Molson’s Brew 2.0 Vancouver
Last night Elisa and I joined fellow Vancouver bloggers at Molson’s Brew 2.0 event at Molson’s brewery on Burrard to celebrate Molson Vancouver 50th Anniversary. Not knowing what to expect we arrived at the security gate where we were promptly checked in and transported via golf cart carts to the back entrance of the brewery.
We arrived to Molson’s own bar buzzing with bloggers mingling and Neil Harnett providing the tunes.
Photo credit: Ianiv & Arieanna
The atmosphere was electric! I was a little overwhelmed at first trying to figure out what was going on, but we got our bearings and bee-lined it to the bar where we picked up our first beer. Who would’ve thought that we would be served Rickard’s Red by Gord Rickards himself!
Elisa & Brewmaster Gord Rickards
Bringing a sense of history to the occasion, Molson Brewery founder John Molson’s great-great-great-great-grandson, Geoff Molson, started the evening with a few words and history of the brewery and family.
Geoff Molson at Brew 2.0 Vancouver
The group was then treated to various food and beer pairings by Blair Rasmussen, Executive Chef at the Vancouver Convention Centre and Kerry Scarsbrook, Brewmaster.
Rickard’s Honey Brown Ale- Braised Bison Mini Sandwiches
Molson Brew 2.0 Menu
Scallop and Papaya Ceviche Crostini
paired with Rickard’s White
Grilled Vegetable and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
paired with Coor’s Light
Smoked Wild Salmon on Wild Rice and Beer Blini, Fennel Salad
paired with Molson Canadian
Prawn Quesadillas, Fresh Guacamole, Salsa Fresca
paired with Corona
Chorizo Empanadas
paired with Old Style Pilsner
Rickard’s Honey Brown Ale- Braised Bison Mini Sandwiches
paired with Rickard’s Red
Cheeseboard with Aged Cheddars, Brie and Gorgonzola
Walnut Baguette, Flat Bread and Crackers
Blair’s Addictive Beer Nuts
paired with Heineken
After the mouth watering treats we split up into 2 groups lead by Brewmasters Gord Rickards and Kerry Scarsbrook for a crash course in Beer 101 and tour of the brewery. After sampling different hops we ventured down to the line where a 24/7 operation is run. Thousands of cans of Rickard’s Red zipped by at a dizzying pace! Here an engineer snatched fresh cans off the line like a skilled ninja. I wouldn’t dare try it for the sake of stopping the line. A highlight of the tour was a sampling of the cans we received at the line which were timestamped at less then 2 minutes old making it the freshest beer I will ever taste. These cans were at the perfect tempature of -1°C.
Rickard's Red Line
We were then led back to the bar where we were treated to an exclusive brew of Rickard’s Gold by Gord Rickards made exlusively for Molson’s Vancouver 50th Anniversay and Brew 2.0, which will not be sold to the public!
Elisa, Geoff Molson, and me!
I had a lot of fun at the event and met some great people like Adam and Tonia from Molson’s social media team, Geoff Molson, 7th generation Molson, Meghan from Hill & Knowlton and of course all the Vancouver Social Media bloggers!
Leaving the event we were given taxi vouchers and some Molson parting gifts: 50th Anniversary glass and a 1GB thumbdrive with promo material from the event.
The next day I was called out to reception for a package which turned out to be a Rickard’s sample pack!
I did not have an obligation to blog about the event, but Molson did this event right! I had such a good time, met some awesome people and felt honestly special to be invited to the event. They could’ve brought us to a room and have us sample the beer and go home, but no! They wined (beered?) and dined us, had an actually Molson interacting with everyone, and Mr. Rickard’s himself serving beer at the tap! How awesome is that?
Brewmaster in Training
Check out some other photo sets of the event via Flickr by Danny, Molson, Karen, Raul, Rebecca, Duane, and Ianiv. I’ll add more when I find them, or leave a comment and let me know of yours!
Update:Tonia Hammer’s blog post about the evening.