The Bar Towel

I know, it's not in the big TO, but it is noteworthy:

Ottawa now has its Craft Beer Week!

http://www.nationalcapitalbeerweek.com/

Within the week, there will be a beer and food festival...no details yet, but should be interesting.

they updated the website recently: 2 fests

A cask fest and the Arrow and Loon on Sunday August 12
A 2 day fest at City Hall on August 17-18

Hopefully, it'll be decent....the Cask fest last year had some decent offering from TO area breweries...

Not to mention a homebrew contest, Entries will be accepted July 16, 2012 through August 3, 2012.

Ottawa goes from 0 homebrew competitions to 3 in 1 year and beau's is doing a pro-am brew for the best of show.

The festivals should be great, JP is working hard to get good beers up here, he's also responsible for the Beer Pairing dinners that have been going on all year here with great reviews.

I'll add a thread in the homebrew forum for the competition.

I've already purchased bracelets for the second weekend and planning on one of the sessions for the cask festival.

Should be a good time.

Tickets are up for the two sessions of the cask festival at Arrow and Loon.

$5 to get in the door.

cfrancis wrote:Tickets are up for the two sessions of the cask festival at Arrow and Loon.

$5 to get in the door.

What were the prices like last year once you got in?

This event was posted to a new thread - I moved it here so it wouldn't get lost in the churn, as there are still a lot of stickies right now...

An Evening with Stephen Beaumont
Beer and Food pairing dinner and discovery with international Beer and Food writer, Stephen Beaumont
National Hotel, 361 Queen St., Ottawa ON
The Capital Dining Room (4-diamond rating)
Friday, August 17 from 7PM
$120 per person - Advanced tickets only (60 seats total)
(admission includes a Saturday festival pass and commemorative festival mug)

Join us for an exclusive and intimate evening with Stephen Beaumont, featuring a six-course meal, paired skillfully with a special selection of craft beer, hand-picked by Stephen himself. This is a fantastic evening of discovery not to be missed.

A veteran beer writer and brewing industry observer, Stephen Beaumont is the author of seven books on beer, including his latest, The World Atlas of Beer, co-written with Tim Webb and coming to bookstores this fall. During his more than twenty years writing about beer, Stephen has contributed to publications as varied at The Globe and Mail and Playboy, Fine Cooking and Whisky Advocate. He also travels extensively, tracking down new breweries and hosting beer dinners and tastings from São Paulo, Brazil, to Helsinki, Finland, and all across North America.

Another NCCBW event that was posted in a separate thread - moved here to avoid clutter...

Sessions Cask Ale Festival
Sunday, August 12, 2012

Join us for this unique experience and savour cask conditioned ale from a multitude of Canadian craft breweries

Location: The Arrow & The Loon, 99 Fifth Avenue, Ottawa Google Map
Times: Session 1 - Noon to 4PM, Session 2 - 5PM to 9PM
Tickets (per session): Door $8, Advance $5, Only 400 tickets available per session

Tickets now on sale at the Arrow and Loon pub, 99 Fifth Ave.

http://www.nationalcapitalbeerweek.com/events.asp
There's no word yet on the brewers that will be there, I expect it'll be similar to the list of brewers at festival itself.

Anyone going to the first session at Arrow & Loon tomorrow?

I was at the evening session of the cask festival. Lots of fun stuff.

Highlights were the Double Dry Hopped Nickel Brook Headstock and Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion dry hopped with Columbus and Centennial. Can't forget Great Lakes Miami Weiss which was "fucking well hopped" according to Rob.

The FM dry hopped just ruined my taste buds for the next 5 beers I tried. Can't say I enjoyed it.

There were a ton of hops at the event. Loved it.

Dry hopped Mad Tom
Double Dry hopped Headstock
Hopped up Miami Weiss
Naughtiest Neighbor

Great event.

Heh, completely disagree. I'm just not a believer in super-hopped cask ale, don't think the format lends itself to those brews. Like I said, the FM ruined my enjoyment of more balanced beers. The Miami Weisse was completely unrecognisable. Stayed away from the Mad Tom and headstock because I just couldn't stand it anymore.

My highlights were
Kichesippi Blonde
Millstreet Whitecap
Naughtiest Neighbour (hoppy, but balanced God bless 'em)
Beau's Nightmarzen
Beau's Black Out
Flying Monkeys Lemon Earl Grey Hoptical Illusion

Anybody seen a beer list (not just breweries) for the festival this weekend? Wondering how much no-standard fare will be available.

cfrancis wrote: There were a ton of hops at the event. Loved it.

Dry Hopped Mad Tom
Double Dry Hopped Headstock
Hopped Up Miami Weiss
Naughtiest Neighbor

Great event.

Sounds awesome! Which one did you like best?