[Giveaway] 2014 Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival

The annual Steam Whistle (@SteamWhistle) Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival is back! One of my favourite boozy events each year, the 2-day event gathers an allstar list of Ontario microbreweries allowing festival-goes to sample a variety of independent beers. Did I mention there will also be food trucks on site?

[Giveaway] Carlsberg St. Party's Day

Besides recovering from the apocalyptic snow storm Toronto is experiencing, guess what else will be happening this weekend? Oh yes. It's that time of year again. Your annually opportunity to enrobe yourself in green and get in touch with your Irish roots is here. Happy early St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Since 2011, Carlsberg has been hosting Canada's largest St. Patty's Day party, aptly named as St. Party's Day! (Twitter: @StPartysDay, Facebook page here)

THE DETAILS
Who/What: 4th annual St. Party's Day festival hosted by Carlsberg
When: March 14th-16, 2014
Where: Andrew Richard Designs (571 Adelaide Street East, Toronto)

[GIVEAWAY] Steamwhistle's Winter Craft Beer Festival

It seems like mother nature is not letting us forget how cold it can be this winter. Seriuosly, power outages, frozen tree branches, the mythical frost quakes?! Brutal. But as Canadians, we probably take pride in that. If there's two things Canadians know a thing or two about, it's how to do winter and beer right.

And so it would seem only fitting that Steamwhistle's (@SteamWhistle)first ever outdoor Winter Craft Beer Festival is taking place during one of Canada's coldest winter in the past decade. Are you Canadian enough to brave the cold? If so, free up your calendar, because this festival you don't want to miss.

[Event] Toronto Festival of Beer 2013

Last weekend I had the pleasure of once again attending the Toronto Festival of Beer (@TOBeerFestival). Despite it being the 19th annual TFOB, this would only be my second time in attendance. And with all the lessons I managed to learn from my first beer festival visit last year (see here), I think it's safe to say I was able to enjoy it this time around even more!

The Preparation

First order of business was to (a) buy tokens (no tokens, no beer!) and (b) to hang out a bit in the media lounge. It's a nice refuge from all the walking and standing around, and it also doesn't hurt that there are an endless supply of Neal Brothers (@NealBrothers) chips and LOL Candy trees (@LOLcandyco)to snack off of! :)

Official Beer Festival Currency

[Events] Oktoberfest at Steam Whistle Breweries

So now that it is October, it’s only fitting that I do a little post on Oktoberfest, right? Right. But make no mistake, despite it commonly celebrated over Thanksgiving weekend, Oktoberfest actually starts in September, and lasts a total of 16 days. The very first Oktoberfest took place in 1810 in Munich Germany, and was to commemorate the marriage of a German King Ludwig to his bride Therese. 200 years later, this festival of beer is still celebrated by 5 million people all over globe. A ceremonial 12 gun salute and official tapping of the first keg marks the beginning of the 2 week long festival.

This year Oktoberfest began on the 22nd of September, and so last week I decided to join in on the festivities by attending Steam Whistle’s (@SteamWhistle)annual Oktoberfest celebration. Complete with a celebratory first keg tap, traditional German fare, and lots (and I mean LOTS) of beer, I just couldn’t resist going!

I made a trip out to downtown where the Steam Whistle brewery is.

Steam Whistle Brewery

[Event] The 2012 Toronto Festival of Beer

Just over a week ago, I had the pleasure of attending the 18th annual Toronto Festival of Beer at Bandshell Park. Being Canada's largest beer festival, it was definitely an overwhelming feat for this newbie! Each year the festival brings together hundreds of beer exhibitors and pavilions showcasing everything beer related. From cigars to food, hot girls to zoo animals. So much to see, do and soak in all at once! It was definitely a good time, but I wish someone would have told me how to tackle it strategically to make the most of my day. So here it is, Mary's guide to The Toronto Festival of Beer.

There really aren't too many words to describe this event aside from being one collosal beer party!

1) Equip yourself!

Photo by: Yvonne
So the first thing you do when you enter is buy tokens. These are the golden universal currency of the festival, as it is the only currency vendors will accept. Sold at $1 each in packs of 20, make sure you stock up on these. You don't want to get caught running of them!