K/W Ribfest and Craft Beer Show

Yesterday I once again  had the pleasure of attending the annual Kitchener / Waterloo Ribfest and Craft Beer show in Victoria park.  Just the wife, the thief, and my current Padawan: Charles, were all along for the ride.  Once again the weather was amazing, and a good time was had by all, especially the Thief.  This year I decided it would be fun to live tweet/ Facebook update the entire event.  What follows is a basically unaltered transcript of the day, with a few added comments thrown in for context:

9:16am - Up and excited for ribs and beer!

11:58am - En route to Ribfest!  I can almost taste the beer.

12:36pm - Beer #1 - Flying Monkey- stereophonic wheat. Bitter and very hoppy for a wheat beer.  But a nice change up on a classic idea.

12:38pm - Beer #2 - Mill street - Walker's Blueberry Wheat - subtle blueberry undertones with a smooth finish.

12:54pm - Beer #3 - Nichol Brooke Brewery: Headstock IPA: a solid hoppy take on an old favourite with a smooth clean finish.

1:08pm - Beer #4 - Cameron's Brewery:Sirius Wheat Ale: smooth and clean with a fresh citrus finish.

At this point in the day I took the Thief for a walk over to the midway and won her a neon orange puppy dog stuffed animal at the balloon toss by breaking 3 balloons with 3 Darts.  First try.
Best Dad Ever.

1:31pm - Beer #5 - Beau's Brewery: Seasonale: a nutty creation with a very rich full bodied flavour.

Just the Wife took the Thief to the nearby Victoria Park Splash Pad to frolic in the sprinklers.  Charles and I held down the fort.

1:45pm - Standing in line for ribs at Camp 31, last year's winner.  Charles is fetching more beer.  Perfect day.

1:48pm - Beer #6 - Beau's Brewery: Lugnut: An interesting malt finish that is a delight to the palette.

2:12pm - Camp 31: Incredible sauce, with a super delightful BBQ zing! (These ribs were uber delicious, I really can't stress this enough).

2:14pm - Beer #7 - Lake of Bays Brewery:Crosswind Pale Ale: Clean and Smooth with a delightful fresh finish. My favourite so far.

2:35pm - Beer #8 - Stone Hammer Brewery: Premium Pilsner: Surprisingly light and refreshing. Clean and Crisp.

2:57pm - Beer #9 - Wellington Brewery:Trailhead Vienna style lager: Crisp and light with a slightly nutty aftertaste.Delightful.

Just the Wife and the Thief return from the splash pad, and The Thief decides it's finally time for a nap.  Just the wife wants ribs so I'm off to fetch us more.

3:05pm - 1/3 Rack from Blazing BBQ Ribhouse, winner of Best in Sauce, and Best Ribs.  Amazing.  Like consuming magical baby pig.  (My ability to use metaphors and similes was obviously broken by this point in the day).

3:13pm - Beer #10 - Railway City Brewery:Honey Elixir: Dark and Bitter with a strong finish.

3:22pm - Beer #11 - Railway City: Iron Spike Pale Ale: Hops, hops, and more hops, yum.

3:40pm - Beer #12 - Big rock: Traditional Ale: Dark and nutty with a smooth clean finish.

3:49pm - First rain at Ribfest in 3 years.  REFRESHING.  We were smart enough to score a table with an umbrella.

The Thief wakes up and takes the rain in stride.  It really only lasted about 10 minutes, and certainly didn't slow us down.

3:54pm - Beer #13 - Nichol Brooke Brewery: Green Apple Pilsner. Like biting into a Granny Smith Apple of awesomeness. Cider in beer form.

3:56pm - The Thief is dancing to the band, I am hammered, Charles is a step ahead of me, and Just The Wife is highly amused.
6 tokens remaining.

I am learning that the Thief loves live bands, she is a total groupie.  She was the center of attention with her awesome dance moves.

4:10pm - Beer #14 - Wellington Brewery Special Pale Ale: mmm...beer is still tastey...might be drunk...have to have another beer to be sure...

4:17pm - Beer #15 - Wellington Brewery Bootchuck IPA: Solid. Dark and Fabulous. Best IPA so far.

4:44pm - Beer #16 - Amsterdam Brewery:Thunder Alley Belgian Style Ale. BEST IN SHOW. Hands down. Incredible. My new favourite beer.

5:01pm - Beer #17 - NOT sure. CHARLES forgot what he got me.  It was good. Beer fail...or success...wait.  It was apparently an Amsterdam bootchuck again. Solid. Again. (Poor Charles, he didn't have access to my extensive notes, so he didn't realize that he was committing the cardinal sin of re-beering me with a brand I had already sampled and reviewed.  He was punished accordingly by being made to fetch our next beers.  Also, Amsterdam brewery doesn't even make the Bootchuck IPA, but this is what Charles told me it was so that was what got recorded.  Silly drunken padawan).

6:16pm - Beer #18 - Was apparently the Flying Monkey Amber: I will take Charles word for it. (good. Maybe even great - assuming it was infact the Flying Monkey Amber).

It was now time to go so we started to collect ourselves and work our way through the crowd.  I totally played "So, have you met Charles?" with a lovely blonde on the way out, as I am an excellent wingman.  They had a quick chat, and everyone laughed about it.

At this point we bundled ourselves back into the car, don't worry, the very responsible Just the Wife was driving, and headed out for our next adventure.  Once again it was a great day with great company, and I look forward to doing it again next year.