What do riding on a bus, visiting five micro-breweries, sampling craft beer, listening to a presentation on local history, enjoying appetizers and raising money for a cause all have in common?
They were all part of the Craft Brew Rendezvous II, on Nov. 7.
Thirty-five participants attended the sold-out event, resulting in a $460 donation to the Centre Wellington Community Foundation.
Organizers Athol Gow of Elora and Jason Thompson of Fergus said they would like to thank participants for their enthusiasm and engagement, as well as bus driver Sylvia Jarvis who volunteered her time for the event, and Jon Ralston who facilitated “craft beer trivia” on the bus, and to beer historian Sally Heath, who delivered a lecture on beer and brewing in Waterloo Region deep in the historic cavern of the Huether Hotel.
This year, the focus of the Rendezvous was on Waterloo Region, and included beer tastings and tour at Innocente Brewing, appetizers and tastings at Abe Erb Brewing, tastings and a presentation at the Huether Hotel’s Lion Brewery, tastings at Block Three Brewing in St. Jacobs with live music by Rob Witherspoon, and finally, tastings at the Elora Brewing Company accompanied by appetizers provided by Chef Ben Sachse.
Matt Lawson of Elora Brewing shared the company’s story and capped off the event with a special tasting of young lager that was still finishing in the fermentation tanks.
Gow and Thompson started mixing unique eating and drinking events with fundraising last year with the first Craft Brew Rendezvous, followed by their Alt Burns Supper in January.
Gow explains they are just two local residents who “like to create unique food and drink experiences that we’d like to go to ourselves, with the added benefit of giving back to our community.”
Thompson adds, “When it comes to fundraising, we are focused on ‘think locally, give locally’ and the Centre Wellington Community Foundation is a great local organization that is supporting some great grassroots community initiatives through their mini-grant program. Now that’s local.”
For examples of mini-grants funded by CWCF visit their website at http://cwcfoundation.ca/granting.
Thompson and Gow will soon start planning their second Alt Burns Supper, likely to be held on Jan. 23.
For more information about upcoming events, check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EventsByAtholandJay.
