It is with a great deal of pleasure and excited anticipation that we announce Good Food Revolution’s involvement in The Great Debate: The Battle Of The Ferments at Beau’s School Of Bock at Beau’s Oktoberfest, Vankleek Hill, Friday Oktober the 3rd at 6.45pm.
In the spirit of CBC Radio’s The Debaters, four experts in their respective fields will battle it out for the right to call their beloved beverage the Best Ferment of the night.
Will the audience be seduced by the exotic pleasures of fine umami-rich sake?
Was Friar Tuck right all along, and mead is indeed the true Nectar Of The Gods?
Will wine, beer’s traditional foil in so many a showdown, win over the hearts and minds of the room?
…or will beer, playing on its home turf to an Oktoberfest crowd, reign supreme?
With the debate taking place in the headlining School of Bock slot, expect the chance to taste fine examples of all four beverages, laughs aplenty, and the opportunity to loudly cheer for your favoured tipple… and you may just learn a thing or two along the way.
It’s sure to be a popular event, so get your tickets as soon as you can!
For tickets for The Battle Of The Ferments and information regarding all things Beau’s Oktoberfest, click here.
Representing Mead: Krystina Roman (Rosewood Estates, Niagara)
Krystina Roman is a 3rd generation beekeeper who is known as the Social Bee at Rosewood Estates Winery. At Rosewood Krystina keeps bees and helps to run the family winery along with her brother William Roman where they handcraft wine, honey and honey wine known as mead. Rosewood honours the first form of alcohol by making traditional meads made from only three simple ingredients – honey, water, yeast.
Inspired by their grandfather, Krystina, Will & the Rosewood winemaking team, work together to push the envelope with their old fashioned yet modern approach to mead making. At Rosewood they make traditional dry meads, medium sweet meads, barrel aged meads, and even blend meads with grape juice.
Click here for our interview with Krystina.
Representing Wine: Steve Robinson (Atelier, Ottawa)
Steve Robinson comes from a family rich in wine-making tradition. His great-grandfather pioneered the method that gives rise to the much sought after and exceedingly rare Upper Ottawa Valley specialty known as Vin de Glaze. Vin de Glaze, produced from the fermentation of residual maple syrup glaze extracted from late-harvested Tim Horton`s containers, is renowned for its ambrosial-like richness and impressive ageability.
After completing a PhD in Fried-Dough Sucrose Conversions at the University of Ottawa, Steve left to hone his wine-making skills at some of the top estates abroad. Steve currently manages the operations for his the family estate as well as his private label, “Southie”, specializing in wine made from Boston Cream filling. He is also the Sommelier at Atelier Restaurant in Ottawa, an instructor in the Sommelier Program at Algonquin College, and is winner of the CAPS 2014 Best Ontario Sommelier Competition.
Click here for our interview with Steve R.
Representing Sake: Mariko Tajiri (That’s Life Gourmet, Vancouver/Toronto)
Mariko Tajiri: Born in Japan, Mariko has called Vancouver, BC, home for the last 24 years. She was certified as an Advanced Sake Professional, by the Sake Education Council Sake in 2013, one of 7 in Canada and teaches and trains across the country. Sake runs through her veins, maybe a little too literally, but her passion is in telling the story behind the bottle.
Click here for our interview with Mariko.
Representing Beer: Mr. Steve Beauchesne (Beau’s Brewery, Vankleek Hill)
Steve Beauchesne (boh-shayne) is imported from Wilds of Ontario, Canada, where he heads up a friends-and-family, certified organic, award-winning, DIY-ethic craft brewery called Beau’s All Natural. Since its start-up in 2006, Beau’s All Natural has been the recipient of a slew of awards, including two Gold medals at Mondial de la Bière (Strasbourg, France and Montreal, Quebec), five Gold medals at the Canadian Brewing Awards, & “Best Craft Brewery in Ontario” (2007-2013) “Best Craft Beer in Ontario” (2007-2011) at the Golden Tap Awards. A true innovator and visionary, Steve relies on inspired marketing and kickass graphic design to build the Beau’s brand.
Steve certified Beau’s All Natural as Canada’s first-ever B-Corp brewery, founded February 1 as International Gruit Day, and successfully lobbied to have some of Canada’s old beer laws changed to recognize the rights of craft brewers. Steve is the founder of Go! Go! Go! Records. He plays guitar, keyboards, trumpet, using all three chords and a metric tonne of enthusiasm. An international man of intrigue, Steve is vice-chairman and board member of the Ontario Craft Brewers Association, and a frequent guest of honour and presenter at craft brewing, culinary, and entrepreneurial seminars and events. Don’t tell anyone, but he’s also a former public servant. He lives in Vankleek Hill (a town that has more cows than people) in Eastern Ontario, Canada, and his kids think he’s a bit of a goofball.
Click here for our interview with Steve B.
And chairing the evening’s debate: Jamie Drummond (Good Food Revolution)
A four-times Beau’s Oktoberfest veteran, and a man more than well versed in all of the evening’s fermented beverages, Jamie is on hand to see that the night’s Ferment Battle goes down fairly and without any fisticuffs.
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Edinburgh-born/Toronto-based Sommelier, consultant, writer, judge, and educator Jamie Drummond is the Director of Programs/Editor of Good Food Revolution… And yes, he missed out cider this time around… next year!
