Archive for the ‘Brewmasters’ Category
Canadian Brewing Awards - Take 1 November 22nd, 2007 5 Comments »
Sweet, I get to make the first post about the 2007 Canadian Brewing Awards.
Another year of great times with some of the best people around. Tonight was like the Oscars for us folks in the Canadian brewing scene and although the weather sucked, fun times were had by all. Since it's a little after one in the morning I'm going to keep this short and let everyone else follow it up with how they did and give their $0.02. We had a good showing tonight bringing home an award in the North American Lager and Cream Ale categories, congratulations to our brewers Jason Britton and Adam Ramanauskas for brewing great beers. Congrats to all the brewers that won tonight especially the well represented OCB group.
I only managed to get a few pictures due to a technical issue (I forgot to recharge the battery) but check them out below.
Cheers
Jason Ellsmere
Mike Laba (Cameron's Brewing), Kevin Brauch (Famous Guy), Anetta Jewell (Great Lakes)
Mike Laba (Cameron's Brewing Company) and Greg Clow (Bartowel.com news editor)
Anetta and Jamie from Great Lakes
A guy with a sweet fish wearing a Cameron's hat.
DIY kindred spirits November 15th, 2007 2 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?
Support for the Craft Beer Store Growing November 7th, 2007 3 Comments »
Uh, check this out. After my post about the challenge of retailing beer in Ontario, beer enthusiast James Kennedy wrote a comment saying he'd do what he could to help initiate the creation of a craft beer store in Ontario.
Well, far be it for me to let an offer just slide, so I asked him to see how many others would lend their voice to support such an initiative. I thought if we could get 100 or so names, that'd be cool and if we got 1,000 that would be really cool. Well, James did what any self-respecting beer enthusiast would do in the same situation…he created a facebook group. About 5 days later and the group is at 134 (9:30am, Nov 7).
So, that's kind of cool. Now lets see if it gets to the 1,000 really cool threshold.
If you are intereseted in joining the facebook group to register your support for a craft beer store, you can sign up here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5557069508
Cheers,
Steve Beauchesne
Brewery on the run November 3rd, 2007 No Comments »
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
Fame on Facebook - Will it = Fortune? November 1st, 2007 2 Comments »
Thought you might be interested in BlogTO's post the other day which puts the OCB facebook group in the top 50. Check it out. This is a big win, BlogTO has more than 240,000 page views per month which is an average 8,000 hits per day! If you're on Facebook, join the group.
Getting it on with the LCBO, yo. October 29th, 2007 33 Comments »
1) The Beer Store. This is a private, for-profit company, owned by Molson (which is owned by the U.S.’s Miller-Coors) and Labatts (which is owned by Inbev, from Belgium). Okay so Sleemans (owned by Sapporo in Japan) owns something like 1%, but let’s not split hairs. Something ridiculous like 85% of all beer sold in Ontario moves through this juggernaut.
2) The LCBO. This is a government-owned company that focuses on wines and spirits, but does sell beer as well. The LCBO does not sell larger packages than the 6-pack, so customers looking to purchase a case of beer go to the Beer Store.
3) Brewery retail store. Breweries are allowed to sell beer out of their brewery. They are not allowed to open up stores off-site, which is too bad, ‘cause that would be cool.
4) Restaurants and bars. Technically only restaurants can get new liquor licenses in Ontario, which is why you see fewer taverns every year.
So as you can see, options are really limited for a little brewery that wants to sell in the Ottawa-area exclusively. The Beer Store is very expensive to get into. In fact, it would cost us about $20,000 to get listed in 20 stores selling the usual 6-pack, 12-pack and 24-pack. Furthermore, if we don’t meet sales targets, the Beer Store takes back the listing and bans us from selling in that store.
On top of that, the Beer Store is converting more and more stores to a format where you can pick up a case of Molson Canadian or Blue Light real quick and get out the door; OR try to find what you want on a tiny list of beer, then wait in line forever while someone in the back hunts for your beer. I suppose it makes sense — if I was the one who owned the Beer Store, I’d probably try to make it tough for them (Miller-Coors) to sell their beer.
