Contract Brewers to Pour at Toronto’s Festival of Beer

We are excited to hear that Left Field Brewery and other contract brewers will be able to pour their brews at Toronto’s Festival of Beer and other Beer Festivals this summer.

When we were initially made aware of a potential restriction that may have seen Left Field Brewery and similar contract brewers from pouring their beer at our Festival under the current special occasion permit rules, we reached out to our partners at the Beer Store and it was apparent from the outset that the Beer Store was interested in working together to provide a solution, that would benefit all the stakeholders.

The Beer Store, like ourselves, understand the importance that contract brewers bring to the beer segment as a great starting point to one day owning and operating their own brewery. These entrepreneurs use Festivals such as ours to showcase their product and engage with multiple consumers face to face.  Basically, affordable marketing for entrepreneurs in the province of Ontario.

We greatly appreciate The Beer Store ‘s efforts in working alongside us to resolve this situation and our combined efforts have resulted in a short-term solution, which will preserve the integrity of our Festival and other Beer Festivals this summer.

Toronto’s Festival of Beer has been committed to promoting the brewers of Ontario for the last 20 years and the Beer Store has always been very supportive of our efforts.

 To read a statement from The Beer Store, Click Here

New Tour Program at TFOB – The TFOB Trails

Get your tickets for the newest way to experience Toronto’s Festival of Beer! We are pleased to introduce the first-ever TFOB Trails, our interactive tour program hosted by beer education specialists Ginger Johnson & Crystal Luxmore. Tickets include: early access to the festival, 10 sampling tokens and a 1-hour guided tour of your favourite style of beer!

WOMEN’S TFOB TRAIL

The Women’s TFOB Trail will help the female beer lovers among us find the right beer to suit their style. Ginger Johnson, the founder of Women Enjoying Beer (WEB), will lead our Women’s Trail. WEB is the only research driven Education Company that specializes in studying women and their relationship with beer. Join Ginger in a delicious walkabout of the Festival to entice and delight your taste buds!

Friday July 25^th at 5:00pm & 8:00pm

Saturday July 26^th at 1:30pm

Sunday July 27^th at 1:30 & 4:30pm

GLUTEN FREE TRAIL

Are you trying a gluten-free lifestyle? Celiac or gluten intolerant? Have no fear; our Gluten Free Trail is here! Crack that cold brew with no consequences and enjoy a selection of our gluten free options.

Led by Ginger Johnson, enthusiastic beer education specialist, this TFOB Trail is designed for taste bud exploration and pleasure!

Friday July 25^th at 6:30pm

Saturday July 26^th at 4:30pm

CIDER LOVERS TRAIL

Every year at TFOB we like to add a couple new cider vendors and this year, you can get an exclusive tour of our apple-loving brewers! Our enthusiastic beer guide, Ginger Johnson will teach you all about the nuances, flavours and characteristics that apples can provide to the brewing process.

 Saturday July 26^th at 3:00pm

Sunday July 27^th at 3:00pm

EXTREME BEER TRAIL

From a beer made with a half-ton of melted gummie bears to puckering-sour ales fermented with wild bacteria — the world of craft beer is experimental. And at the Toronto’s Festival of Beer, we often don’t know what weird rarities will be tapped until the last minute. So join Certified Cicerone and The Grid’s beer columnist, Crystal Luxmore on a hunt for the strangest brews. Find out how they’re made, get a guided tasting of the funky flavours and uncover the mad science behind craft brewing. Vote for your favourite! The beer with the most votes will be crowned Strange Brew of the festival.

Saturday July 26^th at 2:00pm

Sunday July 27^th at 2:00pm

Brewers Plate Details Announced!

Join Ontario Craft Brewers, slow food chefs and local food artisans for the 7^th annual Brewer’s Plate on Wednesday, June 4^th at the CBC Atrium in Toronto. With spring finally in bloom, taste the flavours of Ontario’s local bounty while gathering with farming advocates in the city of Toronto. The always sold-out evening’s specially crafted dishes will focus on field-fresh and creatively preserved food from Ontario’s farms and local food’s evolving presence in the public eye.

