de Garde Zwanze event for comparison purposes: Tickets for Zwanze Day are NOW on sale at our brewery. Ticket sales are in person, and are CASH ONLY. Tickets are $25, limited to ONE per person, and include the following: 6oz pour of Cantillon Zwanze 2016 4oz pour of Cantillon Kriek 4oz pour of Cantillon Gueuze 4oz pour of Cantillon Iris Grand Cru 4oz pour of Mamouche A custom lambic-style Zwanze glass. As we have a very limited amount of beer, there are a limited number of tickets. We will not have draft Cantillon for those without tickets. The event will run from 12pm/noon on October 1st, until 7pm. Your ticket guarantees you pours of the above listed beers for any time during the event. We will be opening some extra space in our brewery to accommodate the celebration and to pour the Zwanze Day beers, and we WILL be open to the public. Thus, if you do not have a ticket to the event, you may still come celebrate with those who do. In addition to the Zwanze celebration beers, we will also have a number of other excellent draft Lambic and other beers pouring, and our best on-premises bottle list yet. Both will be available to everyone who would like to celebrate with us. Thank you for your support of all things truly wild!
As I'll be in Vancouver on Vacation, I was deciding between going to de Gardes event (without a Zwanze ticket), and the Zwanze event at The Drake. I have to say... I think my choice has been solidified as de Garde (was planning to drive down to portland and visit them anyways). I wonder how crazy the event will be given it's in Victoria? How many will make the trip from Vancouver?
probably a few, but not a lot.. if you're driving over, ferrys gonna set you back ~$150 for the return trip..
So in Tillamook you get 22oz of Cantillon vs 4oz of Cantillon + 12oz of "Belgian or Belgian style beers" + some food in Victoria. I'd go to de Garde myself if had the change. Much more bang for the buck it seems. Oh well, I'll probably bite the bullet anyway, though it would be really nice to know beforehand what those 3 "Belgian or Belgian style beers" are going to be.
Yeah, the mysteriousness of it is a bit scary. Maybe they're still trying to lock down some worthy kegs? would definitely be nice if they updated with that info before the day. The things about de Gardes is that tickets are one per person, in person only, so they might be hard to come by. That being said, they are also open to the public and have promised a great tap/bottle list, so I'm sure it'll be awesome, knowing them.
If you compare beer events in BC to beer events in Washington and Oregon you will always end up The reality is, beer costs more in Canada (especially BC because of taxes), it's harder to get, it takes longer to get, and there's less demand, not to mention property taxes rent etc. That right there, explains the price difference for what you get. But, if I didn't have to work and also buy a ticket in person, I'd go to De Garde for sure
Oh, I totally get the whole Canada thing, for sure. It's more the "mystery box" of what is included in the ticket your buying that worries me. How is The Drake anyways? I've looked at some of their tap lists and they seemed pretty damn solid.
I'll be making the drive down from the Comox Valley. Likewise a little concerned about the wording of the Drake event but will remain cautiously optimistic that it will be a pleasant and worthwhile event.
Update from Drake's, four other Cantillon (the 4 basics) kegs are going to be available for Zwanze: https://www.facebook.com/thedrakeeatery/posts/1110329559016459
Yep, and they also provided this update a week or two ago: "We are soooo excited about hosting Zwanze Day that we have decided to turn it into a Celebration of Belgian and Belgian style beer! We have been able to access some very rare and limited Belgian style beers from... Cantillon (4 more besides the Zwanze Beer!) Tilquin Cascade pFriem New Belgium Jolly Pumpkin Logsdon Driftwood Moon Four Winds and a collaboration beer from Brassneck & Dageraad! ...and more." Stoked.
I'll be making the trip from Vancouver as this is a good excuse to visit friends. I am a little giddy to try these beers.
Friendly tender revealed more specific brews when my wife and I were in tonight. From what I can recall: Moon Under Water: Oude King Crow Driftwood: De Auras Jolly Pumpkin: Calabaza Blanca Four Winds: Pequeno Cabo pFriem: Sour IPA Brassneck x Dageraad: Uncomfortable Silence Tiquin: Oude Gueze and...a sixth Cantillon: Cuvee Saint-Gilloise
Nice event at Drake's today. Getting the Tums ready after so much great sour beer. The Iris on the pictured menu was a misprint, what they actually had was the Unblended Lambic. Not as tasty as the Iris but much harder to find outside Brussels so a good opportunity for those who never had it or wanted to try it again. Tilquin was phenomenal as expected (they were holding the keg for over a year now) as were all Cantillon. From what I could see they hadn't run out of anything yet when I left so I guess everybody had a change to try everything they wanted.
