The idea of saving a pin for session 3 is a good one in theory but not very practical for a variety of reasons, the biggest one (I assume) is the amount of time, money, and effort it takes to get them in. That might be reasonable for some of the Ontario ones, but I can’t see it happening. I missed out on more than a couple I wanted to try even being at session one, and two. The same thing happens at Mondial every year, popular beers sell out early. A partial solution might have been for the out of province beers to cost more tokens to reflect the added cost, but then we would have people complaining about the cost. I thought the offer of compensation was quite generous actually. I doubt some other festivals would have done it.
It is unfortunate that the selection was a bit limited for session three, but that has always been the case at the previous venues despite their best efforts to hold some back. To be honest while I know I would have the same complaints if I were in that situation but I don’t have that much sympathy. I knew that was a risk, so I spent half an hour on my lunch break at work, smartphone in one hand, typing on the keyboard with the other to make sure I got Session 1 tickets, and then I bought Session 2 tickets after seeing the beer list! I planned my calendar around Cask Days for over a month, and bailed on a Halloween party to be able to do Session 2. I got there almost an hour early (would have been earlier if we hadn’t just missed a bus at Davisville!) and waited in line in the rain for Session 1. I almost bought Session 3 tickets and decided that might be excessive.
Pros:
- Aside from a few notably not great ones I thought the overall quality of the beer was very good, and steadily improving over the years.
- Surprises. Some of my favorites of the day were not ones I would have expected.
- Venue worked really well I thought. The rain put a bit of a damper on things for Session 1 but that just meant shorter lines out there! I was actually warmer than I was last year since I dressed more appropriately (long underwear for the win!). Personally I would show up if it was in a plain old arena/warehouse etc. but I think the Brick Works definitely made it unique, and helped it appeal to a broader crowd.
- Shuttle busses worked great! I took the Davisville bus in the morning and then the shuttle between sessions, and at the end of the night back to Broadview. The one at the end of the night was a bit louder
- Food was great. The Hogtown Charcuterie pork sandwich was phenomenal, and a ton of my friends got one. I also quite enjoyed the pretzels. I thought they were all pretty reasonably priced considering a) the quality and b) being at an event.
Cons
- Beers running out/ getting switched off. Personally I would have got more of my “must tries” if they had just left them all available but obviously that wouldn’t have been great for non-session one goers.
- Bathrooms. Session 1 was fine I thought. The men’s room line got a bit silly during the middle of Session 2 though since one set of indoor washrooms was closed. I gather that that was a Brick Works decision not a Cask Days decision but it doesn’t make much sense.
- Dear Beck Taxi; Thank you for saving me a $30 cab ride home, the shuttle and TTC got me home nicely thanks. I had hoped to take a quick taxi ride up Bayview instead… but telling potential customers that you won’t send taxis because there are too many people that want a taxi is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.
- I’m apparently too ugly to be in any of the pictures!