The LCBO is a much better option, but still quite challenging to work with on a small scale. Because they sell all the wine and spirits for the whole province, they have very long lead times and most of their programs expect the supplier to be able to reach the whole province. As an example, the deadline to submit a seasonal beer is 12 months in advance.
On the flip side though, the LCBO is interested in higher-end beer and I’ve had very good experiences working with the beer team and the inside folks there. For my first listing, and because I asked really nicely, they were able to fast-track Beau’s through the process, shaving 4 months off the submission timeline. (The process involved in getting a listing is rather interesting and I’ll write a separate blog about that some time). So finally, the good news is that it is looking likely that Beau’s will be able to sell through the LCBO starting in January. Although we’ll miss you all coming down the brewery to get your fix, it’ll be nice to know people in Ottawa can say, “Let’s go buy some Beau’s,” and not have to gas up and pack a lunch for the ride to VKH.
A few more fridge photos October 16th, 2007 2 Comments »
Darren Wardle has sent us another photo of OCB beers in his fridge:
Visit Neustadt this fall for a taste of Big Dog Porter September 20th, 2007 6 Comments »
Hey Guy's and Gals
The leaves are a changing and I think this is the best time of the year! Grey and Bruce counties really shine with fall colours. The weather has been great. So come and day trip around Neustadt, we have some great artisans ( for your special Xmas one of a kind gift) Also Andrew is begining to think about his winter beer …Big Dog Porter. Hopefully it will be ready by the end of October. This year we are proud to be working with Pele Island Winery and will be using thier wine in our Big Dog Porter. So all you fans of this winter beer let us know what you think about this change in the winery we have chosen to put in the Porter.
Sept 30th Toast to Michael Jackson September 14th, 2007 1 Comment »
Hello OCB Fans and Supporters
Our good friend Stephen Beaumont has asked us to spread the word about an upcoming event Toasting Michael Jackson..see below for more details.
Hope you have a great weekend…and ..remember to enjoy a cold OCB Beer…Challenge: Try something new this weekend and let us know what you think..our new OCB T shirts are hot off the press….we will send some out to those with the most colourful responses…
Also….this is your last chance to send us in your 'OCB' fridge shots…we will announce our winner at the end of the month….
******************
From Stephen:
On September 30, bar and restaurant owners across the United States and Canada are invited to help celebrate the great life and achievements of Michael Jackson by hosting a mass toast to his memory, and along the way raise some much-needed money for the battle against Parkinson Disease. The scheduled time for the toast is 9:00 pm EST, and the organization of the event is entirely up to the participating establishments.
Some will celebrate Michael’s life all night long and donate all or a portion of their revenue to research into Parkinson Disease, while others will simply contribute the proceeds from a specially-designated “Michael’s Memory” keg or pass the hat to solicit donations. The important thing is that as many bars and restaurants and people participate as possible, since everyone who cares about the beer they drink owes Michael more than a small debt of gratitude.
Details on how to participate and the official promotional poster are available at www.beerhunter.com. If you’re a beer drinker, encourage your local bar or restaurants to become involved; if you’re a licensee, organize an event of your own for the 30th; and if you’re a brewer or brewery employee, try to get as many of your accounts as possible on board. Let’s all join together for one very important night and pay tribute to the memory of the one and only Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson!
(And when you've planned your event, don't forget to register it at Upcoming with the tag "MJBeerHunter," so that it will automatically be added to the listing at beerhunter.com.)
I love Goooooooooold!!!! July 11th, 2007 3 Comments »
PS I feel so Austin Powers, yo. 
Just found out that Beau's won gold at the Canadian International Beer Championships in Barrie. I have 0 details about how Steelback did, but I'll let you know. ;)
Subscribe Today!
Recent Posts
- Get In The Know with Cameron's Brewing
- Cameron's Brewing at Toronto International Cyclocross
- Black Oak brewery
- Cameron's Blog Featured on Top 100 List
- Cameron's 'Let's Drink the Cask' Thursday October 30th
Current Conversations
- val on Cameron's Blog Featured on Top 100 List.
