St Kilda's Moose & Mountie SpecTAPular is MASSIVE!

We were expecting a big one, but not this big!

Thanks to the generous support of the Canadian Government, The Moose & Mountie SpecTAPular was the biggest festival of the nine SpecTAPulars we've had since opening.

We opened the doors at 2 minutes past midday after putting the finishing touches on the decorations and in wandered the first of many happy punters. They started on the tasting paddles as more people rolled in. By 1.30pm things were already getting hectic and the staff we kept busy (not helped by the fact that one of our glasswashing machines was on the blink so all glasses had to be washed upstairs!).

We filled up by late afternoon and the punters' view was unanimous - there wasn't a dud beer on the board. From hefeweizens to Imperial Stouts, this impressive line-up was the talking point of the day. Only those who were from, or had been to, Quebec would have had the chance to taste these brews before.

Fortunately our glasswashing repair man came good on a promise and wheeled in a new machine at a little after 5pm which saved the day for the staff.

So the beers flowed, the hockey played on the big screen, and the expats sang 'Oh Canada' until they were hoarse. Later, as they filled the dance floor, we were beginning to get concerned about whether we had enough beer to get through the day. Luckily we just scraped through and after a long cleanup the staff sat down and had our tradtional post-SpecTAPular beer...or beers to be more precise.

Thanks again to the Canadian Government for their generous support without which we couldn't have held this festival. To Craig Jessup of Palais Imports for hooking us up with the breweries who make these fine beers, to James for his hard work behind-the-scenes selecting the beers, to Ange and Beccy for their tireless interior decorating, to Rich and the boys in the kitchen for pumping out the Canadian fare (including the Poutine which was rated by at least two Canadians as "as good as they get back home"), to Benno and Beccy for running the day, to Peter for rocking up with the new glasswasher just in time, to Carl for setting up the cellar, to all the staff for their hard work and for getting into the day with their costumes!

And thanks also to all the punters who made the day such a success - from expat Canadians, to Ale Stars, to staff from other beer loving venues, to regular customers, and everyone else who was drawn by the excitement and wandered in off the street for a beer. We have a ball putting these events together and it's great to see them so well attended and appreciated.

Stay tuned for details of Oktoberfest SpecTAPular ...coming to a Taphouse near you on October 9th.

Cheers and Beers,

The Local Crew.

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