an actual flock of seagulls all screeching at the same time. We were less harmonious. And I mean, by a wide margin.

I'll be honest here. I brought Johnny in as a ringer. He has been in the
restaurant industry at the management (or higher) level since the mid-
1980s and I know of no one else who has that set of credentials. He was
there to quiz the guys on the restaurant side of the operation while I was
simply happy to see how the brewery component looked at this point.

But Mark Woitzik, one of the co-owners of Brock St. Brewing, had called me prior to our little adventure and invited us all to see the site of what will soon be the new Brock St Brewing at the corner of Brock and Dunlop Streets in Whitby. I immediately said yes because what idiot says no to a brewery owner? And that's how our big day started last December. In a gravel-filled lot. The rest of the day was well-chronicled so I won't get into that other than to say, "The last hour in that limo is still super hazy."

So anyway, a few weekends back, my son and I were driving out to Whitby to visit my lifelong friend, Johnny and his wife, also a good friend, Trish. To give you an idea of how close we are, David only refers to two couples outside the actual family as Aunt and Uncle. Johnny and Trish are one of them.

That top facade in the top photo was already closed and the
glass was installed when we visited a few weeks back. In fact,
at this point, their vats, kettles and all the equipment needed
for a brewery is likely in place. Their Hopkins Street retail
remains open and will operate at the same time as this new
facility for the foreseeable future. But this is gonna be a jewel.

So when Mark got wind I was returning to Whitby, he immediately texted and asked me to pop by the site so I could see the progress. But because a critical component of the new Brock St Brewing is going to be a upper-scale restaurant, I wanted to bring a ringer with me, a person who could speak to and ask questions about the restaurant end of things. As actress Butterfly McQueen famously yelled in the classic Gone With The Wind, "I don't know nothin' about building restaurants." Actually, her scatterbrained character, Prissy, actually said "birthin' babies" not restaurants but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn as I know nothing about either.

Johnny would be my ringer. As a Whitby resident, I'm certain he was curious about this new addition to his town's main street. As well, he's been managing restaurants (and positions much higher than that, including co-owning one and Director of Operations for a huge, familiar-to-all chain) since the mid-1980s. So while David opted to lounge around their pool with his Aunt Trish, Johnny and I headed over to the new Brock St Brewing site.

As we approached it, I asked, "What's your guess? About $25 million?" Frankly, I was just throwing out a random number but Johnny acknowledged that it could, indeed, be that much. He would know far better than I could ever. That said, it's just our guess as the price tag is, of course, mum. Once inside the soon-to-be retail area, we were warmly greeted by co-owner Mark and Victor Leone (missing was partner #3 Scott Pepin) and the basic breakdown of "what's going where?" began.

Here's an interesting and hugely historic wrinkle. Mark was
offered the clock from atop the old, long-since-demolished
Whitby Post Office shown here. So at the moment, he is
scrambling to find a clock-maker who can refurbish this
key piece of Whitby history. The clock could potentially be
installed at the top of the building on the corner. The one
fly in the ointment? It's entirely possible that pieces for this
 are no longer made and the clock simply cannot be repaired.
It was originally built in 1911 and it may be tough to fix it.

We started in the retail area, which will eventually involve the wood-working skills of my favourite carpenter, Josh Beaven and I am expecting regular updates from him at this point. When Johnny saw me, he laughed, "Oh, you are ready! You even have their T-Shirt on!" Well, yeah, my Brock St tee, bought for me by Josh, has seen the Las Vegas strip four times in the last year and will once again in October. Damn straight, I'm wearing my Brock St pride to the new site.

Okay, back to the new digs. As Mark was explaining where the draft lines would be coming into the retail area, he noted that he was hoping, given their vastly-increased brewing capacity, that Brock St could do many "collaborations with other brewers in town." Given that the town's population is roughly 130,000 and they have four very vibrant, popular craft breweries - Brock St, 5 Paddles, Little Beasts and Town Brewing - at one brewery per 38,500 residents, that might just be one of the best per-capita ratios in the province, if not the country.

When Mark and Vince started talking about the restaurant component beside the retail, well, that's when Johnny jumped in.

Barrie Beer Brother Hago happily poses in front
of Brock St Brewing during our Whitby Craft
Brewery Invasion last December. To this day,
Hago swears that the guys "could have saved a
million dollars if they'd just named themselves
Hopkins St Brewing." Nah, Brock St's better.

He began quizzing them on the restaurant size, the direction from which the food would be coming, the maximum capacity, number of window seats, potential for a patio... basically, anything restaurant-related. Frankly, I couldn't keep up (okay, I zoned out a little because that's not beer-related) but Mark and Victor had answers for all of his queries.

The funny thing is the brewery is leasing out the restaurant component to established service industry pros in Whitby and while the men were mum on who's actually running it, Johnny confided privately he was certain that he had figured it out. He gave me the name of a group running two upper-scale restaurants in Whitby and is convinced this will be their third jewel. I would give you the name but it was unfamiliar to me and thus, quickly forgotten. But no one knows the industry as well as my friend so he's likely right.

From there, the pair took us into the brewery portion of the three-storey adventure. Okay, this is where a tiny brewery on Hopkins Street will now become a much-larger one on Brock. The new tanks, combined with older ones being relocated from Hopkins, are going to increase their brewing capacity by a multiple of five, if not more. While the space was empty (no longer the case) at the time we visited, it took little imagination to see how humongous this brewing area was going to become in the near future.

This are the four 120-hectolitre (3,170 US gallons) tanks
now in position at the new brewery. Standing nearly
three-storeys high, they are just part of the arsenal that
the new Brock St Brewing will have. Oh, yes, there's
much more. There's 28 tanks in total at the new joint.

Mark explained they would have four 120-hectolitre (3,170 US gallons) tanks, four 60-hectolitre (1,585 gallon) tanks, ten 30-hectolitre (793 gallon), as well as 10 specialty 3-hectolitre (80 gallon) small-batch tanks. That's a lot of brewing capacity right there. In fact, so much so that Brock St can now act as a contract brewer for others without interrupting or delaying their own product in the slightest. After the brewery and the restaurant, that's a third money-making component for the trio.

As well, he told us some of the smaller tanks would be utilizing a new "fully-automated CIP system." What is that? Hey, glad you asked. An automated CIP system is one that high-pressure cleans the interior of the tanks with a flip of a switch. No muss, no fuss. It is the latest high-tech system in the industry. And what are the advantages of the CIP system? "It helps save on chemical usage, is better for the environment and utilizes much less water," Mark told me.

This is the stage the brewery was at when we visited
several weeks back. In fact, the painters were in there
on scissor lifts doing their thing and making the place
look inhabitable. This is a huge frikkin undertaking.

