Cask Ale Crawl 2010 - May 7-9

TwoPint · Post by **TwoPint** » Sun May 09, 2010 11:15 am

God bless the Rhino but my delightful server yesterday explained cask to a table of young women with these words: "It's a warm, flat beer." They passed.

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Sun May 09, 2010 12:08 pm

TwoPint wrote:God bless the Rhino but my delightful server yesterday explained cask to a table of young women with these words: "It's a warm, flat beer." They passed.

I'd be absolutely livid if I was her boss; she obviously knows sod all about cask ale. It's servers like her that will hold back people trying cask for the first time; shocking!!!

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Sun May 09, 2010 12:53 pm

Torontoblue wrote:
TwoPint wrote:God bless the Rhino but my delightful server yesterday explained cask to a table of young women with these words: "It's a warm, flat beer." They passed.
I'd be absolutely livid if I was her boss; she obviously knows sod all about cask ale. It's servers like her that will hold back people trying cask for the first time; shocking!!!

Yeah, I wouldn't be too happy. You have to wonder about proper training sometimes.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sun May 09, 2010 3:40 pm

Sigh. Sadly, I'm not surprised - while Chris at The Rhino is a big proponent of cask beer (and craft beer in general), they do absolutely NOTHING in the way of staff training. I've lost count of the number of times I've asked what the cask beer is & when it was tapped, and the server has no idea about either, so I just ask for a small taste and order a pint if it seems OK.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sun May 09, 2010 4:16 pm

GregClow wrote:Sigh. Sadly, I'm not surprised - while Chris at The Rhino is a big proponent of cask beer (and craft beer in general), they do absolutely NOTHING in the way of staff training. I've lost count of the number of times I've asked what the cask beer is & when it was tapped, and the server has no idea about either, so I just ask for a small taste and order a pint if it seems OK.

Yeah, business as usual at the Rhino. I have a real love/hate relationship with that place. I've had that same experience(s) about 50% of the time here. I was there this past Wed. and when I asked what was on cask, the server said incredulously "What's that?" and leaned in as if she hadn't heard me correctly. I repeated, "I was just wondering what's on cask at the moment", and she stared at me as if I was speaking a different language for a few seconds, frowned, shook her head and said kind of curtly "I have no idea" and not as if she had no idea what was on cask, but had no idea what this "cask" even was. She did go and check and returned to tell me that it was "the Extra Special Bitter or Headstrong", which, luckily, I was aware from experience were the Durham ESB and Headstrong Pale respectively.

They REALLY need to step up their game in server knowledge. Servers should at the very least be aware that the bar carries cask ale. Not everyone orders pitchers of Steam Whistle, ya know... It is frustrating because the bar has the potential to be a great destination - above average tap selection, cask, and a massive (though often hit and miss re: availability) and superbly priced bottle list. I don't go there nearly as often as I would if I were not made to feel like a moron half the time when asking what is on cask, and it's 5 minutes from my apt.

I should clarify, this is not really an issue of you sit at the bar, but when you're in a small group, or feel like sitting in the window or on the patio, it's caveat emptor when it comes to cask at the Rhino. Like Greg emoted,

Things went relatively smoothly this weekend for the Cask Crawl, though, and I have a feeling it helped staff immensely that the customer was presented with a menu of what was on cask. All the casks (with the exception of the Grand River Plowman's) were in fine form.

As an aside, I've had one of my best beer experiences and one of my worst at the Rhino. The best was back in November, an unseasonably warm Saturday, early aft, sitting on the patio in the sunshine with my brother and having my first taste of Black Oak's 10 Bitter Years. Pure bliss. The worst (which unsurprisingly involved cask) was a few years ago, a friend who I was trying to introduce to cask came along with me and we ordered a Hop Head each. It smelled so strongly of rotten eggs and tasted not much better, I nearly threw up in my mouth with the first sip... Needless to say, he's once-bitten, twice shy regarding cask ale since then.

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Sun May 09, 2010 4:54 pm

bring up their taps too
I had the 10 bitter there and didnt like it as much as I had at Volo

TwoPint · Post by **TwoPint** » Sun May 09, 2010 7:16 pm

On the bright side, the server was wonderful and can bring me $4.95 pints of cask any time.

barVolo · Post by **barVolo** » Mon May 10, 2010 11:08 am

Black Oak Ten Bitter Years*
Grand River Mill Race Mild
Beau's Screaming Beaver*
Wellington Russian Imperial Stout*

* = beers served in 300mL glassware

The following beers are still available tonight at barVolo and will be part of the Monday $5.00 Pint Night . Please visit www.barvolo.com for the daily tap lineup which includes tonight's availability. Cheers!

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Mon May 10, 2010 2:03 pm

A friend of mine was at The Rhino Friday night and said that there was absolutely nothing displayed to alert the general public that there was a cask festival. He didn't actually know about it so when he asked the manager, she pulled out a brochure from UNDER the counter.

I rarely drink pints there anymore. I'm almost certain they don't clean their lines. Chris has to go as the beer guy there.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Mon May 10, 2010 2:17 pm

We were at the Rhino on friday and there were a number casks behind the bar... but I guess if you weren't looking for a seat, you might have missed them.

They were incredibly busy, so service was lacking (our order nachos took over an hour).

They did have the 8% Beaver for $6.50 a pint! (which may not be the best idea for a crawl).

A · Post by A » Mon May 10, 2010 2:37 pm

I dont know why you are all complaining about the Rhino service - its a West End bar! That's what the west end is all about - crappy disaffected service for cheap prices surrounded by hotties

Tried the Mill Race Mild and Screaming Beaver at Volo on saturday. Mill Race Mild is one of my favourite beers and I suspected (correctly) that it would be really good on cask. Screaming Beaver was pretty good too - I have to assume the name for this was a poke at the old Copperhead Screaming Beaver (aka one of the worst beers at one of the worst breweries ever, located in Ottawa and I can only assume long since gone under)

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Mon May 10, 2010 2:58 pm

Ha! I could look past the sloppy service if I could be assured a fresh pint, even at a higher price. As noted above, a pint at the Rhino always tastes different than the same pint elsewhere.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon May 10, 2010 11:29 pm

Malcolm wrote:Chris has to go as the beer guy there.

Considering that he's a member of the family that owns the place, I don't see that happening.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue May 11, 2010 2:17 pm

No, I don't either. But that's the problem with the place. The family. They seem stuck in inertia when it comes to doing any improvements to the place. No staff training, inconsistent beer, no bussers, bare wires haging down, floods in the basement.

That place could be a goldmine, a proper beer palace in Parkdale with some forward-thinking owners.