Winterbrewed: Questions and Answers

Last year in February National Capital Craft Beer Week launched Ottawa's inaugural winter beer festival Winterbrewed.

There were issues. Plunging temperatures meant the long line ups were frustrating. Beer lines froze and made it impossible to pour samples. Attendance was expected to be around 6000 and in the end 12 000 people made their way through the beer tents across two days.

Despite the hiccups the festival was fun.
 
When organizers looked to plan this years festival they hoped to correct many of the unexpected frustrations but keep the same feel. Overall feedback was positive from the first year and the other things could be corrected and managed.

This year's festival is occurring February 14-16th. Originally it was to be held at City Hall but when tickets were announced this past Monday the venue had changed as had the format.  The feedback from the announcement has been both good and bad.

So why the change in venue? Why the format change? We sat down with NCCBW head organizer JP Fournier to find out.

BoW: Why the change of venue?

JP: City Hall has been great in supporting the festival. The mayor has been fantastic but the big challenge for City Hall was the outdoor facility.There are things we felt were important heating, security and freezing beer lines (a major issue from last year) that bring cost of the festival up. The cost to ensure everything was done properly for us, the city and the breweries was prohibitive. We would have loved to come up with solutions to these things. I have a design for an outdoor bar that would keep things; the kegs, the lines heated but unfortunately there was not enough time to put that together.

In addition to the outdoor we hoped to use the indoor facilities as well but unfortunately the space is booked on the Saturday. We were very close to working out something with the cafe in City Hall but despite our special occasion permit, they have a clause in their lease which prohibits the sale of alcohol in that facility.

All things taken into account it means that it just wasn't possible to have it at City Hall this year.

BoW: Why the Arrow and Loon and the Courtyard Atrium?

JP: I had been speaking with Jacob at the Arrow and Loon beforehand. He has been extremely supportive of everything we have done. If people remember the first year of National Capital Beer Week we had a Cask Festival at this facility. It went extremely well and Jacob was great to work with. The guys at Arrow and Loon are amazing so it made it sense for me to consider taking the festival back to that facility knowing we have the support that we needed.

We could have looked at a hotel or a conference centre. They would have had the room to accommodate the numbers however the atmosphere counts for a lot. Arrow and Loon has a relationship with the craft breweries and the public. They are a huge supporter of craft beer and they know craft beer.

BoW: You switched indoors and to a session format. Why those changes?

JP: We wanted to give people an opportunity to talk to the breweries, talk to the brewers, to discover what the brewery is all about and what the beer is all about. Two issues that I think are resolved by moving to the smaller space in a session format is there are less people during each session so more one on one face time with each brewery. That to me is really important. One of the reasons for the festival is to help people discover craft beer and really discover it. If people just want to come out and sample the beer and have a good time, absolutely. More than happy to have them come out. But we also wanted to offer the opportunity to mix and mingle with other fans and the breweries. So doing it in the more intimate venue like this in session format really gives attendees the opportunity to do that. They couldn't do that as much with the outdoor venue because it was so cold. Plus you can't really, in that kind of weather and in those sorts of temperatures get a good sense of what those beers are like.

BoW: Was that part of the feedback from last year, that it was too cold to talk to the breweries or get a sense of the beers being offered? You can't change the weather obviously but was that something you wanted to take into account this year?

JP: That was a big part of it. Comfort is important, especially when you are outdoors. The line ups were another issue. As far as I am concerned no matter where it is your attendees should be comfortable, they should feel like the service is all about helping them enjoy the festival. Getting 12 000 people out there with a skeleton crew of volunteers made it really hard for us to do that last year.

BoW: So by taking it inside, to a smaller venue and going to the session format you are addressing line ups, temperatures, crowd control, tasting the beer in a comfortable setting as well as the ability to talk to each other and the breweries. Do you feel you have hit the main logistical and customer complaints from last year?

JP: Exactly.  

I also want ticket holders to know that it doesn't just allow them access to the 5th Avenue Court Atrium but it gets them both. It is unfettered from one side to the other. In the Atrium, that side is focused on the sampling and discovering the different beers. Say you are in the sampling area and you find something you like and want a full pint. Arrow and Loon will be carrying the participating breweries will be on tap all weekend. You can go try a bunch of beers, find one you like, head into the Arrow and Loon and enjoy a full pint.

