In these days of slick advertising, fancy packaging and catchy jingles, it's nice to talk to people who are more interested in the content of their product rather than colour changing cans, huge advertising campaigns or tea and fruit infused beers. I went to the festival with one objective in mind. I wanted to try some unique beers created by individuals who have a real passion for their craft and to talk to them about how they make these unique tasting beers.
With beer cup in hand, a sheet full of beer tickets and a feeling of being slightly parched, I started my quest around the venue searching for some special beers to quench my thirst.
First of all, kudos to the organizers of the craft beer festival. They had setup the venue so that all of the beer and food tents were around the perimeter of the park with picnic tables in the centre so if you wanted to stop and take a break or have some food you weren't clogging up the areas in front of the tents. It made navigating all of the beer and food areas easy and organized. Well done !
My first stop was at Broadhead Brewing Company (www.broadheadbeer.com) which is located on Auriga Drive in Nepean. Their business has been growing so well that they have had to expand operations into a larger footprint to accommodate more equipment. Business is obviously good. I tried their Longshot White Wheat Ale which was very nice. Some cloudiness and a subtle spice with a refreshing citrus crispness to it. A nice start to the day.
That beer went down fast so it was time to move on to the next tent reminding myself to "stop and enjoy" each beer rather than throwing it back like a teenager at his prom. The next tent was Beaus All Natural Brewing Company (www.beaus.ca/) which is located on Terry Fox Drive in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. I was intrigued by there Weiss O'Lantern Pumpkinweiss white ale which turned out to be an excellent choice. The Pumpkinweiss had an nice orange hue with a smooth creamy finish and it tasted like pumpkin, cloves and citrus. Excellent !
I took a break to enjoy some live music in the main tent and then shuffled over to the Hogsback Brewing Company (hogsback.ca) which is located here in Ottawa. I decided to stick with the wheat ales so I sampled their Sunofa Beach Kristal Wheat beer. A bright clear and crisp beer with some citrus flavours and not too hoppy on the finish. All in all a very good beer.
Other stops along the way included the Flying Monkeys with their mildly hoppy wheat beer called Stereovision, Muskoka Breweries which had a great cream ale and the Clocktower Pub was pouring a nice smooth Blonde beer with some mild hoppiness to it. Alas, I was down to my last beer tickets so I ventured over to the Ashton Brewing Company (ashtonbrewpub.ca/) to sample their Ashton Cream ale which lived up to it's name. A bright golden colour with a smooth and not too hoppy creamy finish. A nice way to end the National Capital Craft Beer Festival.
I fully plan on attending next years festival but I'm definitely bringing some friends along to enjoy the food, music, sunshine and of course the beer.
Cheers !
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