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The 12th Annual Festival
Of Small Breweries

The autumn ritual of our Festival Of Small Breweries was observed by hundreds of the usual suspects, from beer weenies to weekend warriors. As usual we had an outstanding lineup of micro-brewed products. In all, there were forty choices from Amsterdam, Big Rock, Black Oak, C'est What, Creemore, Durham, F&M, Hart-Robinson, Kawartha Lakes, McAuslan, Muskoka, Niagara Falls, St. Andre's, Sleeman, Steamwhistle, True North, and Wellington County.

Here's the numerical skinny on the evening's procedings:

  • 2420 samples were served - that's about five big kegs of beer served over the five hours in wee little cups.
  • A little under half (1187) of the samples served were rated by the 72 festival goers who were actually interested and able to legibly complete their score sheets (about 16 samples each)
  • Best Of The Festival for the second year running was McAuslan's St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout receiving a median score of 42 out of 50. Amsterdam Framboise came in a close second at 41. Hart Dragon's Breath, Kawartha Lakes Raspberry Wheat, and C'est What Coffee Porter and Al's Cask Ale made strong showings with scores of 40. Apparently our dedicated crew of beer tasters rarely stumble accross a beer that nobody likes; the lowest median score came in at 30.5.
  • We're not sure what the secret ingredient is that keeps people coming back for more but McAuslan Spiced Pumpkin takes the Most Curious award for the most tasted beer for the second year in a row. The crowds were eager to try Hart Dragon's Breath and Hart Pumpkin Ale as well.
  • The Kid In A Candy Store honours for the most diligent taster is shared by Ian Mitchell and Sherry Smeaton who both managed to rate all forty brews. We know that Ian was well practiced for this accomplishment as he came within four samples completing his score sheet at the 1999 Festival. It must be said, for the record, that they followed the Clinton code of conduct for professional tasters and did not actually swallow any beer.
  • The citizens selected to serve on the jury awarded the Critic's Choice top three in a "blind" tasting. Finishing first was C'est What Mild Brown Ale, followed by St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout and Ste. Andre Vienna Lager (crafted by C'est What's ex-assistant brewer Doug Pengelly).

Our thanks to our fine local brewers for producing such drinkable fare, our hard working staff, and to the dilligent beer lovers who make this festival an annual success.

Median scores for beers with at least 24 samples rated in rank order
Looks
Aroma
Flavour
Finish
Likability
Total
Samples Rated

out of 4
out of 6
out of 22
out of 8
out of 10
out of 50

St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout
4.0
4.0
19.0
7.0
8.0
42.0
34

Amsterdam Framboise
4.0
5.0
18.0
6.0
8.0
41.0
31

Hart Dragon's Breath
3.0
4.0
18.0
7.0
8.0
40.0
44

C'est What Coffee Porter
4.0
4.0
18.0
6.0
8.0
40.0
30

Kawartha Raspberry Wheat
3.0
5.0
18.0
6.0
8.0
40.0
29

C'est What Al's Cask Ale
4.0
4.0
18.0
6.0
8.0
40.0
29

Ste. Andre Vienna Lager
3.0
4.0
18.0
6.0
8.0
39.0
32

Durham Black Katt
4.0
4.0
18.0
6.0
7.0
39.0
39

Creemore Urbock
4.0
4.0
18.0
6.0
7.0
39.0
31

McAuslan Spiced Pumpkin
3.0
5.0
17.0
6.0
7.0
38.0
48

Wellington Iron Duke
3.5
4.0
17.5
5.0
7.5
37.5
26

Niagara Falls Pale Ale
3.0
4.0
17.0
6.0
7.0
37.0
35

Niagara Falls Apple Ale
3.0
5.0
16.0
6.0
7.0
37.0
31

C'est What Rye Beer
3.0
4.0
17.0
6.0
7.0
37.0
30

Kawartha Nut Brown
4.0
4.0
16.0
6.0
7.0
37.0
26

McAuslan Griffon Brown Ale
3.0
3.0
17.0
6.0
7.0
36.0
34

Black Oak Nut Brown
4.0
3.0
16.0
6.0
7.0
36.0
31

Amsterdam Avalanche
3.0
4.0
17.0
5.0
6.5
35.5
30

Muskoka Dark Ale
3.0
3.0
16.0
5.0
7.0
34.0
33

Robinson Xxtra
3.0
3.0
16.0
6.0
6.0
34.0
29

F&M MacLean's Pale Ale
3.0
3.0
16.0
5.5
6.0
33.5
38

Big Rock Chinook Pale Ale
3.0
3.0
15.5
5.0
6.5
33.0
26

Wellington Trailhead Lager
3.0
3.0
15.0
6.0
6.0
33.0
35

Amsterdam Oktoberfest
3.0
3.5
15.0
5.0
6.0
32.5
38

True North India Pale Ale
3.0
3.0
15.5
5.0
6.0
32.5
34

Upper Canada Anniversary Ale
3.0
3.0
15.0
5.0
6.0
32.0
34

C'est What Hemp Ale
3.0
3.0
15.0
5.0
6.0
32.0
30

True North Strong Ale
3.0
3.0
15.0
5.0
6.0
32.0
26

Black Oak Oktoberfest
3.0
3.0
15.0
4.0
6.0
31.0
34

Hart Pumpkin Ale
3.0
4.0
14.5
4.0
5.0
30.5
42
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