BoW: I will admit I am missing a bit of the bragging component of the outdoor aspect. It isn't even that I am missing being outside. It is the 'So Canadian we have our winter festivals outside.' To be honest though if I don't have to freeze while drinking my beer I am okay with that. Do you think people are missing that part, even though they seem to forget just how cold it was last year?

JP: We will be headed outside again in future years. It was cold last year but it was a lot of fun. People should expect that this year will be fun too.

BoW: Do you feel that you are a bit rushed or disorganized this year because you have had to change the venue or because things have had to be altered?

JP: To be honest I feel like I am more organized this year than I was last year. The reason I say that is we have gone through a lot of planning and we are aware of the hurdles of continuing the festival outdoors so we have more than enough time to address those for future years. For Winterbrewed 2014 we have Kamp Operations who are involved. They do volunteers for Beau's Oktoberfest and they are doing a number of different things for us.

The site map, because of the limited space compared to last year's two blocks we have had to be a lot more aware of the details when creating it. We need to create flow for entrance, exit and throughout the whole area in general.

The nice thing is we aren't going to have any surprises in terms of a huge snowfall or freezing rain or things are melting. People who are coming to the festival also don't have to worry about that. The festival is a go, rain or shine.

BoW: I think some people are missing that point. You aren't going to be getting up the morning of the fest and wondering "hmm, well do I go, how long, how do I dress, is it worth it?"

JP: As a host we really tried to take that into consideration last year. We wanted to make sure that we did what we could to make things comfortable, hence the heaters but with the sheer volume of attendees and temperatures outside it created a whole new set of challenges for us to keep up with. Moving inside means both ourselves and those coming don't have to worry about weather.

I think the other thing to consider with us moving inside to a more intimate space is our line up. You will notice that more than half are small breweries, a chunk of them being new breweries.  Covered Bridge, White Water and Perth are going to be there. Beyond the Pale, Turtle Island will be there as well. We have some others lined up but I am staggering the news as paperwork is done. From the way it looks right now we will have about 12 to 15 breweries. Some are doing double booths, Beyond the Pale for example, which means they will have a ton of beer there.

This event will be a fun one for sure.

BoW: But in a more intimate setting, which gives it an entirely different experience than the big outdoor festival.

JP: Exactly. Also giving those small breweries a chance to talk to people, meet people and introduce themselves to people.

BoW: I think that session style seems to be a bit foreign to people. It is a big change from the all day festival. It is better for crowd control and conversation. The immediate response to the festival this year seemed to revolve around the idea of it switching to session. Do you think people feel that you are downgrading from last year?

JP: It is a change yes. I guess it might be more a combination of the smaller venue and the new format. I think both are positive. It really is more intimate and for us, allows us to address the issues we had at the last festival. Maybe the fact that is a lot of change is what is shocking. Makes people think it is nothing like last year, which is true but for the better.

I would love for people to understand that to build a festival in such a way for it to be self sustaining, especially the kind of festival we are talking about where eventually we'd like to see it as two sites, one pass that it takes a lot of planning. We now know that an outdoor festival will bring 12 000 people. This year we are working on the indoor, more intimate. The goal to bring the two together in future years.

After this year we will know if an indoor component to Winterbrewed will be successful. This will give us all the information we need moving forward with a two site system.

This year there will be no slushy beer, unless the brewery wants it that way. There will likely be hot beer and special beers. There is more a chance to talk to the brewery. These, as I see it are all positive and I hope the public sees it that way.

BoW: How did you set the ticket price this year? An advantage of session style is tickets tend to be less expensive. Was that a factor for you, being able to offer tickets at the price of $12 in advance, $15 at the door?

JP: If we had kept things the same as last year, if we had produced it the same as last year based on our actual cost of the logistics of it all it would have meant charging about three times what we are charging this year.

There are no surprise costs attributed to the weather this year.

We want the price to be reasonable so that you don't have to have lot of money to come out. The point is for everyone to be able to come out and try the beer.

