The Art of Brewhaha showcases local breweries
Craft beer aficionados and newbies looking to dip their toes into the world of small batch brewing flocked to the Old Quebec Street Mall on Nov. 12 for the Art of Brewhaha Festival in support of Ed Video Media Arts Centre.
According to the Guelph Mercury Tribune, the event brought in around 700 people and raised $5,000, which will be used to fund new equipment and workshops for the local media arts centre.
Ed Video is celebrating its 40th year as a not-for-profit organization, specializing in providing workshops and equipment for the local arts and filmmaking community. The centre’s mandate is “to foster the creation, exhibition and appreciation of media arts,” according to their website.
The festival had almost a dozen different breweries from Guelph and the surrounding area available to try, including Wellington Brewery, Brothers Brewing Co., Royal City Brewing Co., and Collective Arts from Hamilton. For patrons who were looking for an alternative to beer, the festival also had craft ciders from Revel Cider Co. and Pommies Cider Co. The event was incredibly well attended, with Old Quebec Street Mall jam-packed with visitors looking to expand their knowledge of the craft.
Eclectic local beers were the stars of the festival, and there were plenty of different styles to sample. Wellington Brewery brought a batch of their chocolate milk stout, a dark beer as rich and creamy as its name implies, while Collective Arts brought their Sour Pumpkin Saison, a spicy and sour autumnal brew. There was still a healthy variety of pilsners, IPAs, and lagers for connoisseurs who were looking for a clever twist on an old favourite, like the Vengeance IPA from Brothers Brewing Co.
Festivals like the Art of Brewhaha provide an opportunity for local breweries to showcase their experimental new brews to the public, and gauge public reaction before moving ahead to larger batches.
The Art of the Brewhaha had a festive atmosphere thanks to the lineup of musicians and DJs who performed throughout the night, including Flos Williams & DJ b0ssmentality, DurtyDabz, Nosbic, Fezz Stenton, and Noah23.
Ed Video also provided cardboard virtual reality headsets for festival goers to try out. With the increased focus on virtual reality, and dedicated VR headsets, it was a novel way of introducing VR to individuals who may not have had the chance to sit down and try out an Oculus Rift. For those looking to try out the VR, all they had to do was insert their own smartphone within the headset to use as the screen and access the VR app to experience the digitized virtual world.
Photo by Tanner Morton.