Hi folks, Windsor, Ont is having its first craft beer fest starting tonight and going through tomorrow. Lineup is decent enough for a first crack. http://windsoreats.com/beerfest/breweries/ I'll admit it. At first the idea of a festival in my town was awesome. But as its progressed I feel like I'm being set up for disappointment. A few reasons: - brewery lineup is OK, but there are lots of great brewers in the province that I wish were making the 3-4 hr trek down the 401. - ticket prices ($25 for basic entry) get you entry and 5 samples. 5! They better be full pours of 8oz at least. - some of the beers being advertised by the brewers are less than inspiring. Lagers mostly. Then again no one has been that forthcoming with their lineups. - hipster factor. Yeah, I said it. Lots of throwback advertising (overuse of mustaches, derby hats, etc). While advertising the event is all well and good, I just hope that they spent enough time trying to get breweries in rather than doll up advertising with retro cliches, etc. At the end of it all I want to get what I paid for and that is a great time, great beer and supporting the craft beer movement. I just have my reservations. Anyone else have any new festival experiences?
Sheesh, I dunno. GLB, Cameron's, Black Oak, Flying Monkeys, Nickel Brook, even Railway City and long shot Bellwoods. There are 10 breweries. One of them is bringing 1 beer (a lager), and Beau's is bringing only 2 (Lug Tread and Night Marzen) from what I have heard and read. I don't want it to simply be a pitch to buy only the stuff available at the LCBO. I am hoping they aim to create buzz, fans, and hype for more stuff down the road. But its Windsor. I can't forget that. A majority of the crowd will be revved up to drink whatever until they're drunk. Oh yay. I'll be there around 4 and likely duck out around 6 or 7. The fest goes until 10:30.
Stopped at Motor Burger and Walkerville a couple of weeks ago on the way home and was impressed to see the latter's quality in Windsor, although the server mentioned they were having trouble breaking into the "Laker" crowd... A tough venue, especially with Michigan so close to make any true beer lovers happy. Know the Kitchener festival this year had very little that was not LCBO available, but got a lot of Coors Light drinkers trying something new - often for the first time - and it's always fascinating to watch. Look forward to hearing how Windsor's went!
He's the skinny: - arrived at 4, left at 6:30 - didn't buy any additional tokens - of the 10 brewers, 1 did not get their license in time so were just handing out info and trying to sell their swag.... yes, one of the organizer's helping hands and local spots (Motor). Needless to say, huge embarrassment for them I'm sure. - Beau's brought 2 beers. My friend and I busted their balls by asking for Bogfather or Oiseaux de Nuit. Had a few laughs, told them we were big fans and thanked them for coming down. - a few brewers brought cans and bottles rather than kegs. Interesting move. And while thats all well and good one of the two that did that ran out of 2 of the 3 beers they brought on Friday night. They seemed shocked there would be 1000 people on Friday night (I don't think there was as the lot wouldn't have been big enough). - they weren't the only ones to tap out on a beer on Friday. St.Ambroise did too with their pumpkin beer. - couple that were ok: Welly's one-off swarzbier, Broadhead's stout, Mill St.'s Vanilla porter - bathroom situation was ridiculous. Had to walk into Walkerville (nice because it was warm) and they only had their lone set of bathrooms (1 mens, 1 womens). I'm sure as the night went on the lineup would have been nutty. - they sold pretzel necklaces for $4. I don't do that, and even if I were a pro-pretzel guy isn't the idea that you make your own? - they sold canvas tote bags to carry your growler in but did not offer growler fills (except in Walkerville). - best beer of the day: Walkerville's Indie Pale Ale. I could guess this would be the case ahead of time. Like that beer A LOT and glad I can get it any time. Areas for improvement: - more brewers, more variety of beer - less artsy, more fartsy