"It allows us to keep the craft element but using modern-day efficiencies to create some amazing beers (with our) 28 fermenting vessels." In fact, with half their 30-hectolitre tanks and all of their 3-hectolitre tanks using the CIP system, it "allows for multiple brews per day." 

Long story short - these guys can now (or rather will soon) crank out a crap-ton of beer. Okay, from there, Victor took Johnny and I up to the second floor where he pointed out the storage area for the brewery's grains and supplies, as well as a banquet hall area with a capacity of 200 people. "We're getting a special kind of (sound-absorbing) wood for the dance floor in the banquet hall," Victor explained, which is very much needed because it is directly above the restaurant.

Of course, Johnny then quizzed him on the every single aspect of the banquet hall (the fourth money-making component) - the balcony area, how the food would get there (on a built-in dumbwaiter), who reaps the benefits (it's split - the restaurant makes money for preparing the food, Brock St makes it for renting the area so win-win) and dozens of other questions that I now completely forget.

Brock St Brewing's going back to Las Vegas, baby, in late
October. You see, I recently bought a seat to the Maple Leafs
game against the Golden Knights on my birthday - February
14, 2019 - but decided I didn't feel like waiting five more
months to visit. So Ontario craft breweries, including our
gang at Brock St, will be well-represented on the strip again.

And finally, Vince took us to the third floor with the super-bitchin' view for the final part of the 19,000-square-foot structure - the exclusive club and fifth money-making component. This is where club members who have bought their way in can relax two floors above the din of the restaurant and retail area. The limited-time membership fee was basically created to bring some outside cash influx to the massive project. Susan, a friend of Johnny and Trish's who joined us for drinks (she's a big 5 Paddles fan) that night, told me the membership fee was $500, as she had bought one for her hubby.

This is an unbelievably huge step for the brewery which first opened its doors in April 2015, making it - believe it or not - the senior citizen in the Whitby craft beer scene, ahead of the three others. Mark pegged their opening date optimistically towards mid-October. So that, of course, means I'm guessing late November because nothing ever happens on time when contractors are involved. But I tell you this for free. By hook or by crook, I will be there Opening Night and there will be many pictures. Count on it. As for Johnny's take on the day? "I think Mark is going to be the next mayor of Whitby," he said, as impressed as hell.  But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

Buck-a-beer goes flat quickly...

"Good Lord love a duck. How did I get dragged into this
little ode to beer?" wondered William Shakespeare. Let's
face it, he was far more likely to be drinking wine or mead
and is likely pissed to be dragged into this poor excuse for
literary prose. Sharper than a serpent's tooth, eh, Bill?

Well, as Shakespeare would say, that was "Much Ado About Nothing."

The Shakepearean play, thought to be written in 1599, is basically a hard-to-read ode to misunderstanding, overhearing something from another room and misinterpreting it, rumours, gossip and sexual innuendo. So basically, if you've ever seen an episode of the TV show, Three's Company, you get the gist.

But as I earlier chronicled this month, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced during the campaign that the Province would be returning to the 2006 glory days of "Buck-A-Beer", it was something of a smoke-and-mirrors show. Or rather... much ado about nothing.

In the end, exactly three Ontario breweries stepped up to the challenge: tiny micro Barley Days Brewing in Picton, well-known contract brewer Cool Brewing in Etobicoke and PC Brewing, based out of Kitchener-Waterloo. But in today's edition, we will simply look at PC Brewing because they ended up being the biggest player on the Buck-A-Beer field.

Was I surprised when PC Brewing, out of Kitchener-
Waterloo said they'd be joining in on the Buck-A-Beer
fiasco? Oh yes, very much so. That would soon be
replaced by the sounds of my laughter, which was
loud and louder, when I heard on Monday, they were
only doing buck-a-beer for one week. Seven days??

Now when I say that PC Brewing is based out of K-W, there is a reason. They are brewed under licence by Brick Brewing, meaning someone else makes their beer and their labels get slapped onto the bottles. That happens a lot in Ontario and is ultimately, the world's smallest deal. PC Brewing is actually owned by Loblaw's, the largest grocery chain in the Province. So long before Premier Wynne, Ford's Liberal predecessor, announced beer in the supermarkets a few years back, one grocery chain was already making beer and selling it in Ontario. Just not in their stores until that very point a few years ago.

When they announced last week that they, too, were joining the Buck-A-Beer Brigade, I was stunned. I mean, I explained before that Ford, who only lowered the minimum price on single bottles from $1.25 back to a $1/bottle, was taking no risk. He was asking brewers to drop from their lowest price - $35.50 a case - to a Buck-A-Beer or $26.40 a case. So basically, he was saying, "I want you guys to take a $9.10 loss on every case of discount beer you sell for my benefit."

Premier Doug Ford is all smiles at Etobicoke's Cool
Brewing after the announcement that the brewery was
doing something NOT COOL by joining the Buck-A-
Beer Brigade. While PC Brewing that their Buck-A-
Beer prices will only last a week, Cool, as well as Barley
Days in Picton, has not said how long they'll play the
silly game. But the price is not long-term sustainable.

I mean, in the end, as I predicted, none of the big boys (Labatt, Molson's, Sleeman and Moosehead) took the bait. So yeah, I was surprised when PC Brewing jumped aboard because they, too, were taking a $9.10 loss on every case as their brands are also discount beers. Maybe the grocery chain ownership thought they could make it up in other departments. Like, I don't know, jacking or fixing the price of bread, for instance? Just throwin' it out there as a "for instance."

But you see, every Monday at the Beer Store, we are emailed the following week's price changes. Even though I wasn't working Monday, it didn't take long for Beer Store friends to alert me that morning this was a one-week discount by PC Brewing and that after Labour Day, it would go right back up to $35.50/case.

One week? Seriously? In fairness, PC Brewing, when they made the buck-a-beer announcement, did say it was "for a limited time." One week of buck-a-beer certainly qualifies as limited. But I also had a second reaction - that of uncontrollable laughter. One. Lousy. Week. It cracked me up. But to be perfectly honest, those PC beers have been flying off the shelf so far this week. We are officially sold out and it turns out won't be able to get more until our next Brick delivery...

The Ontario Beverage Network has their own thoughts on
the Buck-A-Beer issue but struggled to come up with the
words. Fortunately, this graphic kinda says it all. No, sir!

