Sooo..I had the opportunity to attend Festiv-Ale (http://festiv-ale.ca/) yesterday thanks to a last minute invite from my buddy Fabian. I had not attended in the past and had wanted to go, but was too cheap to part with the $30 to get in the door, and then pay for tickets to get booze. Thank to Fabe for the invite! I put on my free admission wristband, got the requisite wee beer stein, paid the $20 for 40 tickets and awaaaayyyyy we go!
So the event was in some ways better than expected, and in other ways exactly what I expected. I managed to slide by the Minhas booth, the Molson booth, the Mike's Hard Lemonade booth, etc unscathed... then made my way to the other excellent booths that were available...which brings me to the good and the bad.
THE GOOD:
- Bust-A-Nut Brewery (http://www.facebook.com/BustaNutBrew). Billed as Regina's newest/only microbrewery, Bust-A-Nut has one label presently, a very tasty ESB style ale. I was suitably impressed. The rep for the brewery at the booth informed me they were in discussion with 40 different restaurants in the Regina area to have their product carried on tap, but there are none presently. Take notice O'Hanlons, Beer Brothers, the myriad chain restaurants in town, and even the Mighty Bushwakker Brewpub...this is a tap you might consider carrying. Quite tasty brew, and a bargain at 1 ticket per wee steinful.
- Chase English Potato Vodka (http://www.chasedistillery.co.uk/). Yet another entry into the Ultra Premium vodka market. Yawn..right? Wait a second..this stuff is good. No, really. Somewhat similar to Grey Goose - and priced HIGHER than Goose - it is a lively vodka with lemony citrusy notes. Tasty stuff. 6 tickets for about 1/3 oz though...I guess they do price it higher than Grey Goose! :)
- Willow Park Wine and Sprits (http://www.willowpark.net/), the source of a number of my reviewed beers, was there in full force offering no less than EIGHT different beers on sample. I tried one that I cannot remember the name of (I know, I suck)...it was an aged trappist-style french beer. I DO remember huge black currant, plum and dark fruit flavours and a dry finish. I will figure out which beer this was and report back. I also remember it was EIGHT tickets for about 3 oz. of beer. Worth it though. Ooooo and I got to share it with the lovely and talented Cheryl Tovey from The Bushwakker. Hi Cheryl!
- Brown's Socialhouse (http://brownsrestaurantgroup.com/brownssocialhouse/category/locations/regina-now-open/). No booze here, but an excellent although small, selection of appetizers. I selected the Dragon Bowl. Yummy. 6 tickets.
- Paddockwood Brewing from Saskatoon (http://www.paddockwood.com/). They only had two beers of their excellent selection on offer - the 606 Pale Ale (excellent) and the Red Hammer Red Ale. I hadn't tried the Red Hammer before and was delighted to sample it. It was a great beer, and will be one I will review properly in the future. 2 tickets only made it even better!
- Half Pints Brewing (http://www.halfpintsbrewing.com/). They had their excellent Stir Stick Stour on tap as well as one I had not heard of - Sweet Nikki Brown. Couldn't get near the booth though, so I went away thirsty. :(. Will try to find the SNB somewhere and review it....
- The Bushwakker Brewpub. 'Wakkers. A little slice of my heaven. I could live there. The beers they had on offer (Bourbon Barrel Stout, Pumpkin Spiced Ale, and two others that escape my memory) I have had in the past over and over and over, so I elected to give them a miss at the event..I did see many many of the BW staff there expanding their palates at the various booths though. :)
- The bands! I had friends in two of the three bands there, and all three bands were a lot of fun! Check out The Chris Henderson Band, Route 66 and Tongue Jungle if you have a chance!
THE BAD:
- the organizers (maybe the vendors?) need to get together and decide if I need to carry tickets or cash. All liquor was available via tickets, but the food vendors were split. It is nice to know what I need to give a vendor for their wares. Makes it simpler...especially after one has sampled a few beverages!
- the door fee. It still seems high to me. I know I didn't pay it, but I am still not 100% sure I WOULD pay it to get in. It was a good time though, so maybe.
- the CROWDS! WOW! If you want to have any chance at getting to the booths, gotta go early...after about 9:00, you have no hope.
- last call is at 10:30 and all liquor booths were done by 11:00PM. Seems early to me..but hey. :)
Conclusion: check out Bust-A-Nut if you can. Nice beer. Hopefully they can get a toehold in Regina and maybe even produce a second label!
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