BoW: The way Ontario law works you have to sell tokens/tickets for samples. What will the prices of those be like this year?

JP: Like last year they will be $2 a token. Samples will vary in price anywhere from one token upwards. The breweries are asked to price their products accordingly. More expensive beers will cost more, higher ABV will be more.

I suggest people pace themselves. Lower ABV and less hoppy and work your way up but that said there are a lot of adventurous beer drinkers in Ottawa so I won't tell people how to enjoy the festival. I feel comfortable in saying there will be something for everyone. It promises to be a fun event for craft beer enthusiasts and new craft beer fans alike.

BoW: Are you asking the breweries ahead of time what beers they are bringing? Are you releasing a list?

JP: We have tried that and it is sort of 50/50 on if there is an advantage to it or not. Some of the breweries are able to say "This is what we are bringing and that's that." Others it depends on their schedules.

BoW: Are you encouraging breweries to keep the line up the same across all the sessions?

JP: We are asking them to keep the beers as much the same across the sessions as they can. In the end it will be determined by their stock but they are asked to have beer available for every session.

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The changes to this years festival seems to address the major issues that last year brought. The smaller venue will bring smaller crowds, less line ups and a more intimate atmosphere for talking and learning about the beer.

Yes, there is a three hour time limit to each session but with the line up being anywhere from 10-15 breweries it gives attendees plenty of time to try out the beers.

Access to the Arrow and Loon means being able to purchase a pint of your festival favourite.

The move indoors means no shivering or chattering teeth.

No matter if you are fond of the changes or not there is no denying that the festival will be enjoyable. If we can have fun with freezing beer and bone chilling cold than we can have fun in the warmth of a craft beer loving space.

To purchase your tickets, see the line up of breweries and more information check out Winterbrewed. Follow the #Winterbrewed on twitter and @CraftBeerWeek for all the most up to date announcements.

Thank you to JP Fournier for sitting down with us and going over the changes to this year's Winterbrewed.

A Winter Beer Tasting Party

In December a group of Ottawa bloggers and beer lovers got together for a 'Taste and Tweet' session focusing on winter beers and holiday foods.  Being in the grip of plunging temperatures and the holiday season we felt it might be good to taste some winter beers as well as ones we count on as holiday favourites.

Most 'winter' beers tend to be bigger ABV's and are richer in flavour or spice, much like traditional winter foods are heavier and richer. They are crafted for drinking by a fire, huddling under a blanket to ward off the cold or getting together with friends and discussing how much you miss the summer.

We hoped to help people with suggestions of beer and food pairings for holiday parties so what better way to figure it out but to have a party of our own.

We had the pleasure of hosting, Marissa Begin - The Beer Gypsy (follow her here @thebeergypsy), Brett Jeacle - Craft Beer Love (follow him here @craftbeerlove), Brian Papineau - Bryehn.net (follow him here @bryehndotnet), Dave Price (follow him here @ve3bax). Katy Watts - Sheltered Girl meets World and Ottawa Beer Events (follow her here @klwatts) popped by to drop off some beer but was unable to stay for the tastings.

*Check out their blogs for write ups on the 'Taste and Tweet' as well!

Everyone brought some beer to taste and in the end we had quite the line up.  In addition to the beer, everyone brought some holiday type foods ranging from cheese, cured meats, rillettes, chutneys, crackers and desserts.

 

Thirsty? We were.

I will admit once everything was laid out we seemed to have a daunting, but incredibly enjoyable, task ahead of us.

Our beers ranged from rare seasonals to home brews and then to beers more readily available in the LCBO and local breweries.

Here is a rundown of the beers we tried:

Friar Buck's Sarrasin - Made by Church Key Brewing. It has buckwheat in the malt giving it a nice finish. It is lighter in colour than I expected. It was a great start and deceiving at 7%.

Lustrum Sour Anniversary Ale - From Driftwood Brewery this beer was quite the treat for us. Marissa brought this rare treat that is brewed in British Columbia. It comes in at 9.4% and carries an amazing sour taste with a some dried fruit notes. It was voted our favourite out of province beer.

