Toronto Beer Week Is Upon Us!

Well, officially Toronto Beer Week will be upon us in two days but a number of beer related events have already been occurring across the city for those eager go-getters. Unfortunately there are so many things going on that it is not possible to engage in all of the events or even all of the days.  I’ll do a quick day by day of what I think sounds hot as well as what I’ll be attending.

This weekend: HMH Negotiants has been presenting a Dieu Du Ciel feature at Bar Volo from this past Thursday through this Sunday.  This evening is a big event there from 7pm-2am. After popping up to Granite Brewery this afternoon for a pint of cask and hopefully a Toronto Beer Week t-shirt I will be attending the early media portion of the DDC feature. Sadly I won’t be able to stay for the evening as I have to leave to go see Mastodon, Deftones and Alice in Chains down at the Amphitheatre – a cross I am willing to bear. Tomorrow I am hoping to accomplish a large number of chores around the house in preparation for shirking many responsibilities and having a singular focus of Toronto Beer Week from start to finish.

Monday: It’s hard to say no to $5 pints at Volo on Monday evenings. This beer week edition of pint night will feature $4 pints of the top ten rated Ontario beers. I’m not sure of whose rating this is but I am certain the selection will be top-notch. If that wasn’t enough they are kicking off the finals of the 2010 IPA Cask Challenge. The contenders are Great Lakes My Bitter Wife vs. Flying Monkeys Smashbomb IPA. May the best cask win!

Tuesday: Unfortunately scheduling does not permit me to attend any events on Tuesday. If I COULD go to an event it would certainly be the Brew Dog Dinner @ Beerbistro. A six course dinner is being prepared by Brian and crew of beerbistro and paired with beers from one of the most avant-garde breweries in the world. $90 a head is not a cheap price tag but this is one of those rare opportunities not to be ignored. My prediction is this is one of the events that will still have the biggest buzz once beer week is over.

Wednesday: Sadly another day I will have to miss. Stephen Beaumont will be hosting a session called ‘Malt Magic’ at The Monk’s Table. This event is described as “Premium beer and spirit pairings with decadent chocolates and gourmet cheeses.” This one will appeal to beer and food lovers alike! I will be doing my own beer tasting at home which I’ll post when complete.

Thursday: I’m heading back down to Volo on Thursday for the Black Oak feature. “ALL” Black Oak beers will be available, which includes year round favourites as well as seasonals. In addition to this they will be bringing in 2 casks. The Black Oak crew will be on hand to mingle.

Friday: Kicking off this day is the 22nd annual Festival of Craft Breweries at the C’est What. This event, along with it’s spring counterpart have grown in popularity over the years that for this incarnation they have decided to spread the festival over two days, and now includes the Saturday. A different lineup is scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Admission is free and most samples go for a buck.

Saturday: This will be a busy day! I’m planning to make the below day’s events into my own mini cask trail/crawl. Great Lakes Brewery has modified their September Project X and turned it into the Great Lakes Harvest Festival (review). They will be offering bratwurst and pumpkin and peach pie as well as two special casks: Sweet Pete’s Peach Wheat and their Pumpkin Ale. This runs from noon through 4 at the brewery. Next up is the CASK! September social at Bryden’s (review).Four casks will be available: (Beau’s Matt’s Gose, Granite Best Bitter Special, Great Lakes Miami Dunkelweiss, Muskoka Dark Chocolate Ale) as well as some nibbles and prizes (runs 3 through 6). Wrapping up the mini crawl I’ll be heading back to the C’est What for the Saturday session of the Festival of Craft Breweries.

Sunday: Deciding it sounded like a fun idea I signed up for Toronto Beer Quest. “An urban adventure featuring Toronto Beer History.” Registration is online for teams of 2 and it’s a photo scavenger hunt. I am not entirely sure what I’m in for but it sounds like a fun idea. $40 per team is the registration cost and I believe it winds up at a pub at the end for some (hopefully) celebratory beers!

I’m hoping this week will be as great as it sounds. A few days off will need to be taken the following week I’m sure, but I’ll be right back at it on the Thursday for the Canadian German Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s German Bierfest. More on that later.

Happy beer week all! Cheers!

Mill Street Schleimhammer Roggenbier

This beer had been stuck in the back of my fridge since it was released back in June of this year. I was a bit hesitant to try it. I thought I had previously tried it but been scared off, however after a bit of personal research could not pinpoint when that might have been. I felt it time to clear out the old and make room for the new releases from Dieu Du Ciel as well as the Autumn and Halloween LCBO releases. This beer needs to be examined!

Pouring a hazy copper, this effervescent beer pours with a good head (initially) which fades into a thin version of its former self – a thin covering and moderate lacing of the glass. The aroma was so subtle on this brew I ended up inadvertently putting my nose into the head, twice. I have minimal experience with rye beer but this incarnation was moderate in hop profile and high in malt and esters. Clove and pepper stand out as well as banana – these are presented on a backdrop of a strong caramel malt character. With a thin-moderate mouth-feel this beer was very smooth and easy drinking. There were a few candied fruit subtleties in the aroma and flavour as well as a mildly syrupy flavour and mouth-feel. Would I drink this beer again? Yes. Would I buy it again? I think so!

Duggan #9 Now Available

To follow up on the Duggan’s Brewery theme from my last post, bottled #9 has finally made it’s way into the LCBO. This is very good news. I’m not sure the reasoning behind the wee 275ml bottles but I am not running the brewery. I currently have some #9  in my fridge. As I was taking the bottles out of the 6 pack holder I noticed a Duggan Brewery business card fall out. Not only is a it a business card, but it’s a $5 coupon towards food on your next visit. Brilliant marketing. “You like this beer? Come check out the brewpub.” Brilliant.

Why I Love Duggan Brewery

When I first found it, it was the newcomer; tucked away at the bottom of a new C’est What’s beer list. “#9 IPA- Mike Duggan” Go on then, I’ll try it out. It was beautiful! Rich caramel malts, grassy and citrus hops with a bitter finish that was just right. It went down very easy. I needed to find out who this Mike Duggan was and how I could get more of his beer. I soon found out that Mike Duggan, a founder of Mill St, was now brewmaster at Cool Beer. In addition he had clearly launched his own brand. This had my attention.

The months went on and #9 was popping up not just at the beer bars I would expect but also at less beer savvy bars. It went on to win first place in the 2009 IPA Challenge at Volo. New Duggan beers were popping up now and again for beer events across the city; each one with a new number (#) and style description (all Duggan beers on ratebeer)

In August 2009 word broke that Mike Duggan would be opening up a brewpub in the building that once housed the Denison’s Brewpub. This was great news! I work across the street from Duggan’s Brewery. It’s less than 150 steps from desk to front door. For 4 months I patiently waited. OK – at first I was patient but towards the end I was walking by the storefront every 3 days checking to see how things were coming along. As luck would have it one of my friends had an ‘in’ and knew about a preview night at Duggan’s not yet opened Brewery in December. It was as glorious as I expected/fantisized. Only the #9 was pouring that night but it was most welcome. Our table probably sampled more than half of the items on the bistro menu. It was definitely somewhere I would like to be…after work…every day.

I am in love with Duggan’s Brewery.