Sebastian Lipsett raises funds and glasses at the Okanagan Fest of Ale 2007.
Okanagan Fest of Ale 2007 review
Submitted
by Sebastian
Lipsett
The 2007 Okanagan Fest of Ale
was held on the 13th and 14th of
April at the Trade and Exhibition Centre, in Penticton, BC. Two doors
down and occurring at the
exact same time was the Penticton
Gun and Antique Show. Coincidence? I
think
not.
Both beer and guns have a certain 'stand alone' quality of awesomeness about them, but together? Magic can happen. I think this is why we have such strict laws regarding drinking in public and the general toting of guns in Canada. Needless to say, I was not the only person going to and fro these equally amazing events. Yes... I am a redneck.
I found myself in a strange place, for not only was it my first time attending the Okanagan Fest of Ale, but I was representing my brewery there as well! Luckily, there were six of us in the Tree Brewing Booth, which allowed for ample 'perusing and boozing' time.
In terms of representation,
there
were a
couple of dozen breweries there from BC, Alberta
and the North-West States
hocking their wares. Beer could be 'purchased' using tokens (that bore
a striking
resemblance to poker chips) in the typical 4oz sampling glass. This
was, of
course, to discourage drunkenness. We had a report of the first fight
outside
in the smoking area by 7pm, three whole
hours after the festival began.
Don't get me wrong though, the Okanagan Fest of Ale is a celebration of the liquid that brings us together across the globe and there were some damn-fine brews out there. The Alpine Brewing company brought with them a German-Style pilsner, packing in that wicked bite that a real pils should. Penticton's own Cannery Brewing brought their reliably great-tasting Anarchist Amber Ale, as well as a Blackberry Porter that was very well balanced and ever-so-dark.
The Nelson Brewing Company, freshly christened with their 'organic' status, remembered to bring their Oatmeal Stout (which is everything a good stout should be), but I think fell a bit short with their Paddywhack IPA. This seemed to me to be quite common here actually and was cause for a little distress.
I found that with the IPAs, several breweries seemed to not achieve a good balance between aroma and bittering hops. Some packed a heck of a puckering punch, but fell shy with a pleasant hoppy flavour, and the opposite as well: A very nice aroma and initial flavour, but either far too much, or far too little bitterness for this Flagship brand of the West.
The Wild Rose Brewery from Calgary Alberta had a neat pale beer with 'something something Fog' as a title, that impressed me... although at this point it must be said that the beer had seemed to blend a wee bit and Pale Ales were tasting the same as Bocks to me.
Throughout the entire Okanagan Fest of Ale, live bands were serenading us with hits from the 60s-90s, including my favourite jug band (The Dung Beatles) that had an instrument which could only be found in Canada: The Hockey Stick Upright Bass. I'm not even joking. I liberally tossed out points for Skagit River's free Tattoos and for Crannog Ales' witty names for their great beers.
I can't
not mention Tree Brewing, either. People seemed to be all over our beer
and
booty-shorts (we caught on to the whole 'sex sells' thing). Our most
popular
Thirsty Beaver Amber Ale
sold like hot cakes, as did our other two
beers:
Cutthroat Pale Ale
and Rebel Original Lager.
Another nice thing to see
was
actually some of the imports, such as the Hefeweizens, giving a
different and
wholly good alternative to your average Barley Pop.
All in all the Okanagan Fest of Ale was a resounding success and with all the proceeds going to local charities, one could not help but feel a little great about getting hosed for a good cause.
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