A Little Place Called The Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery

Saturday morning we packed the car and headed to Bracebridge, Ontario. Unfortunately we were not heading to the Muskoka Beer Festival. A good buddy of mine was getting married and the service started at 4pm and I felt it prudent to NOT show up in an I-was-just-at-a-beer-festival state. Now that the beer festival was off the table what were our other options? Two instantly popped to mind. The first was, of course, the Muskoka Brewery (or technically the Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery). Google Maps suggested this was only a 4 minute walk away from the B&B we were staying in. Very doable. The second was the Griffin Gastropub – the renowned establishment, which happened to be the ones at the helm of the beer festival. Google Maps says 1 minute walk. This should be easy!

The B&B we were staying at was the Spiritbear B&B. Located on a side street just off of the main street of Bracebridge, I chatted with the landlady explaining the purpose of our visit as well as our ancillary objectives. She noted that she and her husband are regular patrons of the Griffin, citing good food, a patio, live music and though “not a beer” drinker she has found a few beers to enjoy. It was mentioned she has spoken with the proprietors of the Griffin and they are trying to come up with a B&B with dinner package. If this comes to fruition it will be an amazing weekend away.

We met up with a few friends, donned our wedding best and headed down the road insearch of the Griffin’s patio. We found the place easily and were quickly drawn to the chalkboard outside” “Closed today for the Muskoka Beer Festival.” Sonofa. “Not a problem, guys, we’ll just go to the brewery!” Three minutes down the road we found the Muskoka Brewery. Though in the middle of town, this little shop definitely had that rustic, cottage vibe. Wood everything everywhere. And beer. Muskoka had made it known the 2010 batch of the Harvest Ale would be available at the beer festival and fortunately it was available at the brewery too! Tasting very fresh out the tap I was disappointed to learn it was not yet for sale. (Patience and beer geek-dom do not always see eye to eye.) We also sampled the Light Pilsner, Hefeweissbier and Cream Ale. The store clerk noted that everyone else from the brewery had gone to the festival for the day and she was left back all by her lonesome. Due to this we weren’t able to take a look at the brewing side of things despite an offer from one of us to mind the retail store for her. Maybe it was the wink or the sly smile that put her on to our true intentions.

What a pleasant experience this trip to the brewery was. Great beer and a company that cares about what their customers think. Hops growing outside in a window box, biodegradable sample cups and the promise of a double chocolate cranberry stout around Christmas time – these guys seem to have it all figured out. It’s no secret that I am a Muskoka Brewery fan and it’s no wonder Muskoka is gaining massive popularity in Ontario! I can’t wait for the Harvest Ale to hit full swing!

One final note: the wedding went very well and the bridge and groom and guests danced well into the night. The venue of the wedding was Inn at the Falls. An in-town resort with a number of amenities. I have to note I was amazed by the draught selection in the bar: 4 Muskoka beers, Lake of Bays Pale Ale, Mill Street (Wit?) and Guinness. It is awesome to see the local business supporting Ontario craft beer, and in particular the two breweries closest to it!

Bear With Me @ Beer With Me

This post marks a milestone in my blogging. Unfortunately it’s not a very glamourous one, but in the blogging world it is a rite of passage. This is my I’m-sorry-I-haven’t-posted-in-a-while-but-promise-to-catch-up-soon post. It’s not a bad thing and it happens to the best bloggers out there. I even fell behind in my precious Google Reader for beer news and posts for a time but it’ll be remedied!

IPA, eh?

Though I haven’t been posting it was not for lack of beer. I recently started a new job and have been fairly consumed with all that is involved with that. Before I started the job I took a week break to enjoy a week of freedom and the hot August weather. Beer related I did my own IPA tasting. It wasn’t formal or scheduled by any means but I did approximately one a day for the week – sampling beers I have collected over the past few months from Buffalo, Montreal, Sault Ste Marie (Michigan) and Manitoba. I will definitely post about this one soon!

4 Casks and a Pig

I also attended the August Great Lakes Brewery Project X on August 12th. In fine Project X tradition this event was a great success. Held outside, the standard draughts were available as well as four different casks. I did not take notes that night and my memory is a bit fuzzy: I thought I was told I had a black forest pale ale, but when trying to track it down online I came across a black forest porter – this seems a better description of what it was. Huge tart cherry and chocolate. The classic My Bitterer (double ER) Wife DIPA was on offer, which I found LESS bitter than a My Bitter (single ER) Wife I had a Volo a few months ago. A hoppy saison and the ‘does this moo-moo make me look hefe imperial hefeweizen’ rounded out the cask list. The pulled pork was cut right off of the pig on-site and the food ran out! Everyone did get their firsts, but there were only a handful who got seconds. Tough life, eh?