Attendees will sample the delicious creations of celebrity chefs known for showcasing local seasonal ingredients, paired with the craftsmanship of our fine Ontario Craft Brewers. Come and enjoy culinary delights from Café Belong, Cava, Earth Bistro, Ruby Watch Co., La Palette, Fonda Lola,Torito and Carmen, The Big Carrot, Toronto Garlic Festival,  Pegasus Hospitality Group, The Neal Brothers, Merchants of Green Coffee,  Andrew Muto, and more!

Check out a list of our brewer participants HERE. For the wine lovers, Southbrook Wines will be featured, representing Ontario’s vibrant and innovative viticulture with their biodynamic wines at the Brewers Plate.

Ticket holders will be treated to unlimited sampling of all the food and beverage partners with live music entertainment while supporting a great cause.

Unifying the vision of supporting our local farmers and economy, this year’s beneficiary of the 2014 Brewers Plate is the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation. The Foundation is a charitable grant-making organization working to help keep farmers successful, strengthen local economies, and protect and grow natural features. At more than 1.8 million acres, Ontario’s Greenbelt is the world’s largest permanently protected greenbelt, keeping our farmlands, forests, and wetlands safe and sustainable.

Most of all, a big thank you to our local food champion chef’s ingredient suppliers, King Cole Duck, Grandview Farms and Sol Cuisine, who are donating their ethically and sustainably grown produce and meat to ensure the success of The Brewers Plate and to help meet our fundraising goals!

Tickets can be purchased HERE.

Where: CBC (Barbara Frum) Atrium, 250 Front Street West, Toronto ON.

When: Wednesday June 4th 2014, Doors open at 6:15pm

Ticket price: $125.00 + Service Charge

The Ontario Brewing Awards Celebrates Great Beer in Ontario

Last night the brewers of Ontario gathered at The Gladstone Hotel to celebrate the best of the best in 2014. Hosted by Roger Mittag, founder of Prud’homme Beer Certification®, and Beerlicious Inc., the event itself brought out over 200 industry members and media.

The evening highlighted the beer of over 40 breweries competing in 31 categories. Submissions were evaluated by a team of BJCP judges and were announced at the Ontario Brewing Awards with the following results:

GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
NORTH AMERICAN LIGHT LAGER	NORTH AMERICAN LIGHT LAGER	NORTH AMERICAN LIGHT LAGER
BRICK BREWING COMPANY	F&M BREWERY	FLYING MONKEYS CRAFT BREWERY
LAKER LIGHT	STONE HAMMER LIGHT	ANTIGRAVITY LIGHT
NORTH AMERICAN LAGER	NORTH AMERICAN LAGER	NORTH AMERICAN LAGER
HOGSBACK BREWING COMPANY	LAKE OF BAYS BREWING COMPANY	AMSTERDAM BREWERY
VINTAGE LAGER	TOP SHELF CLASSIC LAGER	NATURAL BLONDE
PILSNER	PILSNER	PILSNER
WATERLOO BREWING COMPANY	MOLSON COORS CANADA	KING BREWERY
WATERLOO PILSNER	RICKARD’S BLONDE	KING PILSNER
AMBER LAGER	AMBER LAGER	AMBER LAGER
HOPCITY BREWING COMPANY	GREAT LAKES BREWERY	KING BREWERY
BARKING SQUIRREL LAGER	RED LEAF LAGER	VIENNA LAGER
DARK LAGER	DARK LAGER	DARK LAGER
SIDE LAUNCH BREWING COMPANY	WATERLOO BREWING COMPANY	KING BREWERY
DARK LAGER	WATERLOO DARK	KING DARK
BOCK	BOCK	BOCK
KING BREWERY	CAMERON’S BREWING COMPANY	MILL STREET BREWERY
KING BOCK	DEVIATOR DOPPELBOCK	WEIZENBOCK
HONEY / MAPLE BEER	HONEY / MAPLE BEER	HONEY / MAPLE BEER
F&M BREWERY	MILL STREET BREWERY	BAYSIDE BREWING COMPANY
STONE HAMMER MAPLE RED	ROYAL YORK STINGER	HONEY MAPLE
HEFEWEIZEN	HEFEWEIZEN	HEFEWEIZEN
BIG RIG BREWERY	DENISON’S BREWING COMPANY	MAGNOTTA BREWERY
HEFE	DENISON’S WEISSBIER	TRUE NORTH WUNDER WEISSE
BELGIAN WITBIER	BELGIAN WITBIER	BELGIAN WITBIER
MILL STREET BREWERY	AMSTERDAM BREWERY	MOLSON COORS CANADA
BELGIAN WIT	BOXER	RICKARD’S WHITE
FLAVOURED WHEAT BEER	FLAVOURED WHEAT BEER	FLAVOURED WHEAT BEER
AMSTERDAM BREWERY	CLOCKTOWER BREW PUB	BEYOND THE PALE BREWING COMPANY
KLB RASPBERRY WHEAT	RASPBERRY WHEAT	PINK FUZZ
FARMHOUSE ALES	FARMHOUSE ALES	FARMHOUSE ALES
STACK BREWING	BIG RIG BREWERY	BIG RIG BREWERY
PORTES DE L’ENFERS	SAISON	BELGIAN BLOND
LAGERED ALES	LAGERED ALES	LAGERED ALES
THE PUBLICAN HOUSE BREWERY	CLOCKTOWER BREW PUB	BIG RIG BREWERY
PUBLICAN HOUSE ALE	KÖLSCH	GOLD
BRITISH PALE / BITTER	BRITISH PALE / BITTER	BRITISH PALE / BITTER
MUSKOKA BREWERY	BLACK OAK BREWING COMPANY	HIGHLANDER BREW COMPANY
CREAM ALE	PALE ALE	SCOTTISH ALE
AMERICAN PALE ALE	AMERICAN PALE ALE	AMERICAN PALE ALE
GREAT LAKES BREWERY	COLLECTIVE ARTS BREWING	GREAT LAKES BREWERY
JOHNNY SIMCOE	RHYME & REASON	CRAZY CANUCK
BRITISH IPA	BRITISH IPA	BRITISH IPA
MILL STREET BREWERY	KENSINGTON BREWING COMPANY	WATERLOO BREWING COMPANY
MILL STREET IPA	BALDWIN FISHEYE-PA	WATERLOO IPA
WEST COAST IPA	WEST COAST IPA	WEST COAST IPA
CAMERON’S BREWING COMPANY	MUSKOKA BREWERY	BEYOND THE PALE BREWING COMPANY
R.P.A	TWICE AS MAD TOM IPA	IMPERIAL SUPER GUY
DARK IPA	DARK IPA	DARK IPA
BIG RIG BREWERY	FLYING MONKEYS CRAFT BREWERY	WELLINGTON BREWERY
BLACK IPA	NETHERWORLD	TERRESTRIAL INDIA BROWN ALE
AMBER ALE	AMBER ALE	AMBER ALE
KILANNAN BREWING COMPANY	CLOCKTOWER BREW PUB	SAWDUST CITY BREWING COMPANY
NEW ZEALAND RED	CLOCKTOWER RED	OL’ WOODY ALT
DARK ALE	DARK ALE	DARK ALE
MAGNOTTA BREWERY	F&M BREWERY	AMSTERDAM BREWERY
TRUE NORTH COPPER ALTBIER	STONE HAMMER DARK	DOWNTOWN BROWN
PORTER	PORTER	PORTER
NICKEL BROOK BREWERY COMPANY	HIGHLANDER BREW COMPANY	SIX PINTS SPECIALTY BEER CO
MAPLE PORTER	BLACKSMITH SMOKED  PORTER	BEER ACADEMY PORTER
STOUT	STOUT	STOUT
F&M BREWERY	SAWDUST CITY BREWING COMPANY	BIG RIG BREWERY
STONE HAMMER COFFEE STOUT	SKINNY DIPPING STOUT	BIG RIG STOUT
FRUIT BEER	FRUIT BEER	FRUIT BEER
AMSTERDAM BREWERY	MILL STREET BREWERY	TURTLE ISLAND BREWING COMPANY
FRAMBOISE	FRAMBOZEN	SMASH CHERRY PALE ALE
FLAVOURED BEER	FLAVOURED BEER	FLAVOURED BEER
AMSTERDAM BREWERY	SAWDUST CITY BREWING COMPANY	BIG RIG BREWERY
FULL CITY DOUBLE TEMPEST	RED ROCKET CINNAMON VANILLA CAYENNE COFFEE	BIG RIG PUMPKIN
STRONG BEER	STRONG BEER	STRONG BEER
DESCENDANTS BEER & BEVERAGE COMPANY	SAWDUST CITY BREWING COMPANY	AMSTERDAM BREWERY
PROLOGUE BELGIAN BLONDE	PRINCESS WEARS GIRLPANTS	VICAR’S VICE
GLUTEN FREE
NICKEL BROOK BREWERY COMPANY
GLUTEN FREE
BARREL AGED WHISKY	BARREL AGED WHISKY	BARREL AGED WHISKY
AMSTERDAM BREWERY	WELLINGTON BREWERY	CAMERON’S BREWING COMPANY
DOUBLE TEMPEST	FROST QUAKE BOURBON BARREL AGED BARLEY WINE	BOURBON BARREL DEVIATOR DOPPELBOCK
BARREL AGED WINE	BARREL AGED WINE	BARREL AGED WINE
AMSTERDAM BREWERY	SAWDUST CITY BREWING COMPANY	GREAT LAKES BREWERY
RYE PEPPERCORN SAISON	ODB	GARY
IMPERIAL STOUT/BALTIC PORTER	IMPERIAL STOUT/BALTIC PORTER	IMPERIAL STOUT/BALTIC PORTER
MUSKOKA BREWERY	BIG RIG BREWERY	WELLINGTON BREWERY
WINTERBEARD	IMPERIAL STOUT	RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
VEGETABLE BEER	VEGETABLE BEER	VEGETAL BEER
GRAND RIVER BREWING	THE SHIP	BIG RIG BREWERY
HIGHBALLER	THE SHIP’S RATIONS	BIG RIG PUMPKIN
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
THE PUBLICAN HOUSE BREWERY
PUBLICAN HOUSE
BEER OF THE YEAR
MUSKOKA BREWERY

