TAPS The Beer Magazine - Spring 2011 Issue Contents

TAPS Spring 2011 Issue

TAPS The Beer Magazine - Spring 2011 Issue
Up front disclosure: It is no secret that I am now employed by TAPS Media, the parent company of TAPS The Beer Magazine. From time to time I've posted material on this blog (before and after being hired) with respect to work that has appeared in TAPS. My intention when posting said material, and the material below, is only meant as news, nothing more.

p.9 Bar Snacks
Coast-to-Coast Industry News

p.13 Quebec Dispatch by Mirella Amato
Brewing news from the belle province.

p.14 Every Day Is Cask Day by Joe Wiebe
There's no waiting for cask in Vancouver, you can enjoy a tasty fresh one any day of the week.

p.16 Brewing A Brewery by Matt J. Simmons
Chapter Two in the ongoing series about starting a microbrewery. “We have a name. It might not seem like a landmark, but it’s taken a long time to come up with something satisfactory. The candidates ranged from obvious to hilarious and everything in between. There were plenty of great names and a few not-so-great ones; all were discussed openly and at length. We struggled valiantly through brainstorming sessions and late-night logo design, emailing ‘top-five’ lists back and forth for weeks. It took long discussions on brand-ing, logos, and labels to come to a consensus. Oh, and beer, it took lots of beer..."

p.18 Verboten! by James Burla
Alberta Bans High Alcohol Beer in reaction to teen binge-drinking.

p.19 French Connection by Mirella Amato
The Griffintown area of Montréal, just southeast of downtown, which was quite a lively residential area from the early nineteenth century through the middle of the twentieth century, is currently home to mostly factories and offices. Visitors passing through the area might be surprised to come across a large outdoor patio. Should their curiosity push them to enter the adjacent building, they may be further surprised to find themselves in a stylish, welcoming restaurant. This is the home of Brasseurs de Montréal brewpub.


p.21 Size Matters
You enter your local haunt, relishing the anticipation of what will surely be a perfectly poured pint of your favourite brew. Ahhh, there it is – inches away. Your local barkeep, all smiles, hands you your pint. You look at the glass, then at the barkeep, then back at your glass, but say nothing. You think, “here’s the rub, is it really a pint?” Are you getting what you believe you are paying for - a ‘real’ pint? Or, is your glass coming up a little short?

p.23 Roll Out The Barrel-Aged & One Hit Wonders by Craig Pinhey
Atlantic Canada brewing news...

p.25 Symbiotic Samba by Rob Symes
We live in a world of increasing user participation – it all started when a bunch of Greek guys got together to discuss a little thing called democracy. It seems to have culminated in the internet and the rise of the user-created Wikipedia, which is not only one of the web’s top ten sites in terms of visits, but also an unreliable source in countless essays, papers and dissertations. Until recently, the brewing industry has withstood this wave of change like the Rock of Gibraltar, and user participation has largely been limited to consumers buying and drinking a brewery’s offerings. Place your ear to the ground, though, and you’ll notice that change is afoot. The trend of amateur brewer-professional brewer collaboration is sweeping North America.

p.28 Brewing Rogue Rules The Roost by Craig Pinhey
Rogue’s Roost's brewer Lorne Romano is one of those ‘Serious Home-brewers turned Pro’ that are the engines behind many of the craft breweries in North America. Originally from Southern Ontario, Romano made a name for himself winning homebrewing awards. At the time he had one of the more sophisticated homebrewing systems – it looked to us ‘bucket users’ like a mini-commercial brewery. This was back in the early 90s.

p.30 A Little Piece of Britain by James Burla
Centuries old hop-growing centre in Kent lends its name to prairie trailblazer...

p.31 Introduction to China... Wow! by Bill White
The planet’s largest beer producer (by far), China. Beer and the brewing industry is mirroring the exponential growth in the rest of China and becoming more and more a part of the society.