Taps, Awards, and Gold!

The Golden Tap Awards weekend was simply incredible. The 7 course beer dinner put on by Brian and the beerbistro crew last Friday evening was remarkable! A lot of planning was put into the dishes and they were enjoyed by all based on the buzz and high energy in the room. The Ontario beers paired with each course were introduced by the respective brewers, while Cass gave us the run down of the food items. Hats off to The Bar Towel and beerbistro for making the dinner the spectacle that it was. I’m looking forward to next year already!

The ‘main’ Golden Tap Award night was last Saturday and was just as enjoyable as years past. The Golden Tap Awards are always a standout event in my summer as they provide recognition for the efforts in the Ontario craft beer industry and a great afternoon of beer sampling and camaraderie. Brewers, publicans, bloggers, beer enthusiasts and beer lovers alike congregated, sampled, laughed, sampled, cheered for the awards and sampled some more well into the night. The beer menu for the day included a huge number of taps and a dozen plus in bottle form. I didn’t come across more than a handful of choices I had not previously enjoyed so I made sure those were first on my hit list. The Lake of Bays Pale Ale and an offering from Kichessippi (don’t recall any more specifics of the name – a blonde?), which I admit I had not heard of prior to this event. I didn’t dislike them however neither were remarkable in any way. They may be playing it safe by making easy to drink ales but they will need to establish a specialty in the near future else they will be directly competing with the big boys and sadly I can’t see them sticking around too long. I certainly won’t write the breweries off before they have the opportunity to prove themselves as they are both young and hopefully up and comers and I look forward to trying anything else from them in future!

Check out Cass’ post towards the bottom of the page for the beer dinner courses & pairings, as well as the results of the 2010 Golden Tap Awards! Congrats to all!
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Hopefully this post will last you through the weekend. I am off to Bracebridge for a wedding tomorrow and unfortunately won’t be able to stop in on the Muskoka Beer Festival (damndamndamndamn) I do plan to stop in at the Muskoka Brewery which is something I’ve not done before so hopefully that will make up for it!

Regular posts coming next week, promise!

Cheers!

Dry Hopping

Sure bittering hops are added during the boil, and aromatic hops are added towards the end of the boil, but If you want your beer to have that really enhanced hoppy aroma dry hopping is the way to go!

Adding hops near the end of the boil for aromatic qualities may lead to the loss of the aromatic oils due to the inherent harsh nature of the boil so dry hopping is a great way to really enhance the hoppy aroma. By adding hops to the secondary fermenter or keg (or cask) the hops are able to bask in the near finished beer and release their delicate oils to impart their wonderful flavour into the beer. This process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on the desired outcome.

Brewers use hop plugs, hop pellets and even whole leaf hops to dry hop their beer. By the time the beer is in the secondary fermenter or keg (or cask) there is sufficient alcohol present to prevent any bacteria (which may be present on the fresh whole leaf hops) from contaminating the beer. Sometimes a mesh bag is used to contain the hops to make it easier for clean up and to prevent blockages in the keg but simply tossing them in is a very common and acceptable method. The homebrewer typically brews 5 gallon batches and it is said that 2 oz of hops is at the high-end of moderate dry hopping, and 4 oz is at the high-end for the hopheads.

Since the objective of dry hopping is to provide additional aromatic properties to the beer aromatic hops are the best choice. These hops have a relatively low alpha acid content (under 6%) and more aromatic hop oils. Goldings, cascade, saaz, and fuggles are just a few of the varieties suitable for dry hopping. It is also important to ensure the hops used for dry hopping are suitable for the beer being made. For example saaz hops would be suitable for dry hopping pilsners or European lagers, and Cascade suitable for an American pale ale. In theory you can dry hop any beer but the purpose of dry hopping is to enhance the hop properties of already hoppy beers. India pale ales, American pale ales and pilsners are good examples of the types of beers ideal for dry hopping. This site notes hop varieties including alpha acid percentage and style of beer commonly used in.

A few local examples of dry hopped beers include Granite Best Bitter Special, Great Lakes Lackeys Caskey and Flying Monkeys Smash Bomb Atomic IPA.

Oh yeah, why is it called ‘dry’ hopping? Since once the hops hit the beer they get wet, right?  The ‘dry’ adjective indicates that the hops have not been boiled and are uncooked.

