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It was really great to see a bunch of you at the beer festival.
In my opinion, for us small breweries its critical for us to have a presence at the beer festival. It's grown tremendously in the past 8 years that we've been attending. The problem is trying to get our message out to people while the major foreign owned breweries pump up the volume to make their desired experience.
Most of us small breweries have their whole staff out to pour and meet the people who are drinking our beer.
Having something special for the show is a lot of fun, but i brought 2 casks of hop bomb but lack of interest only made me tap one of them. Its also very difficult to maintain cask beer properly at the festival. Its great to present some seasonal's, but our main focus is to try and introduce our main beers to people that don't know anything about us. When I post on bartowel I'm preaching to the choir. When we're at Fort York we've got a whole new audience to try and introduce our beer to.
For what Fort York Beer festival is: A VERY BIG PARTY with beer (thanks Jeremy), it is an incredible accomplishment. Just the organization of all the things that need to go on in the background and the fact that its a very popular show that has grown over the years, is mind boggling.
This was the first year that I've seen more than 2 hours worth of rain. The shows organizers had bales of hay and tons of sawdust trying to soak up the mud. I saw lots of the show's office staff out before the show getting the hay spread around. Everybody pitched in to help and I was impressed by their hard work and dedication. The fact that the ticket holders came out on a rainy Saturday or Sunday just shows how hardy us Canadians really are.
As for the security, I was pretty disappointed with the strictness, but I can see the reason for trying to maintain some control. In most cases everybody is well behaved, but when people start power pounding and getting really drunk and obnoxious thats when most of the problems happen.
Just like too much perfume or too much cologne can be a bad thing, too much beer is a bad thing, especially in public.
In order to avoid any accidents or problems all booths were asked to tighten up the way they serve.
There are other festivals that are starting up and I think that you should support them. Events at Hart House and always C'est What, Caffe Volo Winking Judge, Pepperwood Bistro and Victory Cafe are really excellent and I love attending them and seeing new faces trying new and different beers. I'm sure somebody will complain about these shows getting big and obnoxious in the future.
There are a few other shows coming up such as the Golden Tap Awards at Beer Bistro, Todmorden Mills on Thurs Aug 21, and in September Black Creek Pioneer Village. These shows will have a smaller venue charm and I would encourage you to come out, bring some friends have some fun and support these noble events.
Your other choice is to create your own event and learn the hard way how difficult it is to try and organize a successful event.
Asst. Grain Shoveller wrote:Todmorden Mills on Thurs Aug 21
Ken, would you (or any other brewery reps that hang out here) have any more information about this event? The only place I've seen it mentioned is on the OCB website and their press mailings - the Todmorden Mills pages on the City of Toronto website have no mention of it at all.
Hey Ken, thanks for the Red Bull during the event, it certainly helped I did my best to try and send folk over to your booth after they had sampled what I was serving. What was encouraging was the positive response I got from at least 80% who already new and liked your beers.
Ken, it was -- as always -- great to see you doing the Lord's work on Thursday. We're a cynical bunch, as you know, but you're out there at all these events, trying to make the world a better place. We don't deserve you, but we're glad to have you anyway.
Asst. Grain Shoveller wrote:Having something special for the show is a lot of fun, but i brought 2 casks of hop bomb but lack of interest only made me tap one of them.
Soooo....what you're saying is you've got an extra? Any idea where it might end up? Todmorden? And, yes - any additional info on that event would be much appreciated.
Had a good time with the bunch of guys I had down visiting. Most of them were willing to try new stuff. The rain put quite a damper on it, but I still got chance to try most of what I wanted, but I didn't end up making it to the Esprit booth. Otherwise it was a great time although I somehow ended up with a few Beer Bucks left over.
VERY interesting comments from Cosway alluding to the influence of the BS. Bastards. Having never been to the fest, I don't know the set up, but it would be nice to have a dedicated area for the smaller brewers and let the frat boys jump around and puke their guts out in a larger macro area. Or even have a dedicated day for Ontario brewers.
A very good article by Mr Rubin. Summed up the fest quite well. A balanced approach with comments from those small brewers not attending and those who did who still find it valuable.
I didn't attend this year. I usually grumble about the event but end up going anyway...usually because I get given a ticket or through an invite...this year I didn't get either but I didn't chase either down so...it kind of happened by default.
I think the general points made by Ken and Peter are pretty valid. This festival just ain't angling for my attendance anyway. I know the beers Peter sells, order them from time to time, but it's rare he has something new being poured that would justify my attention. The lack of new offerings by brewers, the departure of Perry Mason from the scene, the general frat party atmosphere and over representation of macro brewers just doesn't appeal to me and my pocketbook. It's a marketing event where brewers push the old standards and/or try to pick up the transitional market of people (generally in their 20's) slowly maturing from macro to micro.
Frankly it's the Bon Jovi of beer festivals. I get why some people are still living on a prayer but I'm still praying for a revolution. Until then I'll stick to the caskfests and small brewers festivals where my attendance hopefully validates the efforts of the bold few who dare to make great, original beer.
I don't always piss in a bottle but when I do...I prefer to call it Dos Equis.
Jon Walker wrote:I think the general points made by Ken and Peter are pretty valid. This festival just ain't angling for my attendance anyway. I know the beers Peter sells, order them from time to time, but it's rare he has something new being poured that would justify my attention. The lack of new offerings by brewers, the departure of Perry Mason from the scene, the general frat party atmosphere and over representation of macro brewers just doesn't appeal to me and my pocketbook. It's a marketing event where brewers push the old standards and/or try to pick up the transitional market of people (generally in their 20's) slowly maturing from macro to micro.
Frankly it's the Bon Jovi of beer festivals. I get why some people are still living on a prayer but I'm still praying for a revolution. Until then I'll stick to the caskfests and small brewers festivals where my attendance hopefully validates the efforts of the bold few who dare to make great, original beer.
I did my best to try and send folk over to your booth after they had sampled what I was serving. What was encouraging was the positive response I got from at least 80% who already new and liked your beers.
