Ein Prosit! CGCIC German Bierfest

This past Thursday I attended, for the second time, the German Bierfest held by the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. It is primarily a business networking event, not a beer event, but there is always beer there so that’s how I wound up there. Oh, and my dad is/was a member of the CGCIC. That too.

This event was held in the north building of the St. Lawrence Market. I’ve only ever seen this building filled with farmers selling their locally grown produce or when it’s in flea market mode with vendors selling, or attempting to sell, all manner of knick knacks for over-inflated prices. Needless to say it’s a large space and more than capable of holding a few displayed Mercedes Benz cars and a large number of German and non-German businessmen and beer drinkers alike. Over the night there were probably a few hundred that came and went but the hall still seemed empty compared to last year’s intimate event in the Fermenting Cellar in the distillery district. A DJ was on the stage playing non German music (with the exception of ’99 Luftballons’, ‘Roll out the barrels’ and a round of ‘Ein Prosit’), but to be fair this wasn’t a lederhosen and dirndl wearing event – most were wearing dark suits.

The beer was what I had come for. Weihenstephaner hefeweiss, Weihenstephaner dunkelweiss, Paulaner Munchen Hell, Erdinger weissbier dunkel and Hacker Pschorr Edelhell were the offerings on tap. They also had Warsteiner Dunkel but I do not recall if it was tap or can. What was to be the highlight of the night turned out not to be. Initially promised was Köstritzer Schwarzbier on draught, however it was only available in cans. I can’t whinge about it much because canned Köstritzer was my first choice. Followed by the Paulaner and finally the Weihenstephaner dunkelweiss.

More beer choices were available from last year, where they only had one beer on offer. Last year’s event was called the Düsseldorf Altbierfest for the simple reason that they served altbier!Frankenheim Alt was the beer and it was excellent – this was my first altbier experience and I could not get enough of it!(Greg wrote a great post about it last year.) In addition there were souvenir  glasses to take home (I manged to get my hands on about half a dozen).

Food was provided by Prague Catering (also not German!) but they provided some very tasty sausages which all appeared to be enjoying. The food distribution system had been revamped from last year – where one would wait upwards of 45 minutes for their food – this year the wait was no more than a minute, so props to the event organizers for solving that logistical nightmare. There was also a station pumping out h’ors d’oeuvres at a great rate. They were combinations of a base (pumpernickel bread or tiny slider buns) with a middle (sauerkraut or chutney or sour cream) and a meat topping (kielbasa or jerk pork), and were entirely delicious in every combination.

When you’ve done something before it’s completely natural to compare your next experience to past experiences and this was no exception. I’d say last year’s was probably more successful. It was held on a Friday which may have encouraged more people to come, as well it was a bit more of a swankier do. This year did not have formal business representation in for the form of booths (companies promoting whatever German commerce related services they provide).

In terms of beer geek attractiveness this event probably sits at a 1/5. Almost all of the beers are ones you can buy at the LCBO, so there was nothing THAT special about them. However, they are all quality beers and were very much enjoyed. It is not an event I see beer enthusiasts flocking to unless they start to bring in some rare German beers.

In terms of value for money, unless you’re a business person writing off this expense or you are attending for networking purposes it’s not THAT good a deal. I paid $38 for my ticket which included 3 beers (full sized I must add) and a food ticket (for the sausage) and the h’ors d’oeuvre were complimentary. I was attending with good company but great deal? maybe 1.5/5.

All in all it was a very pleasant evening. Would I attending next year? As noted above, unless they bring in some very special German beer I will probably give it a miss.

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 – 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.

Dieu Du Ciel! In Ontario!

I never did make it up to the Granite on Saturday afternoon but I eventually did manage to get my hands on a Toronto Beer Week tshirt. My arm was “twisted” and I agreed head into Allen’s for a pint after submitting an order for a Black IPA and a Double Chocolate Stout at Fermentations on the Danforth. After this I headed to Bar Volo (I seem to be going there a lot lately…) for the Dieu Du Ciel tasting feature. Beyond knowing they had DDC on tap, and enough choices to push the list to double digits, I didn’t know what I was in store for.

This event was towards the end of the DDC feature week presented by HMH Negotiants. Starting earlier in the week a beer dinner was held at Chancey Smith’s, a beer lunch was held at Caplanskys and a pub crawl staggered it’s way across the city enduring more than 12 hours.  Tonight was the feature event at Volo and the next day was a DDC brunch at beerbistro hosted by Stephen Beaumont. All of this, and Toronto Beer Week had not even officially kicked off!

Getting back to the DDC feature, I was privileged to sample three fine DDC beers. I could not go without tasting the mighty Aphrodite. (Normally I refer to it by its not LCBO-bastardized name but the rhyme there was so appealing.) This top rated stout boasts big hits of cocoa and vanilla with the perfect bitterness. Always smooth and velvety this is a top choice that I cannot ever resist. The two choices new to me were Chaman, an Imperial Pale Ale, and Grande Noirceur, an Imperial Stout. I found the Grande Noiceur very similar (in taste and  excellence) to the Peche Mortel, with the notable difference being the absence of an overt coffee profile. Very easy to drink and could see the dangers in making this an inadvertent and unlikely session beer. The Chaman, copper colour and quite cloudy, was dominated by hops but had a large enough malt profile bring about a decent balance. I don’t think I could session this one even if I tried! Lastly I tried the much hyped Caustic Commencement Saison – the much hyped and highly anticipated collaboration effort from Biergotter and Volo. Saisons are fairly new to me but what I have learned so far is that there is much diversity under the saison label. On initally inhaling the nose I thought I smelled a fruity bathroom cleaner. Perplexed at what I was smelling I had my confusion eased when Chris told me “mangoes”. Once I had identified the mango aspect things fell into place. The mango flavour was competing with a strong hop aroma as well as notes of other tropical fruits. It was a treat to drink and was not out of place with DDC, as the caliber was top notch. Definitely setting the bar high for all future products coming from Volo’s brewery.

It’s fantastic to see that one of Canada’s best breweries is now available in my backyard, both in pubs and the LCBO. Hopefully they are blazing the trail for many others to follow! Cheers to Volo, HMH Negotiants and DDC for creating such great opportunities for beer drinkers in Ontario

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 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!!!