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!

#5 – Horse Piss beer

Released in April 2005 HPB came out just before the Kentucky Derby that year. It was actually contract-brewed through Viking Brewing Company and donated a portion of the beer sales to charities that protect retired thoroughbred horses.

#4 – Genny Light

While it may not sound all that bad to you or I, “Genny” when translated in to Hungarian actually means “pus” or “filled with pus”. YUCK! Made in Rochester New York the brewery was established in 1878. Genny Light contains only 96 calories per can.

#3 – Griesedieck Brothers beer

This name pretty much speaks for itself. Brewed in St.Louis it’s recently come back after not being on the market for some time. Griesedieck Western Brewery Co. in Belleville, Illinois produces Stag beer and owns the Falstaff Brewing Corporation which makes Falstaff Beer.

#2 – Aass Beer

Made by Norway’s oldest brewery Aass Bayer is a lager. The strangest thing is that the company originally dealt in timber, groceries, baking AND brewing. Talk about a mixed bag! The brewery is still owned by the Aass family which makes me feel bad not only for the beer but all of their children as well! Let’s just hope it doesn’t taste like it’s named!

#1 – Vergina Beer

Vergina makes many types of beer. Their flagship brand is a premium lager but they also have a red, a premium pilsner and a weiss that’s made with a “special top fermenting yeast”! Personally I never really want to hear about Vergina and yeast at the same time but I’d be willing to give this beer just to be able to keep the bottle as a souvenir.

And from the official site:

Director Anat Baron takes you on a no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry that ultimately reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer. Told from an insider’s perspective, the film goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate one of America’s favorite industries.

I’m pretty excited for this movie. I don’t know how soon I’ll be able to see it because there doesn’t seem to be any Canadian screenings set up yet. But being a fan of documentary films and a fan of beer I’d like to experience this insider’s perspective of what’s going on in the American beer industry.

Not to mention it would be good homework for opening my own brewery. But that will have to wait till after the OLG realizes I’m overdue for a payout.

An exciting note. I happened to inhale as I opened the bucket and it actually smells like beer! Not like wort!

Excitement has reached level 2.

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):

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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.

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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).

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This fermentation should take 3 to 5 days.

My excitement is building!