My problem with the Toronto Beer Festival

Unnecessary in my opinion.

Jeff and I managed to score some free tickets to the Toronto Beer Festival on Sunday and we went.

Having gone two years ago, we were expecting a good time with lots of awesome beer. I knew going in there would be a lot of younger people who really were there looking to get drunk off cheap samples (i.e. the girl who exclaimed to her group of friends that they should go to a particular booth because their half sample was more like 3/4 of a full sample - OMG, you guys!).

There were a lot of girls wearing bikini tops as they walked around drinking, lots of men without their shirts on and their pants falling down (I realize at 32, I am starting to sound like an old man - but I don't care). I get it - it's hot - but really? We all can't wear tank tops or light cotton shirts?

There were, of course, the sexed-up girls standing in front of some booths. This is something that I hate, but I realize it's mostly breweries who really don't have much to offer on the craft beer front - so they have to use sexy ladies to sell their beer to men.

So I was surprised when we arrived at CASKapalooza - the tent for Great Lakes Brewery in Toronto.

Jeff and I made this our very first start for the whole day. We knew Great Lakes would have some new, unique beers to try and we weren't disappointed in the selection.

As we walked into the tent, I can't remember who saw her first, but both Jeff and I noticed a girl walking by wearing a bra and a barely-there skirt (the kind meant to show off panties). She was dressed in bright pink and black and had "stockings" that kind of look like they're fishnets, but way bigger holes.

I just shook my head. We went and got our first beers of the festival - I had the Morning Glory Breakfast Porter, Jeff had the Curry, Please - and stood under the tent and took in the scene. That's when I think Jeff noticed two more girls dancing on a fire truck, and the girl we had seen when we walked in was now dancing on a car.

As we had a few more beers, and I watched random guys walk up to the fire truck and get their photos taken with the girls dancing above them, I became more, well, disgusted that Great Lakes would think they needed girls to bring people to their booth.

So I took to my personal Twitter account.

"So many half naked chicks at @TOBeerFestival - disappointed in @Greatlakesbeer," I wrote.

Then added, "Let the beer speak for iteself @Greatlakesbeer @TOBeerFestival."

Tuesday, Great Lakes tweeted back at me.

"Don't be disappointed. We need the go-go girls & great retro tunes to lead people into #Caskapalooza," they tweeted. "The attention to #craftbeer at #CASKapalooza keeps them there."

Well, Great Lakes, I have to disagree.

Half-naked girls bring the wrong kind of attention to your brewery. It says, "We need hot chicks dancing in barely-there outfits to get you interested in what we have." I expect that kind of behaviour from the likes of Budweiser - not a reputable craft brewer.

Some of the people who go to a beer festival - I would hope - are somewhat interested in trying new beers. That's what's going to attract them to your tent and your vast array of beers - the best selection of the festival, in my opinion.

And, let's be honest: I'm a chick, I'm interested in beer. Half naked women do not interest me in the least and in fact, I won't say I was offended by them, but it certainly left me, as I said in my tweet, very disappointed in Great Lakes (like the way your mom is disappointed in you when you've done something bad and you really would prefer if she was just angry and instead, she just shakes her head and walks away).

I don't know if I need to go back to the Toronto Beer Festival. It was fun a couple of years ago, but being just two years older and not wanting to just get drunk on the Ex grounds, it's not the festival for me. I love the chance to try new and unique beers (a post about what we tried is coming up shortly), but I am not a fan of the atmosphere at the festival (this includes all the pot I could smell everywhere I went).

Ontario needs a beer festival where the focus is on the beer - not on what happens when you have too much of it.