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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Cask Days - Oct 24-26, 2014
Great event. I brought a rookie with me this year. He had a good time. I managed to have 21 of 41 beers that I wanted to try. I didn't drink enough water so I tapered off towards the end.
The pre-admitting and pre-purchasing of tokens was excellent. No time wasted getting in. Nice to know I'm not the only consistent early-bird to events. In the early hour I managed to get done my California selections. The crowd size for that early session was good. With the weather on Saturday afternoon being mostly good it wasn't as uncomfortable moving around inside. More seating was available which was good.
Didn't have any washroom delays. The first visit was the outside washrooms where I was the third person in line. I tried again later but the lineup was significantly longer. I tried the indoor Brickworks ones and that took no longer than five minutes. Maybe figure out a way to get more portapotties to minimize the wasted time waiting in line for those that had that issue.
I seriously thought about the Sunday session but wound up being productive at home. If the same format is done next year, a Sunday visit will likely happen.
Great venue though I still hate the location. There was some chatter in line about where to go if the event gets bigger... Skydome!
The pre-admitting and pre-purchasing of tokens was excellent. No time wasted getting in. Nice to know I'm not the only consistent early-bird to events. In the early hour I managed to get done my California selections. The crowd size for that early session was good. With the weather on Saturday afternoon being mostly good it wasn't as uncomfortable moving around inside. More seating was available which was good.
Didn't have any washroom delays. The first visit was the outside washrooms where I was the third person in line. I tried again later but the lineup was significantly longer. I tried the indoor Brickworks ones and that took no longer than five minutes. Maybe figure out a way to get more portapotties to minimize the wasted time waiting in line for those that had that issue.
I seriously thought about the Sunday session but wound up being productive at home. If the same format is done next year, a Sunday visit will likely happen.
Great venue though I still hate the location. There was some chatter in line about where to go if the event gets bigger... Skydome!
lister
A great time as always. Loved the early admission, and selfishly hoped it would never end
That being said, I found the crowd extremely manageable and there was barely any waits to get up to the serving areas.
As an event organizer myself, it's always challenging to get the correct # of porta-potties for something like this. Not to get too crude but they might want to consider a walk-through "trough" that Beau's had at Oktoberfest. It's a small footprint and gets the boys though quickly.
Oh, and the beer was pretty good too
That being said, I found the crowd extremely manageable and there was barely any waits to get up to the serving areas.
As an event organizer myself, it's always challenging to get the correct # of porta-potties for something like this. Not to get too crude but they might want to consider a walk-through "trough" that Beau's had at Oktoberfest. It's a small footprint and gets the boys though quickly.
Oh, and the beer was pretty good too
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- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2009
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
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- Beer Superstar
- Posts: 2009
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
- Location: Toronto
The answer should be to figure out what formula they use in the U.S. and apply it here. Beer Fests and Music Festivals seem to be chronically under-serviced with porta-potties in Canada. In contrast, never seems to be a problem in the states.Cass wrote:A great time as always. Loved the early admission, and selfishly hoped it would never end
That being said, I found the crowd extremely manageable and there was barely any waits to get up to the serving areas.
As an event organizer myself, it's always challenging to get the correct # of porta-potties for something like this. Not to get too crude but they might want to consider a walk-through "trough" that Beau's had at Oktoberfest. It's a small footprint and gets the boys though quickly.
Oh, and the beer was pretty good too
Ah, if only all Canadian fests can be like their American counterparts in so many ways...A wrote:The answer should be to figure out what formula they use in the U.S. and apply it here. Beer Fests and Music Festivals seem to be chronically under-serviced with porta-potties in Canada. In contrast, never seems to be a problem in the states.Cass wrote:A great time as always. Loved the early admission, and selfishly hoped it would never end
That being said, I found the crowd extremely manageable and there was barely any waits to get up to the serving areas.
As an event organizer myself, it's always challenging to get the correct # of porta-potties for something like this. Not to get too crude but they might want to consider a walk-through "trough" that Beau's had at Oktoberfest. It's a small footprint and gets the boys though quickly.
Oh, and the beer was pretty good too
It comes down to accessible space (to move in-and-out easily) & of course cost with porta-potties. There's a lot of extra space at the Brick Works because clearly the parking lots aren't being used to capacity as it's a beer festival. So the decision is then one of cost. PPs are likely more expensive here (as are most things) than the U.S., so organizers feel they get can away with fewer & save the money at the expense of a slightly sub-optimal experience. That's the Canadian way, not just Cask Days.
