Cask Ale Crawl - Fri Apr 3rd to Sun Apr 5th

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:31 pm

CASK! presents
CASK ALE CRAWL
Friday, April 3rd - Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Gather your friends and join the Cask Ale Crawl - an informal trail around six of Toronto’s best cask ale pubs. There is no fixed schedule or sequence, and no admission charge, just show up at each pub and sample the specially selected cask conditioned ales that will be on offer, with up to 15 different cask ales available in total. Pick up a festival passport at any participating pub and collect stamps at each stop to be entered into a prize draw.

The event runs all weekend, starting on Friday April 3rd at 5:00 P.M. until Sunday April 5th (at each pub’s discretion and while supplies last). Participating pubs include C’est What (67 Front Street East), Granite Brewery (245 Eglinton Avenue East), Mill Street Brewpub (55 Mill Street, Building 63), Rhino (1249 Queen Street West), Victory Café (581 Markham Street) and Volo (587 Yonge Street). All pubs on the Crawl are accessible via TTC. The final list of beers available at each pub will be posted on the CASK! website nearer the time.

[NOTE: Volo will only be participating the Crawl on Friday & Saturday due to their own Ontario IPA/Pale Ale Cask Challenge on Sunday.]

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:13 am

This is what Volo is offering:

Volo will be serving the following casks for the Pub Crawl on Friday, April 3rd : Maclean's Organic Ale * C'est What Chocolate Hazelnut Ale * Neustadt Texas Tea Stout * Grand River Russian Gun Imperial Stout. *

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:08 am

This weekend of cask is going to be EPIC! These are the beers that C'est What? will be offering: Al's Cask Ale, Durham Hop Head, Grand River Curmudgeon IPA and Plowman's Ale, and Neustadt Big Dog Porter.

I hope all you guys will be coming out in force to support this event. I've seen threads about the beer week down in Philly, and I can't help but think that the cask weekend and the Volo IPA challenge could be an embryonic form of that. Not only could a successful weekend show brewers and publicans that there is a demand for cask ale, but it add to the burgeoning evidence that there is a pent up demand for beer events, which in turn will lead to growth of the local scene.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:21 pm

EDIT: Beer list has changed - see new post below.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:37 pm

GregClow wrote: Nickel Brook Sour Cherry Ale

Cheers for posting Greg! I wonder if the sour cherry is the uniek kriek, or if its an actual sour.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:36 pm

There have been a couple of changes to the list of beers for the Cask Ale Crawl. Here is what should be the final list - although as with any event of this sort, last minute changes are always possible:

Granite Brewery:
Granite Best Bitter Special
Granite IPA
Granite Hopping Mad

Mill St. Brewpub:
Mill St. IPA

C’est What:
County Durham Hop Addict
County Durham Hop Head
Grand River Curmudgeon IPA
Grand River Plowman’s Ale
Neustadt Big Dog Porter

Rhino:
County Durham ESB
Black Oak Pale Ale
Cheshire Valley Dry Stout

Victory Cafe:
Compass Starlight Ale
County Durham Signature Ale
Nickel Brook Sour Cherry Ale

Volo:
C’est What Chocolate Hazelnut Ale
Grand River Russian Gun Imperial Stout
MacLean’s Country Organic Ale
Neustadt Texas Tea Stout

We've also created a Facebook event, for those who would like to sign up as attending.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:09 am

GregClow wrote:We've also created a Facebook event, for those who would like to sign up as attending.

Attending!

Some really nice beers here, and it will be excellent to try many in cask form. I'll definitely be hitting C'est What (before and after my fantasy baseball draft) on Sat., and the Rhino (around the corner from my place), and probably Volo on Fri. I'll try to fit the others in, but it's going to be a busy weekend.

Most looking forward to: the rare appearance of Hop Addict on cask, the always beautiful Hop Head, the Grand River stuff, the Black Oak Dry Stout, and the MacLean's Organic. It's gonna be good times...

