Stories from the Special Events Coordinator - Fall 2011

Stories from the Special Events Coordinator - Fall 2011

By: Stefanie Loukes

My name is Stefanie Loukes, and I'm the Special Events Co-ordinator for Picaroons Traditional Ales. Starting this Fall, I will be writing a weekly blog on all the great events, people and places I get to visit! Here we go!

Our pals at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery recently held a gala in celebration of the lifetime achievement of Marie Hélène Allain, a nun and professional artist who sculpts stone into works of palpable life forces. Picaroons was at the reception held at the Delta Bausejour on Thursday night, and as one of the many parts of my job, I usually pour samples of Picaroons to beer savvy folks at events such as these. However, the Delta was pretty strict on their liquor license policy, and as such, I was forced to mingle with the art folk and enjoy myself. Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the art world. My mother used to take me to the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa to see the amazing works of Picasso, Goguen & Renoir and I'm still blown away that our little town showcases Dali! As I gulped on a Timberhog Stout served by a very nice banquet server whose arm was getting sore by the minute (he had 6 full glasses of beer on one tray), I perused the auctioned items that were about to be sold to the highest bidder. One particular piece caught my eye, however, and the price tag forced me to mingle towards the registration table. After talking with some lovely people (a rather intimidating German fellow, the PR guy from the Atlantic Ballet and the PR Lady from the Beaverbrook Art Gallery), I finished off the night watching The Belle Comedians perform at Plan B on St. George. 

As we gently fade away from the summer and  into the autumn, Picaroons has been involved in some pretty cool events. Of course, our number one being the recent Fred Eaglesmith show held at the Garrison Ale House last Tuesday night. The highlight was not only the insufferable sounds of the Fabulous Ginn Sisters & Fred himself, but also the introduction to "Randall the Enamel Animal", an incredible invention created by the DogfishHead Brewery. While Sean was at a show in Providence, Rhode Island back in 2002, he asked the boys of Dogfishhead to hook us up, and boy did they ever! What an incredible outcome. As Esty and I fiddled with the rigs and ensured the Garrison Bartenders that it would be worth their time, the Picaroons team (also as part of a celebration for  winning Canadian Brewery of the Year) indulged in the incredible Randall. Here's a brief description: "Randall, a true Dogfish Head invention, is an organoleptic hop transducer module. What's that you say? A double-chamber filter that you connect to a tap of your favorite beer and fill with flavor-enhancing ingredients." Andrew Estabrooks (our head brewer) decided to go with our Yippee IPA and 3 aromatic hops that knocked all of our socks off. We can't wait for another opportunity to use "The Randall" again.

Also included in our Fall events are sponsored shows like: the NB Emerging Artist Series featured at the Charlotte St Arts Centre, Pre-Pop(ped) Explosion week at the Capital, the Silverwave Film Festival launch, and The Indulge Festival in Saint Andrews By the sea. I'm looking forward to whipping out my old wool sweaters and getting my 57686th tasting session from Sean. We're also looking forward to the launch of our 2011 batch of Winter Warmer as it gets colder. Stay tuned for more info and "like" our Facebook page to win some swag. Follow us on twitter to stay up to date with all of our events, and check back to the blog on the regular.

For the moment, this is Stef from the Picaroons Head Office signing off. I have to go eat fancy cheese and drink beer. Life is rough. See you next time!