Beer O'Clock: Anniversary Parties and Best Breweries

I rarely find the time to attend grand-openings of breweries. Even more rare are my visits to breweries that are celebrating an anniversary.

I think I've only been to two, maybe three, opening celebrations of Ottawa breweries: I was definitely at the party at Whiprsnapr Brewing, in Bells Corners. I was at a celebration at Nita, but I can't remember if it was for when they opened, when they celebrated an anniversary, or was merely launching a new brew.

A year ago, I made it all the way out to the eastern-Ottawa community of Orleans for the opening of Stray Dog Brewing Company, which has, over the past year, become one of my favourite breweries in the city.

This past weekend, I completed a Beer O'Clock first: not only did I attend the grand-opening of a brewery, I also made it to their one-year-anniversary celebration.

In mid-September, 2017, Stray Dog caught my eye (and my taste buds) with bold flavours packed into solid ales. I was blown away by their saison, Le Normandie, and then they went and added blueberries to that brew to make Bleu Nuit (I think brewer, Marc Plante, told me he purchased the berries from Costco), one of the nicest blueberry ales I've ever had.

The folks at Stray Dog—Plante, Justin MacNeill, and Gen Benay—have not only concocted dozens of brews over the year but have have invited musicians, comedians, artists, and performers to the brewery to make their shop a celebration of the community: not just for Orleans, but for the Ottawa area as a whole.

At the anniversary party, I thought that I would simply pay my respects, see if there was some beer on tap that I haven't already tried, take some photos, and enjoy some live music. My eyes fell upon a cloudy IPA, and I instantly fell for it. So much so, that I stuck to it all evening, brought some home, and felt that I needed to review it and share it.

Brite Future IPA (6.5% ABV)
Stray Dog Brewing Co.
Orleans ON

Appearance: the colour and consistency of mango juice, with a foamy, off-white head that settled to a thick solid cap, and clung to the sides of the glass as the beer went down.

Nose: ripe mango, orange, and passionfruit.

Palate: fresh citrus and tropical flavours. The bitter hops follow closely behind the fruit and intermingle perfectly, rather than overpower. There's a solid finish with the fruit hanging on. The alcohol doesn't factor into the flavours but at the end of a pint, you can feel it.

Overall impression: this is an immensely drinkable New-England-styled IPA. I drank it all night at Stray Dog's party but I could also drink it all day long, if I was staying in. After two pints, you won't want to go anywhere.

As it states on the back of the can, Brite Future was brewed for the Craft Beer Market as part of a community brew series, where a dollar from each glass that was sold went towards the Shine Group for the Advancement of Music.

With Stray Dog's stellar first year of success, and with outstanding beer such as Brite Future, I would say that the future is bright for this Orleans brewery.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺🍺

At the beginning of this post, I told you that Stray Dog is one of my favourite Ottawa brewing houses. While I was celebrating their first year of success, I began to think about which breweries in this city would rank as my top five.

Three breweries immediately came to mind, plus a couple of breweries that wouldn't make that list. But there are still many Ottawa-area brewing companies that I haven't visited. And so I've given myself a challenge.

Over the next few months, I'm going to visit the breweries that are new to me. I'm going to try their brews and take extensive notes. For the breweries that I haven't frequented in a while, I'm going to revisit them and refresh my memory.

I'm going to rank these breweries in order and provide my opinion on which are my top five (or possibly, top 10).

Knowing how long it took me to pick my top five burgers in Ottawa, this list probably won't come out until sometime in 2019. I'm aiming for March.

Cheers!