I Love Your Day, Lord Simcoe

I am heading up to Sault Ste Marie this weekend for a cottaging long long-weekend to visit my lady’s extended family. In summer’s past up in the Soo I would acquiesce to a weekend of drinking Coors Light as it is something that can be consumed en masse for long periods of time.  (Yes, yes, for shame.) Drinking craft beer for extend periods on long summer days doesn’t do well for the stomach. Coors is easy to drink because there’s really nothing to it. Anything with a moderate amount of hops or malt is bound to cause the stomach to slow you down after a while. This time I think I will stick to gin and tonic. Since I’ll be away for a few days hopefully some of the below links will keep you occupied.

– Beer Ice Cream @ Hop Press – This makes me want to go out and buy an ice cream maker. I can only imagine how good a Grand River Russian Gun Imperial Stout vanilla ice cream would be.

– XYYZ has an article about Toronto’s best summer beers. Nothing too fancy there so far as beer geeks go but it’s good to know that other demographics are being reached when it comes to Ontario craft beer. My knowledge of west coast Canadian beer is limited, but here is xyyz’s Vancouver write up.

– For those who love their policy here is Ontario’s Liquor Licence Act.  There are a few good laughs in there.
– Sex advice from home brewers

– National Geographic does a short piece on beer brewing, featuring Steamwhistle. Fairly standard brewing details.

Ever since OCB Week I have stocked my fridge with quite a high proportion of Ontario beers. Our fridge just received a large number of Stone and Rogue bombers, and combined with a few cases of other American micro’s picked up in Buffalo in June I think August will have some articles focusing on that. Cheers!

Roadkill McBrau

Those crazy Scots are up to it again! BrewDog has again raised the championship belt for highest ABV beer with the release of its new brew: The End of History. This blonde Belgian ale comes in a 330ml bottle which drinkers are encouraged to consume in small quantities. Weighing in at a hefty 55% they claim this is their last foray in the ABV arms race we have seen over the last few years, citing it is “the final installment of our efforts to redefine the limits of contemporary brewing.”

In addition to the dangerous ABV:

In true BrewDog fashion we’ve torn up convention, blurred distinctions and pushed brewing and beer packaging to its absolute limits. This beer is an audacious blend of eccentricity, artistry and rebellion; changing the general perception of beer one stuffed animal at a time.

 

Stuffed animal. You read that correctly. But no teddy bear or cuddly ‘brew’ dog, instead this limited release (only 11 bottles) comes packaged in repurposed road kill! Four are packaged in grey squirrels and seven in stoats (aka ermine or short-tailed weasel). Mmmm!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention at a bottle will run you ₤500. Except that it won’t, because it sold out and you can’t have any. I imagine the taxidermist gets a fair cut of that.

Schorschbrau was unavailable for comment on their retaliation plan at the time of this posting. Nor was BrewDog available for comment to comment on the pending comment regarding Schorschbrau’s retaliation plans.

Get’r done!

I have added a new page to this blog labeled ‘Goals’. It will be a list of things I would like to accomplish, hopefully within a six month time frame from when they are added (no guarantees!). It will include places I would like to visit, exploring styles I have minimal exposure to, and other beer related things that can be achieved.  Please feel free to make any suggestions.

View current goals

The Garden Party – Wheat Beers

The pale ales were all gone, and though some pad thai still remained we needed to soldier on to the next beer style: wheat beers. Like the other categories in this tasting this one also has an “odd man out”. Two of the beers are German hefeweizens and one is an American wheat.

Wheat Beers

1. Muskoka Hefe-Weissbier – Bracebridge, ON – 5% abv – can

The Muskoka Hefe is one of my go-to beers for stocking the fridge in the summer. Full of beautiful esters creating flavours of cloves, citrus, banana and bubble gum it is complimented by a subtle hop profile and caramel and bready malts. Unfiltered, it pours a golden haze with a fluffy white head. When describing this beer to others I often indicate the flavours are very vibrant and ‘colourful’.

2. Great Lakes Miami Weiss – Toronto, ON – ? abv – bottle

Since this American wheat ale was the odd one out I thought it would sandwich it between the hefeweizens (hefeweisses?). This choice was also unfiltered and was quite bubbly. There were two notable qualities to this ale that separates it from its German counterpart: by design it has less esters and is considerably more hopped. The Project X conceived Miami Weiss is generously hopped (as well as dry hopped) with noble hops and has a spicy, grassy quality to the nose and palette. Grapefruit qualities are also a big part of this beer’s character.
*BREWERY FRESH!

