It might be a little delayed in posting, but none the less I feel like it’s something that definitely needs to be talked about! The Barley’s Angels Ottawa are back! With everyone’s busy schedule it’s understandable that events weren’t as frequent as some would have liked but there is no worries about that now. I’ve already had an inside scoop of the events coming this summer and might I say they sound absolutely fantastic.
Let’s do a small recap of what Barley’s Angels is, ‘Barley’s Angels is a growing collection of individual chapters around the
world that work with craft beer focused breweries, brewpubs, restaurants, alehouses and other public beer establishments to advance the female consumer craft beer enthusiast’ (http://www.barleysangelsottawa.ca)
For the first real event of the year I was honoured when Katy Watts (Co-founder of Barley’s Angels Ottawa & Ottawa Beer Events) asked me if I wanted to do a talk about the brewery I represent – Railway City Brewing Company. Now if you know me, I actually somewhat dislike public speaking but I knew this would be an awesome opportunity not only for my brewery but for myself to get more comfortable talking in front of bigger crowds.
I decided that I didn’t want to just bore the ladies with endless banter so turned it into a sampling/guided tasting. It’s always easier to talk with a beer in your hand, right?
We hosted the event at the Arrow & Loon, so at least I was in my comfort zone seeing as I work there. It’s also a great place for events seeing as there is lots of room and a great selection of craft beers on tap. We secured the indoor patio and was expecting approximately 20 ladies. To my surprise we ended up filling the outdoor patio which holds about 40 seats. I was nervous but once I started to talk about the beer I got into my comfort zone once again.
We sampled three Railway City beers:
– The Witty Traveller: Our summer seasonal, A Belgian Wit with a little twist. The finish of black pepper gives it a little kick as you keep drinking. A great summer patio beer AND will also be available in cans at the LCBO very soon.
– Dead Elephant IPA: Our lovely flagship beer, a well balanced IPA that I generally suggest to people who want to start drinking IPA’s but can’t handle all the hops/bitterness yet. The balance of hops and malt mingle together to create a perfectly easy drinking IPA, though for easy drinking it does pack the punch of 6.5% ABV. Also you can’t forget the story of Jumbo…
– How The Gruit Times Roll: Our Gruit ale is a really special beer that were super proud of. We collaborated with the Woodstock Renaissance Festival to give them a brew that would pair not only historically but with all the food they’d be serving. Rosemary, Sage, & Black Cumin, this beer is like a turkey dinner in a glass. A great beer to not only drink but to cook with.
After the tasting I went around and chatted with all the ladies discussing which was their favourite and where they can get the product for themselves. Of course at the end we had a prize giveaway because what is a beer event without some swag?
All in all it was a great turnout and I want to thank all the Barley’s Angels Ottawa for taking the time to listen to me and to drink some yummy beer. I can’t wait for our next event together. Also a big thanks for to the Arrow & Loon for hosting us and our server Amanda, she was great in handling all of us rambunctious beer drinking ladies. ;)
Cheers,
– The Beer Gypsy
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