Ontario Craft Beer Week - June 20-26

[Cass]

Announced today.

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Ontario Craft Beer Week
June 20 - 26, 2010
A Week-Long Festival Celebrating Ontario's Small & Independent Breweries

Ontario Craft Beer Week - June 20-26,2010 - Week-Long Festival Will Celebrate Ontario's Small and Independent Breweries The First Annual Ontario Craft Beer Week, celebrating our province's thriving, locally-based craft beer industry, will run from June 20 to 26, 2010, throughout the province of Ontario, brought to you by the 25 small, independent craft breweries of the OCB.

The week-long festival will feature a series of special events designed to expose consumers to the craft beer experience through tastings, brewery tours, cooking demonstrations, food pairings, beer dinners, and much more. Ontario Craft Beer Week will kick off on Father's Day with special events at breweries and restaurants.

Ontario Craft Beer Week co-chairs, Steve Beauchesne of Beau's Brewery in Van Kleek Hill, ON and Jason Ellesmere of Cameron's Brewing Company of Oakville are both jazzed about this monumental event. "This is a very exciting opportunity for Ontario's craft beer industry and for our province," says Steve Beauchesne. "It's a groundbreaking moment for craft beer in Ontario and a great way to kick off the summer."

The Ontario Craft Beer Week organizing committee is in the process of setting up a formal procedure for securing partnerships and endorsing events and will release more information as it becomes available. Any interested parties with ideas or suggestions should contact their local brewery or send an email to info@ontariocraftbrewers.com.

And watch this space for ongoing details of specific events, venues, and times.

"Our industry has been wanting to do this for a long time," says Jason Ellesmere. "There are many reasons why Ontario needs a Craft Beer Week and we look forward to building this initiative into an excellent, annual adventure."

The reasons include:

BEER CULTURE: Ontario has a thriving craft beer industry featuring over 25 independent craft brewers producing fresh, top quality beer. More consumers are choosing to support their local breweries and experiment with the incredible range of beer styles and tastes available.

BEER TASTING: Fresh, Ontario craft beer is produced in small batches with lots of care and attention to detail. Using the brew master's own authentic special recipes, craft beer is brewed using all natural, pure ingredients, and no additives or preservatives. Ontario Craft Beer Week will give consumers an opportunity to discover the world of Ontario Craft Beer through guided tastings, educational events, etc.

BEER AND FOOD: Craft beer has a wonderful, complex flavour profile and is becoming increasingly popular in culinary circles as a recipe ingredient or food match. Chefs and restaurants will have an opportunity to entice customers by experimenting with tasting menus and specialty dishes.

BEER TOURISM: With its rich brewing history and culture, Ontario is becoming an increasingly popular tourism destination for those interested in discovering craft beer, visiting local breweries, experiencing beer cuisine, etc.

[biegaman]

Wonderful news! Hats off to the OCB for this initiative, I'm sure it will be a great success and fun-filled week. I'm really looking forward to it!

[GregClow]

They've started announcing the events for this week: http://www.ontariocraftbrewers.com/craf ... events.php

The brewery-specific ones seem to be pretty heavy on just a handful of breweries right now - mainly Beau's, Cameron's and Great Lakes, with one or two others. They still look good, but hopefully there will be some more variety as the list grows.

[Bobsy]

Early days in terms of events listed, but its already looking like a great week, and a number if them look really fun!

[icemachine]

Looks like Great Lakes is going to be working hard with the number of one off casks being listed.

[cfrancis]

Beau's on cask all week at the Arrow & Loon. I'm going to have to make it down there at least a couple of times.

[hops are your friend]

Beau's on cask all week at the Arrow & Loon. I'm going to have to make it down there at least a couple of times.

The Loon had Screaming Beaver on cask on Tuesday night. I think they ran out but it might be worth calling to see if they'll have some Beau's products on cask before Craft Beer Week.

[Bobsy]

Josh has written a piece in the Star on Ontario Beer as a lead-up to OCB Week: http://www.thestar.com/living/food/arti ... local-brew

So, which events are people planning on attending? I'm hoping to go to Brydens for the Best of the West, Highway 61 for their cask night, the Only for the Flying Moneys evening and Session.

[matt7215]

Josh has written a piece in the Star on Ontario Beer as a lead-up to OCB Week: http://www.thestar.com/living/food/arti ... local-brew

So, which events are people planning on attending? I'm hoping to go to Brydens for the Best of the West, Highway 61 for their cask night, the Only for the Flying Moneys evening and Session.

grand river's 3rd anniversary cask night on the 22nd is all i have lined up

[toweringpine]

I bought my Session ticket yesterday. I suspect that is the only event I'll be able to make but I am sure looking forward to it!

[Kel Varnsen]

The brewery-specific ones seem to be pretty heavy on just a handful of breweries right now - mainly Beau's, Cameron's and Great Lakes, with one or two others. They still look good, but hopefully there will be some more variety as the list grows.

OCB week is next week and I am honestly kind of surprised by how many of the OCB members don't seem to be involved at all. I mean most of the events are Beau's, Muskoka or Great Lakes events. A few other breweries are taking part but some of them don't seem to be doing anything. A few that spring to mind are Heritage, Barley Days and Wellington aren't doing anything.

It seems strange to me since I would imagine that these breweries would probably pay a membership fee to be an OCB member, so if you are paying that anyways, why not take part in this huge promotional event. I mean you hear brewers all the time saying they can't compete with the advertising budget of Molson, which is a fair complaint, but when a promotional event like this comes along, why are some passing up a chance to be involved and get their product noticed by new drinkers?

[Derek]

Wellington was originally listed at Highway 61... not sure now...

http://www.ontariocraftbrewers.com/craf ... events.php

[velovampire]

I'm going to try for Bryden's Best of the West, Project XXXX, Night of the Flying Monkeys, and hopefully Granite and Volo at some point during the week.

[GregClow]

Not sure yet which events I'll be hitting (except for Session - will definitely be there), but I've posted a couple of preview articles that might be of interest:

http://www.tasteto.com/2010/06/15/drink ... beer-week/

http://beerbeatsbites.com/2010/06/16/on ... d-corbeil/

[Cass]

Now with video goodness...

http://www.ontariocraftbrewers.com/craf ... Brewer.php