After a successful trial run in Western New York at Pizza Plant on April 8, the Canadian American Beer Festival BETA Edition will head across the border to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on May 5 at Augusta’s Winking Judge. The ticketed event will take place from 2-6pm.

The original event, which was scheduled for April 7, 2018 at the Conference and Event Center in Niagara Falls, NY has been postponed to April 13, 2019 at the Conference & Event Center in Niagara Falls USA. The event was pushed back as a result of an issue regarding bringing product over the border that could not be resolved in a timely manner.

Tickets for the Canadian BETA Edition of the event are $50 Canadian and include exclusive samplings of all Ontario-made Can-Am collaborations, food, a commemorative beer stein and the chance to interact with the brewers who made the beers. As well, the week after the event select Can-Am collabs will be on tap at both the Winking Judge as well as at the tap rooms of each producing brewery.

The beers set to be tapped for the special event offers something for every kind of beer drinker, from IPA’s, both hazy and clear, to light drinkers such as kellerbier and kolsch, to all things sour, including gose, kettle sours and even a sour hopfenweisse. Among some of the more special beers set to be featured are Belgian Waffles w/ Blueberries, a Golden Strong Ale from Five & 20 Spirits and Brewing and Lock Street Brewing that clocks in at nearly 10%, Squeeze Across the Border, a New England IPA from Redline Brewing and Thin Man Brewery and O.P. Imperial Pilsner, a heavy hitting 8.4% pilsner from Community Beer Works and Shawn & Ed Brewing Co. Find a tentative list below.

Beer list (subject to change):

  • Brimstone & Rusty Nickel –  Mountie & Buffalo Walk into Bar, Belgian IPA 6.3%
  • Beau’s & Flying Bison – Great Planes, Biere de Garde, 7%
  • Block 3 & Resurgence – Angels & Apricots, Oak Aged Gose – 4%
  • Cowbell & New York Beer Project – Crazy Hazy IPA, NEIPA 7.5%
  • Grand River & 12 Gates – Life on Marzen, Märzen, 5.7%
  • Collective Arts & Hamburg – Maybe Next Year, Citra-Denali DDH Kettle Sour 5%
  • Flying Monkeys & Woodcock Brothers – Slam Dunkel, Dunkelweizen 4.75%
  • Niagara Teaching Brewery & Buffalo Brewing Co – Salt & Pepper Gose, 4.4%
  • Oast House & Southern Tier – Mixed-Ferment Farmhouse Mosaic IPA 6%
  • Nickel Brook & Ellicottville Brewing Company – Only Nerds Will Know, Kettle Soured Hopfenweisse, 4.9%
  • Shawn & Ed Brewing Co & Community Beer Works – O.P. Imperial Pilsner, 8.4%
  • Railway City & West Shore Brewing Company –  Border Crossing, Galaxy Kolsch, 5.5%
  • Redline Brewhouse & Thin Man Brewing – Squeeze Across the Border, NEIPA, 6.4%
  • Royal City & 42 North –  New World Saison
  • Wellington & 4 Mile – Walk 4 Miles, Dry Hopped Kellerbier, 5%
  • Lock Street &  Five & 20 –  Belgian Waffles w/ Blueberries, Golden Strong Ale, 9.5%

Augusta’s Winking Judge craft beer bar is located at 25 Augusta St in Hamilton Ontario (1-905-524-5626). For more information on the Can-Am Fest, please visit https://canadianamericanbeerfestival.com/.

The Can-Am is organized by the Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association, with the assistance of the Ontario Craft Brewers, Niagara College Teaching Brewery, the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute, and Consumers Beverages as well as event partner, Lyft.

Brian Campbell is a co-founder/Brand Manager of the BNBA’s enthusiast arm, Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at buffalobeerleague@aol.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague) and www.buffalobeerleague.com.