Ottawa Part One: Friends become family

Most of their faces were familiar in the 613 Ottawa Brew Crew Craft
Brewery Invasion last weekend. From left to right, Glenn, Curtis, Ben,
Joel, Josh, Paul, Matty and Danny. Many of us had first met at the
Huntsville Brewhouse where we made (with a lot of help) the famous
Bucket List IPA. But there were a few newcomers - Ben, Josh and Paul.

As in pretty much every aspect of life, one thing leads to another. I have never really believed in coincidences. My thinking is that nearly all things are inter-woven.

Lest that sound too New Age-y, The Universe Will Guide Us claptrap for you, let me just reassure the masses - I am talking about beer, good great craft beer here, not some metaphysical bullshit. Ain't nobody got time for that!

But allow me to present the facts as I see them. A bunch of us - 13 in total - got together to create a beer at the Huntsville Brewhouse back in April. Shortly after, two of those Brew Crew participants decide to create an Ottawa Craft Brewery Day.

My man, Newmarket Beer Store Bro Paul, shown here at
Kichesippi Brewing ready to steal that bicycle-keg combo
(which had no beer in it so mission aborted) was ON FIRE
with the quips, the jokes and the disses all day Saturday.
Man, he may have had more fun than anyone! Great time!

Coincidence? I think not. One thing almost always leads to another. Huntsville led to Ottawa. I am convinced of it. However, I am also convinced if I continue to work at it, I'll develop telekinesis, whereby I will be able to lift up cars, trucks and tanks... just by using the power of my incredible mutant mind!!! It could happen. You don't know.

We were missing some from the Huntsville adventure - Hamilton Craft Beer Couple, Homebrewer Graeme, Hamilton Artist-Cartoonist David and Barrie Beer Bro Hago - but we gained some new ones in Ottawa - Newmarket Beer Store Bro Paul, Nepean Beer Store Bro Ben and Spearhead Brewing owner Josh. So that's more or less Even-Steven. The rest of the cast remained the same.

But... I dunno... to me, it was like something bigger happened in Ottawa, too. You see, in Huntsville, many of us were meeting for the first time. And honestly, even though we had only previously chatted on Twitter, we all became fast friends when we met in person. This time, in Ottawa, it seemed to become something different.

"Goddammit, Donny, I said 'No paparazzi!!' Put
that weird-ass old camera down!" Yeah, so sorry,
Matty, I don't listen to Satan-spawned Habs fans.
With Maple Leafs, Habs and Ottawa Senators
fans all in the group, there was plenty of hockey
burns and chirps on the day. But no fist-fights.

This time - again, to me, anyway - there was a strong element of becoming, well, like family. You know how we all have those groups outside actual family that you none-the-less consider to be family? Yeah, I kinda think that's what happened here. I'm not sure if the others felt the same way but lemme tell you why that doesn't matter.

You see, this time, it was ALL guys. And if we're family, that means we're brothers. You ever see the actual dynamic between brothers? Insults fly. Burns, well, burn. Disses devastate. Occasionally, fists fly. (Not here, of course.) Basically, your entire life is running them down, belittling them the best you can. But at the end of the day? You'd do anything for them.

So if the other guys didn't get the family vibe that I did? Screw 'em. I'm the oldest, anyway, so they're just little brother pests. I say that, of course, with brotherly affection. (Also, Mom says none of you guys were planned!!! Way to be, you birth accidents!! Best part of you guys probably dribbled down Dad's leg!)

So you get the idea. Even the three new-comers were in on the chirps, particularly Josh and Paul. (Ben drove for a good portion of the day and couldn't imbibe the tasty malts-and-hops nectars quite to our level, which was, of course, beyond reason. Also, it's the law, as well as good old-fashioned common sense so...)

Friday Night when some were just slowly drifting into Ottawa from all
points across the Province, I was already at Orleans Brewing, enjoying
many a wobbly with Spearhead owner Josh, Ottawa Joel, Orleans'
owner Yann and Ottawa Matty. Josh is holding up - I shit you not - a
cup of bacon. "Bacon: Because arteries don't just harden on their own."

Curtis had spent the Friday night in Cornwall, visiting his sister and man, did he get jeered for that. All I know about Cornwall is it's pretty much the last Ontario town on the 401 before you hit Quebec. So really, I couldn't participate.

But to hear the guys diss it, you'd come to learn that the town of 47,000 have banned corn-on-the-cob because between them all, there have only 47,000 teeth. That your Mom is somehow also your aunt. And possibly your grandmother. One of the guys relayed the tale of asking a travel person the best hotel to spend a night in Cornwall and was told to keep driving to Kingston. And here's the thing. Curtis lives in Guelph and somehow found himself holding the goats' horns for Cornwall. But that's how brothers are. Just brutal.

To see a table quite literally filled with Dominion
City Sunsplit IPA - it was available on tap but
wasn't in retail - well, that's a beauty sight. Here,
in a Glenn picture, Danny looks at them in glee.

With fans of the Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators all in the wolf-pack, well, NHL rivalries were a gimme for this day. Matty and Danny very deliberately wore their Montreal jerseys on Saturday. As we were gathering, Josh very casually sauntered up, took one look at them and said, "Why would they make a jersey with a toilet seat on it? Who the hell would want something like that?" Toronto's repeated losses to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs two years running also came up maybe once, twice, probably 1,700 times. I think a few of them found it both hilarious and fascinating that with young thoroughbreds such as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the bench in the waning moments of a crucial match, Leafs coach Mike Babcock thought, "Hey, you know who I should sent out there? I think 39-year-old Patrick Marleau is our man!!" (I'm still face-palming that.)

