Happy Birthday Mr. Steve Beauchesne

Steve Beauchesne, the energetic and passionate co-founder/owner of Vanleek Hill's, Beau's All Natural Brewing Co., is celebrating a birthday today, or so Facebook tells me.

Steve left his cozy job working for the provincial government to start the brewery with his father Tim back in 2005, and in 2006 the brewery opened their doors. Together, along with the rest of the Beau's team, Steve has taken the eastern brewery from humbling beginnings and turned it into a very successful business, growing at a very healthy rate.

He looks after marketing and promotions for the brewery and has done an incredible job (imo) building brand awareness throughout Ontario with their signature Lug-Tread Lagered Ale. Steve also documents his adventures in the brewing industry on his blog, How To Start A Brewery (in 1 million easy steps).

Happy Birthday Steve!

*Pic - Steve on right*

Happy Birthday Mr. Corbeil

Another terrific publican also celebrated a birthday yesterday.

Jeb Corbeil, the passionate co-owner of Bracebridge's The Griffin Gastropub, turned the big 30 yesterday, and I'm sure he and the rest of the staff at the Griffin, celebrated in style.

Corbeil and Curt Dunlop took over the building and the existing pub in August 2009, which was big on Alexander Keith's and cheap pints of domestic lager. The two men stripped it down, renovated the inside, and re-opened with a focus on craft beer, and a new name. Today they only serve beers brewed in Ontario and that has attracted a whole new clientele to the pub, and it shows that craft beer can survive outside the big markets like Toronto.

The pub also selects one Ontario brewery to be their brewery for the month. That title provides the brewery with access to two tap lines plus the option to stock a number of bottles, and on the last Sunday of the month the Griffin hosts a four-course beer dinner featuring beers from that brewery.

Corbeil is also behind the Muskoka Beer Festival that took place last August in Bracebridge featuring breweries from all over Ontario.

Happy Birthday Mr. Corbeil (on the left in picture. Cameron's Jason Ellesmere on the right)

Happy Birthday Mr. Milbrandt

George Milbrandt, the owner of Toronto's oldest craft beer friendly pub Cest What?, celebrated a birthday yesterday.

Milbrandt opened C'est What? at Church and Front Streets in Toronto back in 1988 and what set them apart from every other pub/bar/restaurant in the city was the fact that they only served Canadian beer, which has made C'est What? a must stop destination during a Toronto craft beer visit.

There are now somewhere in the neighbourhood of forty (yes forty) taps that serve product from all over Ontario; from the smallest of craft breweries to the larger breweries like Steam Whistle and Mill Streets. You'll also be able to find beers from Quebec and Alberta on draught, and choosing a pint of cask conditioned ale is also in the cards as C'est What is one of thirteen Toronto establishments to offer real ale.

Milbrandt's vision some 22 years ago has lead to a great following and like I said, C'est What has become a must visit destination in your search for a pint of craft beer. Bar Towel's Golden Tap Awards have seen C'est What? win the award for best Toronto draught selection in 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, actually winning it every year since the GTA's were created.

Happy Birthday Mr. Milbrant!

Happy Birthday Mr. Blakeley

Tim Blakeley is celebrating a birthday today and here's hoping he has some terrific beer to help get him through the day.

Blakeley, who is the head brewer for Better Bitters Brewing Company, has been in the industry for over 15 years now, after getting his start in the pub industry at Guelph's Woolwich Arms, and today Blakeley is responsible for the creation of a number of new seasonal products Better Bitters (under the brand Nickel Brook) have been producing over the last couple of years: Maple Porter, Spring Bock, Organic White, Sahti (a Finnish beer brewed with Juniper berries) and Uniek Kriek (oak-aged with sour cherries).

Blakeley has also brought some consistency and creativity to the brewery since arriving almost four years ago, tweaking, and improving the Nickel Brook Ale and Apple Pilsner, and producing the recently released canned, and LCBO available Organic Lager.

Happy birthday Tim!

Happy Birthday Mr. Bowden

My good buddy John Bowden over at Great Lakes Brewery is celebrating his birthday today. Well, he actually celebrated on Saturday night with a good ol' fashion pub crawl through the streets of Toronto after attending Georgeapalooza, but today is the offical day.