 

Spring Sessions Just A Day Away!

Happy Eve of Beer Festival, everyone!

There are still some tickets available for Friday March 28^th, so get them at beerfestival.ca!

Catch illScarlett on our main stage Friday night and watch Mill Street, Steamwhistle, Beau’s and Great Lakes battle it out on the stage in our Brewery Battle of the Bands, Saturday. They’ve been hard at work brewing great beer for you to enjoy as well as warming up their vocal chords to perform with the following bands!

1. Tennessee Voodoo Coup featuring members of Mill St. Brewery https://www.facebook.com/tvc.to
2. Audio featuring Beau’s All Natural Brewing Staff
3. Die Tenacious Earth from Great Lakes Brewery
4. And The Lowest Boardroom from Steamwhistle Brewing

The Sattalites will close the show on Saturday with a special Earth Hour Performance!

Don’t feel like heading home on Saturday? Join Mill Street Brewery in the distillery district for their Earth Day Lights Out Event following the Beer Festival. Take the Mill St. Shuttle Bus from the Brick Works to their brewery after the show on Saturday!

http://millstreetearthday.com/

Please enjoy responsibly. For your safe enjoyment, we have provided a shuttle bus from Broadview Subway Station to Evergreen Brick Works that will begin at 3:30pm on Friday and 1:00pm on Saturday and will run every 15 minutes.

We have also teamed up with Hailo, the Toronto taxi app, to offer those of you new to their service a free $15 taxi credit.

