Brewing up winter fun

Osborne Village

Osborne Village

Get ready to have a brewski in Osborne Village — or, more accurately, a brew and a ski. The folks at The Beer Can, Gas Station Arts Centre, and the Winnipeg Trails Association have partnered up to offer an outdoor pop-up bar with ski equipment rentals on Feb. 10.

The Beer Can and the Gas Station are also planning a three-on-three ball hockey tournament and “beer-athalon” on Feb. 18 and 19.

The first event, called Brew|Ski in the Village, will be held at the Gas Station Arts Centre patio, near the corner of River Avenue and Osborne Street.

“The Beer Can first partnered with the Gas Station Arts Centre last May or so,” said Lauren Siddall, communications person for The Beer Can. “We started doing their bar programming and then started working with them on entertainment … Then we did an event with them in December called Winter in the Village, and it was great. It was so popular. We had so many folks come through, even though it was so cold out that weekend.”

The event featured lights and carollers and hoards of Winnipeggers enjoying the streets of Osborne Village.

Siddall said the company was “instantly bombarded” with messages asking when the next outdoor bar would be. So, the team took a page from the Bombardier handbook and slapped some skis on the event.

The Winnipeg Trails Association will be renting skis at the Brew|Ski in the Village event for $20 — a price which includes a beer.

Trails Association executive director Anders Swanson said profits from rentals will help support their mobile ski library initiative. He said the ski library, which makes equipment available to neighbourhoods around the city and helps, among other things, introduce newcomers to Canada to winter activities, has taken off in popularity this year and the aim now is to make the project work for years to come.

“Our goal is to make it sustainable over time. We have government partners that have supported us for different reasons, whether it’s tourism or environment, etc., but fun events like this, where you can get a beer and hang out in a neon snowsuit and dance — we think there’s a lot of people who will think that’s fun,” Swanson said.

Local brewery Good Neighbour Brewing will be offering their “brulée beer,” which they prepare by heating a hot metal rod over an open fire before putting it in a cold beer.

“We’re going to have bonfires all over the place … We’ll have food available. We’ll have some retro ski movies in the theatre, in case you’re a little bit too cold and have to go warm up,” Siddall said.

No tickets are required to attend. Anyone can show up to enjoy the atmosphere and company.

However, ball hockey teams must pay a $30 registration fee to take part in the tournament, and each member of every team will also get a free beer.

“You do need to pre-register for that event because we will only have space for 16 teams,” Siddall said.

The “beer-athalon” also requires registration ($50, including beers for team members) and will feature a relay race in which participants will have to run to the river, lace up their skates, and skate around a track.

For more information or to register a team for either event, visit thebeercanwpg.com