Bah Humug - Made by Wychwood Brewery this is a traditional Christmas beer that is available every year in the LCBO. If you are looking for a beer with light spice notes for the holidays then this is it.

Winter Ale -This one comes from Great Lakes Brewery. It has all the rich spice notes that you want in a winter warmer. It was our pick for best readily available seasonal beer. It was available in the LCBO and reasonably priced.

Nickel Brook Cuvee - Brian brought us a year old bottle of the cuvee and we had a two year old bottle in the cellar.  We opted to do a side by side. The 2012 unfortunately did not hold up in its aging for whatever reason and left everyone slightly disappointed. The 2011 however was still beautifully spiced and mellowed to an almost spiced wine flavour.  The best news? Nickel Brook just released the 2013 to the LCBO so head out now before it is gone. Buy two, one to try now and one to age.

Reserve de Noel 2013 - Brett made a trip to Quebec to get this one for us. Brewed by Les Trois Mousquetaries this spiced beer comes in at 10.5% and the bottle is worth sharing. A perfect host/hostess gift. We voted this one a 'need to find' beer. When the cold hits and the Christmas lights go up this is one you want in your fridge.

Our next three were barley wines. We had Mill St's 2011 and 2013 Barley wine as well as Howe Sound's Woolly Bugger. We did a side by side of the Mill St's and voted the 2011 the better of the two. Sadly Woolly Bugger was not anyone's favourite. Perhaps if it had been aged it would have balanced and mellowed more. The barley wines are available in the LCBO (minus the 2011 as it was from a cellar)

Chimay Bleue (Grande Reserve) - From Bieres de Chimay this Belgian strong ale is a winter and holiday staple for Dave. It comes in a 9% and is perfect for warming you up on those cold winter nights.

Blackstone Porter - Another one from Driftwood. Porters are a winter standard and this was a good quality porter. At 5.1%  it was nice balance of roast and malts.

Nutcracker Porter - Anything with a name like nutcracker screams holidays. This porter, available in the LCBO is brewed by Black Oak Brewing Company. With our first drinks the table decided that this is a perfect holiday breakfast beer. Yes, breakfast.

Old Kentucky Bastard Imperial Stout - Voted our other 'need to find' winter beer, this imperial stout from Nickel Brook comes in a 10% and brings a ton of flavours with it. The nose was full on bourbon. The beer brings hints of orange, vanilla and chocolate on the finish. Buy some and age it or drink it now, you can't go wrong. It is available in the LCBO for limited time.

IX Cacao Triple Chocolate Stout - A treat bottled for us from Turtle Island Brewing. Lots of dark chocolate flavour. Even had a bit of cigar notes to it. Reminded us of rich dark chocolate cake and it was just begging for some vanilla to round it out.  Limited run in kegs around the city.

Big thanks to Turtle Island for bottling this for us.

Expedition Stout - A Russian imperial stout from Bell's Brewery in the USA. Boozy with a bit of raisin and chocolate. Nothing like 10.5% to warm you on those cold winter nights.

Chocolate Manifesto - The name says it all. This sweet milk stout from Flying Monkeys packs a big chocolate flavour. From the nose to the finish it is all chocolate. A great bottle for sharing with those rich holiday desserts or sipping by the fire.

It should be noted that we also had two growlers from Big Rig. With all the other bottles we were not able to crack them open that night but did so the next night.

Gingerbread Porter - Like drinking a gingerbread cookie in all the right ways. Great spice balance that reminds us of holiday baking at its best.

Gingerbread Porter-cookies in a glass

Triple Chocolate Cherry Imperial Milk Porter - Sweet, smooth, chocolatey with a hint of cherry. A perfect after dinner beer.

We also had some home brew. Dave brought a Scotch Cap Saison that had lots of black raspberry notes. Brian offered his Bitter Holiday, with cranberry and nice bitter finish. Brett favoured the group with his Rum Runner. This double brown packed amazing rum and vanilla notes.

Rum Runner and dessert. A match made in heaven..or at least in Brett's kitchen.

The holidays with its presents, decorations and parties are over but the winter is far from done. All of these beers are perfect to help ease away any chill you might have.

