The Bar Towel

gonna try very hard to be here (there)

Chatted with Ralph again this weekend and we wanted to make it clear that this is not going to be Cask Days Pt 2. It is nowhere near on that scale. He is encouraging as many Ontario micros as possible to do a brand new beer (not a "tweak" of an existing one) in cask form (so far he has a few maybes - he said he is hoping for 4). He'd tap them Thursday and they would be on all weekend - so it is not an event like the last one but three or four days where you know you'll be able to wander in to Volo an get new interesting Ontario Cask beer. The timeframe I heard was May 25th-28th. Again, this is not official, just what I heard.

And speaking of Volo, I got to try the Phillips Black Toque and it was really really good. Tons of hops, yet light enough to sip on the patio. I've had the Amnesiac and regular IPA before - Phillips has jumped near the top of my list of favourite Canadian micros.

Also sampled the Southern Tier Java Stout and it was immense - let this one sit for a bit, as it is boozy, but man, is it also flavourful. I'll be ending a few Volo sessions with this one this summer I'm sure...

Oh, and the Hop Bomb on cask was in fine form Saturday as well - Ken continues to make a really wonderful hoppy cask beer.

From http://www.barvolo.com , just so you don't have to rely on my speculation:

"Volo Spring Cask Situation - Update - "Its not a festival, it's a situation". Volo will be hosting a cask beer event featuring four local brewers. That makes it a multicasking event! (..yeah i know). We've almost got our brewers finalized. The date is still yet to be determined, we anticipate late may or early june. Stay tuned."

Please, please, please don't do it on a date and time in June that conflicts with an England World Cup match. I can't deal with that amount of split focus.

Looks like this has firmed up a bit more with a date and brewers (again from the Volo website):

"Volo Spring Cask Situation - May 26 - "Its not a festival, it's a situation". Volo will be hosting a cask beer event featuring four unique casks made for the occasion by four local brewers. That makes it a multicasking event! (yeah i know). The brewerys are: Mill St., St. Andre, Scotch Irish and Black Oak"

I'm surprised at the date of May 26th. This is the date of C'est What's Spring Beer Festival, and I know there are some exciting things planned for that event. Hope this conflict can be resolved.

Cass, as I said earlier, what I got from Ralph was that he is tapping 4 casks and they will be on all weekend (or as long as they last). It is not an event per say, just a heads up that there will be 4 new casks on at Volo May 26th. I don't see this myself as being a conflict; C'est What's festival is an event, this is a new tap list.

Again, I don't speak for Volo; these are just my thoughts on the subject.

This is the date of C'est What's Spring Beer Festival, and I know there are some exciting things planned for that event

Perhaps in another thread someone can explain what exciting things are planned? I haven't really heard anything about this event except the date.

Cass wrote:I'm surprised at the date of May 26th. This is the date of C'est What's Spring Beer Festival, and I know there are some exciting things planned for that event. Hope this conflict can be resolved.

It's not much of a conflict for several of us since we've sworn to never step foot in C'Est What again. But since people will have at least 2 days to go to Volo to sample the casks then I don't think it will be an issue.

[quote="BlankboyIt's not much of a conflict for several of us since we've sworn to never step foot in C'Est What again. But since people will have at least 2 days to go to Volo to sample the casks then I don't think it will be an issue.[/quote]

And it also means more lovely cask ale for us C'est What abstainers I can't really see how a 1 evening happening at C'est WHAT is going to conflict with a 4 day situation at Volo. Roll on May!!!

Hello Towelers and Towelettes

Ralph's brother in law here.

Volo's cask "situation" isn't really a "festival" as such, its going to be a pretty modest affair -- more of a showcase really -- spanning three days. We are aware of C'est Whats event, however our scheduling options are limited and we didn't think it would be much of a conflict since both are doable over that period. We were late in announcing and now realize that it might become problematic, so, we're going to push the dates to Sat the 27th to 29th. Its going to be a long weekend

cheerio
-carl

its a long weekend inthe USA not here

I guess I would try to stop by Saturday near close

That's great...C'est What? spring event on Friday, Volo on Saturday...almost two weeks before World Cup...suits me fine.

Now do we want to schedule an unofficial Bartowel gathering at Volo for Saturday afternoon? Say around 1pm? Or should we have an evening gathering starting around 6pm?

I'm partial to the afternoon as I'm expecting the patio will be in full effect by then!

I may have missed it, will the casks be tapped in the day or evening? An afternoon on the patio at Volo could be just the thing if the weather cooperates.

I've had my share of bad service at C'est What? but I'm curious as to why a group of BarTowellers have vowed never to return. What's up?