Hence my reco of a trough, it would be good value with a high return of guest satisfaction
Seemed like parking was at a premium when I was in line. Lots of people who were just there for the farmer's market and such wondering what we were all lined up for.Cass wrote:Ah, if only all Canadian fests can be like their American counterparts in so many ways...A wrote:The answer should be to figure out what formula they use in the U.S. and apply it here. Beer Fests and Music Festivals seem to be chronically under-serviced with porta-potties in Canada. In contrast, never seems to be a problem in the states.Cass wrote:A great time as always. Loved the early admission, and selfishly hoped it would never end
That being said, I found the crowd extremely manageable and there was barely any waits to get up to the serving areas.
As an event organizer myself, it's always challenging to get the correct # of porta-potties for something like this. Not to get too crude but they might want to consider a walk-through "trough" that Beau's had at Oktoberfest. It's a small footprint and gets the boys though quickly.
Oh, and the beer was pretty good too
It comes down to accessible space (to move in-and-out easily) & of course cost with porta-potties. There's a lot of extra space at the Brick Works because clearly the parking lots aren't being used to capacity as it's a beer festival. So the decision is then one of cost. PPs are likely more expensive here (as are most things) than the U.S., so organizers feel they get can away with fewer & save the money at the expense of a slightly sub-optimal experience. That's the Canadian way, not just Cask Days.
Hence my reco of a trough, it would be good value with a high return of guest satisfaction
It's tough with that space, I can see why it's a bit of a struggle. The problem seems to me they want to limit the access a little bit, meaning they can't just scatter PPs all over the place, they want segregated areas for them. They could maybe do something in the area the ciders were or maybe in back where I assume the pinball machines were, but that's all predicated on brickworks actually letting them put them indoors, which they might not.
Ah, sorry, you're completely right. I was basing my note on Friday night when I went. At that time the side parking lot near the Cask Days main entrance did have quite a bit of space and could have easily had more PPs.Craig wrote:Seemed like parking was at a premium when I was in line. Lots of people who were just there for the farmer's market and such wondering what we were all lined up for.Cass wrote:Ah, if only all Canadian fests can be like their American counterparts in so many ways...A wrote: The answer should be to figure out what formula they use in the U.S. and apply it here. Beer Fests and Music Festivals seem to be chronically under-serviced with porta-potties in Canada. In contrast, never seems to be a problem in the states.
It comes down to accessible space (to move in-and-out easily) & of course cost with porta-potties. There's a lot of extra space at the Brick Works because clearly the parking lots aren't being used to capacity as it's a beer festival. So the decision is then one of cost. PPs are likely more expensive here (as are most things) than the U.S., so organizers feel they get can away with fewer & save the money at the expense of a slightly sub-optimal experience. That's the Canadian way, not just Cask Days.
Hence my reco of a trough, it would be good value with a high return of guest satisfaction
It's tough with that space, I can see why it's a bit of a struggle. The problem seems to me they want to limit the access a little bit, meaning they can't just scatter PPs all over the place, they want segregated areas for them. They could maybe do something in the area the ciders were or maybe in back where I assume the pinball machines were, but that's all predicated on brickworks actually letting them put them indoors, which they might not.
I agree, one or two of those would have made a significant difference in "throughput". Access to the indoor bathrooms seemed to be wildly variable, as were the lines at the porta-potties.Cass wrote: Not to get too crude but they might want to consider a walk-through "trough" that Beau's had at Oktoberfest. It's a small footprint and gets the boys though quickly.
In general, if the line takes long enough that I go from "I have to pee" to "I think my bladder is going to explode" before the front of the line then there's not enough toilets In terms of cost, I'm betting they actually lost $5+ per person in sales due to toilet lineups so a few more toilets would have at least broken even! It's not something they have total control over though either unfortunately.
Toilets aside I had a great time again at Sessions 1 & 2. The space was great as always and showed the work everyone puts into decorating. Had a lot of solid beers, though I have to confess that most of my highlights were from Ontario and Quebec. (I personally wish California would stop ruining good IPAs with hot peppers - in general, not just at Cask Days - but some people enjoy that.) We bailed on the Sunday session in favour of sleeping late but I heard it was excellent.
We went back for seconds of the sandwiches at Porchetta. Om nom nom!