A big thank you to Brian, Marissa, Brett, Dave and Katy for a fantastic day of drinking, eating and tweeting. There is nothing better than a day filled with good people.

Muskoka Winter Beard 2012 Cellar Comparison

Storing a beer for aging is a test of will power and patience. Beer Advocate has a great page that covers the best practices for storing.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store

The keys are cool (not cold), dark and consistent.

We started our 'cellar' in 2011, with the Winter Beard. We had just tried an aged Winter Beard over chocolate ice cream at a beer pairing dinner. Quite impressed, we asked the rep more about aging and decided we'd try it out ourselves. Unfortunately, our 'cellar' isn't the ideal by any means. Since our basement is quite lit up with windows all around and does not keep a consistent temperature over the course of a year, we commandeered a shelf in our second refrigerator. Since then one shelf has become insufficient and now the good majority of the fridge is being used.

When we aged the 2011 Winter Beard it was unplanned. We just happened to have two bottles and decided we'd not drink them right away. It was a tough test and we learned for the next year to buy four bottles. 2 to try right away and 2 to store. In 2012 we started that strategy and we exchanged the 2011 for the 2012 in our cellar.

This allowed us to directly compare the two vintages. The 2012 was very fruit forward. It was quite tart and the cranberry overwhelmed the chocolate notes. The aged 2011 was smooth and intensely chocolate. We quite enjoyed being able to contrast them both and were looking forward to doing the same thing with the 2013 version. However, Muskoka decided not to have a 2013 Winter Beard vintage and instead released the 2012 aged in their cellar.

Knowing that the brewery would have much more ideal conditions to cellar than we did, it was expected that there would be differences in how the bottles turned out. We were excited to try the two together, again able to directly compare them.

Left: Aged by us. Right: Aged by Muskoka

Pouring them side by side there was no noticeable difference in colour or head. Though the nose was the first indication that these beers would be very different. From our beer the cranberry was still quite forward on the nose. On the Muskoka aged beer the chocolate was the most noticeable. On our beer the tartness followed through on the flavour, with a subtle roast and chocolate finish. Much more mellow, with the chocolate more obvious than before it was aged. However, the Muskoka aged beer was quite the opposite. With the chocolate being upfront and the tartness coming in gently on the finish. It was incredibly smooth where ours had significantly more fizz to it.

The verdict, for me, would be the Muskoka aged beer is better. I enjoyed the bigger chocolate flavours. It really shows the affects of ideal aging conditions vs. less than ideal. However, ours still aged well and held up when remembering the fresh version of the 2012. We do have one more bottle of each, which we plan to age for yet another year. It will be another interesting side by side.

Windsor Craft Beer Festival

Drive far enough South in Ontario and you will end up in the city of Windsor. It is known as the City of Roses. It is surrounded by lush farmlands and boasts some lovely wineries. It is a historic city that has come to be known for the auto industry though it is so much more than that.

It is also For Barely or For Wort's hometown.

In January, Windsor Eats with Motorburger/Motor Craft Ales announced they were hosting Windsor's first Craft Beer Festival. 

We love beer festivals and the chance to attend the first one in the city we were born and grew up in was very exciting.

The festival itself was set up in an outdoor space right across from the city's own craft brewery Walkerville Brewery.  Attendees were able to sample outside and then head into the brewery to warm up, see their set up and sample even more of their beer.

Inside Walkerville warming up and having a pint.

 Nice big set up for Walkerville Brewery

Organizers, Adriano and Pina Ciotoli did a great job of making the whole thing come together. Ten breweries attended with nine of them pouring samples for attendees.  Motor Craft Ales was not able to serve their brews off site as paperwork did not come through in time (We went to eat at Motorburger and tried their beers there.  Well worth a trip. Try the Dragula or the Big Block Brown!)

Barley and Wort with Adriano Ciotoli of Windsor Eats

Ottawa's own Broadhead Brewery as well as Van Kleek's Beau's Brewery made the drive down for the festival. They joined Lake of Bays Brewery, Bayside Brewery, Walkerville Brewery, McAuslan Brewery, Highlander Brewery, Mill St Brewery and Wellington Brewery.

