Toronto Beer Week – Great Lakes Harvest Fest – Saturday

Attending a work party on Friday night and drinking G&Ts as an out for a lackluster beer selection, Saturday was a day I was looking forward to. Planning to attend 3 Toronto Beer Week events this day I was excited to say the least. But not just any three events! Three events all with cask beer. Delicious.

First up was the Harvest Festival at the Great Lakes brewery. A number of Project X events this past summer were held in the Great Lakes front yard and this one might have been the last outside one of the year. Slightly overcast and a touch breezy, the weather did not ruin the festival of harvest! By the time I arrived at 230pm there were about 60 adults sampling beer, enjoying the food and keeping an eye on the ~15 kids tearing around the lot. The small things often make a difference and the bales of hay and pumpkins were a nice touch along with the booths of local purveyors of fine cheeses, coffee, meats and soap (they had even made a pumpkin ale soap including ‘head’ – very original!). Live country music also filled the air and greatly added to the atmosphere.

We managed to get the last of the cask pumpkin ale on our way in. I have had a few bottles of this year’s pumpkin ale from the LCBO and the pumpkin ale on cask was considerably hoppier than it’s bottled counterpart. Since it was the end of the cask I got a bit of pumpkin particulate in my glass. It added to the authenticity of it being a pumpkin ale, as well, who doesn’t love floaties in their cask? Now armed with some cask it was time to eat!

There were a small number of food choices but boy were they excellent! Jalapeño sausages (brats?) were just massive and incredibly delicious. For $2 this was the deal of the day! I was told they were from a place called European Quality Meats & Sausages in Kensington – definitely worth checking out.

We heard word that Sweet Pete’s Peach Wheat was running out so we hurried over to try this one. It was a very smooth wheat beer – I’m going to guess it was a North American wheat based on it’s smooth, mellow profile. I didn’t taste too much peach, which is OK by me – I’m not a big peach fan, but I did taste some cloves. This one was certainly not dry hopped.

Time to eat again – we grabbed the last couple slices of pumpkin pie and a pumpkin ale on tap. The pumpkin ale was not dry hopped and had that glorious clove, nutmeg, cinnamon profile you expect in a pumpkin ale. The pie was very delicious and dominated by cinnamon. After a bite of pie the pumpkin ale tasted just plain ‘beer-y’, but the beer long outlasted the powerful pie and once again returned to its pumpkin-y glory.

We headed off in search of more casks at Bryden’s for the Cask! social but everyone else was still having a great time. It seemed a fun environment for beer lovers and families alike. Would definitely go to this event again next year!

Toronto Beer Week – Black Oak – Thursday

After seeing Volo as rammed as I have ever seen it on Monday of the Toronto Beer Week I did not expect to see another full house at Volo on Thursday. I was wrong. Black Oak was featured for the evening and all beers available that evening were from the hard working brewery from Etobicoke. On tap were some fantastic choices: Pale Ale, Nut Brown, Summer Saison, Oaktoberfest Lager, Nutcracker Porter, Double Chocolate Stout and 10 Bitter Years. Cask offerings were Hop Bomb and Nutcracker Porter. 10 Bitter Years, Nutcracker Porter and the Summer Saison were all available in bottle. The Oaktoberfest and both casks were long drained by the time I arrived but diving into a Saison and 10 Bitter Years was something I had no qualms about.

The Black Oak VIPs, Ken and Adrian, had been making the rounds and happily chatting with the full house of thirsty patrons. Ken told me of the VERY successful evening of cask beer at Kilgours where the beer vanished before one could say “reinheitsgebot”, and an enjoyable evening of Black Oak tastings at the Only Cafe.

While I was sitting at the bar drinking my saison and  catching up on my Toronto Beer Week news some university aged kids came in and were bemused by the Black Oak only menu. It became apparent that they came specifically for the event and didn’t know where to start – but were also keen and unintimidated. I overheard one say to another “have you heard of this beer called ‘Creemore’? It’s great – it’s way better than the stuff we usually drink! But I don’t see any of that here.” From there they each selected a different beer and I lost track of where they went. It was a great conversation to overhear! How it reminded me of a younger version of myself where the wonderful world of beer is just beginning to appear on the horizon. Creemore was definitely a great choice over Rickard’s, Keith’s or anything else they might serve at a sports bar back then. They were so excited at the prospect of trying new beers, and they had obviously chosen a good spot to make that leap. People trying great craft beer for the first, second… or Nth time. That’s what Toronto Beer Week was all about, and that was the most powerful moment of the week for me.

Toronto Beer Week – And They’re Off!! – Monday

Excitement was in the air as I approached Volo, the humble craft beer mecca, on the first day of Toronto Beer Week. At only 6pm the patio was rammed and the inside near capacity. Three hours later even more bodies somehow fit themselves into the small establishment and a note on the door indicated the bar was at capacity and no more were permitted in. To officially launch beer week the draft line up was to be 10 of Ontario’s best beers as well as two casks: the finalists in the 2010 Cask Challenge.  As it turned out there were 12 Ontario taps and you would be tough pressed to find argument in the excellence of the choices:

Denison Weissbier, Denison Dunkel, Black Oak 10 Bitter Years DIPA, Scotch Irish John By Imperial Stout, Wellington Imperial Stout, Flying Monkey Smash Bomb IPA,Black Oak Nutcracker Porter, Mill St Tankhouse Ale, Durham Hop Addict IPA, Creemore Kellerbier and Mill Street Coffee Porter.

