Polkapalooza mania hits Bowmanville (and the rest of the GTA!)

When the Polkeroos come to town it's a bit like a visit from royalty.

Locals make plans to be there when the Polks arrive, just so they can tell their children and grandchildren about the time they got a glimpse of Drunk and Mrs. Polkeroo.

Their fame has spread far beyond the world of craft beer too and part of the reason is the Polks are not like those stuffy monarchs with the Royal Wave and the "tut-tut, how about a spot 'o tea" stuff. They are a decidedly more down to earth, fan-friendly celebrity couple, much like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Rather, more like the dearly departed Queen Mum, god bless her hard drinking soul.

For the sake of Kathryn, we'll go with Harry and Meghan. Robert's probably good either way.

Anyway, craft beer's royal couple kicked off Polkapalooza 3 - The Rise of Polk - on March 11 in my end of the woods. More accurately, at my once and always favourite brewery, Manantler Brewing in Bowmanville.

So of course I had to be there.

The Polkeroo Fan Club at Manantler Brewing

I haven't seen the Polks since the Sunday Pub Crawl in the Hammer last fall, though I see Kathryn's smiling face most days on Twitter and Robert pops into my living room practically every evening, thanks to his regular Drunk Polkeroo podcasts.

Which is how I learned about The Rise of Polk, their annual week-long brewery marathon that this year saw them visit 61 breweries all over the province in a 2,400 kilometre discovery of beer.

As Robert put it, it was "a whole lotta laughs as we took a week to live the dream of being explorers and chroniclers of the liquid arts."

I arrived a few minutes after opening at 11 on this beautiful March morning to see Robert and Kathryn at the bar with a flight of beers already in front of them. My pal Josh was there too, so I wasn't the first Polkarette ... um ...Polkarooney ...fan of the Polks to make an appearance.

Nor was I the last as my friends Jen and Shannon (World's Greatest Bank Teller) showed up a few minutes later. That's also when Matt, Manantler's Social Media Maven, Chief Bottle Washer and Vice-President, arrived and immediately started bringing out bottles of beer (from behind a "magic wall," as Robert explained it in his blog Rise of Polk - Day 1) for us to share.

I'm going from memory, but there was Seismic Narwhal IIPA, Ketchin' Zeez Oatmeal Stout, Biscuit in the Basket California Common (the second collaboration with former NHLer Bryan Bickell), 42 Francs Belgian Table Beer and Boots Electric IPA. I may have missed one.

And that's how it went for the next couple of hours in what was supposed to be a half-hour stop.

It's not like they could rush out of Manantler anyway. Matt was his usual charming host self and the conversation - mostly about brewing and the craft beer industry - was flowing like a just-cleaned tap line.

But there were schedules to keep and the Polks had seven more breweries to visit before they could take their treasures back to Hamilton, so eventually they had to take their leave.

As did I, as I think I had told my son when I left in the morning I was heading out to get him lunch. Pretty sure he was sleeping when I said it so no hurry, but I still needed to get home.

The rest of the group followed Robert and Kathryn to Sir Monty's Brewhouse in nearby Courtice for the second stop. Josh had to take off after the Sir Monty's visit, but Jen and Shannon - true Polkaroogans ...um ...Polkaroodites ... fans - stayed for the whole day.

Mrs. (Kathryn) and Drunk (Robert) Polkeroo

That's a lot of breweries and a lot of flights.

The rest of the agenda on Day 1 of the Rise of Polk included some of my favourite breweries: Brock Street, 5 Paddles, Little Beasts, Town, Falcon and Rouge River.

And that was just the first day in what was a busy week for our Royal Couple of Beer. Somewhere along the way the Drunk Polkaroo even managed to squeeze in his 45th birthday in what was a record-breaking 61 brewery tour, from Windsor to Bowmanville and from Niagara Falls to Muskoka.

That will really test a marriage, huh Robert?

He agreed, calling Kathryn "the real hero" of Polkapalooza.

"Navigator, cookie provider, tea opener and constant companion - aside from those short cat naps after an Imperial Stout or two," Robert said. "We're still married and still having fun."

More beer and more beer friends

For a guy who complains a lot about not having money, I've sure been spending a lot of time drinking in the past few weeks.

The night before I met up with the Polkaroos I popped in to Buster Rhino's (and not for the first time that week) for a cold one. I was finishing my pint and getting ready to go when Matt (Bowmanville's Greatest Homebrewer) came in with a pal, who turned out to be Tim, Town Brewery's Brewmaster.

Matt hard at work

Sure, I'll stick around a bit guys.

The fact that Tim offered to buy a couple of bottles from the beer fridge may have helped my decision to stay for a bit - I cannot lie.

And when my friend Shannon (SugarLipz) joined our table we had ourselves a little party. Old Flame Red for Shannon and Halo Brewing (Toronto) for the rest of us, as Tim picked up the tab for bottles of Magic Missile APA and (I think) New Wave IPA.

Good friends, good beer, good food too. It's what keeps me coming back.

I was back a couple more times in the following week (with a visit to Brew Wizards as well) but the highlight of my week came on the Tuesday night when the lovely Candice sent me a message telling me that Dr. Juice was back in the bottle shop at 5 Paddles.

Candice being Candice

Now Dr. Juice has a back story, especially when it concerns Candice, myself and everyone else at last December's Whitby Craft Brewery Invasion 2017.  You see, there was beer left behind in Don's hotel room and in the days and weeks that followed, most of that beer found its way back to its rightful owners.

Or was ruthlessly consumed. I'm looking at you Don.

But there was one lone bottle - purchased by Candice - of Dr. Juice, the Imperial IPA from 5 Paddles that was one of the hits of the day, that never made it back

The bottle spent a month or so in Josh's fridge before it ended up in mine for another spell while Candice and I made plans to get together to drink it.

And one night I was out of beer and thirsty and couldn't help myself. So I popped the cap of this now four month-old beer and drank it. I did ask Candice for her blessing, but as that was after I opened it I'm not sure that counted.

Dr. Juice

In any event, she told me to enjoy it (I did) and then a few days later I got the message that it was back in the brewery and that I should get my ass over to her place and enjoy it fresh.

So I did, happily whiling away a couple of hours in the company of Candice, her two adorable pups and her collection of succulents (cacti and the like), not to mention her stash of great beer.

We shared a bottle of the aforementioned Dr. Juice, some Shillelagh O'Sullivan Dry Irish Stout (also from 5 Paddles) and a beer I thought I would never get to drink - the Pineapple Incident dry-hopped Gose from Nickel Brook Brewing in Burlington.

It was delicious.

I'm back working part-time now so I have a few extra bucks in disposable income, but beer drinking is still something I have to work into the budget. But, when it's good friends and great beer (the other way 'round works as well), it's hard to say no.

And I like saying yes.

Cheers!