3. Denison’s Weissbier – Toronto, ON – 5.4% abv – can

What else can be said about a locally produced, world-class beer that hasn’t already been said? This Ontarian draft staple was released in cans in 2009 and this meant it would only take a fraction of the time to get the tasty hefeweizen to my lips compared to heading to my local. Unfiltered and filled with wonderful spicy, cloveyy, and banana-y esters this weissbier is slightly tart yet mellow. In contrast to the above noted Muskoka hefeweiss the overall profile would be a little more refined. Hot weather, cold weather – this beer is always a treat in any weather.
*BREWERY FRESH!

Food pairing: Bruschetta with grilled Halloumi
When trying to plan this pairing I over-thought it. I was trying too hard to find a food item to match well with the properties of the wheat beer. It was not until the 11th hour that I realized I was on the wrong track: I was trying to find a food to go with the beer.  I concluded that wheat beer goes with just about anything! So for this pairing this bruschetta was a)  reasonably simple to make, b) did not have conflicting flavours with the beer and c) was incredibly delicious. The food and drink did not have any flavours that were too strong which would conflict with each other.

My winner:
I opted for the tried, tested and true. Denison’s Weissbier. It’s just so good.
Tasters poll winner: This one was a landslide! The hopped-up Great Lakes Miami Weiss took this one with 75% of the votes! This Project X brew was a great success – hopefully it makes it into their seasonal rotation!

Next, and last up: India Pale Ales…

The Garden Party – Pale Ales

Lagers and Fruit beers are done…

Pale ale is not too descriptive as a beer style. On its own I do not think it is a beer style (at least not as recognized by the BJCP). It is usually accompanied by a regional name (English, India, American, etc) which is then subdivided into further categories. Two of the beers sampled in this category are American Pale Ales and one is an English Pale Ale (best bitter). All three sampled were fresh from the breweries.

Pale Ales

1. Black Oak Pale Ale – Toronto, ON – 5% abv – bottle

Whenever I see this on draft I gravitate towards it, though I do not often buy it in bottles. Visiting the brewery to buy enough for my party (plus a bit for me) I was informed that it was available at my local east-end LCBO but made it clear it was my task and duty to get it direct from the brewery for my party-goers. This straw coloured pale ale is sessionable time after time. Piney, grassy hops combined with light, caramel/toffee malts provides an excellent balance. Moderate in both bitterness and sweetness this is a great all-around beer that can stand up on its own or be paired with a wide array of food items.
*BREWERY FRESH!

2. Granite Brewery Best Bitter Special – Toronto, ON – 4.5% abv – growler (CASK!)

This sampling combined three of my favourite things about the Granite Brewery. Growlers, cask beer and best bitter special (hand drawn into the growler on request). This copper coloured brew is deliciously dry-hopped which dominates the flavour. There is a high malt component which balances out the high hops. There is bitter finish on this beer and possibly notes of black tea. This growler was purchased late in the evening before the tasting party and received the usual caution to consume this beer within 24 hours. Though refrigerated until the time of sampling this beer did not fare well and many proclaimed it had gone off. I did not feel it was undrinkable but it certainly was not up to its usual high standards.
*BREWERY FRESH!

3. Great Lakes Canuck Pale Ale – Toronto, ON – 5.2% abv – bottle

Initially introduced at the time of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games this beer quickly became a favourite of mine. It was an easy beer to share with friends because it was very well balanced and not TOO anything (hoppy, yeasty, etc) except it being TOO delicious. At a housewarming during the later winter months I was astonished and pleasantly surprised to see approximately 10 bottles of this beer in the fridge brought by a number of people, myself included. This current incarnation (released for Canada Day) has solved some of the diacetyl issues experienced during the first batch and continues the dry-hopped goodness. Nice dry hopped flavour (cascade?) with some piney hops and bready malts. Though not a low abv I find it quite sessionable.
*BREWERY FRESH!

Food pairing: Pad Thai
This category was up in the air for food pairing until I picked up the beers. When I went to Black Oak and Great Lakes I was able to speak to the brewers to weigh in on their opinions of what to pair with the beers (Ron Keefe was no in when I went). Both Adrian (BO) and Peter (GL) suggested I pair their respective beers with something spicy, like Indian or Thai because generally spicy foods have complex flavours that will hold up to the hop bitterness of the beers. Though the pad thai was not spciy (someone forgot the sriracha – me) the busy-ness of the pad thai (spices, veg, meat, seafood, etc) provided the desired contrast. This pad thai is famous in my circle of friends and guests started gobbling it up before the beers were even served!

