Windsor Craft Beer Festival ‘great beer, great company’

 

By Amos Johnson

The annual Windsor Craft Beer Festival is now in its fourth year and showing people the variety craft beer has to offer from local and provincial brewers.

Gino Gesuale, co-owner of Motor Burger in Windsor and local brewer, has been in the craft beer business since 2011 and explained craft beer as being a unique style.

“When you drink a beer you possibly think of a big brand,” said Gesuale. “Craft beer is defined as creating a style of beer and in that style you create different flavours.”

The festival is hosted by Windsor Eats and started in 2013. It has grown to become an annual event.

According to the Ontario Brewers Directory, there is a total of 187 breweries in the province of Ontario, 18 of which are participating at the festival.  The brewer lineup changes every year and this year the festival focused on award-winning brewers who have won medals in craft beer competitions, as well as some new brewers who are experiencing the festival for the first time.

The festival took place Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15 from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Willistead Park. According to Pina Ciotoli, co-owner of Windsor Eats, it was “as flawless as an event can be.” The festival sold out on tickets and had a range upwards of 4,000 people over the course of two days.

“I like to call them boutique festivals. Where it’s intimate, it’s cozy, everybody has a great time. They enjoy great beer, great company,” Ciotoli said.

The next craft beer festival is set for Oct. 13-14 of 2017.