The Bar Towel

I thought that I had been in touch with everyone but I've had numerous e-mail problems...Rochefort 10 and 8 are in and available as are:

Orval
Barbar
Brussels White
Westmalle Dubbel
Westmalle Tripel
Achel Blond
Achel Bruin
Achel Extra
Chimay Grande Reserve
Scaldis
Floreffe Double
Maredsous 6
Maredsous 8
Maredsous 10
Koningshoeven Dubbel
Koningshoeven Quadrupel
Duvel Magnums

you can contact me at espritagencies@sympatico.ca if you've reserved any or wish to make a purchase.

Peter

Anyone else attending tonight?

I'll be there tonight.

Ditto...though not until around 5:30pm.

I'll be there around 6 tonight. Just in time to catch the last half of the Steelback 2-4's live set.

I made it over there tonight - cheers Greg! The organization leaves some to be desired, but it was alright once inside.

Highlights were a couple of things I hadn't had a chance to sample previously.

Loved the Black Oak Summer Saison. I only managed to get one pint in last summer. Hoping to get my brother to pick me up a case on his way in from that area next week.

Tried the Scotch Irish one-off hoppy Pale Ale (whose specific name escapes me). Great aroma, but was hoping for a bit more hop wallop from the flavour. The Sgt Major was in very good form.

Had a try of the Great Lakes Project X. I appreciate their efforts, but that one was all malt and not my preferred style. Still, I really hope these guys do well.

Trafalgar had two booths. One for their meads, and another for their 15%+ alcohol beers that was a hit with the fratboys. I tried the one they recommended as the hoppiest. Decent, but suffered from the sweetness that sometimes accompanies high alcohol beers.

I ended off the night with the Magnotta/True North IPA which I really enjoyed. But I've done enough beer sampling to know that I become a less harsh judge as the night wears on. Regardless, I plan to pick up some of this for home to peruse it further.

I had a better time that I've had in year's past...largely due to the company rather than the beer. The organization of the fest still frustrates me, and the decrease in numbers of micros in attendance was a cause for concern. However, I was happy to surf between the usual suspects and expose my friends to the better beers on offer.

It was nice to see all the familiar faces again. Thursday was much calmer from a crowd standpoint, so it was definitely easier to chat with the brewery folks.

There was a noticeable absence of many Ontario micros however - Muskoka, Durham, Stratford, Grand River, King, Beau's - all didn't participate.

Well, I tried to gain entry to the festival yesterday. After standing in line for well over 30 minutes, in a line I was told to stand in by an Official as I was collecting my free tickets, it turned out it was not where I was supposed to be and the line I needed was a good 10 minutes walk away. I was to collect my tickets elsewhere and then I would have to line up again and wait my turn to gain entry. I had a feeling it would be a farce going there, and it was without even getting in. I went to the Volo instead and had a great time there.

The organisation outside was atrocious. And all I heard the crowd talking about was what party games they were gonna play once they got in!!!! I thought it was a beer festival?

Crap there was a long lineup to get in. Thanks TTC for messing up the College W streetcar! (Had Phil's BBQ for lunch before heading down.)

Church Key wasn't there either. It was rather disappointing that so many didn't come. After a three to four year absence I don't think I'll bother going back again. I much prefer Montreal's festival.

I tried mostly beers I haven't had before: Scotch Irsh Porter, Project X, Better Bitters Red (though I think I got the amber), Neustadt Scotch Ale, Cameron's Dark, Magnotta Copper, Old Credit Pilsner, Warsteiner Dunkel. Out of all those I liked the Neustadt Scottish Ale the most. I'll probably pick up a sixer once in a while now. I'll also give the Scotch Irish Porter a go when I see it in bottles.

I sampled several of what the girlfriend had including Heritage Old Man Dark Ale, Black Oak Saison (which I've had before) and Saison on Cask which I think was the "marmalade" version based off the description from the friendly Black Oak guy (tall guy, long hair, missed catching his name.) I actually liked the cask one far better than the regular Saison.

It was nice to see Michael with his Weisse in the Black Oak tent and finally meeting the person responsible for one of my favourite brews (Vanilla Bean Porter), Perry.

Winner of the best booth babe (on looks alone) goes to Cool Beer for the nice little bikini-clad Asian number. Winner of the best knowledgeable booth babe goes to Cameron's for having one of our regular friendly Smokeless purveyors of fine beer there. With all the female attendees I was surprised there wasn't any shirtless male booth dudes there though I suppose the numerous spikey-haired, shirtless and wife-beater wearing attendee douchebags were enough. (I can't imagine what that place would be like towards the end of the evening.)

Hello, new friends. New member but serious (albeit new to the game) beer fan here. Got down to the fest last year for the first time. Heading down on Sunday for the final day, which was actually a lot of fun last year. A nice mix of "real" beer fans with the regular weekend boozehounds, so there was at least a chance to chat with the brewery reps for a minute or two. Those of you who've already been down, any suggestions for tomorrow's perusing?

Wow. I use to go on Friday to miss to crowds and get Perry's one-offs.

The hoppy ale was fantastic and the Major was awesome as well.

Unbelievably, they set up two trailers with two windows a piece to sell beer-coins. 20-30 min lineup at times. Who organizes this? Kindergarten teachers?

The Fri crowd was HUGE (they sold out at 6 pm) Everything was LOUD. I must admit, I miss the small Fri gathering of dedicated beer drinkers.

I guess Thurs is the new Friday. I'll shell out the extra $$$ to miss the fratters. We'll see next year.

I went today. It would have been a total waste of time except for Perry's beers. I spent most my tokens on the Barely Wine, Vanilla Porter and 2005 bottled Imperial Stout which was a real treat.

I went Friday and Sunday. Did not stay long on Friday as the crowd got pretty busy surprisingly quickly. Tried a handful of new things (Scotch Irish one offs I thought were all very good, Nickel Brook Organic wheat was a solid new brew as well, Mill St Raspberry) and lots of old favourites like Denisons and Black Oak on Sunday.

I started the day planning to not sample much and take lots of photos. The Rain kept the camera in the bag and ended up doing the opposite helping a friend "finish off" his tokens. More tents to provide shade/rain protection would always help.

I was disappointed to see the token line revert to the long wait times of previous years, I am not sure what/why that changed. Are they including fewer tokens with admission?

I had tickets already but some of my friends did not - Sunday tickets at the gate were $30!!! I guess they want to encourage people to buy in advance next year?

I still had fun, but it definitely continues to be more of a party atmosphere rather than a beer sampling venue. The music was too loud. Oh, and get off my lawn!

JerCraigs wrote: (Scotch Irish one offs I thought were all very good)

i liked them all, but the barley wine wasn't malt-forward enough to really be a barley wine. tasty, but not entirely sure i'd call it a barley wine. as an example, the rogue old crustacean may be 110 IBUs (which i happen to think is a bit over the top), but it's also packed with malt.