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 – In The News

Toronto Beer Week has been getting some mainstream exposure! Check out the links below.

Josh Rubin @ The Toronto Star (scroll to bottom for TBW notes)

Pints of Fancy @ The Toronto Sun

Suck Back Those Suds During Toronto Beer Week with Now Magazine

Toronto Beer Week @ BlogTO

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 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!

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…

OCB Week Day 7 – Wedding Bells

Due to wedding festivities that kept me occupied all day I don’t have too much to discuss here. My best effort for supporting Ontario craft beer was exclusively drinking Cameron’s Auburn at the bar throughout the evening. Cheers to the groom for ensuring there was some beer with flavour available.

Initially Volo was to do the second round of their 2nd Annual IPA Challenge on this day, however it got moved to July 9 & 10.

Also on this day was Session: A Craft Beer Festival. I don’t miss being out in the rain, but I did miss the event and what it represents. Check out a couple of notes on Session at Great Canadian Beer Blog and St John’s Wort .

Congrats on the wedding to Ling and Korman. And cheers to Ontario craft brewers and everyone who supports them!

For the last time here’s my recap of OCB week:

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
Day 5 – Thursday – Project XXXX
Day 6 – Friday – Volo & Flying Monkey

OCB Week Day 6 – Volo & Flying Monkeys

When Volo announced they will be having special taps and casks it’s usually about 50-50 chance that it’s a special event. Though it was OCB week this event was not officially on the agenda but that did not stop the faithful from pouring into Volo. Arriving at 4pm on the dot we grabbed a shady-ish spot on the patio and previewed the cask menu of the day.
Six (or more?) casks on offer plus a number of familiar taps from the BelgOntario days earlier in the week. The casks included Black Oak Marmalade Saison, Granite Hopping Mad, Duggan #99 Double IPA, Great Lakes “does this moo moo make me look hefe?” Imperial hefeweize, Beau’s Festive Alt as well as Beau’s Beaver River.

The light malt, citrus and grassy notes of Black Oak’s (standard) seasonal Summer Saison make it a perfect choice for quenching a thirst, so I was keen to see how the Marmalade version would fare. Visually it looked very similar but the citrus aroma and flavour were considerably more pronounced. I do not think they used actual marmalade but a considerable amount of orange and grapefruit (from fruit) hit your tongue and added notable amount of tart bitterness to compliment the hop bitterness. Would I have it again? You betcha, though drinking it quick enough to stop it getting warm OR keeping it out of the sun would be a wise decision.

Next up was to be The Only Cafe for a Night of Flying Monkeys however we decided to lengthen our trip from downtown to the Danforth and make two pit stops.

OCB Week Day 4 – Stagger Stagger, Crawl Crawl

(I’m a week behind on my OCB week postings – because I had so much fun, that’s why. I’ll try to catch up this weekend, promise. Promise to try that is.)

Day 4 of OCB week was the one I was most looking forward to. When I first heard about Cass’ & Troy’s First Annual OCB Pub Crawl I was sold instantly: drinking Ontario craft beer at local five pubs with like-minded beer drinkers. Perfect. Though the weatherman had made some nasty forecasts for our evening he was proved wrong about the rain but we were given a healthy dose of hot and sticky. Arriving at the first stop a few minutes past the 6:30 start time, Victory Cafe, I found my fellow pub crawlers already packed into the small side room. Wristbands and raffle tickets were handed out at the door, allowing us discounted pints at Victory’s bar and the opportunity to win beer-themed prizes. I grabbed a pint of Neustadt’s Double Fuggled on cask at the bar I found a seat in Victory’s snug amongst my beer brethren. After some introductions and a few sips of my pint I took a moment to scan my surroundings. If I could only name 2 things about what I observed they would be 1) it was very hot and 2) there were a lot of dudes. This was not a surprise  – just an observation (often made). There were all sorts of folk who turned up: brewers, bloggers, bar owners and staff, bar towelers, beer geeks and other industry folk all turned up in the name of good beer championed by Cass and Troy (representing Ontario, of course!)