Bowden has been with Great Lakes for almost four years now doing a number of roles around the brewery, including the handling LCBO sales, licensee sales, looking after the various marketing initiatives and promoting events at Great Lakes, help out with deliveries, and pretty much anything else that needs to be done. Bowden is also taking advantage of the small pilot system the brewery has in the brewhouse as he's been involved in creating a number of one-offs with other staff for sampling at Project 'X' nights, something I've been able to take part in.

I haven't seen him since Saturday, so here's hoping he survived. Happy birthday John.

Georgeapalooza - Happy Birthday Mr. Eagleson

For the past seven years George Eagleson throws a party at Toronto's Cloak and Dagger pub to celebrate his birthday. The longtime head brewer at F&M calls the party Georgeapalooza and it brings together friends, brewers and brewery representatives from all over the province for a day of beer, food, and good company...and to help celebrate his birthday in style, which happened to be back on Jan. 21st.

Eagleson is crazy, there's not doubt about it. Crazy about the entire beer industry. His passion is unparalleled and everyone that knows him feels it when he opens his mouth. He lives and breaths beer and an afternoon of drinking with him is always memorable.

He also dabbles in recycled art with his terrific little company called CraftBrewers Recycled Art Project (CRAP). Head over to their website to see some of the cool items he has for sale.

Happy birthday George!

*George is the one with his head in the hops*

Happy Birthday Mr. Brauch AKA - Thirsty Traveler

It was Kevin Brauch's birthday yesterday and I didn't get around to putting together a post, but better late than never.

Brauch is the man behind the Thirsty Traveler, a television show that takes him around the world in search of beer, wine, and spirits. The show is currently on hold but Brauch is keeping himself busy with a new show he's hosting for the Food Network called Chef Off. One of the episode's was filmed at the in-laws place and my wife and I were able to be a small part of the show.

He was the master of ceremonies for the 2007 Canadian Brewing Awards and speaks at a number of beer dinners in Toronto. He also helps local pubs/bars with cocktail creations. He is a great entertainer and I for one hope to see The Thirsty Traveler back on air, sharing new beer related experiences with us from around the globe.

Happy birthday Kevin!

Happy Birthday Mr. Mistry

Jamie Mistry, the brewmaster for Toronto's Amsterdam Brewing Company, is celebrating a birthday today.

Mistry started off his brewing career 17 years ago with a lab position at the Upper Canada Brewing Company before eventually moving onto Steam Whistle, helping them get up and running. From there Mistry brewed for the Cool Brewing Company for a number of years before leaving to steer the ship at Amsterdam in August 2008 where he currently is today, pumping out a number of new beers while tweaking some of the regulars.

Mistry received some good press this year for his work with a local homebrewer, Derek Hyde, re-creating Hyde's personal Doppelbock recipe on a large scale. That beer went on to win a gold medal at the Canadian Brewing Awards and won a Editor's Choice award at the Golden Tap awards.

Happy birthday Jamie!

*Pic. - Mistry on left, TAPS President Rob Engman on right @ the 2009 Canadian Brewing Awards gala.

Happy Birthday Mr. Clow

Today is Greg Clow's birthday. Clow is the longtime news editor of Bar Towel; the creator/writer of Beer, Beats, Bites blog; the creator/writer of Canadian Beer News; and the co-founder of the Taste TO website. He is also a regular contributor with TAPS: Canada's Beer Magazine with his Beer Styles 101 column and he is also one of the six tasters in the TAPS tasting panel.

I first met Clow back in 2007 when I first started this blog and he was one of the first people to notice what I set out to do. He was also one of the first people to welcome me to this small beer blogging fraternity, writing a post on one of his sites about my blog.

Happy birthday Greg!

Birthday Wishes to Bar Towel Founder

Bar Towel.com founder, Free Our Beer.org founder, Bar Towel Imports Founder, Bar Towel Radio host, Golden Tap Awards founder and organizer, and local craft beer champion, Cass Enright, a good friend of mine, is celebrating a birthday today.

It's been a busy year for Enright. Bar Towel celebrated a 10th anniversary, he successfully imported a pallet of Garrison product for private order and is working on the second order (while documenting the challenges on his Free Our Beer website), and the Golden Tap Awards were the biggest and best to date. Here's hoping the guy can relax with a beer (or two) tonight. Please join me in wishing Enright a happy birthday!