Most of these choices did not last the night as the exuberant the thirsty patrons guzzled them down. At with beer week in the air and at $4/pint it’s no wonder! The casks were also reduced to empty barrels. Flying Monkey’s Smashbomb IPA and Great Lakes My Bitter Wife had at it and voters eagerly cast their ballots for the 2010 IPA Cask Challenge finalists. In the company of these two casks was a third cask (though not in the finals) the top choice Durham Hop Head on cask.

I spoke to a few others who had attended beer week events in other parts of the city including Mill Street, Granite, Starfish (for Malt and Molluscs Monday) and the early consensus was a “great success.” Hopefully everywhere else this week will be a booming as last night was. And that was just the beginning. Happy beer week everyone!

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!

Can you recommend…?

Recently I was best man at my good friend’s wedding (congrats Joel and Janet!). In advance I was honoured by being asked to select two additional beers for the bar. I chose Black Oak Pale Ale and Flying Monkey’s Hoptical Illusion. It was fantastic to see how many people were drinking these on the day – choosing them over the standard fare of Corona, Heineken, Coors Light, etc. Later in the evening I was asked for beer recommendations by someone who is starting to pull away from only macros. After some hemming and hawing I finally created a list for him. It included a number of Ontario and Quebec micros as well as some international choices. All choices are reasonably user-friendly and are easily accessible at the LCBO. They are also choices I would happily drink. Here they are with some brief comments, sorted roughly by style.

• Denison’s Weissbier – A superb local choice and a top rated German hefeweizen. Lots of great banana, clove and citrus flavours and aromas. A classic. (lcbo)
• Schneiderweiss – This archetypal German hefeweizen is brewed in Germany. (lcbo)
• Unibroue’s Blanche de Chambly – A Belgian style wheat beer made in Quebec. A bit of a different style than the weissbier. (lcbo)
• Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA – An amazing IPA from a very highly esteemed American brewery. (lcbo) *(checking the lcbo site it notes it is now discontinued?)
• Dieu Du Ciel Corne du Diable IPA – Also amazing is an interpretation of the style from Montreal. Recently brought back to the LCBO. (lcbo)
• Duggan #9 IPA – Made in Toronto it’s an incredibly well-balanced beer. One of the best Ontario IPAs. (lcbo)
• Kostritzer Schwartzbier – This one will show that looks can be deceiving! I’ll leave it there… (lcbo)
• Creemore Kellerbier – Another Ontario choice – this keller (cellar) beer has a great hop profile and is unfiltered. Showcases another lager style. (lcbo)
• Czechvar – A classic version of the Czech style Pilsner. Crisp, flavourful and refreshing. (lcbo)
• Young’s Double Chocolate Stout – Black with a tan head. Huge chocolate taste and creamy mouthfeel. (lcbo)
• St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout – Black as midnight and full of chocolate and espresso flavours. One of the best. (lcbo)
• Duchy Originals Organic Ale – A very soft mouthfeel on this Extra Special Bitter (ESB). Mild and refreshing. (lcbo)
• Black Oak Pale Ale – Not quite an IPA, but more of an American Pale Ale. More often than not this will be in my fridge. (lcbo)
• Muskoka Cream Ale – A good transitional beer. Goes down very smooth and appeals to almost everyone’s palette. (lcbo)
• McAuslan Apricot Wheat – A fruity wheat beer; this is a good example of a fruit beer. From Quebec. (lcbo)
• Cameron’s Auburn Ale – An amber ale from Oakville. A malt prominent flavour and moderate hop profile. (lcbo)

Covering a number of styles, hopefully this will be a decent list for him to get started on! I did feel happy knowing that there is one more to-be convert to the awesome world of beer, and hopefully I have sown some seeds to get him on the Ontario craft beer train.

A Year of Beer turns 1

Last August Mike Warner embarked on a journey. To drink and blog about a beer every day for a year. The year is now complete and I thought I would post a quick congratulatory note. Congrats Mike! His site is one that celebrates the appreciation and love for beer and it’s always great to hear someone else’s opinions about beers one has tried or would like to try. I know there are a number of beers which were profiled are now on my hit list. Also, his dedication to posting at regular intervals is one to be admired.

Here are a few links:
A Year of Beer Homepage
Last beer posting of the year
Year in review wrap-up

Here’s to the future and the continuation and evolution of A Year of Beer – 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!

Cheshire Valley, Huzzah!!

Kicking off the long weekend at Volo I opted for the Cheshire Valley ESB. Earlier this week Paul Dicky has announced that Cheshire Valley is now operating full time. Being Brewed at the facilities of Black Oak the ESB is now available at select pubs across the city including Volo, Bryden’s, c’est what, Beerbistro and others.

On tap for the future is the release of a new brew every couple of months including a mild, a porter, a dry stout and an IPA. Hopefully this is the same English style IPA that made its appearance at the 2010 cask IPA challenge here at Volo earlier this year.

Here’s to the success of Cheshire Valley!! Cheers!!

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!