Oddly, the one guy who escaped hockey wrath was Joel, an Ottawa Senators fan. Why? Well, his team finished dead last in the NHL last year and has Eugene Melnyk as an owner. Toronto fans, such as myself, remember Harold Ballard. So there's kind of an "Ouch, I remember what that was like" thing.

Seeing the pounding poor Glenn was getting from
us in person and on social media, Curtis stood tall
and told us how Glenn had met his brother, Mitch,
and his lady, Anne, at Dominion City and happily
invited them to join in the fun. Curtis said it made
his Mitch's day just being asked. Hey, we all know
Glenn is a great guy. Just don't tell him we said
that. Don't want the dude getting all righteous...

You can diss a brother. But you don't bend him over and jam a cactus up his ass. (But seriously, man, why is your team's arena 23 kilometres outside the city? The Leafs don't play on the Oakville-Mississauga border. The Habs don't play in Chateauguay, Quebec. Just weird, man.)

Hailing from Sudbury, Danny got some ribbing himself. Truth be told, it was the usual Northern Ontario stuff. What's it like now with electricity? How are those indoor toilets working out for you? What did your brother Darryl and your other brother Darryl think of you coming to the big city? Like I said, nothing that's gonna paralyze you with panic.

But Glenn, oh my stars and garters. Where to begin as some of it was self-inflicted. Well, okay, let's start with the St Lawrence River. No matter where we were in Ottawa, Glenn kept asking where the St Lawrence River was. What direction it was. Well, of course, Ottawa is not close to the St Lawrence River. Not even remotely. I think he may have meant the Ottawa River or perhaps the Rideau Canal? Or perhaps even, "Can you point towards the south-east for no particular reason?" But, well, it's Glenn (who I love) so I'm not really sure.

One time, Ben was driving us from one brewery to other and again, Glenn piped up, "Which way to the St Lawrence River?" Ben kinda hummed and hawed while beside me in the back-seat, Curtis was doing that silent laugh shake.

This is why I have always thought Kylie. who I knew
way back in the Rib Eye Jack's craft beer days, was
the best. I go into Nickel Brook looking for one to give
to Danny because man, he lusted after that glass. And,
well, read on. Because Kylie went above and beyond.

Finally, I just said it. "Who are you, Christopher F**king Columbus? How is that even relevant?" Glenn said something about liking to get his bearings and that was that. Except I think it happened a few more times over the course of the day because man, he was getting clobbered (in a funny way) by the guys on social media over the whole St Lawrence River thing. Glenn's old like me so I doubt he really cares but man, it was a riddle.

But it got even better. After he and Paul both landed separately on Friday night and eventually connected with a handful of us at Orlean's Craft Brewing, we all eventually retreated to our hotels towards the end of the evening. But Josh had two trays of Spearhead Brewing's brand spankin' new 4 India Session Ale in his room and invited us up. Because our hotels were adjoining with a convention centre connecting the two, I was up there in a flash. Two minute walk home? I can do that. But because Paul and Glenn were sharing a room at a Holiday Inn that wasn't quite as close as we thought, they had a bit of a hike back to our turf.

Julia pours one of us a taster when we
visited Kichesippi as our first stop on
Saturday. We'll get into the breweries we
visited in the next outing in the space.

Strangely, just as I was getting ready to head back to my place from Josh's room after enjoying two of Spearhead's 4 India Session Ale, they called up to the room. I was stunned. Glenn's got a bad knee so I had no idea how they got over so fast. Anyways, they came in, I left and that was that.

Until Saturday morning. I asked Paul how they got back to the Holiday Inn ($10 cab ride) and said, good stuff. Paul says to me, "Have you ever heard this guy snore?" Well, truthfully, no, I admitted. But the reason I always bunk alone in hotels, refusing roommates, is that, according to those poor ladies I've been with, I not only snore, I also talk gibberish in my sleep, cough loudly and on occasion, sleep-walk. (Gosh... and I'm single - go figure.)

Because we all kinda shrugged Glenn's snoring off (guys snore), Paul decided to tape it Saturday night. And then posted it on Twitter Monday morning. Allow me to set the stage. I've taken my Mom to the dentist so I'm sitting alone in the waiting area. I click on Paul's recording. Not only do I hear the loudest, weirdest snoring ever... but Paul's doing colour commentary on it while it's happening!!! Like that Aussie Man stuff. He called it the "coffee percolator" as in, "Okay, here we go! We're back to the coffee percolator!" I likened it more to loud, repeated wet farts. And the comments came flying fast and furious. It was horrific! And I could not stop laughing! The receptionist asked me twice if I was okay because I think she thought I was having a seizure.

Matty (left): "The Leafs suck." Glenn: "No, the Habs
suck worse." Matty: "Your team's lame." Glenn: "Your
team sits atop Mount Lame!" Matty: "We done?" Glenn:
"Yeah, I think so." Matty: "Beer?" Glenn: "Good call."

A quick shout out to one person who played a role, pre-Brewery Invasion. I popped into Nickel Brook to see if I could scrounge up one of their IPA glasses, an item Danny has long coveted from afar. Much to my surprise, Kylie, my long-time Beer Technician at the now-defunct Rib Eye Jack's Ale House, was working the bar. She was full-time nursing but stopped because her work environment, well, blew chunks. So she's nursing through an agency now on a on-call basis and working the bar at Nickel Brook. I asked about the glass. Yikes, she noted, it was discontinued to the best of her knowledge. Hmmm, I thought, well, I can give him mine. Seeing me pause, her eyes brightened. "I think I saw one floating around here!" And off she went. (She's the best!) Sure enough, she found the last remaining Nickel Brook IPA glass in existence. Eyeing it, she said, "There's spots. Lemme run it through the washer." And we continued to catch up.

