civilized ku # 5019-23 ~ ccertified organic goodness

keg  / Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. ~ VanKleek Hill, ONT. CA. (click to embiggen)

beer making / Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. ~ VanKleek Hill, ONT. CA. (click to embiggen)

beer stein competition / Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. ~ VanKleek Hill, ONT. CA. (click to embiggen)

had to have it

yum

One of Hugo's hockey games this weekend past was in Vankleek Hill, ONT. CA. and, as luck / fortuitous coincidence would have it, Vankleek Hill is home Beau's All Natural Brewing Co., the brewer of one of my (and the wife) favorite beers - Lug-Tread Lagered Ale. So, after Hugo's Saturday game near Ottawa, the wife and I went to Vankleek Hill to visit the brewery and stay overnight.

The brewery was hopping (get it? "hopping") - tour buses from Montreal and a constant flow of visitors. 10 of their beers were on tap for sampling or buying a pint. My favorite was a variation on their Irish-style Red Ale (aka, Fierce Patrick) which was aged in bourbon barrels (aka, Ravishing Patrick Rude). It has a bit of a kick with 10% ALC/VOL.

While we were there, we were treated to witnessing one of the many daily beer stein holding contests. The objective of the "game" is to hold a stein full of beer at arm's length - arm straight, elbow locked, no spilling or touching the counter allowed - with the intent of being the last participant to survive the holding effort. The winner - hint, the guy who looks like he drinks a lot of beer - of the pictured event (in this entry) survived for a tick or 2 over 11 minutes. The record for that day was over 17 minutes.

And then there was the hockey sweater (called a "jersey" in the US).