I didn’t have to wait long for someone to take me up on my offer to help promote an upcoming beer dinner in Toronto. On 30 September, Dougal Sharp the founder of Innis & Gunn will be at The Bristol on Queen West for a four-course special event.

Happily, Innis & Gunn PR reps here in Toronto were good sports about answering the standard questions I set out, which I hope will help you decide whether this dinner is worth your while. Here are their answers:

Roughly, how much of the beer menu is limited edition or one-off beers?

There will be two one-off beers in the tasting. The two that are not yet available in Ontario are Malt Whisky Trail limited edition brew and the seasonal Beer Scotch Whisky Porter.

Did the chef have the opportunity to taste the actual beer being served before designing the food menu or was she working from tasting notes?

The chef received the beer ahead of creating the menu as well as tasting notes aside from one of the courses.

Will there be speeches? Will guests have the opportunity to ask questions of someone who knows how the beer was made?

Dougal will probably speak in front of the room. He’s also willing to answer any questions directed at him. As founder, owner and brewer he’s in a great position to do so.

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Dougal is definitely not a silent owner working behind the scenes, but instead has been the face of the Innis & Gunn brand from its start in the early 2000s. In newspaper interviews, like this one for the Daily Telegraph he describes his role as extending to front-line sales calls in the early days. Since Canada is one of Innis & Gunn’s three largest markets a personal visit from the founder makes perfect sense.

This will be my first visit to The Bristol since it moved to Queen West from the Annex and dropped the “Yard” from the end of their name. I look forward to seeing how chefs Davy Love and Joice Phillip handle the special challenge of serving a beer dinner to a whole restaurant all at once.

Tickets for the Innis & Gunn dinner at the Bristol are available through this link.

My offer stands to list upcoming beer dinners in Toronto. If you’d like to have yours featured in a preview post like this one send me an email at info@foodwithlegs.com and I’ll get back to you with the three standard questions.