Commercial genius I say.

Man these are just great.

HOORAY BEER!

Here’s one about beer that made me chuckle:

In other news this poor site is being pretty neglected. With the holidays and vacation and getting engaged and stuff I’ve been pretty busy. I hope to revive a little life in to the site in the new year.

Located in Vankleek Hill, Ont, Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company was co-founded in 2006 by Tim and Steve Beauchesne, with a mission to brew beer Eastern Ontario could proudly call its own. Lug Tread is served on tap at more than 200 bars and restaurants and 60 LCBO stores in Eastern Ontario, as far West as Kingston, as well as directly from the brewery’s on site retail store. The brewery was recently named the best microbrewery in Ontario at the 2009 Golden Tap awards held in Toronto.

I wish I was a little closer to Ottawa and not in Toronto! Heck I wish I could just get my hands on some of it! I’d love to head out there and check it out. They’ll be releasing their fall seasonal beer Nightmärzen which is a traditional Oktoberfest lager and they’ll be serving up Lugtread as well.

I noticed Lugtread in the LCBO’s in Ottawa when I was there a few weeks ago for an unfortunate family gathering. The sweet looking swingtop caught my eye with it’s painted logo I love the style of the bottle and although it looked intriguing I didn’t have a chance to pick any up. This is a decision I sorely regret and wish that I could get some of thier beer in my local LCBO’s.

Beau’s is also teaming up with a bunch of restaurants in the Ottawa area for the festival. It appears as if this will be a really good time for those who can attend.

The Bavarian-inspired food will be provided by some of the best restaurants in Ottawa: Allium, Domus, Murray Street Murray Street Kitchen Wine & Charcuterie, Pascale’s All Natural Ice Cream, The Piggy Market, Urban Pear and Whalesbone; and a few hidden gems from further out: Ballygiblins (Carleton Place), The Branch Organic Restaurant (Kemptville), Knox Fine Dining (Moose Creek) and Mary’s Country Kitchen (Vankleek Hill). The event also boasts 8 hours of live Oompah music, haywagon rides, free brewery tours, free games for kids and adults, homebrewing demonstrations and more. Beau’s All Natural will also be releasing its Fall seasonal beer, the Night Märzen, a traditional Oktoberfest lager. More announcements of entertainment will be announced shortly.

Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the gate. Bus packages including return trips from St. Laurent Shopping Centre are $25 and must be purchased in advance. Tickets are available at all Bridgehead locations, the Piggy Market (400 Winston Ave, Ottawa), at the brewery in Vankleek Hill and by phone at 866-585-BEER (2337).

Now all I have to do is see if I can make it out there!

Details from official sources are a little scant at this time. With the LCBO website saying nothing but

June 24, 2009 12:01 p.m.

The LCBO and OPSEU LBED bargaining teams have agreed to continue bargaining.

All employees should report to work as usual until notified otherwise.

The workers made a last minute decision to put off going on strike stating that a resolution was soon enough in the wind that a strike wouldn’t be nessisary.

CP24 interviewed one customer yesterday during the booze grab blitz:

Toronto resident Bruce Wallner considered it important to hoard some hooch; he spent about $700 on liquor and organic wines to add to his personal cabinet.

“You can’t run out of wine — you’d have to stop eating,” he joked.

I’m glad they’re not striking. I like their selection better than that of The Beer Store. Although you CAN get Steamie there so I guess I’d be okay.

The never ending bottle gets them wasted and the regular burping, falling down and getting rejected by girls ensues. There’s also a little grand theft auto and drinking and driving thrown in there for good measure.

Here’s the clip:

The title of this YouTube vid says it was banned but I distinctly remember seeing it on TV when I was young.

EDIT: It appears that my buddy Dave of randomasrhyme.com fame has also featured this on his weekly feature Wordless Wednesdays

Speaking of gems I can’t wait to head to my local The Gem for a pint tonight!

A big thanks to Dave for the shout out in yesterday’s post.

ThirstyMates is always happy to have new visitors!

and here’s some credits:

Martin Krejci gets nostalgic as a Heineken bottle’s life flashes before its eyes in this new one from Stink and McCann’s in Dublin.

Credits:

Agency: McCann Erickson, Dublin
Production Company: Stink
Director: Martin Krejci
Creative Director: Shay Madden
Art Director: Ray Swan
Copywriter: Emma Sharkey
Agency Producer: Genie Dorman
Post production: The Mill, Absolute

Yesterday February 7th 2008 I started my first home brew using the brewing and wort kits that I received for Christmas.

There wasn’t much to it really. The part that took the longest was sterilizing everything so that the beer wouldn’t develope a nasty taste. That took about an hour. Partially cause I kept forgetting things that needed to be sterilized so I had to keep waiting an extra 20min for the sani-brew to do it’s bit over and over. Live and learn though.

Here’s some pictures of me sanitizing in the bathtub (which is also now germ and bacteria free as well):

 Click the pics for larger views

I didn’t get a lot of pictures (read: any) of actually combining the wort and the yeast in the primary fermenter because my photographer was acting as an assistant at the time. I’ve chosen a two step fermentation process as is recommended in How to Brew by John J. Palmer and by the instructions that came with the pre prepaired wort.

 Click the pics for larger views

Over night the beer fermented like crazy. The head has risen to about 5 inches. During this time I’m keeping the bucket out on a counter and covered in a blackout sheet. I decided to do this because it will need to be racked in to the carboy for secondary fermentation in a few days and it will be much easier to do from that height instead of trying to lift it up at the time (the bucket is a little flimsy).

 Click the pics for larger views

This fermentation should take 3 to 5 days.

My excitement is building!