Frank Sinatra and Ben Franklin never met. If they had, they would find a lot in common because they both liked to drink. In fact, Old Blue Eyes once said he felt sorry for those who didn’t, suggesting “they [have to] wake up every morning [knowing] that is the best they are going to feel all day.”
With 100 labels from over 30 brands, the Toronto Festival of Beer gives beernuts everywhere something to thirst for. Attendance at the 16 year old event approached 30,000 last year and organizers are hopeful that the amenable weather that caused an 11.5% increase in beer and cider summer sales in the province will pump up their crowds, too.
The brainchild of Greg Cosway, Toronto’s Festival of Beer emerged from the early activities of the Gourmet Beer Club of Canada, which he also founded. You won’t find any funnel-toting frat boys or Duff-swilling Homer Simpsons here though, the event focuses on the finer qualities of taste, allowing for the investigation and appreciation of the wide varieties of beer available throughout the province and beyond.
Seven vendors have also been invited to host ‘brand experience areas’ devoted to the lifestyles behind their brands. Etobicoke-based Great Lakes Brewery is returning with their CASKapalooza, which features 20 one-of-a-kind casks brewed specifically for the event, such as the tongue-in-cheek ’Pompous Ass Pale Ale’ and the colourful ’Orangaboom!’
Although the price tag for the event is on the hefty side for what really amounts to a marketing exposé, it is fun. Landing somewhere between a live concert and a night at the pub, for 4 days the Festival becomes Toronto’s biggest patio. With tonight’s headlining musical act, Kardinal Offishall, on the main stage, grilling-guru, Ted Reader, under the Grill Tent and food vendors like the recent Deli Duel champion, Caplansky’s, there is enough preoccupation to pass the time during sips or lulls in conversation with your friends.
If what Ben Franklin said is true, and “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,” then Cosway and the Festival of Beer must be doing His work. Sinatra, Franklin and God would all be proud.