Okay, next up the breweries visited during the 613
Ottawa Brew Crew Craft Brewery Invasion, which
include the visit to Kichesippi Brewing where this
sign tried to tell me what to do. A sign. Ordering me
around. This is how anarchy starts, swear to Gawd.

When I was ready to leave, she grabbed the glass, held it up and said she still saw a spot. I laughed and said, "It's for a guy! He doesn't care!" But thank you, Kylie!! You made a little Sudbury boy with the dream of owning a special glass very happy.

One last thing before we visit the breweries in this space next time. My Beau's All Natural Brewing rep Adam visited me not long ago. Turns out he had worked briefly for Josh at Spearhead before heading back to Beau's. Like I said, their paths crossed for only a short time. But he noticed something about Josh. "I've never seen him laugh. Not once."

Well, well, well, it appeared I had a super-secret mission then, didn't I? At some point on the weekend, I had to make Josh Hayter laugh! Did I succeed? Well, you'll have to come back next time when we visit Orlean's Brewing, Kichesippi Brewing, Beyond The Pale Brewing, Waller St Brewing, Bicycle Craft Brewing and Dominion Craft Brewing. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

Cross one off the Bucket List

When Sudbury Danny got his Bucket List IPA from his
Lake of Bays Brewing rep, he decided to have a little fun
with it, taking Hamilton artist-cartoonist David Buist's
famous interpretation of the classic Donny Phantoming
moment from that Brew Day and super-imposing it onto
the can(s) we all received. It was so realistic looking, top,
that people were asking Danny where he got it. Perfect!

Way back in April, when the ice was still locked firmly into most Muskoka lakes, a hearty band of us - we were a Lucky 13 in total - came from all points in the Province and landed in Huntsville.

For the bucolic and oh-so-Canadian cottage setting? No, Ma'am, still Winter up there at that time of year. To ice-fish? Nuh-huh, Charlie, I can think of better ways to perish. To hunt? Good gawd, no. I'd be more likely to aim a rifle at a empty beer can on a post than an animal. Unless we're talking about pigeons or seagulls. I could totally see myself aiming at sky-rats. Well, maybe in their vicinity to scare them off, anyway.

No, we were at the Huntville Brewhouse, owned by Lake of Bays Brewing, out of Baysville, to brew a beer. And with the guidance of Brewer Andrew, not just any old beer. A good old-fashioned West Coast IPA.

Now Andrew's involvement varies, depending on which of us is telling the tale. A few suggest he was off in the distance, reading a book and yelling out, "You're doing great, guys!" from time to time. Others say his involvement was minimal to moderate and any point in between. But the hard truth is he told us when to pour in the malts, when to later pour in some hops while all of us wined-and-dined the afternoon away in luxurious style, befitting royalty. So yeah, he could say he was key to the operation.

When the brewery's social media pros, Jackie and Emma, threw it at us to come up with a name for this beer, the eventual winner was Bucket List IPA, suggested by Hamilton Craft Beer Couple, Paul and Kristal. Since no one in the group had ever brewed a beer in a brewery environment (I had once but also a few home-brewers in our little collective, though), that name resonated with all of us.

Knowing there was no way of beating Danny's Bucket List photo, up top,
I went the goofball route, using a bucket (in this case, citronella, both in
honour of the Citra hops used and also mosquito reasons), a list (I would
like to tell you I misspelled Schindler because of copyright reasons but
that would be a lie) and my own label covering the can of Broken Axe
Pale Ale that the brewery eventually canned some of the batch in for us.

So anyway, that Brew Day was back in mid-April. Eventually, the question was asked: "Whatever happened to Bucket List?" At first, it was asked in Twitter back-stage forum called Messages, which lends itself to a degree of privacy between Tweet friends and apparently, Russian and Chinese hackers. (Good morning, comrades! Do svidaniya! Well, actually, that means "goodbye." Guess I'm telling 'em, eh?)

Finally, Ottawa Matty spoke up and asked the brewery directly. Well, it turns out those wheels were already in motion as within the day, Bucket List started turning up in our mailboxes. (Maybe Matty's a wizard? We don't know him that well.)

When Lake of Bays rep Tim landed at Casa Donny, he came bearing
some pretty sweet swag. As you can see, I scored one of those phone
thingeys that's used for whachamacallit, a frisbee because I am very
well known for my athletic prowess... (*sparks up a smoke*) and, of
course, three Bucket List IPAs in Broken Axe cans, two Peach Paradise
Milkshake IPAs and one Red Sky at Night Peach Cranberry Radlers.

On my end, my Lake of Bays rep Tim texted me to ask if I was at work as he would be in the neighbourhood shortly. No, I was finished for the day, I texted back, but I only lived three minutes away from work if he wanted to come to my place. (Which answers the question: Would you invite a craft beer rep to your home? Duh, of course I would! Hell, bring enough beer and he or she are welcome to crash for a few days.)

Tim showed up at about 7 pm and in retrospect, it was kinda funny. I was wearing Batman Pajama Pants, a craft brewery T-shirt and an open Hawaiian shirt at the time. (*Looks down*) And apparently, still am. Tim shows up in a pair of gym shorts and an old faded T-shirt. If a neighbour had taken a picture, they could have entitled it, "Two Older Guys Who Clearly Have Zero F**ks Left To Give." Guys are, well, slobs. We don't care.

Me leaving Lake of Bays Brewing after Bucket
List IPA was kegged. Beats me why none of the
Huntsville Brew Crew got any. Truly, it's a deep
mystery that might never be unraveled. Truth!