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:08 pm

For those going to The Rhino, please feel free to give the bartenders (with the exception of Ryan) some friendly pointers on how to pour a cask beer.
Apparently they've been told to pump away with reckless abandon, leaving the nozzle in the beer even as they're pushing back on the handle, leaving a mass of foam in the pint.

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:35 pm

Malcolm wrote:For those going to The Rhino, please feel free to give the bartenders (with the exception of Ryan) some friendly pointers on how to pour a cask beer.
Apparently they've been told to pump away with reckless abandon, leaving the nozzle in the beer even as they're pushing back on the handle, leaving a mass of foam in the pint.

Depending on the beer, leaving the nozzle in the beer is the correct way to pull a pint of cask. Maybe the servers just need to be told to pull the handle slow and easy, creating as little turbulence as possible.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:54 pm

Torontoblue wrote:
Depending on the beer, leaving the nozzle in the beer is the correct way to pull a pint of cask. Maybe the servers just need to be told to pull the handle slow and easy, creating as little turbulence as possible.

Slow and easy would help. I've wondered about the in\out way of cask pouring. A couple of bartenders at C'est What told me the proper way is to pull it out of the beer, so the beer doesn't get sucked back up the tube.
Either way, the speed of the pull makes all the difference.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:33 pm

Posts speculating about the Cheshire Valley beer have been removed from this thread, as the tone of a couple of posts was starting to veer off into an accusatory direction that I found concerning.

I apologize if this smacks of censorship, as that is definitely not my intention. I just want to avoid getting anyone in trouble.

I'm going to email the responsible brewer to get his perspective on this, and to see if he's OK with his identity being revealed. In the meantime, I'd appreciate if even speculation be avoided. I don't want Bar Towel chatter to lead to a brewer getting into trouble with the AGCO. I assume (or at least hope) that everyone else here feels the same way.

tupalev · Post by **tupalev** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:25 am

Posts speculating about the Cheshire Valley beer have been removed from this thread, as the tone of a couple of posts was starting to veer off into an accusatory direction that I found concerning.

I apologize if this smacks of censorship, as that is definitely not my intention. I just want to avoid getting anyone in trouble.

I'm going to email the responsible brewer to get his perspective on this, and to see if he's OK with his identity being revealed. In the meantime, I'd appreciate if even speculation be avoided. I don't want Bar Towel chatter to lead to a brewer getting into trouble with the AGCO. I assume (or at least hope) that everyone else here feels the same way.

Thank goodness for a friggin voice of reason.

Do you folks not get it? A lot of people, including LCBO and government types, read the nonsense we post on here! It is like some want to get brewers in shit and hinder future creativity just so they can satisfy their hardy boys internet sleuthing instincts. If you like the craft brewers in this Province grow up and show some restraint.

Sorry for continuing to chat about this just a bit more Greg, I made sure not to mention specifics, feel free to delete this part of the post though if you like.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to this as I was not expecting to be in town for it. I'll be at the Rhino Saturday afternoon pre-TFC home Opener and then at Volo for dinner Saturday evening to try the various casks on offer. I think I'll skip the Carlsberg at BMO Field in between

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:29 am

No problem, Jeff.

And I heard back from the brewer, who gave me the go-ahead to reveal the details:

It's Paul Dickey of Pepperwood and Black Oak. Here's what he has to say:

"Yes Cheshire Valley is me and you can attribute it to me. As you know, I am the Associate brewer at Black Oak and I am exploring developing my own brand at Black Oak - similar to what Doug Pengelly or Michael Hancock are doing at Cool. So it is a contract brewer's creation which has been brewed on a pilot basis at Black Oak."

Mystery solved. Thanks for your patience, everyone.

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:02 am

I'll be at Volo after work on Friday. Hope to see some of the familiar faces.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:25 am

Cass wrote:I'll be at Volo after work on Friday. Hope to see some of the familiar faces.

I'll be there from about 4:30!