Tag: molson

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Vancouver 2010: Day 5 – At the Molson Brewery to watch Canada vs. Norway Men’s Hockey

The fifth day of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics found ourselves invited to the local Molson brewery to share in a gathering of fellow hockey fans to take in TV coverage of the men’s hockey game between Canada and Norway.

Even though the gathering was small, this is a pretty big deal to be able to hang out with the movers and shakers of Molson, one of the many official sponsors of the games. But the gathering was put into the hands of Richard Loat from the Canucks Hockey Blog to bring all sorts of hockey fans together for this event, continuing their efforts in the social media realm.

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

During the 2nd intermission of the game, Ferg Devins made an announcement to the group that was not only a first for all of us but had not been announced publicly anywhere.

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

Devins unveiled a limited edition of Molson Canadian that will be given to each, gold medal athlete for Canada. This massive bottle of beer has a great “Vancouver 2010” along its side, is wrapped with golden foil, corked like a champagne bottle, and is individually, hand signed by Geoff Molson, Vice-President of Marketing and great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of founder John Molson.

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery
Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

As the bottle was shown to our group, it prompted a photo opportunity that was more like passing the Stanley Cup around rather than a really cool, large bottle of beer.

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

It was very unique and creative of Molson to make this official announcement to a gathering of social media folks like ourselves. I told them thank you many times just to be invited and share in the comradery of such passionate fans cheering for Canada.

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

It was also great to link up with J.J. again. Since becoming a new dad, it’s been tough to find the time to gather our Crazy Canucks crew, not to mention a lack of our spare time preparing for these winter games and growing sixty4media over the past months. For those wondering where our Canucks podcast has gone, let us get through these games and regroup in time for the playoffs.

Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery Vancouver 2010: Day 5 - Molson Brewery

With Canada winning 8-0 over Norway, everyone left very happy from this night. Thanks again to Molson for bringing together a bunch of hockey fans to help add to these Olympic games celebrations.

Ryan Kesler sandwich I have to add, and waive my colors just a little bit as well, that the USA men’s hockey team defeated Switzerland in their first match of these games. 3-1 doesn’t seem nearly as cool as 8-0, but after Rebecca’s trip to Switzerland and seeing a Swiss Hockey League game first hand, this is not a country to shrug off. I believe they are a country on the rise for sure.

Are we a force to be reckoned with? I’m not sure yet, but I do love the way these guys played as much as it was fun to see Ryan Kesler’s number 17 on a Team USA jersey. The spirit of competition is now in full effect, and I’m digging every last second of it.

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An evening at the Molson Brewery for Brew 2.0

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted about Brew 2.0, an event that was being held at the Molson Brewery in Vancouver that was to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the operation. Even better, this little shindig was being put on for social media folks like myself, plus a lot of familiar and not so familiar faces in the tech community in this city.

Yah beer!

The concept for the night was to invite a bunch of bloggers down to be apart of this celebration, try their beer, have some amazing food, learn more about the people behind the brewery, get a tour of the facility, and basically be treated to a rather amazing evening. That suites Rebecca and I just fine.

Brew 2.0

Brew 2.0

Brew 2.0

All in all, I was immensely impressed by not only the event, but my overall opinion of Molson has changed quite a bit. Of course, they were generous hosts, but even Geoff Molson, the great-great-great-great-grandson of founder John Molson[wiki], was there to give us a great history of the brewery in Vancouver, and good friend David Drucker was there to capture his introductory speech on video.

Probably the best part of the night was when Duane said to Geoff Molson, “You make a pretty good beer, but can you do a keg stand?” And Geoff honestly answered yes, but this remains to be seen.

Gord Rickards pouring beer for us

The other treat of the evening was to have Gord Rickards, co-creator of Rickard’s various brews, pouring my Rickard’s Red from the tap. After spending $7-$9 per single cup of beer at Canucks games, it doesn’t seem so bad after meeting the guy and drinking his beer for free. He also gave us a wonderful tutorial on the basic ingredients that go in the various beers that they make there, even letting us sample various grains that they use.

When we took a tour of the cannery floor, I asked Gord if he ever gets tired of seeing his beer put into cans with his name on it. He didn’t blink when he said no, and I didn’t doubt that answer before I even asked it. Shortly thereafter, they pulled about 8 cans off the line before they went through the pasteurization process. We went upstairs and had Rickard’s Red that was two minutes old, unpasteurized. They were cold and very, very tasty.

Micro-brews will always have a special place in anyone’s heart (and liver) who enjoys beer, but an evening like this helps you to understand that even the macro-brew folks are working just as hard to produce great beer. The next time you turn your nose up at a Molson Canadian could be a missed opportunity of having something that isn’t as bad as you think. Additionally, the Canadian we were given was the freshest, tastiest brew that any of us had ever sampled. Maybe it’s proximity, but the truth is that it was good.

The 50th Anniversary Gold Standard is something that will not go into production as much as brewed especially for marking the occasion. Trying it out, I can say that it’s really good. Creamy, kinda like an IPA, but that’s the best I can describe it.

I can’t say enough good things about the folks at Molson. Every aspect of the night exceed expectations, and it continued the next day when each attendee had a case of Rickard’s delivered to them. Since Rebecca was invited in addition to myself, we got two. Trump card once again, Molson. Thank you!

See more reaction around the blogosphere from Raul, Tris, Tanya, Arieanna, Ryan, and the Molson Community Blog. More photos can be seen in the Flickr set.