So how was Bucket List IPA? Well, not bragging but probably the best beer ever released since the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. We easily beat over 500 years of beers created through history. It wasn't even close. (Legal Disclaimer: This writer's opinions are usually outright lies seldom objective and should be ignored.)

Loads of grapefruit (all I could smell when I cracked it), citrus, mango, 5.9%... just a really solid west coaster. And Brewer Andrew helped... but again, to what degree is still the topic of hot debate.

I happened upon Rob Walcot, Lake of Bays Director of Sales, not long after the brewery got the cans to each of us and we were, of course, talking about the beer and the actual Brew Day. Despite my loud-ass inclusion in the event, he still remembers the day fondly.

But I had to know how the beer went over at the Huntsville Brewhouse where it would, of course, be on tap. Very well, he noted. So well, in fact, there was talk of making it their regular west coast IPA release.

There was one wrinkle. Brewer Andrew pointed out to the higher-ups that we used so many hops in the brew that it could never be profitable from a cost prospective.

The running joke from Lake of Bays social media pros Jackie and Emma
was these shot-glasses of hops (brought out for us to smell on Brew Day)
was all the hops that were left in Huntsville after our big day. Turns out
that joke might have been closer to the truth than we knew. Hop City!!

I have never been prouder of myself or a group of new-found friends in my life. Again, to be clear... We made an IPA that had so many hops in it, a brewery would lose money brewing and then releasing it. In the end, to me, making the beer wasn't actually the Bucket List ticket at all. Using way too many hops to create it was. That's incredible! I will take that pride to my grave.

But while we each got a few cans of the Bucket IPA, it was also part of the Lake of Bays Tap Take-Over at the Summerhill LCBO one July weekend, which, as a specialty (and architecturally beautiful) LCBO outlet, started pouring growlers a few Summers ago. Turns out I have an older sister living five minutes away from Summerhill. How bow dat?

Yessiree, Buckwheat Zydeco, I managed to score a growler of the now-
famous Bucket List West Coast IPA from Summerhill LCBO in the big
city. I'm sure we'll all be talking about what fantastic brewers we are this
weekend when we crash-slam again in Ottawa for the 613 Craft Brewery
Invasion. I am trying to empty my fridge (by drinking it all) right now! 

So maybe I got a little bit more than the others folks. Luck can simply be a matter of geography. In this case, my sister's actual longitude and latitude, to be precise.

Now that's it for Bucket List but if I may, a bit more Lake of Bays news. In earlier blog, I believe I explained that their Huntsville Brewhouse was basically their base for experimenting with new styles. I'm 99.9% certain that's precisely where they began tweaking the recipe for their now quite stellar Starboard New England IPA. (True confession: I'm a diehard Haze Head.) But while there, we were very easily coerced into tasting, rating and reviewing other samples, including a double IPA of which I also got a growler from Summerhill.

In just a few days, I'll be up in Ottawa to reconnect with
this frightening trio - Ottawa Matty, Nepean Beer Store
Brother Ben and Ottawa Joel when a large number of us
Viking-crash the nation's capitol for the 613 Ottawa Craft
Brewery Invasion. Since I land on Friday afternoon, there
will be an extra round of brewery visits for me. Suh-weet!

Well, it seems the brewery is taking another big step forward. Next Spring/Summer, they will be opening The Bracebridge Barrelhouse in a new 4,200-square-foot facility, making this their third bricks-and-mortar brewery. The Barrelhouse will specialize in sours, Brett-driven, barrel-aged brews which, let's face it, every craft brewery has gotta have these days. Just like the Huntsville Brewhouse, there will be an upscale eatery component - those Trout Tacos were fantastic... and believe me, I'm no foodie. I eat simply to survive so I'm basically a junk food garburator. This will also be the first brewery in the Muskoka region to use foeders, hugely over-sized (and sometimes, ornate) wood barrels that allow the brewers to slowly incorporate oxygen into the vessel. (Bench Brewing in Beamsville is perhaps best known in Ontario for their foeder usage.)

But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Up to Ottawa with a bunch of the Brew Crew for the 613 Ottawa Craft Brewery Invasion this weekend. Expect lots of pictures on Twitter. Perhaps keep your impressionable children at a safe distance while you're at it. Until next time, I remain...

The view from within The Beer Store

When David and I drove out to Whitby to visit his Uncle Johnny,
a life-long friend of mine, we knew we had to pop into the new
Brock Street Brewing at Brock and Dunlop Streets to check out
the new digs! Here we are in the restaurant component (run
separately) by 12welve Bistro & Tapswerks. The food was really
phenomenal and the beverages of choice? For David, some OJ,
for Johnny, Brock St Blonde and myself, Brock St Black IPA...

Last weekend, my boy, David, and I made the trek from Oakville out to Whitby. Now usually, many visits to breweries ensue when we travel out there (the old Brock Street Brewing and 5 Paddles Brewing are literally around the corner) but we were only there for the day as I had to shuttle him back to his Mom the next morning. David, not Johnny. If I wanted to shuttle Johnny to his Mom, well, she lives around the corner from me in Oakville. But he always declines. Imagine that.

So after we settled in, David went for a couple of dips in Johnny's in-ground pool, becoming, according to Johnny, the first person to use it this year. It was sunny and about 30C so perfect day for it. Also primo Day Drinking weather!

Now Johnny's wife, Trish, and daughter Julia (my god-daughter) were down in Vegas at a dance competition so David quickly dubbed it "The Men's Weekend." That meant delicious junk food with zero nutritional value, many juice boxes for David and well, copious amounts of beer for Daddy and Uncle Johnny as we relaxed pool-side all afternoon and evening.

But first, it was a matter of picking up supplies. As Johnny was home by himself all week, there was zero food in the house because guys flying solo seldom make their own food. We're just that lazy.

