Brew 2.0, Molson's Special Night for Bloggers
byArriving for the Brew 2.0 event last night we weren’t too sure what to expect but found ourselves in for a treat once we entered the confines of the Molson Brewery on Burrard.
We started off by mingling and having some beers from the tap, although when I asked the man behind the counter for a Rickard’s Honey Brown I didn’t realize at the time that he was Mr. Rickard himself.
The group was then treated to various beer and food pairings, organized by Kerry Scarsbrook (on the beer side) and Blair Rasmussen, Executive Chef at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
The mini bison sandwiches (think pulled-pork sandwich) was delicious and its suggested pairing was Rickard’s Red. Meanwhile the prawn quesadillas with a cool Corona could only be beat by the addictive beer nuts.
After the delectable goodies we split into two groups for a full on tour of the Brewery and “Beer 101” session. Gord Rickard led us all around (luckily the oompa loompas didn’t have to carry anyone off) and the tour ended with a taste of Rickard’s Red – that was so fresh, the timestamp on the bottom of the can (right off the line) was about 2 minutes before we drank it down.
Once back in the main room, we were all treated to a special 50th Anniversary Brew (unique to Vancouver) called Rickard’s Gold Standard.
I had a lot of fun and met some very nice people, like Adam and Tonia from the Molson social media team, and enjoyed seeing friends and colleagues. Towards the end of the evening I really enjoyed speaking with Geoff Molson (7x great grandson of John Molson) and having some of the best tasting Canadian I’ve ever tried. In this smaller setting (those who decided to stay well past last call) Duane took a sip of his beer and shouted over to Geoff, “So sure, you make beer, but can you do a keg stand?” to which Geoff replied, calmly and assured, “You know what? YES.” We were all pretty amused by the conversations that followed.
Leaving the brewery we were handed taxi vouchers as well as some lovely parting gifts from Molson – beer glasses and 1GB thumbdrives loaded with promo materials, logos and videos.
I always disclose on my site that, for events and promotions like these, I maintain the full editorial right to express my honest opinion (did I like it, did I have a good time etc.) and I have to say that Molson did this event right. Truthfully I’m more inclined to drink Molson now than I ever was before after meeting such kind and knowledgeable folks as Kerry Scarsbrook and Gord Rickard.
UPDATE: Molson just delivered a little “morning after” present for us.
More photos of the event can be found in Flickr sets by Raul, Karen, Duane, Ianiv, and Tris. John took some excellent shots as well that will be up as soon as possible.
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I feel the same way about Molson now. I generally thought of those as lower end brews, but the Rickard’s Gold and White are really great beers. Of course getting a beer straight off the line can’t be beat!
Now I don’t feel so bad drinking a Molson Canadian. Course I’d still pick Rickard’s over it.
Looks like you all did have a great time! I want to be invited out next time! Or do I have to specialize my blog a bit more for in invite such as this? lol
That was a blast last night… Great to share the experience with you guys, too! 🙂
Looks like everyone had a blast, beer buzz notwithstanding ;). That’s Neil Harnett as the musical guest, by the way. Local blues guy, I photographed him at the Pender Harbour Blues Festival earlier this year. Nice guy, great guitar player.
I was invited and declined because, you know, I don’t drink. Still, I might’ve come for the thumb drive.
I went to a “beer school” with Labatt to benefit breast cancer charities, and it was a really fun time. But I still couldn’t bring myself to drink the cheap stuff.:P The guy leading it had a grand time making fun of me.:)
I had a wonderful time too. Ryan Cousineau said something on his blog that is quite true and resonates with what you just wrote… Molson and Hill and Knowlton did it brilliantly. The USB drive, the glass, the tour, the music, the food, etc.
I have been pitched numerous times before, but this was perhaps one of the best ones (although I have to say that if I had been invited to the Dream Bank launch party, that would probably have been also one of the best, as the pitch itself – the genie lamp, the write up, the invite, the $20 voucher for a dreamer – was pretty grand).
@ Peter – Thanks for pointing him out, I was going to find out earlier in the evening but I forgot – really enjoyed the music.
Nice to see you all there 😀 It was great that we all could make the best of working late like that. It’s hard out there for a blogger 🙁 hahahah
So how do you get an invite to something like this?
Cheers,
Troy.
What a great event! It was awesome getting to meet some of the local bloggers, finally putting a face to a screen name!
Was great to put a face to the name and get to chat with you and your husband last night. Really glad you enjoyed yourselves!
Thanks for such great coverage. I’m linking to everyone who covered this so well – about all I have to add is the video.
It was a lot of fun to learn about the brewery, taste some really excellent beer and food, and just hang out with friends. Almost like taking a ‘field trip’with all of the bloggers for an evening!
[…] – Arieanna – Tanya – Ryan – Tris – Rebecca […]
I’d love to talk to Mr. Rickards and ask what he did with his India Ale 🙁 That was one of my favorite beers ever, can’t stay I can stand behind the white after it replaced my India Pale.
Looks like a great event, good job Molson.
🙁 i didn’t get a delivery. i was only out for about 2 hrs this afternoon. makes me sad. 🙁
Looks like it was a great event with lots of fun (and beer) that was had by all.
@colleen Sorry about the confusion! Your beer will be on route when you get home from Vegas 🙂
Neil Harnett can also be enjoyed at cardero’s bar, great combo for sure.
Wish I was there. Haven’t been in there since my dad worked there when I was little. Ahh the smell of spilled beer.
[…] Miss604, who covered the event with some nice photos by her husband and also fellow blogger, John. Arieanna of Blogaholics also got some great pics from her husband, Ianiv. Tanya (aka, NetChick), Ryan, new blogger Danny Dang , Tris Hussey, Colleen Coplick and Hummingbird604 all did a fine job describing most of what went on, and took tons of photos. […]
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