Here we are. Another day, another year, and another decade down the hatch. 2009 has been an adventure. It was a blur to say the least and it really is hard to focus on any point that really stands out. I find it hard to go through 365 days and find even a few that made the whole year worth while. Everyday is worth while in my books. All I can say is that it was a good year. Lot's of music, touring, brewing, meeting a lot of great people, studies, books, beer, food, ups and downs. It was full of life changing experiences. My eyes have opened to many new things, and I have revisited some old things (how did I live without cheese?).
This decade seemed to hang it's hat on the ideas of reflection. There has been a lot of looking to the past and building upon those things we left behind years ago. This could be a slingshot effect, pull back and then snap into the future. Hey, maybe we'll be flying around like the Jetsons in the next few years.
I notice a lot of extremes in the trends of the food and beverage industry. For example, everywhere you go you see local and organic restaurants sitting next to a "new" greasy spoon diner. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Stop into the "organic" joint for some raw dehydrated kale or head down the block for pulled pork and a side of poutine. Choice is a good thing.
Choice in beer has been getting better as well. Ontario has opened up it's arms to some big brews and it's given brewers freedom to make beer outside of the safe playing field of light fizzy flavoured soda-like beers. Black Oak's 10 Bitter Years is a great example of something that the market has been needing for quite sometime. A cheers with 10 Bitter Years in a glass was surely a good choice to ring out of one decade and into another. I hope the future brings changes in the beer market so that the smaller Canadian breweries can compete with the big guys.
We are already seeing brew pubs and new craft breweries opening up left, right and centre. Duggan's and The 3 Brewers both in the downtown core. Not to mention a lot of great one off beers. One can think back on the tie dye booth at beer fest from Great Lakes Brewery and the attention it received. Hey! The beers were great too. One step back with tie die and twenty steps forward with twenty varieties of cask ales to sample. The rise of cask in Canada would be great to see in the future. Keep it real! word! Volo really took a step up this year with the Cask Days event. How could one go wrong at an event like this? These are the things that will take the eyes off of the big breweries and lime related travesties that plagued billboards this summer and fall. Also, note that Niagara College has a brewing program opening in the fall. No need to travel around the world to learn the craft.
Anyone who produces a quality product would love to think that product could sell itself. Certainly, word of mouth does help. I'd like to see more marketing for smaller craft brewers. To target the younger beer drinking population. The youth of today just might have a few screws loose, but they don't seem to be afraid to try new things or re-visit old fads (someone please bring back hypercolour shirts). If you've ever noticed some people being so picky over food, shouldn't they be picky about beer too? If you notice people trying all of these new experimental foods, why not experiment with different beer?
So a toast to the future and the exciting things it may bring or bring back. Flock of Seagulls hair cuts might come back, we might all have flying cars and play golf on the moon, who knows, I won't hold my breath, but it wouldn't surprise me either. For now my wish list is going to be for bands that focus on music (not image or lack there of), more cask ales made accessible, good onion rings at a pub, less big branding, more simple [comfort] local (organic) foods and for Lee's Palace to put the graffiti back up because as of now it looks like a giant stainless steel easy bake oven housing a burrito joint.
Ch-ch-changes!
Cheers,
- Bartle
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