Well, not entirely true, I suppose. Once when Lady Polk left Drunk Polkaroo alone for a weekend, he posted a picture of his dinner - eight BBQed hot dogs. No buns. Just the dogs. Funniest and most "guy" food picture I've ever seen.

On the first Sunday he was here with me, David and I
did a little brewery visiting with stops at Great Lakes,
Black Oaks and brand new Stonehooker Brewing. Now
Black Oaks wasn't even open but owner Ken Woods
happily let us in as he was doing paperwork. I wanted
David to meet an Ontario Craft Beer Legend. David
loves everyone so it may not mean much to him. But it
sure as hell means a lot to Daddy. Ken is the man!!

Now I was set. I had brought six Muskoka Detour (Session) IPAs for the afternoon and six Muskoka Hazed and Confused Juicy IPAs for the evening (when Johnny and I tend to talk long into the night and even into early morning.) Bought them at my Beer Store because while it might not be your first craft beer destination, we offer the same six, 12 and 24 price breaks that the brewery does. So we're great for volume purchases, such as mine. And that's just extra money for more beer. Or pesky bills, if you're responsible. (Okay... so then for me, more beer.)

But we needed juice for my boy and of course, Budweiser for Uncle Johnny. And ice. Lots of ice. So we were off to a Whitby Beer Store because, of course, TBS specializes in Bud. Every shape, every size, every container. We are most definitely your only Bud, Canadian and Coors Light beer destination when it comes to volume.

The damnedest thing ever happened in that TBS. While we were waiting, a lady walked up to the clerk and asked him if they had any Corona. No, he explained, they didn't but hopefully soon. Being as it's one of (if not the) biggest seller in the Summer months, I asked him what was going on when we got to the cash, adding that I was also a TBS employee. How could they possibly run out of Corona?

Okay, this was VERY much a chance encounter. My former Nickel Brook
inside sales rep, Charles, (he's moved on to other things) was at Great
Lakes Brewing when David and I popped in. Charles knows David from
way back in the days when he worked at the Nickel Brook retail counter
and David and I would pop in for fresh growlers of Headstock IPA. Well,
the growlers were actually for me but David is my travel companion...

"We haven't seen an LCBO delivery in three weeks," he sighed. Well, if you work at a TBS, your weekly LCBO order is where you get your Corona, Heineken, Stella Artois, basically any beer than comes from out of the province or country. (In the same manner, TBS delivers all Ontario macros and some Ontario micros to the LCBO.)

The harried fellow went on to explain that the Whitby LCBO warehouse had switched to a new distribution computer program whereas as the London LCBO warehouse where we get our LCBO deliveries from had not.

The problem being? "The new program (in Durham) doesn't work," he shook his head. "You should see the LCBO across the street. Its shelves are bare." Oh man, I knew exactly what that was about to mean. You see, that Durham warehouse also supplies most of the Toronto LCBOs and TBS stores. There were about to be A LOT of empty shelves.

Okay, this Twitter post by the OCSA
is disingenuous at best but I honestly
don't think they know that if they get
the right to sell beer and wine, that
their deliveries would ALSO come
the LCBO and TBS warehouses. In
fact, their shelves would be every bit
as bare as these ones in a local LCBO.

Sure enough, exactly one day later, the stories started popping up - online and in the mainstream media. LCBO shelves were going bare. Now if it happened in, say, Timmins, it's a smaller news story. But Toronto? Aye carumba! Whatta mess. And not in the dead of Winter when sales are low. Nope, it had to happen just as the sun and hot weather finally arrived. No wine, no spirits and no imported beer. In fact, the TBS guy told me you'd be lucky to even one Corona in any local restaurants. (Fortunately, I'd never be looking for one though ironically, my store still has plenty.)

Well, I have not waded into the whole Premier Ford And His Trained Seals All Want Beer And Wine In The Corner Stores quagmire in this space yet. For starters, there is a staffed Communications department at the TBS headquarters that deals with contentious issues like this. Suffice it to say, TBS is vehemently opposed to Ford's proposal.

As well, I am a Beer Store employee so anything I say on social media could be considered tainted at best. But TBS would also never ask me to comment on the issue because they have legitimate and qualified folks to do so. I'm just a cash jockey and beer stacker at a retail outlet. As far as full-time employees go, I could best be likened to one-ply toilet paper. Yes, I get the job done but no one, including myself, is exactly sure how. Also, in the same manner as one-ply, it takes me forever to finish the job.

As well, many beer writers flat-out dislike the Beer Store because of the heavy-handed nature of our structure. It's what they consider a monopolistic and monolithic distribution system that heavily favours the macros.

All of the stuff that parents are going through now, most
especially the parents of Autistic children, I can only say
this. Been there, done that during the Mike Harris days
when David was just a wee toddler. Except Ford is worse.
Hang tough, folks. Governments regularly get voted out.

Their words, not mine. I like getting paid. Big fan. That said, I'm seriously glad TBS opened things up a lot more for the craft breweries a few years back. Because TBS guys like me and Ben in Nepean and Paul in Newmarket have gone micro-crazy, trying to get as much craft beer into TBS as possible. Why? Because it's what we drink.

But there have been occasions on social media where because I work for TBS, I have been told I'm... *checks notes* "Satan's Crotch Loofah." That's not fair. I'm Satan's hand-towel at worst. And one of those guest towels he's not allowed to use. (Not a religious man. Does Satan have a wife?)

Also that has nothing to do with TBS. That's just me being me - Satan's guest towel, which I would be regardless of where I work. But this dude has bills to pay, a constantly-hungry kid to feed and, well, very regular trips to Las Vegas that call my name like the siren song of a mermaid. A big part of that is having a regular pay-cheque. Funny how life works.

