Downtown Whitby, Little Beasts in the spotlight

It was quite a couple of days for Little Beasts Brewing.

First up was the Ontario Brewing Awards, where the two year-old Whitby micro-brewery - last year's Best Newcomer winners at the Golden Taps - took home three silvers for Nihilist (American Porter & Stout), Strange Aeons (Strong American Ale) and La Petite Duchesse (Strong Belgian Ale).

The two-day Downtown Whitby Beer Fest immediately followed and the brewery capped the weekend by winning the People's Choice Award and the hideously adorable trophy that goes with it.

Time to take a bow, Erin & John.

Marie enjoying a pint at the Downtown
Whitby Beer Fest

Speaking of the Downtown Whitby Beer Fest, Marie and I took in the festivities on the Friday night and we both came away super impressed.

Plenty of breweries - ten, plus Social Lite Vodka - and plenty of beery options coupled with a really cool vibe.

It was supposed to rain all evening and I figured we'd get wet for sure but Mother Nature gave us craft beer lovers a break and the rain held out until the very end. It turned out to be a beautiful night to drink beer and listen to great live music.

It was my first night-time beer festival and it was really quite magical. Marie and I spent most of the evening under the big top, which was festooned with hundreds of white light bulbs that gave the feeling we were at a concert at a candle-lit street party.

Sort of like that scene in the Daredevil Netflix series (Season 2) when Karen takes Matt on a date to an outdoor restaurant lit up by hundreds of multi-coloured light bulbs shaped like hot peppers.

The Big Top

Except our bulbs were white and shaped like regular light bulbs and I'm not Daredevil.

Still pretty cool.

But before we found our seats we made the rounds of the festival, which is held in the town's Celebration Square, part of Whitby's Central Library grounds.

(Disclosure: Any positive comments on this library, which was built in 2005 because City Hall is way up on Rossland Road and the Town needed a downtown 'anchor' for special events, should be taken with extreme bias. My mother-in-law, Lene Otbo-Rozel, was a key member of the award-winning interior design team.)

Manantler's main man Matt 

The first brewery on the tour was Manantler, so Matt Allot's smiling face was the first face we saw. Marie and I were off to a good start, I reckoned, and I started with an OMG Beckie! Look at her Brut, while Marie opted to go big with a Seismic Narwhal IIPA.

All of Nothing from Oshawa was in the house, as was Brock Street, and I congratulated the Brock Street team for the their four medals at the OBAs, including a gold for their Scotch Ale.

Little Beasts was also down the first aisle, conveniently found near the porta-potties. More importantly, John had stocked his booth with kegs of my beloved Valkyrie - which was conspicuously absent from the brewery just a few days before - as well as Little Wizards, a 'Margarita Gose' that was the result of a collaboration with Brew Wizards and was ranked high on tonight's to-do list.

But we were still sipping on our first sample, so we told John we would see him real soon.

(Pacing is important at these events, especially as the sample glass handed out wasn't your usual five-ounce taster, but a mug that held 13 ounces of brew and the six-ounce recommended pour was often closer to eight.)

Jesse Dynes of the Jesse Dynes Trio, now
re-named (in mid-session) Zack Honey.
The band, not Jesse

We walked through the tent to the other side of the festival next and said hello to Jeff, who was the hands-on owner-operator of the Town Brewery booth this night.

Jeff brought two new beers to the event: Dockside, a Citra dry-hopped Blonde (4.5 per cent) and Couch Full of Dads, a juicy 6.3 per cent IPA. Both were delicious and while my IPA was lacking a little in carbonation the aromatics were on point and the taste delivered more than enough mango and pineapple for my needs.

We stopped for a chat at Paniza, a Toronto-based homebrewer turned contract brewer currently brewing out of the Junction Brewery, and then visited the 5 Paddles booth for some of their dessert-in-a-glass Coconut Cream Pie.

After spinning the wheel and winning a free taster, I would later return for some In Your Face IPA, but the rest of the night was spent relaxing under the tent listening to great live music and making several trips to the Little Beasts booth.

But not just for Valkryrie. Little Wizards, that Margarita Gose I mentioned earlier, was a big hit for both of us but especially Marie, who raved about its orange-lime tartness and salty finish.

Dynamite carbonation too.

So that's how we nursed a couple of hours, sipping on a few Little Beasts brew and listening to a couple of bands. We really enjoyed the bluesy Jesse Dynes Trio and when the band joined our table after their set we learned from bassist Ben Green that he and drummer Jason Potash orchestrated  a coup and changed the bands name to Zack Honey.

Hideous but adorable. But not cake

Jesse, who was listening, laughed and said he was perfectly okay with it.

Safe as Houses followed, and this eclectic band (there was a cello!) was getting near the end of their  set - and the evening session - when Mother Nature came crashing in to the party.

We knew it was coming and most of the crowd was happy she held off as long as she did, but it still caused a bit of a panic when the thunder and lightening interrupted the show with Thor-like passion.

It was quite a capper on a wonderful evening.

As to that People's Choice Award, John said he was proud to win it, but initially disappointed when he got to see the trophy up close.

"I thought it was cake."