- Lisa on The Great Escape.....
- Lisa on Cheers to the new brewmaster from Germany.
- Val Stimpson, Neustadt Springs on The Great Escape.....
- Troy on The Speaker of the house.
Categories
- awards (6)
- Barley Days Brewery (3)
- Beau’s (14)
- Beer (21)
- Beerology (1)
- Black Oak (11)
- Brewmasters (50)
- Brick (4)
- Brick Brewing Company (1)
- Cameron’s (50)
- Cameron’s Brewing Co. (40)
- Canning (1)
- Cooking (3)
- Cool (1)
- Cool Beer Brewing (2)
- Decorating (1)
- Frusso (1)
- Granite Brewery (5)
- Great Lakes (20)
- Green Enterprise Toronto (1)
- Growler (2)
- Heritage (1)
- Heritage Brewing (5)
- History (2)
- King Brewery (1)
- Links (2)
- Local Food Plus (1)
- Mill Street (11)
- Mirella Amato (3)
- Neustadt (19)
- Nickel Brook (4)
- OCB (40)
- OCB Discovery Pack (No1) (3)
- Old Credit Brewing Co. Ltd. (3)
- Ontario Brewer Podcast (19)
- Ontario Craft Brewers (41)
- Orange Peel Ale (2)
- Podcast (24)
- Project X (1)
- Q107 (1)
- Robert Simpson Brewing Company (1)
- Saint Andre (3)
- Scotch Irish Brewery (2)
- seal (1)
- Slow Food Toronto (1)
- Stephen Beaumont (1)
- Steve Peters (1)
- Summer Plans (7)
- taps (1)
- Taps Brewing (1)
- The Brewers Plate (1)
- The Speaker (1)
- Toronto Festival of Beer (4)
- Tourism (15)
- Trafalgar Brewing (4)
- Troy Burtch (2)
- trustmark (1)
- Video (4)
- Walkerville (2)
- Walkerville Brewing Company (2)
- Wellington (5)
Archives
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
Authors
Show Your Support for the OCB: Copy and paste the following HTML code to post an OCB blog badge on another site.
Blogroll
- A Good Beer Blog
- Beau's - How to Start a Brewery in 1 Million Easy Steps
- Beer Guage
- Beer School
- Beer, Beats & Bites
- Brew Blog
- BREWipedia
- Cameron's Brewing Company
- Chris O'Brien, Beer Activist
- Craft Beer Radio
- Craftbrewer Radio
- Great Canadian Pubs
- Hail The Ale
- Monday Night Brewery, Atlanta, GA
- Pass Me A Beer
- Realbeer.com
- Rick Lyke, Lyke 2 Drink
- That's The Spirit
- The Bar Towel
- The Brew Site
- Your Next Beer
Members
- Barley Days Brewery, Picton
- Beau's All Natural Brewing, VanKleek Hill
- Black Oak Brewing Company, Oakville
- Brick Brewing Company, Waterloo
- Cameron's Brewing Company, Oakville
- Cool Beer Brewing Company, Toronto
- County Durham Brewing Company, Pickering
- Denison's Brewing Company, Toronto
- Granite Brewery, Toronto
- Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
- Heritage Brewing, Carleton Place
- Hockley Valley Brewing Company, Hockley Village
- King Brewery, Nobleton
- Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery, Bracebridge
- MacLean's Ales, Guelph
- Mill Street Brewery, Toronto
- Neustadt Springs Brewing, Neustadt
- Niagara's Best Beer, St. Catharines
- Nickel Brook Beers, Burlington
- Old Credit Brewing Company, Port Credit
- Robert Simpson Brewing Company, Barrie
- Saint Andre, Toronto
- Scotch Irish Brewing, Carleton Place
- Skeena Brewing Company, Perth
- Stratford Brewing Company, Stratford
- Taps Brewing Company, Niagara-On-The-Lake
- Trafalgar Brewing Company, Oakville
- Walkerville Brewing Company, Windsor
- Wellington Brewery, Guelph