Day 5 of OCB week and still going strong. The G20 anarchy had not yet hit the city so I quickly zipped from downtown Toronto to Mimico station via Go train to get me to Great Lakes Brewing Co asap. I flew solo to the pub crawl on day 4 and was again flying solo to day 5 (I have friends, I swear). This was my second Project X. Attending for the first time in May I was very impressed. Since Project X started about a year ago I kept telling myself to go but it didn’t happen until last month due to the insistence of a friend. Now that I’ve gone I regret not going earlier and plan to attend as many as possible in future.
This was a special Project X – Project XXXX, due to the special occasion (OCB week). Project XX happened in March 2010, and I’m not sure if Project XXX was skipped because it may attract the wrong crowd, the Ontario liquor board would frown on the implication, or simply because they have something supersexyspecial planned in future?
This incarnation showcased four different breweries who all brought casks along. (It’s a good life, isn’t it?) Great Lakes had Lakey’s Caskey and My Bitter Wife IPA on cask, as well as Miami Weiss in bottle (Green Tea Ale, Canuck Pale Ale and Devil’s Pale available in their retail store for purchase and consumption). Muskoka brought a dry-hopped, unfiltered cream ale cask. A cask of strawberry blonde lager was provided by F&M, and Flying Monkeys brought their Smash-bomb IPA on cask and in bottles. I can say that I was able to sample all of the above noted on the evening except the bottled smash-bomb (which was remedied on day 6), but my taste buds had been piqued by Lakey’s Caskey the night before so I largely stuck to the hoppy casks.
For $10 this event was great value for money. In exchange for your hard earned dollars you received drink tickets, a food ticket and outdoor BBQ fun. The weather was fair and everyone was enjoying being outdoors. It was like a big family BBQ, where your family all enjoy great beer and there’s no family drama. The brewery had even set up their own G20 fake lake, which I took my turn sitting at while imagining all of the good that could have been done with the real fake lake’s expenditure.
Before ending this post I need to take a moment to comment about the staff at Great Lakes. They are some of the friendliest people you will meet. They do such good work and take pride in it. They appreciate their clientèle and in turn that gets returned to them. It’s always a pleasure to visit Great Lakes and will certainly be attending the next Project X in early-mid July!
On tap for the rest of OCB week:
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
Day 4 – Wednesday – Cass’ & Troy’s First Annual OCB Pub Crawl
Beer With Me 