p.34 Full Sail by Karla Dudley
A while ago I was purchasing some craft beer in a grocery store somewhere in the southern US (I know what you Canadians are thinking, “Beer in a grocery store? What a concept!”) and as I tend to do, I was making my choices based on what the box or bottle read. Craft brewers have a crafty way of getting your attention with colourful graphics, playful names, innuendo and creative wordsmithing. I can spend a lot of time in the beer aisle amusing myself with bottle-copy. As I meandered through the Smuttynoses, Moose Drools, Arrogant Bastards and Blithering Idiots, a rather understated bottle, by comparison, got my attention. I was on the hunt for some new IPAs to try and I liked the slogan: Full Sail – Brewed to Stoke, Stoked to Brew. I bought it. When I got it home I also noticed ‘Employee Owned’. I had not seen that on a bottle of beer before...

p.37 Ladies In The house by Chuck Cook
During the Middle Ages in Europe, brewing was a common profession for women, who were often known as ‘brewsters’ or ‘alewives’. During the last hundred years, not so much. However, recent years have borne witness to a re-emergence of women within the brewing industry. Here is a look at Belgium’s Brewing Ladies.

p.40 Simmering by Michael Olson
Chef Michael Olson soups it up!




p.42 Perfect Pair
Chefs Collin Stone & Aaron Lawrence create tantalizing beer and food matches.

p.46 Celebrating The Norm by Rob Engman
People of different ages and nationalities have their own cultural icons that become part of the fabric of their identities. A lot of these defining pieces of the quilt come from music and the media. For many of us who frequent a local pub, where it feels like a home away from home… a place where ‘everybody knows your name’, it's difficult not to make comparisons to the legendary TVland pub that was the home of the '80s sitcom Cheers. And one of the most memorable characters was Norm Peterson, the stoic and single-minded fixture played by George Wendt.

p.48 Quaffs, Questions & Answers by Mirella Amato
Based in Portland, Oregon, Lisa Morrison, also known as the Beer Goddess, hosts ‘Beer O’Clock!’ a weekly, hour-long commercial radio show devoted to craft beer. She is a regular columnist for numerous beer publications and blogs, and was the first female recipient of the national Beer Journalism Awards. Her first book, Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest, will be released in April.

p.52 Walk On The Mild Side by Martin Sayers
Mild had been all but forgotten in Britain, despite the fact that for more than a century it was the most popular style of beer in the country. However, this dark, flavourful beer is rapidly winning back its lost fans in the UK and it may not be long before Canadian drinkers are able to sample its undeniable qualities.

p.55 Do The Craft Beer Can Can by Craig Pinhey
There is a beer can revolution going on. - Click on the link to read the entire article.

p.57 Dreadlock Challenge by Cary Hyodo
The quintessential tropical paradise awaits you on the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica. Whether you head into the lush, verdant mountains crisscrossed with waterways and bursting with picturesque waterfalls, or choose to frolic on one of the endless white sand beaches that surround the island, you'll never run out of oohs and aahs. Toss in a rich history, diverse culture, that ever present reggae rhythm and the tendency to dive into party mode at the drop of a hat – let’s face it, it’s virtually impossible to not have a good time here...

p.60 Adventures Of A Craft Beer Foodie by Tracey Phillippi
Living in Toronto, it’s pretty easy to drink locally. You can mosey on down to any number of reputable establishments and find a wide variety of Ontario taps. However, as a connoisseur of truly local food, I can literally trace my meals back to the farmer, whose hard work and devotion to his or her product is evident in each delicious bite. BUT… where does a Craft Beer Foodie go to find a truly local beer? I’m talking about a beer made with local hops and barley!

p.62 Granite Celebrates its 20th Anniversary by Troy Burtch
Stephen Beaumont has called Toronto's Granite Brewery a leader in the province’s brewpub scene and the late Michael Jackson sang praise for Granite’s Peculiar in a number of his world-famous beer books. The 2010 Golden Tap Awards honoured the Granite with the distinction of being the best brewery for cask-conditioned ale, the best brewpub or tied-house in Ontario, and the best cask ale in Ontario.

