This year Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary, and here in the nation’s capital, the entire year is filled with various fun events to celebrate. As part of Ottawa 2017 events, Beau’s Brewery was named an official partner of the events, with Beau’s Lug Tread beer being the official beer for Canada’s 150th-anniversary celebrations in the nation’s capital.
While I’ve certainly had Beau’s flagship Lug Tread, a golden crisp ale, I had yet to visit the brewery or try any other Beaus beers. Thus I decided to book a tour with Brew Donkey to visit Beau’s Brewery and learn more about the official beer for the 150th anniversary here in Ottawa.
Ottawa Beer Tour To Beau’s Brewery
Beau’s Brewery is the largest independent producer of organic beer in Canada, and the main brewery is in Vankleek Hill which is one hour drive outside of Ottawa. Needless to say, as once you get to Beau’s Brewery you will want to sample all the various beers, getting to and from Vankleek Hill can be a challenge as driving after drinking is not possible, and there is not public transportation from Ottawa to Vankleek Hill. Thus I was super excited to sign up for Brew Donkey’s bus tour to Beau’s Brewery which provided roundtrip transportation for $15!
Beau’s Brewery Tour & Tasting
Visiting Beau’s Brewery can be a fun way to spend an afternoon, they provide free tours of the brewery and free samples of all their current beers. When I visited there were 10 beers on tap, but you could also request samples of any of the bottled beers too, so there was plenty to try.
Over the 2 hours visiting Beau’s Brewery I tried an assortment of the various beers including Tom Green Milk Stout (a stout with flavours of chocolate and coffee), Blood Simple (a Belgian-style witbier with citrus and spice notes), Triceratops Tripel (a gruit ale with spicy, herbal and fruity notes), Dunkel (a malty Bavarian dark lager) and the Strong Patrick (a malty Irish-style red ale with caramel, vanilla, toasted wood, and whiskey notes).
As someone who prefers dark beers, I adored the Tom Green Milk Stout, Dunkel, and the Strong Patrick, and I’d certainly order any of these beers again in the future. While the Triceratops Tripel or Lug Tread is a better choice for people who prefer lighter beers, they were both excellent too. The only beer I didn’t enjoy at all was the Blood Simple, but that is simply a matter of my personal taste.
The guided tour took about 20 minutes, where we learned the history of Beau’s Brewery, got see samples of the ingredients used in the beer, and explored the various parts of the brewery.
As of Canada Day (July 1st) this year, Beau’s Brewery will have been producing beer for 10 years and is the largest independent producer of organic beer in Canada. Compared to the other craft breweries I’ve visited, I was dazzled by how large the brewery was. Unlike many of the small breweries near Ottawa, Beau’s offers 50 rotating craft beers that as of 2016 are available for sale throughout Canada and parts of New York, which explains the massive scale of the brewery.
Before departing both women and men were challenged to see who could hold a stein of beer with a straight arm the longest. It was rather entertaining to watch and cheer on the contestants.
It certainly is an exciting time to be in Ottawa with so many great events taking place in my hometown, and I had a fun afternoon visiting the award-winning brewery of the official beer for Canada’s 150th-anniversary celebrations.
Upon exiting the Brew Donkey Tour to Beau’s Brewery, everyone was given a gift bag that contained a bottle of beer, a bottle opener keychain, and an invitation to the St. Patrick’s Day Party. If you happen to be in Ottawa on March 11th make sure to get a ticket for the downtown Ottawa event and try for yourself some of the beers I listed.
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