beer

Winter Brewfest 2017

Second year for attending Winter Brewfest: Saturday Session. Last year I summed up the event as follows:

They definitely have work to smooth out for 2017, if they want to be successful. This would involve ensuring volunteers show up, hosting in a larger venue, trying to have tokens at a reasonable price, and switching the cups to plastic. Booths for the breweries should also have better displays, felt too tight and you could not appreciate the beers they had to offer.

First Impressions

While the organizers advertised that it was in a larger venue, it was actually in the same room at the Enercare Centre from last year. They did however cut back on the carnival games which opened up some more room for vendors. Were there still lines? Yes. And despite switching to a cashless system to “make lines quicker,” I felt the lines were actually longer this year. Did we let that stop us from having fun? Heck no.

Our game plan was to get a sample, then once acquired, move to another line and drink our sample while waiting. When we were near the front of the line, we were usually finished with our previous sample! Genius.

The organizers were also smarter this year and switched the cups to an enviro-plastic cup to cut back on the shattered glass. While the cups were not nearly as cute as the mason jars from last year, it was nice knowing I could not shatter this glass as easily in the event a good song came on.

Last Thoughts

At this point, I’m not too sure if I will go in 2018 as the organizers are still relatively new and – despite changes made this year – they still have work to do to make the whole event enjoyable.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a grand ‘ol time. I’m glad I was with people who were just as ridiculous as me. We made the concrete our dancefloor, when everyone was too serious standing in lines or sitting down to eat. They were so concerned how they presented themselves to others, it made us laugh.

This life is for living, and if I feel the need to dance? Boy, you better be ready because I’m going to dance.

Overall, I give the event three beersteins out of five. I had a fantastic time, there were improvements, but it felt that with the improvements that were made, did not actually change much from last year.

Winter Brewfest 2016

Ended up going to the first Toronto Winter Brewfest: Saturday Session this weekend. All and all I had a great time, because I didn’t let the lineups, crowds, etc get to me. Because it’s a beerfest, what were some people expecting?

Going into it, I had read some of the reviews from the Friday night crew, it was a mixed review with a divide between 1 star ratings, and 5 star ratings. Those leaning on the former complained of overpriced tokens, and long lineups.

I didn’t let these negative reviews rub off on me, as I knew tokens were going to be pricey — they want to make money, right? Also, being a “Brewfest” rather than a “Beerfest,” most of the breweries are on a smaller scale, therefore do not have the money to subsidize their product.

It would have been nice to do more “sampling” of the beer, but it’s just not plausible in a setting like this. Shout out to Muskoka, Great Lakes and Innis & Gunn for being there though.

I give this event a three beer rating, as I did in fact have a pretty, pretty, pretty good time.

They definitely have work to smooth out for 2017, if they want to be successful. This would involve ensuring volunteers show up, hosting in a larger venue, trying to have tokens at a reasonable price, and switching the cups to plastic. Booths for the breweries should also have better displays, felt too tight and you could not appreciate the beers they had to offer.

(p.s. My mason jar ALMOST made it home, but a good song came on while leaving coat check, that it slipped and broke. shame shame.)