Giving Molson some BIG blog love

What do you say when someone representing a brewery calls and asks you if you want a night out on the beer? Err… yes?

Finally, blogging has paid off for me. Years of tapping the keyboard resulted in a lovely reward: beer. Mmm.

Actually, it was a pretty cool roll-out of the new Rickards White label by Molson. It was staged on a gorgeous late summer evening at the iconic Vancouver brewery at the south end of the Burrard Bridge. Bloggers of all stripes from around Vancouver (it was like MooseCamp all over again) were invited in a unique local outreach to the social media crowd.

Molson pulled out all the stops. They flew in an actual member of the Molson family to talk to the room, they supplied first rate nosh prepared by top Vancouver chefs, and they provided a wide sampling of brews. The cold, yummy beer flowed freely.

Afterward, we all got a full tour of the facility starting with a description of ingredients. Have you ever chewed on barley that is roasted and ready for making beer? It was a new experience.

What is most incredible to me is that this large manufacturer still exists inside the boundaries of the City of Vancouver. Very rarely do you find big companies that make stuff inside our city limits. More accurately, industry has left for the suburbs thanks to cheaper land and fewer regulations. It pleases me that Molson makes great beer, and right here in my hometown. Interesting to note that this business which depends heavily on a good water source, has managed to reduce its consumption of H2O significantly in recent years.

The evening wrapped up, and they handed us free vouchers for a taxi home. A day later a courier dropped by a free sampler case of Rickards Red, White and Honey Brown (my favourite!) along with a thank you card.

Man, it is very rare when this kind of free fun drops on you. Thanks, guys. It was a good night.