Loblaws Gets Behind Local Craft Beer!

Food and beer lovers are responding very well to the local craft beer appearing in the first 20 Loblaws stores this year. The Ontario government is stipulating that 20% be local Ontario craft beer, but Loblaws has gone one step further and is pushing 50%! As you can see from the photo, our Falcon beer appears to be checking out nicely. With opportunities to sample with cheese and meats, shoppers are encouraged to “pair up” their dark,amber,blonde and IPA beers with the respective foods that bring out the flavour of both. Because beer is all natural and contains yeast and hops, it actually assists in the digestion process and enhances the flavour of foods that match up well with the the respective flavour notes of the beer.

So as you prepare to celebrate the holidays remember to support your local craft breweries and enjoy the season!

Cask days return for a 12th year!

If you have not been to a cask event before then you are in for a treat. Cask Days kicks off Friday October 21st at the Evergreen Brickworks near Yorkville. In 5 different sessions , you can taste over 400 different types of beer from Ontario,California and Oregon – almost 100 breweries in all. Saturday afternoon is already sold out , but other sessions are still open. For $35 , you gain entry, a collectable 12th annual Cask Days glass and 4 tokens to get started on your sampling. So gather your friends a enjoy a session of truly unique beers from some of North America’s premier craft breweries!

 

RoundHouse Park Craft Beer Festival Is The Place To Be This Weekend!

Join 40 members of the Ontario Craft Brewery Association for the 5th annual Roundhouse craft beer festival running this weekend down at the Steam Whistle event grounds across from the Rogers center. The Falcon Brewing Company will be there with 40 of our craft beer friends to celebrate summer with amazing beers along with a food truck lovers paradise. Come in and grab your tokens and your glass and sample what Ontario craft brewers have to offer. See you down there!

Get Ready For The Beer Event Of The Summer!

That’s right – it’s coming , the big one. Starting on Friday The Toronto Festival Of Beer kicks off another near sellout event. 3 days of beer tasting and food to fit everyone’s taste buds. The hot ticket is Saturday with Big Sugar performing in the evening – up until now it has been sold out but 500 tickets have just been released! Go to 500 Tickets! now and get the tix while you can. Come visit the Falcon booth in the new brewers section and try our award winning Laggar Falcon and take in some Big Sugar!

 

Beer Enthusiasts Unite! Prud’homme Beer Certification is where it’s at!

I have just come off a great month of “beer education” with the Prud’homme  beer certification program. The courses are taught at various craft beer locations in Toronto such as Steam Whistle or Left Field breweries – in my case it was at Tallboys craft beer bar on Bloor street. The program offers 3 levels of which 95% of folks only go through the first level to get the baseline understanding of the history of beer, beer types and the actual brewing process. Highly interactive and entertaining , each of the 4 nights finishing with a beer tasting to gain an understanding of the beer appreciation process – that being:

1. Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Flavour
4. Impact
5. Mouth feel
6. Finish

Food pairing was also a great topic that gets covered to help you become a master entertainer when you bring the beer home with the food for your guests. Craft beer lovers are becoming more adventurous with their brews wanting to have multiple offerings for creating beer excitement when having guests over or simply sitting with family on a Sunday night. In fact , the LCBO has reported that sales of single can tallboy beer cans are up a whopping 60% vs a year ago – further proof that folks want extreme variety in what they are bringing home.

These classes sell out months in advance , so I suggest if your are interested in this type of learning, better look at sooner than later!

 

 

 

 

The Falcon Brewing Company Is Looking For Partners!

The Falcon Brewing Company has now locked down a location in south Ajax with plans to open in fall 2016. Having already established our award winning brands in the marketplace for the last 2 years, the bird has finally found a nest! Our small brewery will service the needs of craft beer lovers in the eastern GTA with all year round and seasonal offerings available in cans and growlers for take away , or spend some time flighting out in our tap room.  We are a small company over 20 strong in shareholders and looking to offer another limited number of shares that will provide partial ownership to those who want to be part of this fantastic world of craft beer. You can be a silent partner or an active member and pour beer at some of our summer events and become a hands on member of the team!  If you are interested and would like more information please send an email to one of the two Jim’s CONTACT and we’ll be glad to give you an update and chat all things beer!

We have a winner!

As earlier reported , the 2016 Ontario Brewery Awards took place on April 29th at Toronto’s Great Hall and am pleased to announce that Laggar Falcon took home the Bronze in an extremely competitive category with Steam Whistle taking the Silver – 20 years of doing one thing very well!

112 breweries from across the province took part submitting 600 beers for 45 categories. Ontario Craft Breweries Association that represents more than 60 breweries took home 85 medals.

Come on out to the Ajax Beer Festival on Saturday from noon until 7:00 to sample our award winning lager!!

The 2016 Ontario Brewing Awards Are here!

Every year the Ontario craft beer industry gets together to celebrate the year in brewing and 2015 is no exception. On Thursday April 28th, huddled down at a beer hall on Queen street, awards will be handed out for bronze , silver  and gold in various categories. Judged in March with submissions from beers available since May 2015, categories include everything from pilsners and amber ales to flavoured and APA’s.  The event is sold out , but if you want to rub shoulders with some the industries best and brightest , join in at the after party being held at the Craft Brasserie in Liberty Village. For more details on the awards go to Ontario Brewing Awards .

Toronto Brewery District On The Horizon

It has been proposed to Toronto city council that a beer district be established in the city’s west end – a hotbed of craft beer activity. This clustering of breweries is starting to show it self now that Ontario is approaching 200 planned and existing craft breweries. In all 13 breweries are part of the proposal that will see organized events around beer tasting and the encouragement of brewery tours that are so popular in the U.S in places like San Diego and Seattle. It is the groups hope as well that an annual festival will take place at Henderson Brewing showcasing all 13 of the breweries seasonal and all year round creations. Hopefully we will see this kind or organization as new breweries open in the east and north of city  linking the craft beer experience for all beer lovers to embrace!

There’s a new beer festival in T.O

Thats right – fresh off the not so stellar performance of the Winter Brew Fest, another new festival is on the horizon. Happening the Weekend of June 17th – 19th, the organizers are planning for local craft beer,food and music – the usual formula (which doesn’t get old!) . It will be taking place on the Exhibition grounds at the at the Stanley Barracks. If they take after the Round House Beer Fest that just happened in January they will be ahead of the game. One token per sample please!!

Right now if you go to Toronto Festival Of Beer you can receive up to 60% off early bird purchase – just use promo code GT241.

It’s never too early to think about summer and beer!!