The Promo Code to use is: SPRINGBEER14

Download the Hailo taxi app for free from theApp Store orGoogle Play and take a few seconds to register. The $15 promo code can be entered by tapping on the Account icon (top left) and then ‘Hailo Credits’.

Look for the Hailo booth near the Entrance where they will be offering the chance to WIN more free taxi rides and a GRAND PRIZE of a Toronto staycation.

Hailo is THE way to get a taxi wherever you are, whenever you want.  All it takes is two taps on your smartphone. Pay automatically by card, with no hidden fees and receive instant receipts by email.

If you have any questions please email toronto.support@hailocab.com or visithailocab.com/toronto/blog for more information.

Toronto’s Festival of Beer – New Dates in Spring 2014

You’ve asked for it and we have heard you, TFOB Fans! It is finally here, another session of Toronto’s Festival of Beer – and this time, in the SPRING!

Who: A selection of your favourite brewers and restaurateurs from Toronto’s Festival of Beer

When: Saturday March 29^th, 2014

2:00pm – 8:00pm

Where: The Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Avenue

How Much: $30.00 Includes: 5 tokens, a commemorative festival mug

Get your tickets soon as there are a limited number available! CLICK HERE and use promo code givemespring for $5.00 off your purchase.

The Trews and friends Acoustic Session live on Saturday July 26th

Toronto, Ont. — Tickets for Toronto’s Festival of Beer are now on sale! And just in time for the start of the Holiday Season. With over 300 beer brands on-site, tickets to the premiere beer event of the summer make the perfect stocking-stuffer for the beer lovers on your nice and naughty list!

On July 25^th – 27^th at Bandshell Park, beer fans from across the country will come to celebrate their favourite golden beverage while enjoying culinary delights from some of Canada’s Top Chefs, beer education sessions, live grilling demos and so much more!

Along with its world-class beer line up, Toronto’s Festival of Beer is also renown for providing world-class entertainment. This year, the Festival organizers are pleased to announce that The Trews will headline an Acoustic Session on The Bandshell Stage with some of their closet friends on Saturday July 26^th!

Though the Toronto-based foursome made its name dishing intense, hooky, melodic rock and roll that won fans and critics worldwide – not to mention heaps of awards and countless radio hits pulled from a clutch of live and studio albums and EPs – The Trews discovered, serendipitously, that turning down the volume actually dialed up the heft.

Rewind to early 2009 and Toronto’s legendary Glenn Gould Studio where our guys – singer Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, drummer Sean Dalton and bassist Jack Syperek – acoustically cut a collection of fan favourites, rarities and three new songs before a live audience that, not to put too fine a point on it, kind of lost its mind.

“We had no idea the acoustic shows would be so popular,” confirms songwriter/guitarist and producer John-Angus MacDonald. “It was something we just did because it came to us like second nature. We had written songs that way – sitting around together and strumming guitars with everybody singing. We hadn’t planned to tour but the reaction was a lot bigger than expected.”

Join The Trews and Friends for an Acoustic Session at Toronto’s Festival of Beer on Saturday July 26^th. Tickets for Toronto’s Festival of Beer sell out in advance every year — so get yours now!  Tickets can be purchased online at www.beerfestival.ca. Tickets for each day are $39.50 with the ability to Hoptimize your experience for an extra $10.Hoptimizing your ticket will gain you early access to the Festival and 5 extra sample tokens. This is a 19+ event.

For ticket info and more details about this year’s Beer Festival, please visitwww.beerfestival.ca

 

Movember – Best Stashe Contest

Happy fall, Beer Fans!
November is upon us and with the chill of fall comes the need to bundle in blankets and hunker down with a good beer. But most importantly, the time comes for us beer drinkers to protect our upper lips from the fast-approaching frost.

That’s right folks, Movember is here! Not only does this wonderful month bring with it more brute, more class and of course, more hair, but it also raises funds and awareness around the prevalent issue of prostate cancer among men.

