Toronto Beer Week 2014 - September 12th - 20th

lister · Post by **lister** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:35 pm

Cass wrote:Because I love you guys, here's the list as complete as I have it now:

We loves ya too!

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:40 pm

DarcyK wrote:
lister wrote:I hate teasing out beer lists for events (via twitter or whatever else.)

Fuck the marketing build up crap. Just post the damn lists! (Preferably before ticket sales too.) I'd like some time to figure out what I want to have ahead of time and how much cash to bring for tokens. No I won't use on-premise white box ATMs.
I find the "unveilings" to be pretty pretentious and just silly. I agree that lists should be posted. When Volo posted the list for the DDC tap takeover, I knew what I wanted to drink, how much cash to bring, and roughly how long I'd be there. I also find it odd how many breweries don't even update their sites regularly, but that's just another sign about how communications are lacking.

Speaking for myself, there's no pretentiousness at all and it's kind of insulting that you would think so. As an organizer of many beer events, getting an accurate beer lineup together is challenging - dealing with availability issues, delivery, ready-ness (in the case of new beers) and others.

Fests that I run are about the experience, not the list. Sorry if that doesn't live up to your expectations!

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:51 pm

Interesting list. I was hoping Bellwoods would have this year's BOYD available for this one, or maybe an old 25th anniversary keg from Great Lakes, but whatever. Lots of fun stuff there. I'm especially curious about the eisbock and the barrel Flanders.

napoleon · Post by **napoleon** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:11 pm

Cass wrote:Because I love you guys, here's the list as complete as I have it now:

Bellwoods Donkey Venom Brett Barrel Aged Porter

Thanks for the preview. Please make sure the Donkey Venom keg is secured to something otherwise I may attempt to lash it to my bicycle and carry it home

Looks like a fun list. I appreciate the effort...especially from the small events like the ones you put together Cass.

The only people I ever bash are the Volo people....they're in it for the money, not the love of beer. Look at Cask Days, all donated kegs, volunteer employees, and it's still $35-$45 to get in plus $10/pint. They must be raking in the cash.

lister · Post by **lister** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:16 pm

napoleon wrote:Thanks for the preview. Please make sure the Donkey Venom keg is secured to something otherwise I may attempt to lash it to my bicycle and carry it home

Good luck with that. There'll be beer geeks on you like white on rice.

groulxsome · Post by **groulxsome** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:45 pm

If anyone wanted to go to the Homebrew Tap Takeover the next day at Indie's barrel, um, place? Room? Garage? It's open to the public after the ticketed section (which is sold out) ends. $10 at 4 pm on Sunday gets you two drink tickets and a glass and a chance to try more homebrew.

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:59 pm

where do the leftover barreled beer go. I am available at 10 pm. DOn't they have to clear out for the Homebrew event?

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:21 pm

I dropped TBW stuff off at 22 places on Tuesday, and realized just how many awesome bars there are out there that I had heard nothing or very little about, so I'd encourage people to look beyond the events and at the list of participants. I'll be hitting up these slices of awesomeness: Famoso Pizzeria, Smoque n Bones, Wise Bar and Northwood.

It's amazing to see how the beer scene has flourished in this city!

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:59 pm

Bobsy wrote:I I'll be hitting up these slices of awesomeness: Famoso Pizzeria, Smoque n Bones, Wise Bar and Northwood.

It's amazing to see how the beer scene has flourished in this city!

Your search failed, please try again - BeerAdvocate.com

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:00 pm

Bobsy wrote:I I'll be hitting up these slices of awesomeness: Famoso Pizzeria, Smoque n Bones, Wise Bar and Northwood.

It's amazing to see how the beer scene has flourished in this city!

Your search failed, please try again - BeerAdvocate.com

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 7:34 am

northyorksammy wrote:
Bobsy wrote:I I'll be hitting up these slices of awesomeness: Famoso Pizzeria, Smoque n Bones, Wise Bar and Northwood.

