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!

Winter Brewfest Coming To Toronto!

That’s right , after a couple of years of success in Ottawa Toronto’s first major beer festival is taking place the weekend of February 19 & 20 at the Enercare Center. Unlike summer festivals this will be taking place at night with 50 craft breweries from across Ontario along with cutting edge DJ’s performing  each night. Saturday night is already almost sold out so if you want to go, grab the link below and make it happen.

See you there!

The Falcon………

Brewfest

Toronto’s Festival Of Beer is back for the 19th year!

It is the one that everyone waits for – Toronto’s Festival Of Beer happening this weekend down on the Exhibition grounds. You can get together with 30,000 other beer lovers and enjoy 3 days of food, music and of course….beer! In fact 120,000 liters of it.  There will be over 60 craft and national breweries on hand to do tastings with 300 brands to chose from. Your 40 bucks gets you in for the day, the best 5 ounce tasting mug I have ever received and the entertainment for the night. My Friday night this year features the classic rap band , Naughty By Nature. If you are in the mood for more classic Canadiana rock , then hold out for 54-40 on Saturday night.

With attendance up 11% the event is basically sold out , so the only way to get in is to follow Ontario Craft Beer association members on Facebook and wait for the contests this week. I gained entry last year winning 2 VIP tickets from a Mill Street Facebook contest , so don’t be shy – follow and enter!

There will be brew master events, food tastings and the Bud Rig entertaining the crowd with bands and DJ’s all weekend. One of the most entertaining parts of the festival is seeing all the cool brewery vehicles that show up every year and the creativity that goes along with these amazing machines!

Getting access this year will be a challenge with Pan Am going on, but I recommend Go Train, Uber (first ride is free up to $20) or park at Liberty Village with your DD like you would for an TFC game – we did it on the weekend and had no issue finding parking.

So I hope to see you down there this weekend getting “Beereducated” and enjoying the middle of the Toronto summer with all your beer loving neighbours down by the lake!

Ontario Craft Brewers association launch new app for beer lovers

In an effort to make it easier to find your favorite Ontario craft beer , the OCB has launched its new Beer Finder app for Apple and Android platforms. Basically this allows you to discover the 50 plus breweries that make about 70% of the province’s independent craft beers. Every time you open the app you are greeted personally with news of the latest releases – you can then dive in and get the details on both the beer and the brewery it comes from. It then allows you to rate the beer with various attributes such as appearance ,mouthfeel ,aroma and flavour.

There is then a area for you to track the beers you have tried and your favorites. The next cool thing is a brewery finder that allows you to get details such as location, contact info and beers available. Perhaps the most useful tool is the beer finder – this allows you to search individual beers and allow you to rate as well , but more importantly where you can purchase. A map appears and shows LCBO , Beer Store ,bars and the brewery locations that sell the beer you are in pursuit of.

Getting out there and supporting your local breweries is not only is allot of fun, but it supports a local industry that employs thousands of people in the province that embraces the true spirit of adventurous business entrepreneurship!

OCB Beer Finder