The Bar Towel

Anyone heading to the game Monday night?

Apparently there are some new "Goose Island" locations available and potentially some craft beer too. Wonder what Goose Island brews will be available...

Here is a snippet from a recent Globe & Mail article:

Along with three flavours of beverages from Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Co., craft choices include Hockley Dark, an Ontario-made ale.

At the sabres games it's been honkers, 312 wheat, and their IPA.

The Jays' site only mentions Honkers Ale and the IPA:
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/fan ... rience.jsp

They told Ben Johnson on Twitter that they'll be available at Sections 131, 522, and the Westjet area on the 200 level.

This is great.

Any idea whether the Goose Island will be bottles or draft?

Hockley Dark

What?

How did Hockley get in but Steamwhistle not?

Great to see any craft or "crafty" options at Skydome! It was a complete washout last year after Steamwhistle was booted, was it not?

A bit OT, but: I'm going to the Raptors game later this week; first of the year. Is there any decent beer at all, or should I not even bother searching?

midlife crisis wrote:A bit OT, but: I'm going to the Raptors game later this week; first of the year. Is there any decent beer at all, or should I not even bother searching?

Best I've seen at ACC is $15 Creemore. Head to the Corks bar inside Longo's at Maple Leaf Square before the game for nice selection and well priced pints.

Massive improvement

They had the Honkers Ale and IPA on tap for $11.50 each... given the other options that are similarly priced, it's definitely worth seeking these out.

The line at the Goose Island cart in the 500-level was crazy long and the vendors were incredibly slow at serving everyone, but I don't expect this to be an issue at games other than the home opener.

ercousin wrote:Hockley Dark

What?

How did Hockley get in but Steamwhistle not?

Looking over the beer list, the vast majority of products seem to be under the InBev umbrella.

If the company has any influence over the beer selection at the stadium, they would obviously want to veto Steam Whistle's availability. In addition to directly competing with several of their core brands (e.g. Stella, Labatt 50, Keith's, etc.), Steam Whistle would attract the craft beer crowd, who would otherwise be content to stick with the existing GI offerings 95% of the time.

Hockley Dark is literally the only 'dark beer' on the menu, so it isn't really competing with anything InBev (or anyone else) offers at the moment. Let's face it... the few who would order something like Hockley Dark at a Jays game are unlikely to be very interested in anything that InBev currently has on tap in the first place (again, excepting the GI beers, but none of those are dark ales so the overlap is minimal). It's something unassuming with relatively low brand recognition (unlike, say Guinness) that Rogers Centre can add to the beer menu and say "hey look, we have a dark beer too, and it's (sort of) local!" to satisfy the small fraction of people that want dark beer at the ballpark and are willing to find the one or two concession stands that actually have it.

There are a few other non-InBev selections... Sapporo and Corona have deep enough pockets to presumably buy a spot for a couple of their labels, which they appear to have done so. The only other craft option I see is NB gluten free, which is obviously not going to be a big draw for most beer drinkers.

All just baseless speculation, of course. And good for Hockley!

The Goose Island brews were a nice treat. Once summer comes I know I'll be missing Hoegaarden again. It still annoys me you can't get it at the Rogers Centre anymore, now that they're pushing Shock Top instead.

Sweating and burning in the sun along the 1st base line during a July/August game calls for a nice wheat beer!

I'm hoping some Bar Towellers can help me on this one. I've been to a few Jays games this year and so far the only worthwhile beer I've been able to find anywhere in the Rogers Centre is the Hockley Dark in cans. I'm going to the Oakland game tonight and wondering if anyone can tell me exactly where you can get the Goose Island beers, either on tap or in bottles/cans. Your help is greatly appreciated!

cratez wrote:I'm hoping some Bar Towellers can help me on this one. I've been to a few Jays games this year and so far the only worthwhile beer I've been able to find anywhere in the Rogers Centre is the Hockley Dark in cans. I'm going to the Oakland game tonight and wondering if anyone can tell me exactly where you can get the Goose Island beers, either on tap or in bottles/cans. Your help is greatly appreciated!

I went to a game a couple months ago, I don't remember the exact section I was sitting in, but it was in the 500 levels, between home and 1st, so 519-523. There was a GI vendor in that area, little to no lineup throughout the game.

Found this from around the time of the home opener:

I don't think things have changed much since then, so that should be a good starting point for you.

Kish84 wrote:

cratez wrote:I'm hoping some Bar Towellers can help me on this one. I've been to a few Jays games this year and so far the only worthwhile beer I've been able to find anywhere in the Rogers Centre is the Hockley Dark in cans. I'm going to the Oakland game tonight and wondering if anyone can tell me exactly where you can get the Goose Island beers, either on tap or in bottles/cans. Your help is greatly appreciated!

I went to a game a couple months ago, I don't remember the exact section I was sitting in, but it was in the 500 levels, between home and 1st, so 519-523. There was a GI vendor in that area, little to no lineup throughout the game.

walz22 wrote:Found this from around the time of the home opener:
I don't think things have changed much since then, so that should be a good starting point for you.

Thanks guys. Last time I went I was directed to Section 131 by two Rogers Centre staff (and I see it's mentioned in the tweet as well), but they only had the Hockley Dark cans available. So I think I'll try 522 this time. Cheers!