Rocking the kilts, gentlemen of Highlander Brewery!

 Bayside Brewery

 Walkerville Brewery's table outside.

 Ottawa's Broadhead Brewery. Way to support new festivals guys!

We were told the Longshot White and Darkhorse Stout were the big hits at their booth.

Highlight beers included:

Lake of Bays-Top Shelf
St Ambroise-Apricot Wheat
Wellington-Shadow Play
Broadhead-Grindstone Amber
Highlander-Wallaceburg Ale

Walkerville-Kellerbier

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Windsor Eats' Adriano and Pina were gracious enough to sit down with us to discuss the festival.

What made you want to put on the Windsor Craft Beer Festival?

Adriano: Well we have been doing Windsor Eats, the food and drink guide for about ten years now so everything we do revolves around food and drink. We have had the plan for the craft beer festival for about two or three years now but there was no craft beers based in Windsor.  It was not the best time to launch. So while the rest of the province was booming, Windsor was a bit stagnant.  Within the last year Walkerville Brewery has popped up and Motor Burger launched Motor Craft Ales. Also there are two or three more in the planning stages so we figured this is the perfect time. People are getting excited about it, people are realizing the quality of Ontario craft beers.  We decided this was the year.

Pina: Windsor is a beer drinking town. Windsor really loves their beer. Our whole thing was to get people to realize how much Windsor has to offer. We are very fortunate here, we have lots of agriculture and we are blessed in what we have here. When Walkerville Brewery opened it was very exciting. It is a great compliment to the wine industry as well. When we started in January and  then when tickets sales started we knew hit on something.

What were you expecting in terms of attendance?

Adriano: We were expecting, in our heads, a realistic of number of 500 Friday, 1000 to 1200 Saturday. As we started seeing advance tickets sales we had to start bumping that up. We hit over 1000 on Friday. Advance sales for Saturday were over 1400. There is a chance we will hit capacity late Saturday night and have to turn people away at the door.

How did you choose the breweries you approached for the festival?  Obviously Walkerville and Motor Craft were easy being the Windsor breweries but what about the rest?

Adriano: We were open to any Ontario craft brewery. We did not want exclude anyone. It was obviously for craft breweries only but that was the only limit.  We were very fortunate that we were able to get St. Ambroise on board. That was an added bonus to say we had a Quebec brewery.

Pina: Convincing brewers to take a chance on Windsor was a bit more difficult. It was also a first time event and we had no numbers to base it on. Distance was a big factor as well.

Did you run into a problem with it also being the same weekend as Cask Days, with breweries being over stretched as craftbreweries tend to be small?

Adriano: We definitely did hear that. Also distance.  Even though we had Beau's and Broadhead come down from Ottawa, we had a lot of breweries respond saying they did not have the staff to send down.

Some festivals allow breweries to send down kegs and have volunteers serve. Did you put that out as an option or did you want a representative from the brewery to attend?

Adriano: We wanted the representative. Especially because Windsor is sort of new to the craft beer scene. We wanted the reps here so that if people wanted to talk to them they were getting all the details about the beer from a professional that is involved in the beer and properly discussing it.

Why theme of 1885? 

Pina:  Adriano and I were born and raised in Old Walkerville.  We are history buffs. We love the history of Walkerville, we love the culture behind it. We love the story of Hiriam Walker. That is where the inspiration for the look and feel of the Windsor Craft Beer Festival came from.  We wanted to celebrate the fact that back in 1885 Hiriam Walker launched a state of the art brewery in Walkerville. Most people don't know that about him. They associate him with the whiskey but they don't know that he was brewing beer that was world renowned. We took our cue from that. The bowler hat, the moustache, that fact that we are in Old Walkerville. We are amongst the buildings that he built, distilled and stored his whiskey in. Everything centred around that. Windsor was a significant player in prohibition. We love the history here and we wanted to share that with everyone. We wanted everyone to know what happened here. This was a small neighbourhood that played a significant role in distilling and brewing and one man who spearheaded that.

Your ticket prices were very reasonable.  Both to get in and for samples. Was it hard to plan that for a first time festival? 

