The Bar Towel

Does anyone know if the gummy bear beer is related to the gummy bear beer that was at the Toronto Beer Fest 3 or 4 years ago? I think it was under the Great Lakes tent in that one, but this time it's not.

The reason I ask is that gummy bears beer was surprisingly awesome.

So jealous...

I was at the first one in 2005... I missed it in 2006 (but bought my first home in Toronto that weekend)... 2007, 2008 and 2009 were great, but then I moved to BC.

I'm thinking the 10th year (2014) would make a nice (belated) 40th birthday event!

squeaky wrote:Does anyone know if the gummy bear beer is related to the gummy bear beer that was at the Toronto Beer Fest 3 or 4 years ago? I think it was under the Great Lakes tent in that one, but this time it's not.

The reason I ask is that gummy bears beer was surprisingly awesome.

No, they are not related. Separate beers from separate breweries. That said, I've had two different versions of Liberty's Gummi Beer and both were really good, the latter more so.

I made this google drive spreadsheet; it's pretty basic but a good start. enjoy!

Derek wrote:So jealous...

I was at the first one in 2005... I missed it in 2006 (but bought my first home in Toronto that weekend)... 2007, 2008 and 2009 were great, but then I moved to BC.

I'm thinking the 10th year (2014) would make a nice (belated) 40th birthday event!

Hoping to make it to this one, too. I've missed the last 3 inclusive of today.

I've gotta say, considering how big these events have become (they were expecting ~1700 people this afternoon alone), the guys at Volo knock this out of the park. And with what Tomas told me is in the plans for him/them in the next few months, the city's beer options are going to get a lot more awesome really soon.

session 1 was excellent. can't say enough good things.
my only negatives?
1. time to start to up the ante. we're still lagging behind what you'll find at US beer festivals. not enough insanity.
2. local breweries - i didn't have one GLB beer and there were only 2 Bellwoods beer on cask. Amsterdam had only 3, i believe. kind of thought/expected to be blown out of the water quantity-wise on the local stuff.

As was session 2. I was worried by the line up they may have sold too many tickets but it never felt overcrowded. About the only complaint would be that more washrooms are required. Oh, and if they could some how make it a little warmer

Surprisingly (at least to me), my favorites were all from the UK - the Black Betty (which went quickly), the citra ipa and the oatmeal stout. All excellent examples of their styles. I was also very impressed with the barrel aged and dry hopped ciders - although I'm not sure how dry hopping takes the normally 6% spirit tree cider to 10%!

atomeyes wrote:2. local breweries - i didn't have one GLB beer and there were only 2 Bellwoods beer on cask. Amsterdam had only 3, i believe. kind of thought/expected to be blown out of the water quantity-wise on the local stuff.

Personally, I'll take quality over quantity. Amsterdam's Full City Double Tempest was incredible.

atomeyes wrote: session 1 was excellent. can't say enough good things.

+1. My only recommendation is that more washrooms/porta potties are needed to cut down on the lines. Also, having to wait 25 minutes in the rain to get inside wasn't the greatest, and obviously cut into our drinking time. More front door staff could move things along quicker.

I thought the quality of the food and beer offerings was quite a bit better than last year. Whereas nothing really wowed me in 2012 (I went on the Sunday when half the beers ran out), the standout beers at this year's festival were truly great and the food options were vast and excellent.

Many of us commented that the Full City Tempest is right up there with Founder's Breakfast, maybe better. Amsterdam needs to bottle that shit ASAP.

Overall I had an awesome time and if they can address the front door and washroom lines next year they'll really be hitting their stride with this event.

Great event where I joined a group and wasn't able to study the list ahead of time so I just chose things that looked like they might be good and was rarely disappointed.

For me the highlight was Wells Young Courage IRS, tasting big and fresh. I've had the bottled 2011 and 2012. I'd rate the 2011 as best of the bunch for its velvety rich balanced quality. The 2012 seemed a bit over the hill frankly and with too much soy (autolytic?) character. The cask today was big and bold, similar to some good local impys I've had. I'd guess that bottle-conditioning really is the perfection of the style.

Sorry I missed the Full City Tempest mentioned above.

A Baltic porter from Quebec was soy/winy, worthy but not in the same league IMO.

My favourite beers were a pumpkin porter, Great Lakes' I think, and Hilden Twisted Hop, a brewery in Northern Ireland. A Black IPA from England, Black Betty, was very good too albeit similar to the established North American style of this beer. A number of English pale ales were excellent but quite APA in style, following our model here. I liked the Hilden because it seemed more like old school English. I am sure there were others in this vein but couldn't get to them. I was only was able to taste a tiny fraction of what was there...

Enjoyed the kangaroo sandwich which was (as the other food from reports I heard) excellent value for money.

A beautiful day enhanced the experience greatly.

Gary

I have the list before me now, so more notes. Many of these were simply tastes from others' glasses, or things I bought I didn't finish in order to try a further one.

Ilkey Brewery Milk Stout (England). This was excellent, not like Left Hand or other American ones I've had. Very rounded and flavourful.

Tiny Rebel Dirty Stop Out (England). A stout that seemed clearly coffee-flavoured. Well made but not a fan of coffee additions (or chocolate)..

St. Austell Proper Job (England). Heard a lot about Proper Job but it struck me as kind of dull.

Hockley Jaffa Cake Ale. Not for me, tasted and nosed like cake mix was blended in. I am sure others enjoyed it though.

Iron Duke Saison. Something about this didn't hit me right but I see now it is (apparently) not the regular ale but a different expression, so I didn't really have the right context for the beer.

There was also a cherry flavoured cider, wood-aged that was outstanding! It was West Ave Cherry Beach.

And finally Mill St.'s barrel aged barley wine with a lovely charred oak aftertaste.

Gary

Gary

the best part about the festival:
how 1500 people in a space can still somehow feel intimate and grass roots.
brewers talking with homebrewers talking with beer geeks, all just sort of mingling and randomly talking. there was zero elitism. it's probably one of the few events that someone could go to alone and end up talking with randoms for the entire day.

Better than the Mondiale, owing to top notch UK (and other province's) casks being poured - I thoroughly enjoyed it and $100 I spent was certainly cheaper than a flight to any of these locations

Kudos to Ralph and staff

cratez wrote:

atomeyes wrote: session 1 was excellent. can't say enough good things.

+1. My only recommendation is that more washrooms/porta potties are needed to cut down on the lines. Also, having to wait 25 minutes in the rain to get inside wasn't the greatest, and obviously cut into our drinking time. More front door staff could move things along quicker..

I'll echo these observations. I was getting worried when the rain started and we were still locked outside, but luckily they let us in before the weather got too bad. And it looked like the place was going to be packed, but it was surprisingly easy to get around, and I never had to wait long to get served.

The bathroom situation was my biggest complaint, but I did some exploring and was happy to find another facility in an adjacent building that no one else seemed to know about

So much great beer, I just wish I could have gone back on Sunday as well! The Donkey Venom and Tempest with Chilies were both standouts, but everything I tried was solid.