After Labour Day. When the price goes back up. As Ned Flanders would say, "Oopsie doodle, neighbourino!" At first, customers were somewhat pissed at us until we explained that the PC beers were only meant to be Buck-A-Beer until Labour Day. And then you could see the wheels turning. Not the Beer Store's fault, certainly. But when consumers get pissed, their anger lands in a higher place. In this case, the Buck-A-Beer fiasco will likely be spilling back onto Premier Ford's lap. That said, as Premier, I'm sure dry cleaning is a covered expense.

Now, lest anyone think I'm playing politics here, I assure you, I am not. I dislike all politics equally and here's a little story which illustrates exactly that. You see, Ford isn't the first to play shell-games with beer.

On the left, we have Premier Ford who campaigned on
Buck-A-Beer and caught everyone's attention with that
while he began to slash social services. On the right, we
have former Premier Wynne, who, to the enthusiasm of
many, opened up beer to the grocery stores. However, at
the same huge announcement, she also mentioned quietly
that the Province was selling off Hydro One. No one gave
a gnat's fart until homeowners got their Hydro bills in the
Summer of 2016 and their rates had tripled. Shell-games.

His predecessor Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne did exactly the same thing. But let's start with Ford.

While he was yelling, "Buck a beer! Buck a beer!" he was also putting the brakes to Provincial funding on a number of established social programs. So it's a left hand-right hand scenario, a slight of hand, if you will. Magicians do this all the time. But politicians do it better. While his left hand had big-ass scissors cutting the social programs, his right hand was holding up that shiny can of $1 beer. Guess which caught the public eye?

However, Wynne did a similar left hand-right hand smokescreen back in 2015 when she announced that grocery stores would finally be able to sell beer. It was huge. Biggest beer-related announcement in Ontario since... ever. And it was met with great enthusiasm! However, at the exact same press conference, she announced towards the end with far less fervor that the Province would be selling Hydro One to private interests. The Hydro One part was practically mumbled on stage.

Former Premier Kathleen Wynne was the first
person to buy beer in a grocery store way back in
December 2015. As you can see, she bought a
Collective Arts' six-pack of Rhyme & Reason
Extra Pale Ale. So while maybe she did some
sketchy stuff, her taste in beer is exemplary. 

No one cared! Beer in the grocery stores! Finally! Huzzah! (That's Shakespearean for "hooray!") That is, until the Hydro bills, now controlled by private interests, rolled in to homeowners in the Summer of 2016. Many saw their Hydro rates triple. Cottage owners got hefty bills for the Winter months when the electricity was turned off because Hydro debt charges were tacked on. An unhealthy handful of Ontario small businesses went under, simply because their Hydro bills ate up their profits and far more. Homeowners were left scrambling to pay the bills as most of us budget on per-month expenses and don't expect to see such a substantial increase on any one bill. And all of this was hidden behind the image of an Ontario Premier months prior holding up that same damn shiny can of beer and saying, "I bought this in the grocery store!!" I will always believe that those huge Hydro increases were what gutted the ruling Liberal party and basically turned them into a non-party after this year's election. You might remember that. When the Liberals handed the Province over to Doug Ford.

But I started with Shakespeare so let me end with him. To quote Brutus in the classic Julius Caesar, "The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power." My 2018 translation of that quote? If you think politicians care more about the people they serve than the power they wield, then you're being suckered. I don't actually care about Buck-A-Beer or beer in the grocery stores. I'm just pointing out that every time the politicos want us to think we've gained, we actually lose. Every single time. Okay, Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

Poster Boy for Buck-A-Beer?

In this photo, taken by the Globe and Mail's Deborah Haic,
I look... lost?? Coworkers will tell you that this is NOT an
unusual look because, on occasion, I wander up to them and
ask, "What is this place again?" Fortunately, I always find
my way home afterwards. I know where MY beer fridge is.

About six years ago, the Beer Store I worked at in Oakville was revamped under a new initiative called Project Amber. I think the idea was to give the Beer Store a softer, friendlier atmosphere.

Having been with the Beer Store for 23 years, both part-time when I was in Journalism and full-time for the past 10 years because all the newspapers disappeared, my approach to the upcoming change in decor was pretty much the same as it would be if one of my ex-wives or former girlfriends decided it was time for new carpeting. And that is quite simply, "So long as I don't have to have any input or even opinion as to colour and/or style, go nuts."

In this case, it wasn't even on my dime so, hey, go super-freaky nuts. So initially, they revamped five stores - four in Toronto and mine in Oakville. Why mine because Oakville is certainly not Toronto? I'm certain it was because a brand new Target was opening in the mall right behind us. I'm sure we all remember what a stellar business model Target ended up being in Canada. Success like that is tough to repeat.

Okay, here's your TRUE Poster Boy for the craft
breweries' reaction to the Buck-A-Beer "initiative."
This would be Troy Burtch, who's the Marketing and
Communications Manager for Great Lakes Brewing
in Etobicoke. He ended up on countless TV shows
before and after Doug Ford's "big" announcement.

So anyway, the Globe and Mail decided to write a piece on the Beer Store's changing approach and sent a very nice photographer named Deborah Haic to take a bunch of pictures. It was just me and my manager in the store that day, a young lady named Allison, at the time in her mid-20s. I noticed when Deborah started snapping off pictures, Allison made herself extremely scarce. Like most young ladies, she only wants to take her own picture so she can decide which one makes the cut. I've seen this process from young women up close. Some 87 pictures are taken and 86 are deleted before that one perfect multi-filtered Instagram or Snapchat post. It's an art form women have perfected. Guys take just one and use it even if a booger is hanging out of their nose.

Long story short, I ended up in most of the photos where you could see me serving customers, assisting customers, stacking beer, tripping over my shoelaces with a booger hanging out of my nose... the usual stuff. The Globe wrote their piece - a nice soft full-page business story about the changes. It was a lovely puff-piece but I knew what all the photos were really about as the Beer Store was coming under increased criticism from the media. For that, you need file photos. Many of them. Been there (in person), done that (myself).

Ken Woods, the lovable owner of Black Oak Brewing,
is that dude front and centre with this rowdy gang of
hooligans, thugs and one nice lady. Asked about Buck-
A-Beer, Ken said, "(Black Oak) beer doesn't need to be
discounted in order to sell. It's about quality and having
something special to enjoy." That's why we all love Ken.

So from that day forth, whenever a Beer Store story appeared in the Globe, be it a news piece, opinion piece or even a Letter to the Editor, one of two possible images were attached - either the facade of my Beer Store out front from 87 different angles (Instagram Rules)... or one of me, also 87 from which to choose. And I would get messages from friends every month or two alerting me that I was in the Globe. "Are Beer Stores a front for Scientology?" There I was. "Does the Beer Store actually exist?" There I was. "Is the Beer Store in collusion with Russia?" There I was... somehow holding hands with a shirtless Vladimir Putin. Hoping to get that one autographed. (*Ed Grimley Voice* "That'd be the best, I must say.")

