Toronto Beer Week – Cask! Social @ Bryden’s – Saturday

Stop number two on my TBW cask crawl found me at Bryden’s for the Cask! social. (This event was also in a double whammy with respect to knocking items off of my goals list.) I was warned in advance by west-enders that Bryden’s isn’t too big and if an event was going on I had better get there early to ensure entry. Arriving around 4pm (one hour after start time) those words were almost confirmed – the packed house had room for a few more people but not much more. The patio area also offered space for the caskees but it was a bit chilly to enjoy a good sit outside.

We received name tags (to encourage the social aspect of the ‘social’) and headed to the bar. We found out that the first casualty of the afternoon was Beau’s Matt’s Gose. This must have been quite the beer based on the speed at which it disappeared! I was looking forward to trying it mostly because I don’t believe I have ever had a gose (not to be confused with gueuze). The trek to the bar was slowed by brief chats with friendly and familiar faces. By the time we reached the bar the Great Lakes Miami Dunkelweiss cask was being tipped for its last drops. I did hear that it was “quite hoppy”. Two down, two to go. My hit list now had one primary target: the Muskoka Dark Chocolate Ale. This cocoa-y dark ale lent itself perfectly to being a cask beer. The light carbonation and fresh factor worked wonderfully with the malty body. I don’t think I would drink too many of these in one sitting but was delicious nonetheless. The final cask was the ever fantastic Granite Best Bitter Special. What can I say about this beer that has not been said before? Simply marvelous.

As promised there were nibbles provided. There were 4 offered and were nothing too fancy but each one was paired with one of the beers. Fortunately they kept bringing the food samples out after the casks ran out. Granite BBS was paired with cajun shrimp, Muskoka Chocolate Ale with ‘spicy’ chocolate dipped strawberries, the Dunkelweiss with sharp cheddar and finally the Gose paired was paired with a Thai fresh roll.

The beer menu on the wall had a fair number of craft choices as well as a ‘beers of the moment’ board which were entirely craft beers including the likes of Black Oak 10 Bitter Years and Flying Monkey’s Smashbomb. The atmosphere was fun and folks jovial. I am definitely inclined to go back to Bryden’s AND attend future Cask! social’s. Thanks to all involved – it was a great time!

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.

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…

OCB Week Day 5 – Project XXXX

Day 5 of OCB week and still going strong. The G20 anarchy had not yet hit the city so I quickly zipped from downtown Toronto to Mimico station via Go train to get me to Great Lakes Brewing Co asap. I flew solo to the pub crawl on day 4 and was again flying solo to day 5 (I have friends, I swear). This was my second Project X. Attending for the first time in May I was very impressed. Since Project X started about a year ago I kept telling myself to go but it didn’t happen until last month due to the insistence of a friend. Now that I’ve gone I regret not going earlier and plan to attend as many as possible in future.

This was a special Project X – Project XXXX, due to the special occasion (OCB week). Project XX happened in March 2010, and I’m not sure if Project XXX was skipped because it may attract the wrong crowd, the Ontario liquor board would frown on the implication, or simply because they have something supersexyspecial planned in future?

This incarnation showcased four different breweries who all brought casks along. (It’s a good life, isn’t it?) Great Lakes had Lakey’s Caskey and My Bitter Wife IPA on cask, as well as Miami Weiss in bottle (Green Tea Ale, Canuck Pale Ale and Devil’s Pale available in their retail store for purchase and consumption). Muskoka brought a dry-hopped, unfiltered cream ale cask. A cask of strawberry blonde lager was provided by F&M, and Flying Monkeys brought their Smash-bomb IPA on cask and in bottles. I can say that I was able to sample all of the above noted on the evening except the bottled smash-bomb (which was remedied on day 6), but my taste buds had been piqued by Lakey’s Caskey the night before so I largely stuck to the hoppy casks.

For $10 this event was great value for money. In exchange for your hard earned dollars you received drink tickets, a food ticket and outdoor BBQ fun. The weather was fair and everyone was enjoying being outdoors. It was like a big family BBQ, where your family all enjoy great beer and there’s no family drama. The brewery had even set up their own G20 fake lake, which I took my turn sitting at while imagining all of the good that could have been done with the real fake lake’s expenditure.

Before ending this post I need to take a moment to comment about the staff at Great Lakes. They are some of the friendliest people you will meet. They do such good work and take pride in it. They appreciate their clientèle and in turn that gets returned to them. It’s always a pleasure to visit Great Lakes and will certainly be attending the next Project X in early-mid July!

On tap for the rest of OCB week:

Day 6 – Friday – Volo & Night of the Flying Monkeys @ The Only Cafe
Day 7 – Saturday – TBD (wedding to attend)

OCB week, redux:

Day 1 – Sunday – Rebel House and “Granite”
Day 2 – Monday – BelgOntario @ Volo
Day 3 – Tuesday – The Day That Wasn’t
Day 4 – Wednesday – Cass’ & Troy’s First Annual OCB Pub Crawl

OCB Week Day 3 – The Day That Wasn’t

I didn’t manage to get to Duggan’s as planned for my day 3 of OCB week so not too much to post. I made it a day for personal responsibilities and volleyball. Not completely disregarding the importance of the week I managed to enjoy my first can of Muskoka’s Pilsner Light. To be honest I did not give it the proper attention it deserved. It was the end of the evening and after some running around on the sand I was really after something cold tasting and easy drinking tasting. My favourite flavours! Just kidding. I have a few more cans kicking around so I’ll give it a side-by-side with another Ontario pils for a frame of reference. (But not this week.) From what I could tell it was fairly decent and was very refreshing. A welcome addition to the Muskoka product shelf.

On tap for the rest of OCB week:

Day 4 – Wednesday – Cass’ & Troy’s First Annual OCB Pub Crawl
Day 5 – Thursday – Project XXXX at Great Lakes.
Day 6 – Friday – Volo & Night of the Flying Monkeys @ The Only Cafe
Day 7 – Saturday – TBD (wedding to attend)

OCB week, redux:

Day 1 – Sunday – Rebel House and “Granite”
Day 2 – Monday – BelgOntario @ Volo