Archive for the ‘Brewmasters’ Category

Ever notice that if you say LCBO pheonetically, it sounds like “Lick Beau”?  Neither did I.  On a somewhat related topic, I wrote a new post on my own blog about the process of getting into the Lick Beau.  Here is the link: http://beausbeer.blogspot.com/

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Yes… you are about to be witness to a ’shameless’ Plug… but I’m so excited about the launch of our Discovery Pack (No.1) into 150 LCBO stores that I can’t help myself! After a couple of delays, the LCBO has confirmed that our Discovery Pack will be on shelf in 150 stores in the next 5 days! Yahooooo!

There’s been some talk about what’s included in the 6 beers featured in this our FIRST Discovery Pack (and we love to see the ‘banter’)… The reality is (though tough for us to imagine), there ARE some people out there who have yet to adventure into the wonderful world of Ontario Craft Brewers to try the high quality beers being brewed right here in Ontario! So (here’s the shameless plug part), the OCB developed this six pack to educate consumers about different styles of premium beer and help beer lovers discover the world of Craft Beer available in Ontario. It’s about discovery and having some fun!

So here’s the thing… for those of you who are already OCB experts (tried all 125+ brands have you?) we invite you to continue to enjoy our beer, and to share the ‘Discovery Pack’ with your friends over the holiday season. For those of you just ‘breaking’ into the wonderful world of Ontario Craft Beer… brace yourself.. grab an OCB Discovery Pack.. and experience what you’ve been missing!

Final Plug: visit the Ontario Craft Brewers web page, look at all the great (really easy) recipes that have been developed and enjoy some of the holiday ‘entertaining’ tips! We’d love to hear your feedback on what you think about the Discovery Pack too!

Cheers!

Posted in Brewmasters, Ontario Craft Brewers, Cooking, OCB Discovery Pack (No1) | 8 Comments »

Jamie and me got to see Me, Mom & Morgentaler last night.  They were one of my favorite indy bands back in the day, a bilingual ska-rock-pop act out of Montreal.  They decided to rerelease an album and do a reunion show and it was awesome - as good as it ever was when they were first around. 

I've been really lucky lately, getting to see some fantastic independent acts; C'MON and Bionic a month ago, GWAR the night before Halloween and my old label mates the Heatskores and the Flatliners, too.

It got me thinking of how related indy music and indy beer are.  Both survive on the diy (do-it-yourself) ethic, both are competiting with global multinational corporations and both are blessed with the most passionate fans (although I've learned to order more XXL shirts and less Youth Small in the beer business).

I was struck about how much this little band meant to me and my friends when I was a kid.  12 years after they broke up I still knew the words to almost every song they played.  I was thinking about that; and a customer who drove an hour to get to my brewery store because its the only place they can buy it in a bottle and they told me that they make all of their going out decisions based on where our beer is on tap.  Don't get me wrong, I'm nowhere near as cool as Gus-Van-Go or Kim Bingham, but I'm sure I felt a little like they must have listening to fan after fan tell him how far they came to see their band play.

 Here's a pic of Jamie with Gus and Kim after the show - after playing they ran right to front and said thanks for coming out to every single one of us…how cool is that?

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Its 4:38am.  Back in my rock n' roll days, it seemed that if you were doing an overnight drive to some distant city to play a gig paying less money than the cost of gas to get there, you could always find Band on the Run on some classic rock station at 3am.  Somehow, it made it seem ok.  When I'm pulling an all nighter now, I still try to find the tune, its very Zen, or something.Tonight was the first night of the Ottawa Wine and Food Show, the only alcohol-related showcase I know of in the area.  [although I hear the organisers of the Guy Show are looking to start a beer-related Ottawa show soon].   From noon till 9 I was slinging tiny 4 oz samples of beer to people begging me to serve them 8oz…and I wish I could, but I don’t make the rules.Serving size complaints aside, I love doing sampling shows.  Its so much fun to get instant feedback directly from the customer, a real pat on the back.  This is our second time doing the show and its incredibly fun, super hard on the back and feet and I still have to get a regular days work in overnight to keep the wheels turning at Beau’s.  Tomorrow night I’ll be heading out with Jason and Mike from Cameron’s to support them at their event at the Highlander (see the blog below).  FYI – Jason and Mike also came to visit us at Beau’s the other night and have promised to post up some rather embarrassing photo’s of their visit.So, I guess I’ll get back to working on the stuff I’m supposed to be doing so that I can get an hour or two sleep in before my daughters wake up and start jumping on my head.Cheers,

Steve

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