I always shrugged it off because... well, who cares? In the grand scheme of things, blah, blah, blah. Water off a duck's back. But earlier this week, I got fresh texts that I was in the Globe again. What's the story, I asked? The response: a story on Doug Ford's Buck-A-Beer "challenge." My response: "Oh, Jesus Herbert Christ..." (The "H" must stand for something. My guess is Herbert.) A picture of me at a cash register used for the story about our new Premier's smoke-and-mirrors show. Ain't that just ducky? Fortunately, the shot was from a great distance and only a couple of people recognized me.

With Brewmaster Jason Brittan on the left and his gang of
thugs, hooligans and exactly zero nice ladies on the right,
Cameron's Brewing posted on Twitter, "Cameron's has
never participated in Buck-A-Beer and we are not about to
start now. We stand by our commitment to high quality
beer and you can continue to hold us to that standard. Just
take a look at our slogan we have had for the past 20-plus
years." That would be the "connoisseur" thingey up there.

Now I never get political here because after 25 years of covering it federally, provincially and on a municipal level for newspapers, as well as having an actual five-year stint in municipal politics, I am done with politics of any kind. I learned during those years, there are two things voters absolutely hate. Things staying the way they are. And change. It's a bit of a Catch-22. Half of the people are mad half the time as parties in power flip back and forth. I am happily at the point where I am 100% disinterested in politics 100% of the time. It's a comfortable little zone I occupy seemingly by myself. Too much anger out there. My zone is like Zen Central. With really good beer. So none of this is about politics. It's about numbers. Although seeing my picture connected with such an obvious ploy, well, those shenanigans don't belong in Zen Central, lemme tell you.

Now, I have no idea if the Beer Store even has a policy on this buck-a-beer thing - there's no real reason it should because it's in the political arena - so I am just speaking for myself here as John Q Public (the Q is Quincy) and a beer writer who believes - sorry, knows - this will never happen. For a large number of reasons. As I have had to explain to many customers this week, Premier Ford did not change the price of beer to a buck-a-bottle.

I'm not sure where this graphic came from because I got it
from Twitter. But it shows you what one single can of
People's Pint Brewing's (Toronto) Helles Island Lager cost
that brewery to produce. It's a $1.39 and that excludes
operation costs, such as rent, Hydro, staff and so on and
so on. It actually sells for $3.00 which sounds like a big
mark-up EXCEPT the operating costs chew into a
significant portion of that. No one is making millions
in the Ontario Craft Beer business. In fact, the great
majority have yet to break even. It's a non-starter.

What he actually changed was the minimum amount that a beer could be sold for by the breweries. That number was previously $1.25 per bottle. The Premier dropped it to $1 per bottles, the same as it was in 2006.

But costs were a lot different in 2006. If you look at the big ol' beer can graphic here, you'll see it cost more than a $1 to produce a can of beer.

So Premier Ford is offering this up as what he calls "a challenge." And it would be a challenge. For craft brewers, eating food would become a challenge. Paying rent would become a challenge. Buying clothes would be a challenge. Paying employees would become a challenge. And why is that? Because they would be bleeding money!!! They would be operating at a significant loss. The first thing they would forfeit is the ability to pay taxes. You know who hates that? The government.

So who was the real Poster Boy for ALL Ontario Craft Brewers when this was announced on Monday? Well, that would be Troy Burtch, the Marketing and Communications Manager for Etobicoke's Great Lakes Brewing. Troy showed up on TV stations around Toronto to explain - very simply - why this was not financially feasible. He was diplomatic, articulate and very sincere.

I laughed when I saw this one. Premier Ford used
an image of Toronto's Bandit Brewery in his pitch
for Buck-A-Beer on Twitter and the brewery was
like, "No, no, no, no, no..." Bandit, I feel ya. I was
the photo in the Globe and Mail story on this one.

Now, Troy and I have only met a couple of times. He seems like a great guy and frankly, I was extremely impressed by how composed he remained. He was one helluva spokesperson for all the craft brewers in Ontario, even though he was only speaking on GLB's behalf. And he wisely kept politics out of it.

Which is good because had they invited me on those many TV shows he popped up on, I would have briefly stepped away from Zen Central and it would have been like getting a guest from The Jerry Springer Show. I'd be all, "Okay, gang, this is the most humongous pile of horseshit I've ever waded through without knee-high boots and I worked on a goddamn farm when I was 18 years old!! It reeks there!!! Take the 10 biggest post-Thanksgiving dumps of your life, add them together and that's what a horse craps after three goddamn pieces of hay!!!" (The farm part is actually true. The horse crap part usually involves a little more hay.)

So, okay, we've dealt with the fact that craft breweries can't do this buck-a-beer ruse, right? Well, one is going to try but I'll write their obituary at the end... out of respect. And that leaves the big guns, right? Molson's, Labatt and Sleeman's, the three owners of the Beer Store. Certainly they can afford this, right?

Matt Gibson, right, is shown here with his band Mutual
Release at last year's Nickel Brook Oktoberfest. Matt is
the Manager of Corporate Sales and Marketing at the
brewery. His response to it all on Monday was simply this.
"Nickel Brook will not take part in the proposed buck-a-
beer plan. We've always been about quality and don't aim
to change that now or ever. We have no intention of joining
a race to the bottom. We stand with our fellow craft brewers
in opposing this gimmick by Ford." Race to the bottom...
that line was used over and over by crafties on Monday.

No, I don't think so. And please understand I do not speak for them or on their behalf. Just guessing here. A regular guy - a John Quincy Public, if you will - about to throw a bunch of numbers around. They have been silent on the issue so far. Here's my guess on the reason. (Bunch Of Random Numbers Coming Alert.)

Okay, the cheapest macros at the Beer Store are their discount lines. With Molson's, it's their Carling line. With Labatt, it's their Lakeport line. And with Sleeman's, it's their Stroh's line, Old Milwaukee and the like. All three sell their two-fours of these products for $35.50. Take away the $2.40 bottle deposit and that's $33.10 for the discount beers. That equals $1.38 a bottle. That's the cheapest beer right now in Ontario. Now remember, the previously-set lowest minimum price was $1.25/bottle. So the macros were not even bothering with that, going 13 cents higher with their lowest cost product. What Premier Ford is asking them to do in this challenge is drop that $33.10 to $24. Voluntarily. At the cost of their own profits.

Now I don't have much of a business head, to be honest, but I do know forfeiting $9.10 on every case of discount beer is probably not a strong fiscal practice. Some would even say foolhardy. Insane. Nutso. Pick a word.