**Pic - Garrison Brewmaster Daniel Girard, Enright, Garrison Owner Brian Titus

Happy Birthday Mr. Pinhey

Atlantic Canada's beer, spirits and wine writer, Craig Pinhey, is celebrating a birthday today, and he's celebrating in style as he is away working in France at the moment.

There are a number of place to read Pinhey's work as he writes for TAPS, The Coast (a Halifax weekly), New Brunswick's Telegraph Journal, Wine Access Magazine and many more publications. Pinhey also has a popular blog, Frog's Pad, and he is also involved with the Friday CBC Radio program the Shift as the Wine Guy. He is a certified beer and wine judge, a sommelier, a wine educator and is definitely one of the most passionate people in Canada when it comes to the drinks industry.

With TAPS, Pinhey covers all the east coast beer news and is my partner for the Tasting Panel. Here's wishing him a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mr. Keefe

Granite owner/brewer Ron Keefe is celebrating a birthday today.

Keefe brought the Granite's English Style Ales to Toronto back in 1991 and the tied-house has become somewhat of an institution in Ontario. Keefe, as a brewer, is very involved in the cask movement that Ontario is experiencing, and is considered by many to be one of the finest creators of true cask conditioned ales in this province. He is the man behind one of my all time favourite beers - Best Bitter Special, a beautifully cask conditioned bitter that has been perfectly dry-hopped.

I first met Keefe back in 2007 at the Golden Tap Awards and shortly after that I took a six week beer appreciation course that he teaches at George Brown College. We have been friends ever since. Please join me in wishing Keefe a happy birthday.

Get These Men A Beer

There are a couple of very respected publicans celebrating birthdays this weekend - Bar Volo's Ralph Morana and Adam Grant from The Monk's Table.

Last night, folks in attendance for session 1 of the start of Cask Days, happily sung Happy Birthday to Morana to help kick start his hectic weekend. Morana has been running Volo for over 20 years now and the bar has since become a mecca for beer lovers, attracting visitors from all over the world for their bottled beer selection, rotating draught menu, and for the numerous events that are held throughout the year. Morana can usually be found at the bar, chatting with regulars about the industry while making sure everybody is having a good time.

















And also celebrating a birthday this weekend is The Monk's Table owner, Adam Grant, who's establishment is just a bit north of Volo. Grant recently ditched the former name of the bar (The Abbot on the Hill) in favour of the Monk's Table, a name that was submitted by a customer during a challenge organized by Grant when he and his partner took over sole-ownership of the restaurant. The bar is well known for their delicious food, terrific import draught menu, and their knack for hosting beer launches. Grant seems to always be around, greeting people at the door and is quick to chat about his passion for good beer.

Usually these two men are the ones pouring and/or serving us our drinks, so this weekend is your turn to say thanks by offering birthday wishes, and maybe even grabbing them a pint at the bar.

Buy These Guys a Pint Today

Greg Nash, the colourful brewer with the Hart and Thistle Gastropub & Brewery in Halifax, NS, is celebrating a birthday today. Nash, who I met for the first time when he drove through snow storms and freezing rain from Halifax to Vaughan in 2007 to accept the beer of the year award during his time with Garrison, is one of the most passionate craft brewers I've had the pleasure of getting to know personally.

Although he needs no introductions here, Nash is well known for his extreme, yet nicely balanced hop bombs and he continues to experiment at the Hart & Thistle after stints with Garrison Brewing and Pump House. He is also working towards opening his own brewery, which, for us hopheads, is wonderful news.



Also celebrating a birthday today is Ceili Cottage owner and oyster shucker extrordinare, Patrick McMurray. I remember meeting McMurray for the first time back in March as construction was taking place in what would become a terrific, authentic, Irish local in Leslieville. We stood in the middle of a shell of an old garage and I listened as McMurray outlined the future of the local. Months after that encounter the Cottage was erect and looked exactly as I pictured it would (based on our conversation) and it has become a busy destination in the months its been open.

Please join me in wishing these two men, a talented brewer and passionate publican, a happy birthday.