Father’s Day weekend is shaping up to be lager than life with Ontario Craft Beer Week, starting this Sunday. The week-long, province-wide celebration of Ontario Craft Brewers (OCB) will consist of over 100 events, educating us on such essentials as which chocolate pairs best with which beer and how bacon tastes with a pint (our guess: sweet).
Now in its second year, themes for the week include beer and dad, beer and chocolate, beer and cheese and the unbeatable combination of beer and barbecue. All the beer is brewed locally and fresh by breweries from OCB, including Beau’s and Mill St.
“They’re made by beer artisans,” says Jason Ellsmere of Cameron’s Brewing, co-chair of Ontario Craft Beer Week. “The beer is made by hand instead of by a computer, and there’s a lot of passion behind the breweries.”
There’ll be no shortage of passion at the women’s only (sorry, dudes) beer and chocolate event at Highway 61, hosted by Mirella Amato of Barley’s Angels, a women’s beer club. Dad can enjoy the ‘kegs and eggs’ event held at Grapefruit Moon, where the famous Hoser breakfast sandwich and a pint of OCB beer is just $12 all day.
If you find the smorgasbord of brewskis intimidating, take the beersonality quiz to find out what best suits your mood (scoring “lager and die” must mean we’re ready for the weekend).
Ellsmere’s advice for beer novices is to try, try, try. “The beers are like my children, I can’t pick just one. Some are a little better than others, but I do try as many as I can.”