Went to the Capital City Beer Festival on Sunday. Heaven. What a glorious time we had… I can’t believe I’d never been. What a great idea. So many beers… Here’s the roundup, as much as I can remember:
 Not the worst beer I’ve tasted, but certainly deserving of the bottom spot on this list, Fin du Monde was a little sweet for me – tasted a bit like Coke mixed with beer… weird taste. The name translated to english is, “The End of the World.” I can see how you’d feel that way the next day if you drank it all night. Truth be told, there were other beers that would have made it on this list before this one, but I just love the name. |
 I’ve never been a big fan of Raspberry beers, but KLB’s effort was certainly tolerable at least. Another sweet beer, I don’t think I could drink this all night, but it would be damned refreshing when served ice cold on a hot day… of course, most beers could make that claim. Another plus: it’s from a local brewery. |
 Yum. No additives or preservatives, no pasteurization and brewed in small batches using only spring water, malt, hops and yeast, Creemore Springs’ Premium Lager has a nice clean taste and goes down easy. I wouldn’t kill or die for it, but it made it onto my list. |
 Mmmm… golden lager. Tried Golden Horseshoe Lager about half-way through the day, immediately after Fin du Monde, so my interest in this brand may be skewed, but definitely a good beer. Nothing particularly special about it, but a fine beer nonetheless. |
 First beer of the day, I had been curious about Hoegaarden for a while… this is the beer that, when you order it in a bar, usually comes in a HUGE glass. I’d heard some good reviews about it, and they were right. Apparently it’s spiced with coriander and curacao orange peels, giving it a bit of a soft and sour/sweet taste. Now I know why they serve it in a big glass. |
 Another one I’d been eyeing for a while, Steam Whistle Pilsner is a regional beer made with all natural ingredients that is dry, refreshing and has a clean, crisp taste. And they have cool retro packaging and advertising to boot! Oh yeah, and they were giving out free popcorn with their samples! Woohoo! |
 Stella Artois is a premium European lager that I’d tried in the past and have always enjoyed. When I set out for the day, I had told myself I would only try beers that I hadn’t had before. I couldn’t resist – it’s a fine, sophisticated beer. |
 Asahi Super Dry from Japan invented the DRY beer process, and they’re proud of it. According to the booth attendant, it’s the fourth top-selling beer in the world. And man, is it dry. Very crisp and clean, it has absolutely no aftertaste. It’s a great beer, but generally I prefer a little more flavour. They were also serving up dried peas and wasabi, a spicy little treat after which a dry beer was welcome. |
 Another regional beer, Brava is a Mexican-style beer with authentic cerveza flavour. Fantastic. I love Mexican beers. Especially when they come with free bags of tortilla’s! |
 Imported from Zaporizhia, Ukraine (the homeland), Slavutych was definitely my favourite of the festival. It’s the only Ukrainian beer available in Ontario, so I may be biased, but I also was trapped in their tent during the massive thunderstorm that rolled through the festival (if you’re going to be trapped somewhere during a rain storm, I could think of worse places than a beer festival), so I had plenty of tastes of this one. |
There’s another beer that I’d like to mention, but I can’t remember the name. It’s a regional beer made with apples. It was very good. I wish I could remember what it was… I’ll pay a visit to the LCBO and if I find it, I’ll let you know.
I should also mention that if anyone ever offers you an Oatmeal Stout beer, run away. eww.
Broil King (the Barbeque people) deserve massive props for their demo where they taught us all kinds of great barbequeing techniques, as well as how to make the “perfect steak.” They served up samples of said steak, and DAMN was it good! “Two-to-eight makes it great!”