I don't drink many Blonde Ales as I
prefer the heftier, hoppier styles but
here's one I will be jumping all over!!
Dominion City took the whole buck-a-
beer thing and turned it on its side by
donating to a worthy charity. Perfect!!

Now before getting to the one single brewery in Ontario willing to go along with this challenge, a quick word about an Ottawa brewery called Dominion City Brewing. I am very familiar with their product because my Nepean Beer Store Brother Ben sent me a care package of their goodies. They make a Double IPA and Triple IPA, both of which were so outstanding, you'll pee a little in your pants. Well, I did but that might be connected to my advanced age. Regardless, I will be singing their glory in an upcoming column.

So they decided they were in on doing a buck-a-beer but did their own spin on it. If you buy Dominion City Buck-A-Beer Blonde Ale at full price, for each can, the brewery will donate $1 towards refugee integration efforts in Ottawa. So while many were rightfully decrying the challenge, Dominion City stood back and asked themselves, "How can we turn this chicken shit situation into a tasty chicken salad lunch?" And then they proceeded to do it. I love these guys for being this clever. We all should.

And that brings us to the one Ontario craft brewery that actually has plans to join the challenge. That would be Barley Days Brewing in Picton, Ontario. They will be creating a beer called Loon Lager, weighing in 4.5% and yes, being sold for a buck-a-beer in the 355-ml (12 ounce) can format. If any of y'all remember a place called Honest Ed's in Toronto, this is called a "loss leader." That means selling a product at a loss just to get customers into the store. Ed Mirvish would sell, say, full-sized turkeys for $1 at Thanksgiving and thousands of people would line up around the block to get in.

The sole participant in the buck-a-beer
challenge is Barley Days Brewing's new
Loon Lager. They got their press for this
but will it cost them big down the line?

It was a brilliant business strategy... for Ed Mirvish and perhaps only Ed Mirvish.

I suspect Barley Days is doing this to get their name out there. I mean, because they are the sole participant thus far in the buck-a-beer challenge, they played host to Premier Ford at their brewery for the announcement. So there you go... their name was in all the papers, TV stations and social media. Now I don't know the folks there in Picton but I have concerns for them about this. The most notable concern is this: Have they made themselves a pariah in their own industry now? Yes, they got free press... for one day. But at what cost? And the optics of this could be taken politically. They were the only ones willing to get into the sandbox with Premier Ford. That could cause backlash. Again, though, let's keep in mind that I avoid politics like I avoid vegetables. So my perspective may be skewed by my abhorrence towards politics.

So, in review... Premier Ford campaigned on buck-a-beer. But then left the breweries to absorb all costs for his plan. The government did not and will not contribute a dime towards this. The Province could have eased back the shelf price of being in the LCBO... but they didn't. The Province could have dropped the provincial sale tax on beer... but they didn't. Why? Because then this challenge costs them revenue. It's a lot like me saying I would like a Mustang but should only pay $10,000 for it while Ford Motors absorbs the rest of the cost. Highly unlikely at best. Very disingenuous at worst. But hey, that's politics. Okay, Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

New brewery finally off the Bench

"It's here! It's here! It's finally here!" My son, David, and I had a very
eventful Canada Day, travelling from Oakville to Vineland to visit the
just-opened Bench Brewing. The long-anticipated brewery was meant
to open in Spring 2017 but sometimes, these new projects get bogged
down in the permit process or even getting the equipment into place.

I don't know what you folks did on Canada Day but mine was pretty productive. Which for me basically means not my usual routine of having some really great Ontario craft beers and falling asleep on my Lazy Boy, watching superhero DVDs.

But on this July 1st, I had my son, David, with me so it was time to get out of the house for a little quality father-son adventure. Fortunately, a long-awaited destination finally came into play.

Bench Brewing opened on June 29 to the public and for me and my boy, that would mean hitting the road and heading to the Vineland area of Beamsville, Ontario. Now David himself is a former Beamsville District High School student so I assumed this was all familiar turf for him. Well, not quite. You see, we drove well past his old alma mater and deep into the heart of Wine Country.

David stands in front of the old school's front door
which has been incorporated into the structure of the
new brewery, honouring the history of Maple Grove.

And lemme tell you this - that was one beautiful drive past orchards, vineyards and wineries the entire way. Beautiful country.

But we did land at a school... or at least a former school. The one thing we all knew about Bench Brewing is that they were setting up shop in the old Maple Grove School, which originally opened in 1833 before closing for good in 2013, an impressive 180 year history. In fact, it opened 34 years before Canada was even a country. So when we pulled up, I was pretty happy to see they have kept the facade of the former school intact. Further to that, the old school now houses the retail-customer service area of the brewery. While the insides are spiffed up for the brewery's clientele, the front and two side walls of the school are still there, part of the structure. Bench simply opened up the back wall and built their brewery facilities from that point out to the north.

In fact, back in February 2017, Bench went onto Twitter and promised they would keep as much of the school in place as they could. They were good to their word. But you might wonder why you've been seeing Bench products on the LCBO shelves for quite a while now. 

Bench Brewing founder Matt Giffin's dream of
owning a brewery in the countryside has finally
come true and man, this was one beautiful dream
as the facility itself is outstanding. So impressive!

Well, until they got this facility up and running, they've been contract-brewing. In fact, Kylie, my favourite beer technician at the now-defunct Rib Eye Jack's Ale House, first slid Beer Bro Glenn and myself a can each of their Ball's Falls Session IPA sometime back in early-2016. "But you can't write about it or put it on Twitter," she cautioned us at the time. It was all very hush-hush. Later that Summer, it became apparent who was contract-brewing it when my Nickle Brook buddy, Tony, now with Collective Arts, walked out of their retail with me and quietly handed me a box containing four of Bench's Citra Grove Dry Hopped Sour. He quickly did the "Shhh!" motion as he gave them to me. Still hush-hush. What can I tell ya? I certainly did very well drinking great craft beer from a brewery that only existed on paper in 2016.

And while it was originally slated to open in the Summer of 2017, well, we all have watched craft breweries being built and every one of them has taken longer than originally anticipated. There's always government red tape or equipment issues that dog them along the way. But brewery founder Matt Giffin's long-time dream is now a reality and man, is it impressive! He, his wife and three children have lived in that area, known locally as Twenty Valley, for years and he wanted to build something big there.

"When Man makes plans... God laughs" goes the
old saying. As you can see, Bench Brewing had
lofty ambitions to be open last Summer but, well,
as another saying goes, "Better late than never."

