Wow, blink and suddenly there’s like a billion cool beer events and news items to address. Okay, maybe not quite a billion, but a lot. Get your calendar and bank statement out, and get planning! March promises to be a pretty exciting month for beer lovers in Toronto.
Beau’s Beaver River IPA
So, if you’ve never had Beaver River, fear not! Starting on March 3rd, Beau’s awesome IPA will be available at select LCBOs in Toronto (as well as Kingston and Ottawa). It marks the start of Beau’s having their seasonal brew available alongside Lug-Tread Ale. It sounds like they will be releasing the seasonals in the same format as the current bottled Lug-Tread, the big boy bottles I love so much. Beaver River is an excellent hoppy strong IPA, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it translates to a bottle. The LCBO number is #242701, and will be available at Queen’s Quay, Summerhill, Dupont & Spadina and King & Spadina, but check before you go get some, to ensure it’s in stock. Cheers Beau’s!
An offer you can’t refuse
Speaking of Beau’s, we’ve got a few bottles of Bog Father at Castro’s. The amazing Imperial Gruit or whatever it technically is. Spicy and boozy and with a nice jager/medicinal note to it, I adore this beer. 750’s are $16.95, and won’t be there long. Get it before it’s gone! Oh and pencil in March 26th, as a possible date for our next beer tasting. I had been thinking the 12th, but with the Lackey Party I discuss below, I’m thinking the 26th might be a little better for my liver.
BB BarFly
I must admit, I’m generally a bit sceptical about kitchy type beer stuff that you will often see available at festivals etc. I don’t really care much about branded foam coolie doo-dads for my bottles, and I’m not allowed to bring home any more posters, beer mats, etc, as I’ve got a box full in my closet. So when I got a note from a guy making bottle openers, I was a bit non-plussed. Until I saw them. Crazy cool. Bottle openers in a butterfly knife handle. I can’t wait to get mine, and start using it. The good news is, that day will come soon. They are having their launch March 19th at the Amsterdam Brewery, and will have their products available around Toronto thereafter. Check out http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=162959713754370 for info on the event.
A Great Night with a Great Man and Great beer at a Great Bar.
Whoa. That’s a lot of “great”. So what’s the deal? Well, if you haven’t heard of Great Lakes brewing, you probably are a terrorist or just don’t like beer (don’t know which is worse…). Great Lakes, which is one of the oldest micro-breweries in Ontario, has been enjoying a well deserved reputation as one of the most innovative brewers in the Province. This is mainly thanks to the tireless efforts of brewmaster Mike Lackey, who has been pumping out (alone and in collaboration) some really remarkable beers, from the insanely delicious “Dude where’s my Tsar?” RIS to the questionable “Polish Sandwich Lager” (Garlic and Pepper beer). In recognition of his hard work, Ralph and the crew at Volo are planning a little party, on March 12th. The shin-dig starts at 7pm, at Volo. There is no admission fee, and all beers available will be Great Lakes brews. More info here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=139375912794122
Walk, Stagger, Crawl.
Hey, did you know that Toronto Beer Week is coming? You should, I posted about it a while back. It’s running from September 16th-24th, and is going to be an awesome time. That means that the six month count-down mark is fast approaching. To start all of our training, the hard-working kids on the TBW planning committee have organized a pair of events to help us warm-up. March 19th will see two pub crawls taking place in Toronto. Cass Enright and Rob Smyes will be hosting the Downtown crawl, starting at the Queen and Beaver, and hitting the Three Brewers, Duggan’s, bierbistro, and C’est What?. Troy Burtch and Nick Pashley will be hosting the Annex/Kensington wander, starting at Cloak and Dagger, then hitting Caplansky’s, The Victory, Burger Bar, and the Harbord House. I’m planning on joining the Annex walk then heading down to the BB BarFly party at Amsterdam. No admission fees, you just need to pay for your beers. Lots of fun and great beers to be had. Full details here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=189584624415726
Project X
Lastly (and actually happening very soon), is this month’s Project X at Great Lakes. It’s March 10th, and starts at 7pm, if I recall. No more info at the moment, but when available, details will be here: http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/index.php/2011/02/23/project-x-mar-10-2011/
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