What is this? Me, like 100 years ago? I do NOT remember
ever being that clean-cut.  However, I absolutely recognize
that dopey expression on my face. "Where am I? What day
is this? This is not my beautiful house!" And even though
this is a still photograph, I stand like this for hours daily.

Anyway, I have stayed out of the whole Beer in Convenience Stores thing until now. Obviously, the convenience stores want beer and wine because, of course, they do. And in this case, they'll ride shotgun with a person I think is a horrible human being to do it. Not being critical of them. Some Ontario craft breweries also believe they will benefit from this and my love for them is both well-known and huge. I very respectfully disagree with them about potentially increased availability of their product should they finally be allowed in convenience stores but we'll get into that in a minute.

Now I am not being critical here because if any Premier can advance your cause, such as Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne did with the grocery stores, well, you jump onto that boat and sail that thank-you ship into the damn ocean, all oars in the water. (Anyone with a nautical background likely just read that sentence and thought, "WTF, man?")

And just like I have friends at the LCBO, I also have a few at the grocery stores who won their bid to sell beer and wine within their stores.

Jeff Mitchell not only manages Brown's Your
Independent Grocer up in Stittsville, he also
is pursuing becoming a Certified Ciccerone.
As manager, he has brought an exceptional
amount of craft beer into his store. He has to
meet the Loblaws planogram for beer but
once he did, everything else became open.

You see, to me, we all do the same thing. Sell booze. So I tend not to think of them as competition but rather kindred spirits.

One of those people is Jeff Mitchell, the general manager of Brown's: Your Independent Grocer (under the Loblaws umbrella - ella, ella, eh, eh, eh.) Brown's is up there in Stittsville, Ontario - a cozy suburb outside of Ottawa. Jeff and I will finally meet next month when a number of us craft-lovin' no-good-niks will descend upon a number of Ottawa breweries. The official name of the event is the Ottawa 613 Craft Brewery Invasion and Jeff is one of the hosts, along with Ottawa Matty, Ottawa Joel, Nepean Beer Store Brother Ben and Ottawa Kev (@deadsquid on Twitter. No, I have no idea. Yes, I'll ask him.) Jeff and Kev are the only ones I've never met. However, to see our group banter on Twitter, you'd think we were all long-time friends. We kinda are, though. Jeff and Kev are just friends I haven't met yet, just as Matt, Joel and Ben all were at one point.

Now way back in December 2015, Brown's became one of the first six grocery stores in the Province that won a licence to sell beer and wine. In actual fact, it was Jeff who explained to me how the Master Framework Agreement (MFA) between the Beer Store, the Province (and by extension, LCBOs) actually works. Grocery stores purchase their beer and wine through the LCBO and it has to be on an approved list. They buy it for exact cost (what the consumer pays) and cannot change or up the price.

On the left is Paul Meeks, the owner of
Kichesippi Beer Company and on the right,
my man, Nepean Beer Store Brother Ben.
Ben got me some of their 1855 Amber Ale
and it's one of the best Red Ales I've had.

Jeff told me if they get a large bulk order, there's a 3% discount but the fact is, that wouldn't even cover the cost of the eight-pack can holders the store uses.

So if you're not making a dime on wine and beer, why stock it? That's a loss leader. Simply this, according to Jeff. It draws people into the store. In a community of 38,000 people with an existing TBS and LCBO, Brown's is now the third place in Stittsville where you can buy beer.

To a craft beer drinker like Jeff, it's a labour of love. In fact, he has brought in so much craft that it's 54% of their beer sales. Yup, Brown's actually sells more craft than macro. That, my friends, is very impressive! It's also the Ontario I hope to live in some day.

So that's TBS, LCBO and grocery stores covered. Now what's up with the convenience stores getting beer and wine?

Well, that's the thing. Nobody knows. Our fearless Premier and his merry gang, whom we'll affectionately call Doug and The Slugs, ripped up the MFA as their last order of business and then called Summer Recess at Queen's Park. Until October. After the federal election. Which, of course, isn't suspicious in the least. It couldn't possibly be that the federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer knows Ford is so unpopular in Ontario that he could tank the all of the Conservative candidates in Ontario come October.

Problem is the Master Framework Agreement between
TBS and the Province is EXACTLY that - a contract. Very
sure you can't just rip that up. One lawyer buddy I talked
to said the courts - and this will go to court - will tell him
very sternly "Honour existing contracts!" That's how and
why contracts exist. But we'll see how this all plays out.

Nah, that's just being cynical. I mean, yeah, he's polling lower than Wynne when she got turfed but when you cut funding to education, health care, child care, Autism and special needs (that is some of the cruelest Ebenezer Scrooge shit I've ever seen), Indigenous programs, stem cell research and, well, I could go on all day so let's stop there. If you're not rich, white and male, he's basically kicked you in the nuts. But hey, he also promised "No lost jobs" during the campaign, still insists there are no lost jobs while teachers, nurses and support staff are getting laid off left, right and centre due to government cuts.

But let's bring this back full circle to my buddy, Johnny, the Bud drinker. "He keeps saying people want this," he noted. "But who exactly? No one I know. I can get it at the Beer Store, LCBO and even Walmart if I need to. How many places do I need?" Exactly.

And if convenience stores do get the right to sell beer and wine, here's another prediction.

I have enjoyed four Rurban Brewing (Cornwall) beers in
the past, courtesy of Beer Store Daughter Sassy Cassy, all
solid brews. But this is the sign in their door today. I now
really love this brewery. Off to do a little team-building!

