Session #21 - Favourite Beer

Session #21 - Favourite Beer, is being hosted by Matt at A World of Brews and I managed to get in a post during a busy day at the office.

This is probably one of the toughest questions I get asked when meeting people for the first time. "You write about beer?" "What is your favourite one?" they ask. I do the head scratch, think hard enough that smoke starts pouring out of my ears and give them the usual response: It all depends on the situation I'm in. I think many craft beer enthusiasts' would say the same thing.

I have a number of beers that I would reach for any day of the week, but a favourite? A go to beer? I guess if I thought of it this way: If I was stuck on a deserted island, but managed to have a crate, full of beer, what would I hope for?

Well...the Keefe brother's (Ron and Kevin) who own the Toronto and Halifax Granite breweries respectively, brew a great cask conditioned Best Bitter Special that I absolutely love. Whenever I enter a pub that has a fresh cask of the BBS on, I don't even have to look at the rest of the selection.

Why do I like it so much? Well for starters it has sentimental feelings attached to it as, and I could be wrong, but I think it was the first ever cask conditioned beer I had ever sucked back, and I did so in the comfort of The Henry House pub in Nova Scotia. As mentioned, the beer is excellent as the dry hopping adds a beautiful aroma of cascade hop goodness and the low carbonation and well balanced malt backing make for a full flavoured BBS. Their Peculiar is pretty damn special too.

I often tell people about the best pint I ever remember having. It was at the Victory Cafe one hot summer day and it was the BBS. I arrived straight from work and craved a solid beer. I slid up to the bar and asked the bartender what he was pulling, he told me to wait 10 minutes as he just tapped a cask of the BBS. As I sat there drinking it, I thought "perfection."

But I don't have a cask sitting in my kitchen, waiting for me to indulge in, so what now? Well, I could drink Southern Tier IPA any day of the week, same with the Propeller IPA. Greg Nash (formerly of Garrison and now brewer at Pump House) made a Black Lager at Garrison that I could drink forever and the same can be said for a Delirium Tremens (can you imagine the headache that would cause). If I walk into an LCBO (I don't shop at the Beer Store) and I'm looking to pick up something local, with flavour, a usually grab some Cameron's Auburn Ale, Mill Street Tankhouse, Black Oak Pale Ale or some cans of Great Lakes Devil's Pale Ale.

Another question could come out of this - What is your favourite beer in each style? But that's for another time and place (well, this place, just not today).

So, to answer Matt's question, I guess if I was on my death bed, looking up at the Heaven's (which of course is were I'd be headed!) I'd prefer a pint of Granite's Best Bitter Special. There, I did it. I named what I think would be my favourite beer.

Read what others are writing here.

After reading what I just wrote, it appears that the question really wasn't that tough for me to answer. It just took a bit of searching. You also might have noticed the Granite's logo beside this post - please note that I had no idea about this Session's topic until this morning.