Savour Winnipeg presents 14 Winnipeg pubs perfect for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day
March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day. Rivers and beers the world over will run green, and…well, I won’t even comment on the wardrobe choices.
And while our waterways are immune, Winnipeggers nevertheless become infected with Irish fever, swarming watering holes to hoist an emerald pint or two.
On more than one occasion I’ve found myself late to the party, stuck in line-ups while friends and family are on the inside. Doesn’t anybody work? I do…I can’t be camping out hours early like some boxing week bargain hunter with a drinking problem.
Although the festivities fall on a Wednesday this year, don’t count on that to mollify the masses. I’ve put together a list of locals sure to provide the perfect platform to unleash your inner leprechaun.
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Drink
british pubs winnipeg, celtic pubs winnipeg, irish pubs winnipeg, st. patrick's day, winnipeg pubs
Winnipeg’s Half Pints Brewing Co. launches new brew to celebrate “selling out.”
Ever since Half Pints Brewing set up shop in 2006 they’ve been gaining recognition and accolades as a craft brewer.
But the prevailing perception of the beer consuming public is that craft brewing and commercial success are almost mutually exclusive ideals. Indeed, many production techniques for craft brews are more costly, but Half Pints Brewmaster Dave Rudge is finding a defiant balance in his portfolio of products.
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craft beer, half pints brewing, winnipeg micro brewer
Brewmaster Dave Rudge of Half Pints Brewing Company leads a tour of the new facility
There are a few standout dates in the Winnipeg food calendar for me. The opening of the farmers markets, the Winnipeg Wine Festival, Flatlanders Beer Festival, and Folklorama to name a few.
How about August 1, 1997? As a beer enthusiast this is like year one for me.
That’s when Dave Rudge, looming over the bathtub he’d used to brew his latest batch, marveled at his most successful creation to date. Little did he know he’d created a monster.
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Drink, Learn, Shop
beer, brewing, craft beer winnnipeg, half pints
Get this…belly up to an unparalleled selection of beers from around the world, drink your fill, and the whole time you’re doing Manitoba kids (if not your liver) a huge favour. In short, that’s what the Flatlander’s Beer Festival is all about.
Running September 16 – 18, Flatlander’s has been putting the fun in fundraising for seven years now. All proceeds go to the Manitoba Moose Yearling Foundation, a non-profit organization which raises money and provides grants to registered children’s charities in Manitoba.
On September 15, set your sights on a perfect primer at Luxalune. It’s 20 bucks for 20 samples of their extensive selection of suds. Then, on September 16, there’s the beer dinner, a $125 formal affair at Bergmann’s Deli on Lombard.
Finally, on September 17 & 18, from 7-10 pm, the Winnipeg Convention Centre plays host to public tastings of over 100 of the finest beers from around the world. Tickets are $29.95 and besides entry, get you 5 samples. Of course you can buy five additional samples at $4 a pop. And five more for another four…and five more….and five more…and oh jeez, call me a cab I gotta work in morning.
Drink a little, drink a lot, it’s bound to be good times and it’s all for a great cause so get your tickets now. Check out http://mtscentre.ca/flatlandersbeerfest/ for more information or click below for an alphabetical list of the brews you’ll be browsing.
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Drink
Flatlander's Beer Festival, Winnipeg beer festival
Tuesday, March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day. Although rooted in the spiritual mythology of Ireland, it has since become a world-wide phenomenon where thousands of cities simultaneously celebrate their Irish culture by holding parades, festivals and dying rivers, beer and food green.
Winnipeg is no exception and St. Paddy’s has become a milestone moment in our pub culture calendar. In advance of our tippling Tuesday, Savour Winnipeg presents 14 Peg Pubs Perfect for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
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Drink, Eat
st. patrick's day, winnipeg pubs
I recently attended a wine tasting at Winnipeg’s MLCC Grant Park education centre. Titled A-B-C: Anything But Cabernet and Chardonnay, it was an exploration of other varietals. It also touched on new trends in wine production and packaging.
As much as it got me thinking about branching out a little in my purchasing habits varietal wise, it liberated me as a day to day wine consumer by forcing me to re-consider my position on those new-fangled wine packages. You know what I mean–boxes (eek), cartons (oh my)…and (gasp) cans!
My take-away…get over yourself, don’t knock ‘em till you try ‘em, embrace the new trends in wine packaging.
Consumer rejection of some of these new trends stems from basically two assumptions: 1) only cheap, nasty wines are packaged this way; or, 2) the wine can’t properly age in a box, can or what have you.
Let’s debunk.
1) Producers of some actually decent wines are increasingly turning to these alternate packages. 2) Most wine is consumed within hours or days of purchase (certainly true in my household) so the ageing thing…not really an issue.
So what are these trends. Well, you’re probably familiar with some, others are no doubt coming to a liquor mart near you.
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bottle, can, cork, wine trends
Legend has it that a group of Dutch exporters and French vintners thought to maximize shipping (and profit) by distilling their wines. At the final destination they would reconstitute the product, approximating the original.
They were mistaken. Shipped in oak barrels, the wine’s flavour was irrevocably altered.
However, they had quite by accident discovered a new spirit. Deriving its name from the Dutch word brandewijn, or burnt wine, it was immortalized as brandy.
Today, two French regions are considered the unequivocal masters of this spirit—Cognac and the slightly lesser known Armagnac.
Of the two, Cognac remains king but connoisseurs contend that Armagnac is a superior quaff.
Eager to learn what all the fuss was about, I headed for the MLCC flagship store at Grant Park…and disappointment.
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Drink, Learn
armagnac, cognac, fentons winnipeg
