Check out the OCB website where you can answer 5 questions and get a customized list of great OCB Beers (including their LCBO Codes - so you can go to your neighbourhood store and find it!). Each beer is custom picked for the TYPE OF OCB BEER PERSONALITY you are!
Have fun - and let us know what you think!!!

Posted by Lisa in Brewmasters

If you’re looking for a great way to spend Saturday afternoon, please allow me to suggest the Old Toronto Beer Tour…

Did you know that in the late 1800s there were 13 competing breweries in Toronto?

Now that you do, aren’t you wondering what might be left of them? The truth is that there are a couple of brewery façades in the city but you have to know where to look… alternately you’re welcome to join myself or Oliver “the ambassador of beer” Dawson as we guide you through a 6-hour beer tour of Toronto!

During the day, we’ll tell you all about the brewing history of Ontario, starting from the first settlers right through to the craft beer movement of the 80s. We will visit a number of beer landmarks throughout the day. Of course we will also take you on brewery tours and provide guided tastings of many local Ontario Craft Beers. At the end of the day, you are free to either wander the Distillery District, home to the fabulous Mill St. Brewery, or crown the day’s events with a fabulous four-course meal at The Granite Brewery (beer included!).

To find out more, click here, or e-mail us at: beerloverstour.com@sympatico.ca

Posted by Mirella in History, Summer Plans, Tourism, Granite Brewery, Mill Street

Last year, I had the pleasure of sitting beside Chris Elliot (District Manager for the LCBO) at a Beer Guys & Gals training session. The LCBO “Beer Guys & Gals” are the brilliant group of people that the LCBO employs and trains to help and to empower YOU beer lovers to explore the ever-expanding beer section at the LCBO. When Chris and I met, we talked about having some of his store managers ‘live in the shoes of an OCB brewer for a day’….. well…. as we all know – time fly’s by and we pulled the day together just last week!

The OCB hosted the Chris Elliot and 15 of his managers from District 11 (Mississauga/Oakville/Burlington). The group visited 5 OCB breweries: Cameron’s Brewing Company, Black Oak Brewing Company, Great Lakes Brewery, Nickel Brook Beers, and Trafalgar Brewing Company.

Attendees spent the morning at these breweries and enjoyed a brewery tour, a quick sampling of some of OCB beer… and then it was time to work!! Though not all the breweries were brewing that day…. there’s never a shortage of work to be done! Attendees were put to work doing quality checks (with some sampling of beer in the early stages of ‘brewing’ cycle), Kettles were scrubbed… and so much more. Not to worry though – fun was had by all!

Following a morning of work, the group were invited by Mike Arnold of Trafalgar brewing to enjoy chef George’s great food at The Tide House! Everyone enjoyed a fantastic meal, with food made with beer (the chilli is my personal favourite!) along with a beer matching (who can resist the Maple Beer?!).  The OCB shared some insight as to all the exciting things happening this summer – including the OCB’s Discovery Pack re-launch!
 

The OCB was really pleased to have Chris and his team visit a few of our breweries for the day! I always say that the best way to experience the OCB is to visit the brewery first hand! Thank you Chris for your enthusiasm and for your continued support as the OCB builds our partnership with the LCBO!

Enjoy a couple of photo’s from the day – we hope to see some of Chris’s team ‘jump on this blog’ and share some of their experiences from the day!
Cheers!

Relaxing after a day’s work at an OCB Brewery!

Trafalgar Chef: George

LCBO’s Chris Elliot

Posted by Lisa in Brewmasters, Great Lakes, Ontario Craft Brewers, OCB, Black Oak, Trafalgar Brewing, Nickel Brook, Cameron's

Howdy all,

Well, somehow we all survived the trip to San Diego for the Annual Craft Brewers Conference. Don’t ask me how…especially with a daytrip to Tijuana thrown in for good measure.

Anetta, Peter, Mike and I all made the trek down and were joined by a bunch of our fellow OCB members. The brave souls included John from Church Key, the two Jason’s from Cameron’s, George from F&M, Doug from St. Andre’s, Steve and Matt from Beau’s, and some other familiar faces including Chris from the Rhino (great bar at Queen & Dufferin), Paul from Pepperwood Bistro in Burlington, and Mirella from Beerology. Quite a crew!

We attended a number of interesting seminars, none of which were better than one called “Thinking Outside the Pumpkin” with the three wise men from the US: David Buhler from Elysian, Marty Jones from Oskar Blues, and Greg Koch from Stone. Not only the most inspring seminar, but by far the funniest too. We listened to their stories and those from the audience on how to get attention from consumers and the media by, well, thinking outside the pumpkin. So stay tuned for some fun Great Lakes events in the future (such as our Orange Peel Ale release party…more info to come).

The highlight of the trip for me was visiting Stone in Escondido. It was the Disneyland of breweries. Unbelievable. I was fortunate enough to go twice, once for the opening reception with 1500 other brewers, and secondly for a private tour and lunch on their ridiculous patio. If you’re ever anywhere even remotely close to this place, you owe it to yourself to stop in for a visit.

All in all, it was an amazing trip, and it has inspired me to get in touch with our customers more than ever while continuing to brew great beer. Stay tuned for a Great Lakes blog page where we’ll have lots of fresh news…

Posted by John Bowden, Great Lakes in Great Lakes

Hello friends,

Following last month’s infamous Dark Cherry Lager Cask, this month’s Cameron’s ‘Let’s Drink the Cask Night’ will be on Thursday April 24th, from 6:00 - 8:00pm

Cameron’s Cask Nights are a casual and intimate monthly event at the brewery. The guestlist only event is free of charge and mainly a chance for us to share a glass of our latest creation with our friends, supporters and our local community.

For those who have not been to the brewery before, this is a great chance to meet the folks behind the scenes and to tour our facility.   As well, it’s a great time to pick up some brewery fresh Cameron’s beer.

We will be tapping the Cask at approximately 6:15pm.

Whole Foods Markets have graciously donated some delicious food for the event.  The food will be available at 6pm.

As always, the event is capped at 60 people to keep it intimate and to ensure everyone gets a taste of the cask.  RSVP’s always come flooding in, so confirm your attendance as quickly as possible.

Due to the good weather and overall cheer at the brewery, we encourage everyone to invite a guest (or a few) to join them this month.  Just indicate how many people will be coming with you on your RSVP.

For any questions or to RSVP (if you haven’t already), email mike@cameronsbrewing.com

For more information or to get directions, visit this Cameron’s link.

We also now have a blog so check it out.

Hope to see you all on Thursday.

Cheers.

Posted by Mike Laba, Cameron's in Cameron's, Cameron's Brewing Co.