On their website, Giffin wrote, "I have always been fascinated with the influence climate and soil have on growing wine grapes. I'm also a huge beer lover. So I started wondering why only a few beers were focusing on the concept of 'terroir' (soil influence) in their brewing processes. That was really my inspiration for Bench. I wanted to build a unique craft brewery that produces remarkable small batch beers in the heart of Ontario's wine country."

As for his role in the brewery, Giffin made it clear that he's proud of the team he has assembled and that "my role as the 'gray beard' in the group is to assist the experts and just get out of the way!" To that end, he plans on spending a lot of time helping out in the humongous hop yards they have growing out back on their property and "working with other local farmers to source quality local ingredients for our beer."

Now my buddy, Steve, was there on Grand Opening Day, June 29, and came away as impressed as I was. Granted, Steve already had an "in" at the brewery - his nephew, James, is the Sales Territory Manager for Eastern Ontario and has been with them for a year after stints with Cameron's and Nickel Brook.

With the Humidex hitting over 40C (104F) on the drive to
the brewery, this was, no doubt, David's favourite place
there - the beer cooler. He liked the cold air. Daddy loved all
the bottles and cans waiting to be purchased. Which I did.

When I asked for his impressions, it turns out he, too, was also knocked out by the size and scope of this operation. "The location, as you saw, is beautiful. Not just some brewery sitting in an industrial area but nestled between farms, wineries and a community. The physical building is well-designed, pleasing to the eye and nothing was spared as to what was really needed to really pull this project off."

But when he continued, it became very clear that Steve got an extensive back-room brewery tour that David and I did not. (So, man, am I glad I asked him!) "The thing that impressed me the most was the French Oak Foeders (wooden vats that allow sours to age with a slower infusion of oxygen) and the room with the flat tanks that allow natural yeast to blow in from the fields that will give sours a unique flavour that I don't think (any brewery) in North America is putting out at these volumes." Again, to be clear, I knew none of this. Steve was basically educating me on a brewery I had just visited. It's good to have friends in the know.

The words painted just above the exit at their customer
service-retail area could not be more accurate. This is,
in fact, a brewery smack-dab in the middle of Ontario
Wine Country. I'm down with that, Bench Brewing!

But you know what, I'm just gonna let Steve keep going. He seems to have his shit down on this. "They are doing everything right. Everything. They have a very good team from brewing to distribution to sales. It's almost like IKEA meets... help me here, looking for a high quality traditional beer reference." Okay, this is me tagging in - it's like IKEA meets Bellwoods Brewing.

And then Steve just flat-out read my mind. "I hope someday they might consider offering an IPA that can stand up with (Nickel Brook's) Headstock but perhaps that is not their intention." (Not said: "It should be." That's me agreeing with him.)

And finally, because I totally dig where Steve's adventure at Bench was going, there's this: "Sours are a niche market, one that I am all over but would love to see them offered in cans, All in all, I see a very bright future from this brewery." Frankly, after Steve's response when I asked him for impressions, I don't know why I don't ask people that more often. They do all the heavy-lifting for me! I love that.

I have all of these Bench Brewing beers in my fridge plus two more not in
the picture. I doubt any will surpass their outstanding Citra Grove Dry
Hopped Sour but hey, you never know, do you? Truly a great trip for us!

But let's finish this off with my boy's impressions of the place. When I took him out front for a picture, he looked up at the facade and yelped, "Dad, this used to be a school! And I went to school in Beamsville!" (Yes, I am vaguely aware of that, having driven you to that school roughly 1,284 times when we weren't back in time for the bus.)

And finally, a thought from his Dad. Bench Brewing Gang, we have been waiting for this opening for a long while. Like Steve more or less said, you may not have done it as quickly as hoped... but you sure did it right. And that's what really counts. I will be back. Often. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

Liquid Arts Fest was killer!

Barrie Beer Brother Hago snapped this picture of me in front of one
of the many murals that literally got painted on the brewery's outer
walls during the Liquid Art Festival on June 15-16. I thought the
art would be a component that I wouldn't pay much attention to. I
was wrong as watching the murals being created was fascinating.

Everything went right. That is probably the easiest (and laziest) way to describe Collective Arts Brewing's Liquid Art Festival this past weekend on June 15-16.

The weather cooperated, especially at the Saturday afternoon session that Barrie Beer Brother Hago and myself attended. And believe me, I have been at many Beer Fests that weren't so fortunate. Nothing but blue sky and sunshine for us that day.

The collection of breweries from around the world was phenomenal. I tried beers from all over America and Europe, some of which I'll get to eventually in this space.

The two bands we saw on Saturday afternoon, Toronto's Twist and Philadelphia's Mt. Joy were talented, lively and professional, particularly the latter.

And the art - the part of the event I honestly didn't think I'd pay much attention to - man, it was absolutely captivating me. Watching countless artists, all using spray-paint, turn various gray, boring, humongous walls into eye-popping art. No lie, I just kept pausing just to watch. These guys were up on these huge industrial cranes... it was too cool.

I'll be honest here. Going in, I figured, hey man, 51 breweries from around the world, including Japan and Iceland, in one setting, that's the big draw for me. Who gives a damn about music and art? Turns out in the end, I did, very much to my surprise.

I nicked this picture off Collective Arts' Facebook page. That's me and
Hago on the left waving. If you can't see us, please have your eyes exam
sooner rather than later. Actually, what you can see on the left is some of
the murals painted on walls as over 2,500 square feet of boring grey were
turned into something far more colourful over the three-session, two-day
Beer Festival that emphasized art and music as much as it did brewers!

Talk about a perfectly-executed triple play - beer to music to art - that ended up nailing the perfect troika.

Again, to play off my opening line, I knew it was gonna be good but I don't think either Hago or I were anticipating it was going to be this damn good. 

But before I wade in too deep, a quick word about my buddy, Hago. As you may know, I take a lot of trips to Las Vegas, the last five times solo. I will happily talk to anyone and everyone while there. And I do. I'm not shy in the least. But next to Hago, I honestly look like a frikkin' introvert. Put this man into any social setting and he's off and running. He works a crowd better than Oprah.

Okay, why am I telling you the Story Of John The Security Guard?
For this reason. He see that Joker tattoo on his arm? (He has Groot
and Rocket Raccoon on the other.) Well, John was at a Comic Con a
few years back and one of the guests was Mark Hamill, better known
as both Luke Skywalker and the voice of The Joker on the Batman
cartoon show. Hamill sees his tat and pulls him aside for a photo and
an autograph. For free. It cost other people at the Comic Con $1,000
for the same thing. John told us it was the coolest thing ever for him.

Surround him with craft beer lovers? Talk about a man among his people. He was having a field day at this.