My winner: All three are top contenders and I would gladly accept a pint (or growler) of any at any given time. As noted above the Granite BBS was below par, which narrows it to two. I have to give my vote to my perennial favourite: Black Oak Pale Ale. It is consistently a delicious beer.
Tasters poll winner: Again we had a landslide victory in this category. Great Lakes Canuck Pale Ale got top marks from tasters with double the votes of the other two combined. If the pad thai got a vote in this category it may have won.

Next up: Wheat beers…

The Garden Party – Fruit Beer

The lagers were done and second up was fruit beer. Like in the last post I have taken liberties in this category (with #2) but it was a matter of fit it in here or duplicate a raspberry beer.

‘Fruit’ Beers

1. KLB Raspberry Wheat Beer – Toronto, ON – 4.5% abv – can

Though also a wheat beer I think I can get away with this beer in this category without anyone crying ‘foul!’. This light bodied ale smells and tastes of sweet raspberry candy. My personal guess is that they don’t use fresh raspberries, but perhaps a concentrated raspberry syrup instead. Regardless, this beer is quite pleasant and refreshing on a hot afternoon.

2. Great Lakes Green Tea Ale – Toronto, ON – 4.2% abv – bottle

This is the non-fruit offender and is not technically a fruit beer. This beer is light bodied with a very slight bitterness. Flavours detected are biscuity malts, light grassiness, sweet grains as well as very faint hints of green tea. If I were not told this was a green tea ale I would have a hard time naming it as such.
*BREWERY FRESH!

3. Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer – Toronto, ON – 5% abv – can

This beer pours golden-amber and has a significant haze on it. The name correctly identifies the major flavours found in this brew: lemon and tea. Both of which provide a bitterness that allows the hop presence to be slightly diminished without compromising on flavour balance. I contemplated going down to the Mill St brewpub shop to grab this beer as part of my ‘fresh from the brewery’ mantra but I don’t think it was brewed and canned there so it was purchased at the LCBO.

Food pairing: Watermelon, Mint & Feta Cheese salad
Pairing fruit with fruit beer initially seemed sensible but also required something to make it ‘pop’. Since the beers do not have strong, complex flavour profiles feta cheese was a perfect choice. It did not interfere with the flavours of the beer, and on the contrary the inherent salty flavour profile complimented the refreshing tastes of the other ingredients in the salad (watermelon & mint) and also made the beers seem more refreshing in contrast.

My winner: This was also a hard category to choose a winner but for the opposite reason of the lager category: I don’t really care too much for any of them. I will give my vote to the KLB Raspberry Wheat. I didn’t love it but it wasn’t as not good as I thought.
Tasters poll winner: This came as a surprise to me but there was a tie between the KLB Raspberry Wheat and the Mill St Lemon Tea Beer.

Next up: Pale Ales…

The Garden Party – The Lagers

…continued from The Plan

Lager was the first category tasted. All beers were purchased from the LCBO

Lagers

1. Muskoka Pilsner Light – Bracebridge, ON – 4% abv – can

After trying this beer for the first time a few weeks ago I was curious about it. A few cans have been had since then and my love for the beer has grown. Though a light beer, this pils has the grassy hops, light malts and refreshing crispness to it that is expected of the style.

2. Beau’s Lug-tread Lagered Ale – Vankleek Hill, ON – 5.4% abv – bottle

OK, you caught me. This beer does NOT fit the style category as the word ALE is clearly noted in the name. I thought I would take liberties with this one as it IS a lagered ale. That is to say it is cold conditioned (like a lager), but top fermented (as an ale). This beer served as a point of comparison with the pils. I think my point was made.

3. Creemore Springs Kellerbier – Creemore, ON – 5% abv – bottle

Making its way to beer drinkers for the second year, this malt-accented, pale lager is unfiltered and has that ‘fresh’ taste to it.  It’s not your typical macro (or micro) brewed lager. Notes of aromatic whole leaf hops and ease of drinkability were standouts for this choice.

Food pairing: Sliders
The beers chosen in this category were all crisp and refreshing. Fairly uncomplicated, but with hop bitterness profiles that dominate the flavour. These qualities made sliders (aka mini burgers) a good choice. Topped with fresh tomato slices, truffle mayonnaise and spicy catsup these burgs were broiled due to BBQ complications however were moist and the perfect pairing for the lager category.

My winner: This was perhaps the most difficult category for me to choose a favourite, however all factors considered at the time (food pairing, hot summer day, etc) I have to give my vote to the Muskoka Pilsner Light
Tasters poll winner: Creemore Kellerbier was the favourite by a fairly large margin!

Next up: Fruit beer…