Volo Cask Days 2009 Oct 26th-Nov 1st

[lister]

They just had a cask of this at the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival at the Berkeley Church the other week. Good stuff. It was their dark lager infused with vanilla.

If Jon or any other identifiable Cameron people are there Saturday night they better make themselves scarce otherwise they'll be getting an earful from my girlfriend. She was really looking forward to only two beers, the PB&J (gross!) and the vanilla dark.

[todd]

I have a single ticket for session 2 tonight if anyone's interested.

[G.M. Gillman]

Just got back from the first session. As always, Ralph and his team did a great job. I had only a few of what was on offer, and liked in particular Tommy Gun Pale, Henry's Red Ale, Durham Black Eye, and Barley Juice (6% ABV with a nice orange note from Amarillo hops). Penombre Black IPA also was superb as every time I've had it. There were some beers (as always) I did not like, which I poured away, the 1/4 pint option facilitates that. Oops I should mention also Mill Street's dry-hopped barley wine (2 years combined), really good and estery.

Gary

[Torontoblue]

A real great event yesterday evening and night time. Most of the beers were on offer, with just a few that weren't quiet ready for serving. The atmosphere at both sessions was superb; a real mix of people and never overly crowded (though people still choose to stand in large groups in doorways!!!). The layout of the casks made it feel a lat larger and roomy this year.

The beer selection and form is top notch this year, and having the choice of 1/4, 1/2 or a full pint is fantastic.

For me, the top beer yesterday was the Volo Mild; gotta say this was a great mild which very much reminded me of one of the best mild's ever, Moorhouses's Black Cat - yes, it was that good.

After that the Barley juice, Morning Glory, Black Eye and Nightmare on Ale St were all outstanding beers.

And the Fuller's IPA was just a wonderful Fuggle flavoured heavenly beer.

Thanks to everyone involved with Cask Days for putting on a great event.

[Bobsy]

Just got back from the first session. As always, Ralph and his team did a great job. I had only a few of what was on offer, and liked in particular Tommy Gun Pale, Henry's Red Ale, Durham Black Eye, and Barley Juice (6% ABV with a nice orange note from Amarillo hops). Penombre Black IPA also was superb as every time I've had it. There were some beers (as always) I did not like, which I poured away, the 1/4 pint option facilitates that. Oops I should mention also Mill Street's dry-hopped barley wine (2 years combined), really good and estery.

Gary

Hey Gary,

You shoulda said hello - I was working the Toronto section for session one, so I must have poured you a fair few beers!

Highlights - penombre, fullers ipa, morning glory, church key islay, denison's dunkel, marathom mild, black eye, black creek pumpkin, night marzen...

Its a long list - the beers were fantastic this year. Well done to Ralph, all the staff and volunteers on a well run event. There really is nothing like this going on in the province right now, and we should all be proud to support this event.

[Guybrush]

Went Friday night, 4pm-8pm session.

Well done, had a blast. Fantastic selection, and I must agree the 1/4 pint, 1/2 pint, full pint option was very very useful, I hope that option stays around.

My favourite was the Amato Texas Reserve Brown, couldn't get over how good it was....

I'll also mention the Duggan's #7 stout, Marathon Mild, Black Creek Spiced Pumpkin, Highballer, and Tommy Gun were all top notch.

Additionally, the peanut butter and jam beer, great idea guys, but I really don't think it panned out.... nice creative idea though.

[JerCraigs]

Went to the morning session today and a bit of the afternoon one. Great time overall, many thanks to Ralph and family, Volo Staff and volunteers.

St Andre's Freshly Squeezed Barley Juice and the Benelux Amato were two of my favourites. The PB&J worked out WAY better than I thought, I found it quite quaffable but not as peanut butter or jammy as I expected - though that may be a good thing.

Food at the second session was delicious, particularly the potato buns (?) I may have to try and source some of those later.

Cheers, and Happy Belated Birthday to Ralph!

[Derek]

I thought the quality of brews was a step up from last year. Everything was quite good... certainly nothing I'd want to pour down the drain.

I loved the Islay Smoked Scotch.

The F&M stout was a real flavourful mix... a uniquely crafted brew.

The Barley juice was more like hop juice... and I liked it.

The Muskoka Harvest was something I could drink pitchers of, then seriously regret it in the morning.

The Morning glory had a good coffee kick.

Volo's Marathon brew had some serious flavour for its weight. Something you could really drink pitchers of!

Thanks to Ralph, Volo and everyone that helped out. Great event!

[DougShoemaker]

Fantastic!

I don't know how they do it but Ralph, his family, the staff and volunteers were able to outdo themselves again and give us the best Cask Days Ever! Amazing beer, (fine Brewers) marvellous cider, wonderful food, terrific company. We are blessed.


Thank You So Much, Cheers, Doug

[northyorksammy]

Ralph and co. have outdone themselves this year. The quality of the beers were very good. Organization was superior. Of course last night, with good weather, and less than the 100 made it a great party. One of the best beerfests I have been at in my short history. I will be back today for some of the milder beers that did not stand a chance after so many drinkable stouts and IPAs. Oh, and a winner of a glass.

[bartle]

This was my first Volo Cask Day's event that I've been able to attend. It was great, and indeed well organized.

It seems like brewers really stepped up the quality along with providing some strange and experimental brews, and not so many IPA's. Not many that were undrinkable.

The Great Lakes Morning Glory Breakfast Stout was very nice. Just a great easy going, dry, coffee, bitter stout.

Beau's Night Marzen was another stand out.

The PB&J beer was surprisingly drinkable.

F&M Nightmare on Ale Street was a sweet and herbal treat, that's for sure.

The scotch ale was very impressive to the nose. The taste was also great, but I don't know how much I could handle to drink.

The Durham Black Eye is a winner in my books. I feel as if I could talk about this beer for a while.


Again, fantastic event.

[Beermat]

It's been a sensational week. I'm happy to report that I've done six days straight, through the English-style ales, the IPA challengers, and two sessions of full-blown Cask Days. The liver is whimpering a bit, but I keep telling it to man up and do its job. Have a funeral today, but hope to be on hand later for Day Seven. Well done to Ralph and everyone, and hats off to our brewer friends.

Nick

[G.M. Gillman]

This afternoon was perhaps the perfect day to attend: the weather was (is) great, it wasn't crowded, and the beers never better.

For me the highlight was Fuller IPA. Unlike Friday night when the beer was lightly cloudy and perhaps a little green, two days made it drop bright and acquire the full taste of maturity real ale is capable of. It had a long and deep English hoppy taste on a solid malt base but with that something else going on, a typically English taste that only local real beer conveys. I find it hard to describe but perhaps it comes from the yeast. Perfect, perfect, it was like drinking Fuller's cask in Belgrave Tavern, Belgravia or Churchill Arms, Kensington Church Street, but it happened to be our own very estimable downtown Toronto. A really primo, and rare, beer experience this side of the pond.

Two others I liked: Muskoka Harvest Ale and Empire Strikes Back. I am sure there were many other fine beers but I only tried a few.

Great to talk again to Ralph, Sid, Cass, Sam, Nick, Bobsy, Bill and others. A classy beer event indeed. It is great that it is a "secret" of the Toronto beer cognoscenti but anyone interested in gastronomy and fine drink would have been impressed. If you able still to attend today, don't miss it.

Gary

[northyorksammy]

empire strikes black, but most people know what you mean. Was really nice today outside with only a few dozen people about.

[sstackho]

Still lots of good beer to be had today, and there should be good pickings tomorrow as well. Go.