Not that I was sitting on my thumbs, mind you, because, well, who actually does that? Sounds like a good way to break them, frankly.

I got a chance to introduce Hago to Joe and Lindsey Mrav, the husband and wife team that opened up Grain & Grit Small Batch Beer in an old auto garage on Ewan Road in East Hamilton late last year. Numerous trips there, including ones with Beer Bro Glenn and my son, David, have made me fairly easy-to-spot for the amiable couple. (David got to regale Joe with a story about how cool the movie, Black Panther, was. That was Joe's mistake because he asked David what he had done that day. That's all it takes. But bless him, Joe smiled and took it all in.) My first question to them was basically who's at the brewery since I've only ever seen Joe, Lindsey and one other person working there. Like, every single time. They assured me they had covered it off. Well... okay, then.

They, in turn, got to talk to us about one of the two beers they brought - Max's Big Ride, a 5.5%, 57 IBU Milkshake IPA with peach and vanilla. Turns out Max's Big Ride is a charity-event in the name of a seven-year-old local youngster named Max who has a rare genetic disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy that halts any muscle growth. So for the past two years, his parents have organized three events to help fund-raise for a cure.

Lindsey and Joe Mrav, owners of Hamilton's Grain & Grit
Small Batch Beer, explained to Hago and myself how Max's
Big Ride Milkshake IPA came about and how some of the
proceeds go directly to a specific charity. Just a great job!

So Lindsey and Joe got involved this year, creating the beer that contained Max's two favourite milkshake ingredients - peach and vanilla. When they released it on June 10, all of proceeds from the tap sales that day went to the charity. Since then, 50 cents a can goes to the same thing. People like these two are why Hamilton has become such a cool place to visit and for some of my friends, live.

But we also met some familiar Twitter friends while there. While Hago and I were basking in the beer-filled atmosphere, Jen Heaslip (@crftbeernkittns) and well-known Toronto beer writer Mike Burton (@beermostly) spotted us and came over to say hey. Like us, both were having a fantastic day in the sun. Mike confessed the only complaint he had was the people who complained online about the Friday night session. It seems everyone and their mothers' basement where they live knows how they would have done it better. News Flash: No, you wouldn't, not even close so go troll your local Dairy Queen or something. It's funny because on Sunday, I posted on Twitter about how great everything was at the Liquid Art Festival with a picture of the event glass.

When a pretty lady from Toronto radio station, Indie88, offered up free
high fives, Hago was onboard! Hell, so was I. The Price Was Right, eh?

Instantly, some guy I don't follow and who doesn't follow me jumped on to say it could have been done better. I guess he saw it because I hash-tagged the event.

But the fact is I know what Collective Arts spent on this event and while I won't say how much, it's a fargin' huge chunk of cash. I could retire easily on it. They won't make money. In fact, they'll lose it. A shit-ton. But to them, what the brewery is trying to build here is important. Think about it. Bringing in breweries from around the world costs a little more than pocket change. So - what's the diplomatic way to say this? - take your complaints and shove them up your ass. Because 99.99% of us had a blast.  Keep your chirps among the 0.01% of you. (Sorry, that's a downer. But I'm weary of online keyboard warriors griping about everything good. I'll stop now.)

Brewer Paulie from Thin Man Brewing in Buffalo
offers me up their Burning Money IPA, a dandy 6.6%
New England style with a big citrus and melon aroma.

And it was great to meet Jen who I tag in a lot of beer photos because I dig her enthusiasm. Hell, I've used her pictures in this. She was wearing her Society of Beer Drinking Ladies ball-cap so I had to ask her how those Beer Fest events they hold were because man, they look like a blast. They were exactly that, she told me. She said while she sometimes doesn't get along with other women in social settings, the comradery at the SOBDL events was completely the opposite. "I can walk in there without knowing a single person and walk out with 25 new friends," she smiled. Very cool.

But it was Mike who did me a huge solid when he steered me towards the Twin Sails Brewing booth out of Port Moody, BC, suggesting I would love their Diamonds Are For Never Honey Oat Double IPA, assuring me, "You'll really like it. And the brewer is there and happy to talk." (My one complaint? That I forgot to get a picture of Jen and Mike when they were standing right there in front of me!!! Bloody rookie move.) Diamonds ended up being one of my favourites of the day. Mike seems to know the styles I favour the most. (So IPAs... following by other IPAs.)

What are the odds of TWO guys wearing Flying Monkeys' "What
Would Jesus Brew?" T-shirts being at the same session at a Hamilton
Beer Fest,  miles away from Barrie, be? I don't know but I wish I had
bet big on it because here's Hago and Sergei both wearing that shirt.

Okay, by the end of the three-and-a-half hour session, I had enjoyed nine beers from around the world and I gotta be frank, every single one was solid. I've already told you about Max's Big Ride and Diamonds (again, great call, Mike) so let's see what else was on the play-list?

There was Magic Rock Brewing's (Huddersfield, UK) Damn Son!, a 6.5% Sour Damson IPA (tasty pucker-face), Two Roads Brewing's 8.2% (Stratford, Connecticut) Two Juicy New England IPA (juicy was bang on the money), Brewski Brewing's (Heisenberg, Sweden) 6% Dolph Double Dry-Hopped IPA (Sweden's onboard with the hops and doing it right), Left Field Brewing (Toronto - local so try this one - a Hago recommendation and he totally called it) 6% Whip Smoothie IPA with passionfruit, orange and guava, Thin Man Brewing's (Buffalo) Burning Money NEIPA (mentioned above).

Again, another picture I plunked directly from the
Facebook account of Collective Arts. What can I
say? I liked it. For starters, I now want to try the
beer that's in that glass because I like the colour.

Okay, two more to go but anyone sensing a pattern here as to beer style? Like I said, Mike nailed it. And finally, Civil Society Brewing (Jupiter, Florida) 7.5% Weapon of Choice IPA (tons of tropical fruit but the best malt backbone of the day) and lastly 18th Street Brewing's (Hammond, Indiana) and their 8.9% Overlords Revenge Double IPA (citrus but despite its ABV, one of the smoother beers there.)

On a final note, when I was watching Philly's Mt. Joy play in the bandshell, I noticed something. While the four guys were doing their kick-ass rock dudes thing, the serene keyboardist and back-up singer Jackie Miclau was gazing out at the happy crowd while she played. Flashing smiles or nodding to whomever she locked eyes with. Like us, she was soaking in the off-stage vibe (as I'm sure the guys were in their own way) but I think she may have been connecting to what the rest of us were, as well. An environment beyond music. An environment that had three prongs just like Aquaman's sick-ass spectre - great music plus really top-flight craft beer aided and abetted by a healthy dollop of wild free-form art. So Collective Arts, you know what you can do better next year? Nothing. Just match this year's Liquid Art Festival because this guy's got plenty more time for that. Hago, my brother, next year, the weekend pass. There was over 120 beers there... and I had nine. I need more! Okay, Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

Liquid Arts Fest is bringing it!!

