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…