(I’m a week behind on my OCB week postings – because I had so much fun, that’s why. I’ll try to catch up this weekend, promise. Promise to try that is.)
Day 4 of OCB week was the one I was most looking forward to. When I first heard about Cass’ & Troy’s First Annual OCB Pub Crawl I was sold instantly: drinking Ontario craft beer at local five pubs with like-minded beer drinkers. Perfect. Though the weatherman had made some nasty forecasts for our evening he was proved wrong about the rain but we were given a healthy dose of hot and sticky. Arriving at the first stop a few minutes past the 6:30 start time, Victory Cafe, I found my fellow pub crawlers already packed into the small side room. Wristbands and raffle tickets were handed out at the door, allowing us discounted pints at Victory’s bar and the opportunity to win beer-themed prizes. I grabbed a pint of Neustadt’s Double Fuggled on cask at the bar I found a seat in Victory’s snug amongst my beer brethren. After some introductions and a few sips of my pint I took a moment to scan my surroundings. If I could only name 2 things about what I observed they would be 1) it was very hot and 2) there were a lot of dudes. This was not a surprise – just an observation (often made). There were all sorts of folk who turned up: brewers, bloggers, bar owners and staff, bar towelers, beer geeks and other industry folk all turned up in the name of good beer championed by Cass and Troy (representing Ontario, of course!)
Moving on from Victory we headed south to College St to Caplansky’s Delicatessen. Though I wouldn’t consider this place a bar or pub, it was certainly a very beer friendly restaurant, boasting around 5 Ontario taps and warmly welcoming our crawl. Pints of Denison’s Dunkel appeared to be the favourite of the group (especially for those who were eating). As soon as I saw the smoked meat carving station I knew I had erred by eating before joining the crawl. Large juicy slabs of smoked meat piled high on rye bread with an assortment of mustards – yes, I definitely made a mistake. Though I did not make a mistake by ordering a pint of Duggan’s #9. I have been a fan of this beer for a long time and tonight was no exception; It went down as easy and enjoyably as ever. It was here Cass made his first major announcement: Golden Tap Awards will be 2 days this year. Saturday will be the usual awards/bar day, but they have added on an all Ontario beer dinner on the Friday. More here.
Next stop on our jaunt was Ronnie’s Local 069 in Kensington. This place first got my attention when a friend noted one was able to grab a Big Fat Burrito (just up the road) and bring it in to Ronnie’s and enjoy a pint of Erdinger or Delirium Tremens on the patio. The back room was reserved for us and though hot, humid and smelling of cat pee (from the outside alley) we still managed a great time of it. The open concept of this room allowed a bit more interaction between the crawlers, though due to the heat and small space I think a few crawlers may have skipped this one. Ordering a pint of the Great Lakes Devil’s Pale ale was apparently a good choice as a raffle prize of a t-shirt for said beer was won by me at this pub.
Our next port of call was The Embassy Bar. Admittedly this stop was the only one of the five I not heard of, nor been to. I stood near the bar chatting away for most of the time and lost count of the number of Black Oak Saison’s our good barman poured (I believe they had to change the barrel at one point). Without straining my memory too much in an attempt to remember what else was on tap here, I deferred to Troy’s official write-up: McAuslan was well represented at Embassy. Announcements! Cass delivered his second piece of news for the evening. Bar Towel Imports will be facilitating a private order from Picaroon’s (Northampton Brewing Co., New Brunswick). Admittedly I do not know anything about Picaroon’s but based on the buzz that filled the room after the announcement this is something to pay attention to, and I will be looking into getting in on the order.
Last stop on the crawl was The Cloak and Dagger. Given the limited space inside and the heat we had been experiencing throughout the evening I was really hoping we would secure a spot on the patio (which is bigger than the pub’s interior), but alas our group had almost doubled in size from when we set out at Victory so we were destined to fill up the interior. My initial pint from the bar had off flavours so I quickly transitioned to the freshly tapped Great Lakes Lakey’s Caskey (hand-pump), which I have had before and will have again. It was the popular choice and rightly so! This smooth cask beer went down very easy despite the ultra hopping nature of it.
Going into this event I was unsure what to expect beyond what one would expect of a pub crawl. Everyone I met shared the same enthusiasm about beer, in particular Ontario beer, that I did. I have many friends who enjoy beer and many of the same enjoy Ontario beer to a high degree but their obsession is not what mine is, so I am always happy to meet more of my own kind. It was nice to meet some of the faces behind the blogs I read on a daily basis as well as speak the publicans and brewers on hand. An amazing night which yielded a fuzzy morning the next day but completely worth it! Thanks to Cass and Troy for putting this together and I look forward to your next crawl, wherever and whenever it may be!
Cheers!
On tap for the rest of OCB week:
Day 5 – Thursday – Project XXXX at Great Lakes.
Day 6 – Friday – Volo & Night of the Flying Monkeys @ The Only Cafe
Day 7 – Saturday – TBD (wedding to attend)
OCB week, redux:
Day 1 – Sunday – Rebel House and “Granite”
Day 2 – Monday – BelgOntario @ Volo
Day 3 – Tuesday – The Day That Wasn’t
Beer With Me 