If it's a loss leader for them as well, just as it is for the grocery stores, you will see Budweiser, Canadian, Coors Light, Corona, one red and one white on their shelves. And that's about it. No one gives away too much shelf real estate for free. And your little Mom-and-Pops convenience stores? You know the ones I mean. Where the wife and husband are the only two you ever see working? No way they can afford this.

Ford came after the Beer Store because he believes TBS is unpopular, which I guess we kinda are with some. But to the average Bud drinker like Johnny? Hey, we're the place you go. Where you've always gone. And that's still the great majority of the beer drinking population. So I suspect we shall soon see who's even more unpopular - the Beer Store or Doug Ford? Gotta admit, I like our odds. But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

Matty keeps us all on the... Level

This was the picture I had to beat. Curtis snapped this at
the cottage and Matty gave it a Level 104. No, that's not a
branded Lake of Bays Brewing glass. But he had found
an old cottage glass with paddles painted on it, poured his
Paddle On Session IPA into it and *bam* a Level 104 pic!

I'm not even sure I noticed the first few times Ottawa Matty did it. In the grand scheme of the vast universe known as Twitter, it could have passed by, completely unnoticed.

Still, it didn't. Eventually, we started noticing and, well, now it's become this big competitive monster thing. But in the most fun and friendly of ways. Because that's how Matty (and the rest of us) roll.

Ottawa Matty has been scoring our beer pictures. Actually, he has been for a while now. So what's the big deal?

Just this. Whereas we ALL post beer pictures ALL the time, things have been altered a little. Now we're actually thinking about our pictures. Putting some effort into them. I mean, our Ontario Craft Beer brewers put a lot of effort into their product. Now because of Matty, some of us are now putting a little more effort into how we represent that same product on social media via the use of photography.

Some people have always done this, most notably Drunk Polkaroo. I remember Lady Polk telling me once that she'd see him set up a beer for a picture and instantly belly-flop onto the ground to get just the right angle.

"I. Am. A. Golden. God!" yells Ottawa Matty... from the sanctity of
his children's pool. This was last Saturday and I saw it while I was at
work. Knowing Matty was doing a little Day Drinking, in the hot sun,
no less, I hatched my brilliant plan to nab the high score in his Photo
Scoring contest. Did it work? At the moment, you are reading the
words of the Highest Score Holder. That can all change... in a flash.

Barrie Beer Brother (and our favourite soldier boy) Hago has always done likewise. In fact, at Canadian Forces Base Borden, where he still plies his trade, Hago has actually taught Photography classes. During his last stint overseas, Hago was not armed with a rifle. (Well, maybe he was. Probably was.) No, any shooting he did involved a camera as he went over to take pictures, acting as an Official Photographer for CFB Borden, I believe. (Trust me, if I'm wrong, Hago will correct me.)

But the rest of us? Meh, put it on a flat surface, take a quick pic and post it on Twitter. No muss, no fuss - here's what I'm drinking at this exact moment.

At some point, Matty started scoring them, adding comments such as, "Level 82 glassware combo. Bonus points for scenic setting and weathered deck." A "Level XX glassware combo" simply means you're drinking a beer with a branded glass from the brewery whose beer you're drinking. Like I said, I didn't even notice at first. I have a lot of brewery glasses now. In fact, the last time Beer Bro Glenn stopped into Casa Donny (we were off to see Avengers: Endgame on opening weekend and man, it was one crowded shit-show), it was the first thing he noticed. I have little doubt I was briefly his hero... well, until Tony Stark showed us both what real heroes do. Glenn and I have gone more the "Thor gets fat" route.

While my picture "Lake of Bays Peach Paradise... meet peach, pair of
dice" elicited moans from Jackie and Emma, the brewery's social media
pros, it scored high marks with Judge Matty. And he has the final word. 

So I started paying attention to his scoring. Know your judge! He definitely likes pictures of beers in a branded glass, meaning simply if you're drinking a Great Lakes beer, you'll get higher marks if it's in a Great Lakes glass.

So that became Rule #1 for this contestant: Brand that shit up! Then I noticed he seems to prefer outside shots - background foliage, a scenic poolside, wooden decks and the like. (Know your judge!) In fact, I scored very well with a picture of a Cameron's Brewing 12 Mile India Pale Lager, not just because it was Cameron's glass but also sitting upon a "weathered deck." Weathered would be a charitable description of my deck at the moment.

Oh for crying out, Curtis. You're killing me here! When he
posted this Brassroots Brewing's Darkwood Blackberry
Saison picture yesterday, his Level 122 score nearly took me
off the throne. If he had used a Brassroots glass (which I
don't think exists yet), he would have blown me out of the
water. BUT I'M WATCHING YOU, CURTIS!! Don't think
I don't know you're lurking in the bushes, ready to pounce!

And the final Know Your Judge tip? Know his favourite breweries. Living on the outskirts of Ottawa, he has a ton of breweries he loves up there. But outside Ottawa, his biggies are Baysville's Lake of Bays Brewing, Kingston's Spearhead Brewing and Oakville's own Cameron's Brewing. He, no doubt, has many more. These are the ones I've recently noticed.

But I was only sort of paying attention until one day, Huntsville Bucket List IPA Brew Crew member Curtis (@BeerFromCanada) scored a Level 104 for his picture up top of the Paddle On Session IPA. It was, I believe, the first picture to go triple digits. No, it didn't have a branded glass but he somehow found on old glass in the cottage cupboard with paddles painted on. There was some mention of having to fight mosquitoes to get his shot so I'm sure bravery points were tacked on. Hmm, Curtis had now proven that Judge Matty wasn't afraid to go over 100.