Pina: We weren't promoting it as drink your face off event.  It was about stepping out of your comfort zone.  We did not want to bust your bank account to try samples what the breweries have to offer. We tried to make it as affordable as possible so everyone could attend.

Do you guys have plans to do it again?

Pina:  They are in the works. We are already thinking about next year. It is a first for all of us.  We are very big on feedback.  We will sit down and talk about what worked and what didn't work. We want to make sure that next time is just a little bit better. We had a lot of fun doing it. A lot of fun to plan and put the pieces together.

*

For a first time festival they did everything right. Enough space to move, tables to sit, samples were plentiful but not overwhelming.  Tickets were reasonable in pricing, entertainment was good but not overbearing and there was plenty of bathroom facilities.  I am sure there were hiccups but it was never apparent to those attending.

Would we attend again? Yes.

Is it worth the 7-9 hour drive (depending on how one drives and Toronto traffic) Yes.  With ticket prices not breaking the bank and hotels being reasonable in pricing it is a cost friendly trip.

Would we recommend the festival to others? Yes.  Windsor is just beginning to see their craft beer market flourish.  This means good things for the city, for the future of the festival and for beer lover's in general.  They are the birthplace of some of Ontario's oldest brewing and distilling yet only now seeing the cycle come back around to them. As the industry changes in the city it can only mean good things for the craft beer festival and with passionate organizer's in the Windsor Eats crew it means that they are a place to keep an eye on.

A very big thank you to Adriano and Pina for agreeing to sit down with us.  The festival was a fun time which we hope to repeat next year.

A sense of community.

*A great big apology to WindsorEats as the post on the Windsor Craft Beer Fest is coming.  I ended up with a great interview with them and want to make sure it comes across doing the festival and the city justice.





Community:

• people with common interests living in a particular area;

• an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location      

We are big believers in the craft beer community.  We believe in people sharing something they love with each other.  

For a long time now Twitter and blogs have been a great way to interact with other beer lovers in the area but there is always that sense of "I know them, but I don't know them."  We often pass each other at festivals and never even realize till hours later when we comment on a photo saying "You were there? We need to meet one day!"

 Back in September after an event it was mentioned that we really should, as an Ottawa Twitter beer community, meet face to face.  We here at For Barley or For Wort thought that it was a great idea and took up the challenge of putting it together.

It went surprisingly easily. The first challenge was a venue that would open its doors to us. They had to have craft beer, good food and willing to put up with a bunch of chatty beer fans.  A mention was put out on Twitter and Stoneface Dolly's answered immediately.

Invitations to breweries went out and the link to reserve spaces was launched to the masses.  Within the first half hour 24 spaces were gone.

Breweries jumped on board for a chance to mingle with Ottawa beer fans. Not from behind a table as they poured them beer but in the crowd and on a more personal level.

We were honoured to have the place full of other beer lovers who just wanted the chance to shake hands with the other people they spent so much time chatting to on the net.

Check out this crowd!

On hand in the crowd we had a number of brewery people including Tyler from Flying Monkeys, Grant from Spearhead, Scott from Muskoka, JP and Trish from Turtle Island and Kichesippi's Paul Meek. 

The night was full of handshakes, stories and laughter.  We ate amazing food and drank some really good beer.  We raffled off some wonderful prizes given to us from Spearhead, Muskoka and Kichesippi.

We are a silly bunch.

 Some of our raffle prizes.

Overall the event was a huge success.  There are already thoughts of doing it again in the Spring, a sort of seasonal meet up to talk about all things beer.

The whole thing would not have been possible if it were not for Stoneface Dolly's and the amazing staff.

It also would not have happened if it wasn't for Ottawa's great beer community.  Everyone who attended proved once again that this city has a strong, vibrant and friendly group of craft beer lovers, bloggers, twitter posters and homebrewers.  

I am happy to call them all apart of my community.

 Thank you to Stoneface Dolly. To Jeff Russell and all the staff that took care of us on Monday night.






 Thank you to Scott, Tyler, J.P., Trish, Grant and Paul.

A big thank you and raising a pint to all of you who came out. You made our night.