It's amazing to see how the beer scene has flourished in this city!
Your search failed, please try again - BeerAdvocate.com

Hey Sammy - you're a sphinx-like enigma! If your message is saying that you can't find info on these places on BA I'd suggest looking for them using more traditional methods like google.

Northwood was given top new bar of 2013 by (I believe) BlogTO, Wise Bar struck me as a laid back place with a small but strong tap list, and the kitchens of the other two smelled amazing.

Knowing your personal preference for new beers, you probably wouldn't be interested in any of them, but there's more to a great bar than a constantly turning over tap list.

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:03 am

Bobsy wrote:I dropped TBW stuff off at 22 places on Tuesday, and realized just how many awesome bars there are out there that I had heard nothing or very little about, so I'd encourage people to look beyond the events and at the list of participants. I'll be hitting up these slices of awesomeness: Famoso Pizzeria, Smoque n Bones, Wise Bar and Northwood.

It's amazing to see how the beer scene has flourished in this city!

Northwood has been my de facto "local" for the past year or so. Great place and it's awesome to see them in TBW this year!

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:08 am

Bobsy wrote:
northyorksammy wrote:
Bobsy wrote: It's amazing to see how the beer scene has flourished in this city!
Your search failed, please try again - BeerAdvocate.com
H but there's more to a great bar than a constantly turning over tap list.

tell us more about what makes up a good beer bar.

grub · Post by **grub** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:28 am

napoleon wrote:The only people I ever bash are the Volo people....they're in it for the money, not the love of beer. Look at Cask Days, all donated kegs, volunteer employees, and it's still $35-$45 to get in plus $10/pint. They must be raking in the cash.

those numbers are pretty unfair. the ticket price is $35, not "$35-45". of that, $15 is recouped in the glass + tokens. the final $20 covers shuttles, beer info booklets, and cost of the venue. sounds pretty damn reasonable to me... if you want to spend an extra $10 on early access, that's your prerogative, but hardly a requirement and shouldn't be called out as a necessary part of the ticket price.

i don't know where you are getting your info, but the casks are most certainly not donated and haven't ever been AFAIK. you really think all those breweries in california, BC, the UK, etc are just giving that shit away and shipping it over for free? fuck no. I remember Ralph lamenting brewers that wanted to charge more than their kegged beer for a smaller format, and the complications and cost of importing to ontario are well known and documented. If you've been to cask days, you should understand how much time, money, and effort goes into setting up an event of that size - regardless if some of the staff are volunteers. i don't think anyone is "raking in the cash". i haven't specifically discussed that with Ralph since the move to the brickworks, but I know they LOST money on basically every other year - big time when it was at volo and they also had all their base revenue eliminated.

as for motivation, well, i can't really think of many better toronto craft beer advocates than Ralph. you're pretty off base here.

jrenihan · Post by **jrenihan** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:47 am

grub wrote: those numbers are pretty unfair. the ticket price is $35, not "$35-45". of that, $15 is recouped in the glass + tokens. the final $20 covers shuttles, beer info booklets, and cost of the venue. sounds pretty damn reasonable to me... if you want to spend an extra $10 on early access, that's your prerogative, but hardly a requirement and shouldn't be called out as a necessary part of the ticket price.

i don't know where you are getting your info, but the casks are most certainly not donated and haven't ever been AFAIK. you really think all those breweries in california, BC, the UK, etc are just giving that shit away and shipping it over for free? fuck no. I remember Ralph lamenting brewers that wanted to charge more than their kegged beer for a smaller format, and the complications and cost of importing to ontario are well known and documented. If you've been to cask days, you should understand how much time, money, and effort goes into setting up an event of that size - regardless if some of the staff are volunteers. i don't think anyone is "raking in the cash". i haven't specifically discussed that with Ralph since the move to the brickworks, but I know they LOST money on basically every other year - big time when it was at volo and they also had all their base revenue eliminated.

Not to mention the broader costs that have to be made up through ticket prices. Event rental, equipment rentals, mandatory security (this is big), etc. Nobody's raking in cash through this event.
Ren