AshleyUNOB
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Posts posted by AshleyUNOB
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Orlio Organic IPA is worth seeking out. Shed Brewery's Mountain Ale was a good one. I went to the Vermont Brewers Fest this summer. A lot of the beers were fairly ordinary, but some were worthwhile. I think a problem was they had all the kegs on ice, so a lot were too cold to show their full character. You can see written and video reviews from the fest on my website under the Vermont tag.
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That's a good point I hadn't thought of. The event here in Charlotte is an oktoberfest, once a year, and pulled 5 thousand or so (as I recall) in 2006. Having even twice yearly or seasonally would doubtlessly make an individual event easier to manage in terms of crowds.
Well yeah. It seems obvious to me, but the Montreal fest is once a year and that was CRAZILY overcrowded, with 1000+ lining up to join in with the 10,000 or so already inside. Lucky it was good weather or the 5,000 in the courtyard would have gone back inside the station and could have caused a dangerous situation.
On the UNOB site, I tried to make a complete festival guide, but it's hard to keep up -- in the UK alone there are dozens every month. I'm sure that the right kind of seasonal festivals over here would do well. The key is variety and keeping it simple, something lacking from most of the big fests.
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Thanks for the helpful comments.
Typically in British-style fests, you have a huge hall with kegs arranged around the room behind a barrier of tables, with servers 'manning' maybe 4-6 kegs each. This avoids the need for lineups (I hope!).
I think the other problem here is that beer fests tend to be once-a-year mega events that attract thousands. Perhaps with more exposure to 'mini' events, people will not flock to them in droves.
It would be a nice enough problem to have too much demand. Until people are put off by the problems you mention... All in the early planning stages. I'll keep you posted on progress.
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Hello all,
I am hoping to get a British-style beer fest launched in the Montreal region for next summer/fall and need some advice.
Does anybody here have experience of organising a festival? What do I need to know? Where can I source beer from? I realise some of this is licensing questions, so I'll need to take this up with Quebec's authorities, but any general advice would be very much appreciated.
I'd like to feature beers from the US and Europe, if possible. The British-style fest model is a bit of a departure from most north American festivals, which typically charge high entry prices and serve only small samples.
British-style fests usually are cask and keg-only. Entry is cheap and you pay as you go for beer. I believe it will be quite an experience for people who have only tried the north American style of festival. The ambiance is very different and companies don't need to spend four- or five-figure sums setting up tents, finding accomodation etc. Usually they are held indoors, which makes them immune to the fluctuations of the weather.
Any comments or queries, please post!
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Budrichard, this is a great story! Would you write up a version and/or review of this beer for the UNOB?
There's so much rich brewing history and yet the majority of people only try 'beer' they see advertised on TV. Great post.
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Thanks IrishA. We don't have an Irish Beer Delegate yet, in case you're interested...
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Are you only looking for organic beers brewed in the US?
No, the UNOB is a global beer project, so ANY organics are welcome
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Can open... worms everywhere! Thanks again for all your assistance. I love the sound of that 'back to the earth' operation and I'm sure that's worthy of an article in itself.
The very scope of this tiny organic segment of beer makes me realise just how massive beer as a subject is becoming.
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I think our role as beer fans is to educate people whenever we can. I still cringe when I see people carrying a case of crappy beer to the checkout, but I'm not going to accost somebody who's already made their choice. I have in the past seen people dithering at the beer fridge, staring in wonder at all the brands they've never tried before and intervened there. I also make a point of taking better beers to people's BBQ and, when I need to give a thank-you gift to an acquaintance (such as our mechanics), I buy a sampler from one of the lesser-drunk brands.
Who knows if it makes a difference?
We try to promote good beer at the UNOB and I have plans for a North America-wide promotion in September. Watch this space!
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Their beer list has been slimmed right down.
It seems that these are the beers it offers now:
Blanche
Maudie
Fin du Monde
Trois Pistoles
Don de Dieu
Ephemere Apple
Seigneuriale
Noire
Shame...
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Has anybody tried Eau Benite? I didn't enjoy it so much. To be honest, a lot of the Chambly beers would be quite difficult to tell apart in a blind taste test.
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We've got a couple of guys in NC, I'll try to get somebody to review it... Unless somebody here wants to? Thanks again for all the organic help, frantic notes being taken!
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Wow, great company ethics. I'll try to get Seb Lipsett to track some down. Thanks very much for that link.
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Apparently, or so the brewmaster at Orlio says, it's impossible to obtain organic hops in the US, as there are almost no growers, so it's imported.
Thanks for that link, useful. I will add it to the organic beer page when I finally build it!
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That's a great idea! Thanks to everyone who helped so far.
I didn't think of trying a search like that... I'll give it a go. 100+, well, it's good to know that these things are becoming more popular.
This is going to be a bigger task than I thought
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Having been to the Vermont Brewers Fest last weekend and tasted a very good organic IPA from Orlio Organic (wholly owned by Magic Hat BTW), I have begun thinking more about organic beers and wonder if this community could help me.
I'd like to build a list of all organic beers; so far, those I have tried or reviewed are
Logique Bio, QC
Mill Street Organic lager, ON
Orlio IPA (excellent!), VT
Orlio Common, VT
Muskoka Dark (excellent!), ON
Muskoka Cream, ON
I also tried a couple of the Peak Organic beers at the VBF, but I can't remember which right now.
Can anybody add to this list? If you know the brewer and location, then please include it. Thanks all!
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Five new beers (to me) went down the old neck.
On Saturday I cracked open a Sam Adams Summer Selection pack to take a sixer to a BBQ, where (from memory) I tried the Summer Wheat, Cherry Wheat and Boston Ale.
On Sunday I "reviewed" two beers. One was Otter Creek White Sail from Vermont, the other Muskoka Dark ale (an organic) from Ontario.
Muskoka was the best of the lot, though I really enjoyed the White Sail, but you won't like it if oranges aren't your thing; but I can't really recommend the Adams lot. I am going to try them again before making any damning verdicts though, as the situation wasn't ideal for reviewing anything.
I really love cherries, but apart from a Belgian fruit beer I tried years ago, none of the cherry beers I've had have really appealed to me.
So from a new beer point of view at least, it was a pretty busy weekend!
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Happy to be a new member here and I hope to become a fairly active poster on the beer forum... Whenever my 2yr old and twin baby sons allow me a little time off for good(?) behaviour, that is!
Given that my job is reviewing beer (I'm learning fast, but can't compete with many of you, I'm sure) and that I'm based in Hudson, QC, I am well-placed to discuss Quebec-brewed beer at the very least!
So I just wanted to begin a thread about QC beer. What's your favourite, what's your overall impression of Quebec beers and how widely available are they? I saw some in a shop in Burlington last week while visiting the Vermont Brewers Festival, but the breweries were conspicuous by their absense at said festival. Shame, we're about three hours away including border crossing time...
I've reviewed lots of QC beers on my site. So far my favourites are (in no particular order):
Blanche de Chambly, Unibroue
Logique Bio organic
Coup de Grisou, RJ
St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout
Boreale Blanche
Looking forward to your views on QC beer. Cheers!
The logistics of a festival
in Beer
Posted
Thanks. Any help is appreciated. 11 months and counting! I'd better get cracking.