Cask Days 2011 - October 30th and other dates

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:02 am

Had a great time at Cask Days. We ended up arriving a bit late for Session 1 (slow start in the morning + Yogne Subway delay) but managed to hit the majority of stuff we wanted to try over the course of two sessions. Saw a ton of familiar faces, and lots of new ones. The weather was a bit cold but we camped out inside the great hall for a good chunk of it which made for a very atmospheric drinking environment. The food was good and surprisingly reasonably priced compared to similar events.

Beer highlights included GL Fangboner and Silly Pucker, Black Tongue, and others.

andrewrg · Post by **andrewrg** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:05 am

Volo's closed tonight, so that seems unlikely. Tomorrow, maybe?

My favourite of the evening was easily Charlevoix's Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Amazing.

Tried about 7 beers, 2 of which were duds (Magnotta's Mint Chocolate and Sawdust City's weird Lactose Brown whatever), 5 of which were great.

lister · Post by **lister** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 12:30 pm

I think we had about 15-16 1/4 pint beers between the both of us. The Charlevoix Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and the Howe Sound Cinnamon Fireball Pumpkineater were the two I liked the most. The Magnotta Nine Mint Chocolate Stout was the oddest to see with it looking like tea or chocolate milk. Not that much of a mint flavour. I like my gimmick beers to be strong on the gimmick.

What happened to the Hockley Valley Hot Tub Prophecies Root Beer? That was going to be the first beer of the day.

I liked the venue much more than Volo. Far more room though with the exception of 1-2 hours of that area that got the sun. Too many people hanging out there. The food prices were pretty reasonable.

The tweeted offer at the end of session one that you could stay for session two for $10 was really tempting. At that point though we were cold and wanted a solid meal after all that beer. Maybe next year if a similar offer is made...

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:26 pm

jmcnally wrote:Enjoyed myself even though I could only stay until 3pm. Disappointed that the Cheval Blanc casks appear not to have made it, nor the Granite Old Peculiar.

Enjoyed most of the Quebec beers I tried, especially the Benelux Strato Black IPA.

Does anyone know if Volo will be serving the leftovers tonight for $5/pint?

Tuesday, and they will have 2 special casks on: Central City Red Racer IPA and Tree Hop Head IPA.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:41 pm

Fantastic event. It really went extremely smoothly given it was the first time at a new, much larger venue, which is no doubt due to all the planning and hard work of the three Moranas.

My favourites were the Dunham Cranberry Ale, Kensington AAXH, Storm Fresh Hop, St Andre Black Turtleneck, House + Biergotter Black Tongue and, most of all, Great Lakes Fangboner India Brett Ale, which was just tremendous. Funny that many (at the event and on this board) have praised the Charlevoix Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout. To me it was just stupdendously boozy, like someone dumped a large measure of bourbon in my glass. To each his own!

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:21 pm

The Vache Folle was very nice too, with good sweetish milk sugars to sustain it.

Gary

Cale · Post by **Cale** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:42 pm

midlife crisis wrote:Fantastic event. It really went extremely smoothly given it was the first time at a new, much larger venue, which is no doubt due to all the planning and hard work of the three Moranas.

My favourites were the Dunham Cranberry Ale, Kensington AAXH, Storm Fresh Hop, St Andre Black Turtleneck, House + Biergotter Black Tongue and, most of all, Great Lakes Fangboner India Brett Ale, which was just tremendous. Funny that many (at the event and on this board) have praised the Charlevoix Bourbon Barrel Milk Stout. To me it was just stupdendously boozy, like someone dumped a large measure of bourbon in my glass. To each his own!

Funny because I thought the Black Tongue was a boozy mess - and that's getting a lot of praise. The Porter Baltique (another seemingly praised cask) was good at first, but once I moved inside and it warmed up all I could taste was bourbon and was not a big fan of it. I don't mind bourbon, but I'd like to taste some beer. Perhaps if I stayed outside it would have been better!

I think my favourites were DDC Libre Exchange, Benelux Sabotage IPA, and Half Pints Five-A-L IPA. Biggest letdowns were the previously mentioned LTM Porter Baltique, Niagara College Barleywine, and Indie Ale House Belgian IPA.

Due to some confusion I was never able to try the Flying Monkeys offering as well.

robinvboyer · Post by **robinvboyer** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:04 pm

Was there for session one with my wife, and we had an outstanding time! It was a little chilly but i made sure to find a patch of sun to stand in. One thing i found that was a little annoying was often when i was in the courtyard i was having a had time getting the aroma off some beers cause the smell of wet grass and dirt was quite strong.

My standouts were by far the Half Pints, and red racer citra and amarillo.

Outstandinb fest cant wait till next year.

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:38 am

as always, cask days was a blast. kudos and huge thanks to the ralph, tom, and julian for organizing it all, the volo staff/volunteers who helped out with setup/teardown and all the pouring, and the hart house staff who helped keep things moving smoothly. i still can't get over the sheer number of awesome beers that were available and the growth of the event in general from its humble beginnings back in 2005 with a handful of sceptical ontario brewers and casks. an amazing event. already looking forward to next year. this remains the go-to event for the year. i'd happily wager it as the best cask festival in north america, one of the best festivals overall in north america, and the best beer event in ontario.

i'd also like to thank the weather gods for favouring us - it may have been cold, but i'm damn happy it wasn't raining!

andrewrg · Post by **andrewrg** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:05 am

A nice thank-you note from Cask Days/Volo: http://t.co/tyOZDOOA

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 2:07 pm

thought it was a good event.
but man, lots and lots of IPAs/hop-inspired beer.

Blankboy · Post by **Blankboy** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:16 am

atomeyes wrote:but man, lots and lots of IPAs/hop-inspired beer.

I know, thank goodness! Seriously though, no more then 20% of the beer were IPAs/hoppy beers. Not that high considreing how many people love the style.

Many thanks to the Moranas and all the volunteers, it was a superb event! Easily the best cask festival Canada has ever seen and one of the best in North America for sure. Great location, amazing beer, no big line-ups, lots of food -- I simply can find no fault with the event.

Can't wait for 2012!

Garthicus · Post by **Garthicus** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:33 pm

robinvboyer wrote: One thing i found that was a little annoying was often when i was in the courtyard i was having a had time getting the aroma off some beers cause the smell of wet grass and dirt was quite strong.

You should ask for a refund.

viggo · Post by **viggo** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:21 pm

Garthicus wrote:
robinvboyer wrote: One thing i found that was a little annoying was often when i was in the courtyard i was having a had time getting the aroma off some beers cause the smell of wet grass and dirt was quite strong.
You should ask for a refund.

Really? Thats what you're going to complain about? The smell of dirt and wet grass?

grub · Post by **grub** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:08 pm

viggo wrote:
Garthicus wrote:
robinvboyer wrote: One thing i found that was a little annoying was often when i was in the courtyard i was having a had time getting the aroma off some beers cause the smell of wet grass and dirt was quite strong.
You should ask for a refund.
Really? Thats what you're going to complain about? The smell of dirt and wet grass?

it'd be tough to imagine anything else to complain about.