So I started posting more and more pictures, paying heed to exactly what was being said in the judging. (See "Know Your Judge!" above.) Got a few Level 100s but more importantly, discovered relevant criteria for his higher scores.

This "rose between two thorns" is Amanda from Spearhead Brewing,
who caught up with Matty and Joel at the recent Orleans Beer Festival.
I warned her that associating with such unsavoury gents could be very
damaging, she nonetheless braved it out. (And Amanda, both guys told
me how fantastic you were that day. So maybe they're not so bad, eh?)

So I waited. And plotted. And schemed. The high score must be mine!!! (If this all seems a tad obsessive, may I just say... guilty as charged.) 

Last Saturday, I saw my opening. While I was at work, Matty had posted pictures of himself drinking Lake of Bays Peach Paradise Milkshake IPA in his kids' splash pool. Day-drinking? Perfect. I would have his judging at its most vulnerable. He has previously admitted that his judging was a little looser after a few wobblies. (Know your judge!)

So I lined up my photograph accordingly, using all the tenets of, well, Know Your Judge, and came up with a brilliant (if not slightly sneaky) photo. One of his favourite beers, two branded glasses, outside props, a lame Dad Joke and a weathered deck.

Curtis here is the Newman to my Seinfeld. Hmmm, actually
given the way I schemed and weaseled my way to a Matty
high score, I'm actually the Newman here. But Curtis, your
pictures? "They're gold, Jerry. GOLD!" Never mind "Know
Your Judge." You gotta know your "Competition" as well.

As you can see above, I lined up a Lake of Bays Peach Paradise Milkshake IPA in a branded glass, had another branded glass filled with peach chunks and beside it, a pair of dice. Drawing Matty's attention to it, I noted, "Lake of Bays Peach Paradise meet... peach, pair of dice."

And I waited. Joel was on it quickly. "Level 200!" he declared. Not long afterwards, Lake of Bays social media pros Jackie and Emma weighed in, as well, with a GIF of Fozzie Bear doing a facepalm. You see, here's the thing. My little play on words was basically a Dad Joke. You know who winces at Dad Jokes? Teenage daughters, as well as those in their 20s. Jackie and Emma fall into the latter category. But you know who LOVES Dad Jokes? Other Dads. Guess what Matty is? Know Your Judge!

Soon Matty saw it. His response? "Level 124 glassware combo. Multiple glassware bonus, weathered deck, canned peach (peach emoji). Peach dice (dice emoji). +6 bonus unlocked." Holy crap, I thought, a Level 124. No one's ever gonna beat a 124.

Cameron's Brewing director of sales for LCBOs,
TBS and grocery sales is my man, Kyle Riddell,
who texted me to pop by because he had a little
surprise for me. Turned out to be a BIG one! I was
not expecting Cameron's Jurassic IPA or their
Skeleton Crew Evil Genius Session IPA to be out
for a few weeks yet. Wrong again. However, we're
still a couple of weeks away from Skeleton Crew
Knucklebone Bone IPA. And just like that, our
friends at Cameron's will have THREE IPAs out.

That is until Curtis scored a Level 122 yesterday with his photo of Brassroots Brewing's (contract brewed out of Sawdust City Brewing at the moment) Darkwood Blackberry Saison. Damn you, Curtis, that's way too close!!! And he even did it without a branded glass because Brassroots doesn't even have those yet. That's like one of the main criteria. He has that and we're talking Level 150.

So I must remain ever vigilant now. It's not just Curtis, either. Sudbury Danny, Nepean Beer Store Bro Ben, Ottawa Joel, Linda Beer, Stittsville Jeff and many more... well, they're all framing their beer pics fancier and more scenic-like these days, asking Matty for scores. Level 124 will be surpassed soon. Things are about to get creative - and maybe a little cray cray - with craft beer pictures this Summer. Should be fun. Matty, you opened one helluva can of worms. Hope you're up for it, brother!!!

Okay, Oakville Boy Donny (that would be me - honestly, I'm the only Donny in town, though we do have a lot of Chads and Brads) was pretty jacked to get a text today from Kyle Riddell at Cameron's Brewing today. Seems he had a surprise for me. It wasn't a subpoena so, you know, that's always good.

So I pop on down as I have a day off and it's just three minutes from my place. And there they were. Two new IPAs - the Cameron's Jurassic IPA and the Skeleton Crew Evil Genius Session IPA. Well, hot snot, Doris, put the church clothes on the children and let's go!

Well, I totally boned up the whole Skeleton Crew connection with
Cameron's Brewing in my last blog, suggesting the brewery was
connected to another in Wisconsin. It's not. Skeleton Crew is the
new wing of Cameron's where they're going to do experimental and
wild stuff like sours, IPAs, what-have-you. Did I mention they're
just three minutes down the hill from me? Happy, happy, joy, joy.

(Yeah, I have no idea what I mean by that, either.)

Okay, I learned a couple of things. First of all, Kyle is a busy dude with over 1,700 accounts to keep track of between the Beer Store, the LCBO and the grocery stores. I took 10 minutes of his day away and felt guilty. (It's cool - beer washed away the guilt. Pretty quickly, too. Actually, it might have been gone when I was behind the wheel of my car. Who really knows?)

Holy frijoles, they hit the jackpot with these two. Kyle mentioned he had enjoyed something of a Evil Genius Session IPA run last night and he looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I'm not surprised. At just 4.5% and 34 IBU, this has some awesome fruit on the nose and a huge resiny pine on the back end. Hello, New Hockey Beer!! The Jurassic IPA, well, whoa! Mango, grapefruit on the nose, light pine on the back end, 6.8% and 68 IBUs. Welcome to the hophead big leagues, Cameron's! Great day for Donny! But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

When Adam from Beau's popped in...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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