This year, Toronto’s Festival of Beer and Great Lakes Brewery have partnered together to bring to fruition some of Toronto’s greatest Beer Stashes. Whether they are foamy upper lips or simply a good gristly Mo coated in beer, we want to see them!

Share your best beer stash with us via Instagram and enter for the chance to win an exclusive TFOB & Great Lakes Prize Pack consisting of 6 tickets to TFOB 2014 and a GLB Gift Package, all valued at $500!

How can you be the best beer stash of 2013? Here are our five easy steps!

Step 1: Start sprouting your best soup strainer today!

Step 2: Follow @greatlakesbeer & @TObeerfestival to share your progress along the journey

Step 3: Once your Mo gets to Magnum P.I. status, sip one of your favourite Great Lakes brews and take a picture

Step 4: Share your Beer Stash on Instagram and tag BOTH @greatlakesbeer and @TObeerfestival to enter the contest*!

Step 5: Check back on Dec. 6^th, as we announce the winner!

Happy Movember Folks!

– @TObeerfestival & @greatlakesbeer

*Both users must be tagged in order for contesting to be valid.

Favourite Brewery at 2013 Toronto’s Festival of Beer and Winner of Tickets for LIFE

Were you one of the 3000 consumers that downloaded our new Toronto’s Festival of Beer app in 2013?  Did you vote for the top five breweries of this year’s Toronto’s Festival of Beer? Well, you voted Toronto, and here are the long awaited winners!

Congratulations to Toronto’s own Mill Street Brewery for receiving the most votes and first place for brand of choice at this year’s Toronto’s Festival of Beer.

The other top vote getters were:

Beau’s All Natural Brewery

Flying Monkeys

Keith’s

ACDC

In case you forgot, by voting you entered your name in the contest to win a pair tickets to Toronto’s Festival of Beer – FOR LIFE, and we did not forget about that either. Congratulations to Samantha Jones who will receive two tickets to Toronto’s favourite festival for the foreseeable future!

Cheers to the breweries and thanks to all for voting using the new TFOB App.  Please make sure to check back December 1^st for tickets to TFOB 2014 at beerfestival.ca!

Beerlicious Inc. announces the launch of the first-ever North American Brewing Symposium (NABS) and the Toronto’s Festival of Beer – Winter Sessions!

On the eve of Toronto Beer Week – Beerlicious Inc. announces the launch of the first-ever North American Brewing Symposium (NABS) and the Toronto’s Festival of Beer – Winter Sessions!

Beerlicious Inc., futurists and pioneers of Toronto’s Festival of Beer, the Ontario Brewing Awards and the Beach BBQ & Brews Festival aim to solidify their place within North America’s rich brewing history.

Slated for March 2014, the Symposium (NABS) will be a week-long industry collaboration that promotes and celebrates the category of beer and the business of brewing it in North America.

“I am so excited to gather with brewing professionals in early 2014 for an exchange of ideas in celebration of our shared passion for the beer industry,” says Les Murray, President Beerlicious Inc. “It is also my great pleasure to announce the Toronto’s Festival of Beer Winter Session; for industry and consumer enthusiasts alike.”

NABS’ aim is to unite brewing professionals for two days of discussion and a week of beer-centric programming that will provide excellent networking and learning opportunities for everyone invested in brewing in North America.

 

Definition: sym.po.si.um

1. 1. A meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, especially a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience.
2. 2. In ancient Greece and Rome a convivial meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.

The symposium will feature a series of keynote speakers from both within and outside of the brewing industry and will touch on a number of topics including: brewing, packaging, distribution, marketing, social media and more.

This inaugural industry symposium will focus on education and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between some of the world’s top beer-enthusiasts.

Following the symposium, Beerlicious Inc. will present a two-day Winter Beer Festival in celebration of our favourite golden beverage and the upcoming solstice.

Additional information and a schedule of activities to come at www.northamericanbrewingsymposium.ca.

If you are interested in sharing your knowledge at the first-ever North American Brewing Symposium, please email us at info@beerlicious.ca.