Okay, it wasn’t actually called that, but I’ve been thinking of it as the third annual Session 99 beer festival…hence 101. Officially, though, it’s just called Session Toronto now.
Since the festival had moved from 99 Sudbury up to Wychwood Barns, taking Uber there and back — especially on such a stinking hot day — was a worthwhile splurge. And when I say stinking hot, I mean hot enough that pretty much everyone was sweaty and various degrees of stinky. I was stupid enough to wear jeans, and spent the whole afternoon yelling, Nick Miller-like, at the sun. Going inside didn’t help as the humidity in there was worse…especially when it came time to make my one and only bathroom stop. It must have been over 50° in there with the humidity, and by 7pm the situation had become something less than sanitary. I vowed never to go back in, no matter how dire the bladder situation became.
Right, with all that out of the way, let’s get to the beer…so much of which was outstanding this year.
- Oast House ‘Hef’ hefeweizen
- Sawdust City ‘Red Rocket’ coffee stout
- Left Field ‘6-4-3’ double IPA
- Great Lakes ‘Thyme Lord’ saison
- Beau’s ‘The Tom Green Beer’ milk stout
- Spearhead ‘Jamaican Fire’ ale
- Wellington SPA
- Lake Of Bays ‘River Walker’ summer ale
- Highlander Brew Co. ‘Lion Grass’ summer ale
- Muskoka ‘Dragon slayer’ tripel
- Indie Alehouse ‘High Maintenance’ Belgian strong ale
- Central City ‘Red Racer’ IPA
- Flying Monkeys ‘Machete’ oatmeal stout
- Muskoka ‘Dragon slayer’ tripel (again)
- Left Field 6-4-3 double IPA (again) as we stopped in to buy me a shirt
- Black Oak saison
Also: a killer pulled pork sandwich from Hogtown Smoke, and cupcakes (Spearhead Moroccan brown ale teacupcake, Canadian mancake) from The Sassy Lamb.
We left shortly before closing, and walked around the corner to The Stockyards to pick up dinner. Sadly, it seemed like all the other Session-goers had the same idea, and when we heard the chef yell that it would take at least thirty minutes for any fried chicken orders, we bailed. We picked up some wings on the way home, and ate them with an ice-cold Shawinigan Handshake from Trou du Diable. Beer day for the win.