p.64 Down The Hatch by Troy Burtch
Interview with Michael Hancock. Ratebeer dot-commers have called his Weissbier one of the best in the world, and his Dunkel has received high praise from all those who have tried it. Michael Hancock, a veteran of 35 years in the industry, founded Denison’s Brewing Co. in Toronto in 1989.
**Click here for exclusive video**

p.66 Lagunitas, I Like The Way They Roll by Mike Tessier
Guitars, bongs, board sports and beer. The bad boys of the brewing world at Lagunitas Brewing Company love them all, but make no secret of their passion for all the bud-bearing plants...

p.68 It's All About Hooking Up
While most micro and craft brewers strive to be ecologically conscious, the brewing process is less than ‘green’ by its very nature. Besides the huge amount of water used, electricity consumption and fuel burned for transport, there is one more inherent problem: spent - but far from useless - malt is going into the garbage and landfill by the ton. The solution? Get the tasty, nutritious stuff to farmers.

p.69 Confessions Of A Brewer by Sam Corbeil
An education - get too many Cs and they tell you that you have to do better. Get too many As, and they start to think anything less is underachieving. I caught on pretty quickly and learned to play the game.

p.71 Ale'ing Alaska by Matthew J. Simmons
In the late 90s, two Alaskans rolled up their sleeves to make some beer fresh from the glaciers at the top of the continent. Paul Wheeler and Jeanne Kitayama own and operate Haines Brewing Company, a little brewery in a very large landscape. They set up shop in 1999 on the abandoned Disney set of "White Fang".

p.73 The Canadian Cream Ale Puzzle by Mirella Amato
George Sleeman set the Canadian standard, but East & West make a case for regional distinction.

p.76 Ask The Brewmaster by Bill White
How can a distributor & their employees learn to manage the proliferation of beer styles and ensure the beer is delivered in top quality? The MBAA Beer Steward Certificate Program.





p.78 Carboys In My Laundry Room by Christine Beevis
There’s one thing that unites all homebrewers; a love for craft beer. But spend some time brewing with them and you’ll quickly realize no two homebrewers are alike

p.79 By The Numbers by Luke McKinney
Beer can be beautiful, flavourful, soothing, inspirational, and thousands of other words which are no bloody use to someone shipping thousands of gallons. Breweries need to quantify their contents on spreadsheets as well as tongues, so while reviewers have developed more of a sophisticated code– language of adjectives than MI-5 ever could, businesses have boiled everything down to cold hard numbers.

p.81 Build Your Own Yeast Library by Christine Beevis
Who needs Shakespeare, Dickens or Elliott when you can pull out a bottle of your favourite 3787, 3874 or 1084? Yes, some people have libraries that show off their favourite books and some homebrewers build yeast libraries (also known as yeast banks) in their fridges or freezers, much like some families have kept yeast strains for baking bread and passed them along from generation to generation.

p.82 Tasting Notes
Pump House - SOB, Flying Monkeys - Netherworld, Gahan House - Island Red Premium, Bushwakker - Palliser Porter, Bierbrier - Pilsner, Lighthouse - Deckhand Belgian Saison - tasting notes provided by Stephen Beaumont, Roger Mittag, Chester Carey, Greg Clow, Craig Pinhey and Troy Burtch

p.84 Homebrew Recipe #10 by Eric Ecclestone
A relatively recent invention, the double IPA was born from the classic India Pale Ale style and some American craft brewing innovation. Also known as Imperial IPA, this is a big bruising style perfectly suited to the last of winter’s chill.

p.85 Wood, Wind & Ale by Matthew Bellamy
The period from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to Confederation was a heady time for Atlantic Canada and its brewers. The American Revolution (1775-1783) and the subsequent exclusion of the thirteen colonies from the British mercantile system led to unprecedented trade and prosperity.

p.88 My Shout by Stephen Beaumont
There is a monthly ritual among beer bloggers known as ‘The Session.’ Initiated by Stan Hieronymus at his Appellation Beer blog and chronicled most exhaustively by Jay Brooks at his Brookston Beer Bulletin, it is a single day on which a multitude of the beer-obsessed blog on a single topic specified by a member of the fraternity. In February, the chosen topic was ‘Bottle, Can, Keg or Cask?’ and its intent, as proposed by blogger Reluctant Scooper, was to make people consider the merits of beer dispensing in all its forms and, ultimately, address the question of whether it even matters.

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