I'm not sure we'll ever see a collective (pun intended) of
outstanding international craft breweries as we will this
weekend at Collective Arts' Liquid Arts Festival on June
15 and 16. Well, that is, until they do it again next year.

Okay, if Collective Arts Brewing from Hamilton held a Beer Festival at their Burlington Street location featuring just themselves with a handful of great bands and artists working on walls and murals everywhere, it would be pretty cool. Definitely colourful, right?

But hey, on second thought, maybe they should amp it up a little and include the other Hamilton freshman and sophomore craft breweries, such as Grain & Grit Small Batch Beer, Fairweather Brewing, Merit Brewing and Clifford Brewing. That would be five great breweries and a beer fest with a truly Hamilton-centric theme, which would kick some serious ass.

But when Collective Arts decided to throw the Liquid Arts Festival this Friday night and then two more sessions on Saturday, they had a real "Holy shit, hold my beer! Here's an even better idea!" moment.

From their Facebook page, here's the band best known to
me, Jane's Party - probably because they've been around
since 2006. They and Charly Bliss are playing the Friday
night session (6-9:30pm) while Mt. Joy and Twist will hit
the stage for the Saturday afternoon slot (12:30-4pm) and
The Beaches and Lost Cousins will close it out on the final
Saturday night show (6-9:30 pm.) Burlington Street will
be getting a very fun musical atmosphere this weekend.

How about six bands, a healthy handful of artists (because art has always been entrenched in the brewery's Modus operandi since Day One) and 50 more breweries on top of themselves for the two days? Yes, fifty... 5-0. Not just from the GTA. Not just from Ontario. Hell, not even nation-wide. Try world-wide!!!

The best news? You won't have to wait long. It's all happening starting this Friday night (6-9:30 pm) with two more sessions on Saturday from 12:30 to 4 pm and again at 6 to 9:30 pm. Tickets are $60 for each session unless you want the $100 VIP Mothership package, which give you a seven-ounce glass as opposed to five-ounce. Oh and for the poor folks stuck pulling designated driver duty, there's a no-alcohol ticket for $30 because hey, great art, great tunes, great times! I'll include the link at the end.

Ready for the list of visiting breweries? Get in your comfy chair because this is gonna take a while. Omnipollo (Sweden), Mikkeller (Denmark), Les Trois Mousquetaires (Quebec), People Like Us (Denmark)... whoa, Bellwoods (Toronto)?

One of the places you will not see me this weekend is at
the three Beer Yoga sessions. I love beer and it's nothing
personal about yoga but my body no longer bends that
way. They'd be carrying me out on a stretcher. And no
one likes to see an ambulance at a beer fest. Not pretty.

I'm whoaing on that because Bellwoods does not do beer fests except their own. Like ever. Okay, continuing on... Aslin (Virginia), Moon Dog (Australia), Brewski (Sweden), Finback (New York), Dieu Du Ciel! (Quebec), Dageraad (Burnaby, BC), Civil Society (Florida), Voodoo (Pennsylvania), Dugges (Sweden), Garage Beer (Spain), Lamplighter (Massachusetts), Cruz Blanca (Chicago), Dunham (Quebec), Twin Sails (Port Moody, BC), Weird Beard (UK), B Nektar (Michigan), Revel Cider (Guelph), Other Half (New York), Half Hours on Earth (Seaforth, Ontario), West Ave Cider (Freelton, Ontario), Great Lakes (Etobicoke - so ours, not Cleveland's), Pohjala (Estonia), Marz Community (Illinois), Wild Beer (UK), Evil Twin (Denmark), To Ol (Denmark), Magic Rock (UK), Transient (Michigan), Stillwater (New York) 18th Street (Indiana), Two Roads (Connecticut), Dry & Bitter (Denmark), Thin Man (Buffalo), Founders (Michigan - colour me happy - one of my all-time American favourites!) Sorry, got sidetracked there!

Collective Arts Communications Manager
Toni Shelton gave us insights as to how this
Beer Fest was all pulled together, as well as
answer a query that has stumped apiarists
(those who study bees) for decades now...

Okay, moving along... Barrier (New York), Sloop (New York), Graft Cider (New York), Threes (New York), Coedo (Japan), Four Winds (Delta, BC), Kex (Iceland) and finally, hey those four other Hamilton brewers we talked about way back in paragraph two!

No beer festival like this... of this magnitude... with all these international breweries has ever been pulled off or pulled together before, at least not in Ontario and probably not Canada. So how did Collective Arts do it? Well for that, we had to chat with Toni Shelton, the brewery's Communications Manager. So, Toni, what's it's been like throwing something this humongous together?

"From the day we pressed 'go' on the fest, it's been full throttle ahead. I'd like to tell you we had it all figured out the second we announced but it's been a six month process. We've been lucky enough to be invited to beer festivals around the world so we've made some amazing brewer friends that are jumping onboard even though it's our first festival." 

How about those bands and artists? The artists alone are taking over 2,500 square feet as a urban art gallery that will stay put after the beer fest is done.

During the last weekend in May, the Canadian Brewing
Awards touched down in Halifax and Collective Arts won a
big one - Best Imperial IPA for Radio the Mothership! It
won "Gold, Jerry, gold!" The awards keep piling on...

"On the music front, we knew we wanted to curate the best in up-and-coming artists and the connections we've made through our 'Call for Art Program' helped there. The response has been amazing so far so without the support from all these people, this ambitious goal would be a pipe dream." 

While there are still tickets left for all three sessions (but hurry if you want Friday), Toni said response was immediate. "The day we launched ticket sales, the response was overwhelming! We sold almost 500 tickets in one day. As the music line-up and breweries were announced, the buzz has just been an uphill climb in a good way."

But because we were talking on Twitter DM, I had to be sure this was actually her and not some pre-programmed cyberbot. So I threw in a skill-testing question, which was, "According to every Law of Aerodynamics, the wings of a bubblebee should not able to support the weight of its body. So how does it fly?" Toni answered quickly, "They're aliens, obviously." Holy shit, she got it on her first try! Okay, here's the link to Liquid Arts Festival, entitled: This Gonna Be Cray Cray... Plus here's an interesting one the fest put out for us hopheads called: Ten IPAs You Gotta Try At Liquid Arts Fest!!! But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...