Meet the Beer Bloggers - Mike Warner

Part five of Meet the Ontario Beer Bloggers

Mike Warner
A Year Of Beer
Beer Blogging: 11 months

Meet Mike Warner, the creator/author of the A Year of Beer Blog.  Warner, after realizing one day that beer had taken over his life, decided it was time to start blogging about the subject, tasting and reviewing beers over one calendar year.  However, Warner now admits that he's hooked and he sees no end to his beer blogging days after day 365, which is approaching in September.

Head over to his site and read his tasting notes on whatever beers he gets his hands on, event wrap-up reviews, and some of his personal experiences at pubs and beer bars.

Describe the moment when you first saw the craft beer light?

It was probably my second or third year of university. At the time I was buying whatever beer looked interesting or different, just to try different beers. I wouldn't have said I particularly liked beer, it was just what you drank. For some reason I can no longer fathom, Stella Artois seemed great (probably their advertising dollars hard at work) but I remember thinking it was outrageously priced. One day I picked up a six pack of Mill Street Coffee Porter, back when it was in stubbies. The first sip was pretty close to an epiphany - beer can have different tastes! It was still a couple of years before I became a full-on craft beer junkie, but that planted the seed. And now it's no surprise that I love a well made imperial stout.

What made you decide to blog about beer?

At a certain point I realized that beer had taken over my life. I checked beer forums whenever I was on break at work. Part of travel planning started to involve the thought, "It's not worth going if I can't get good beer." Any social outings needed to take place at a bar with good beer. I needed an outlet where I could take about beer as much as I wanted. I had done writing for other websites before, so starting my own blog made the most sense. One gimmick later (seeing how much beer I drank over a twelve month period) and I was off.

How long have you been blogging about beer and how long do you think you'll continue?

It has been about eleven months now, meaning I have one month left in my year. The blog will be continuing after that point, but with some changes that I still haven't figured out. (Note to self: figure that out.) It will continue indefinitely, which is all I can say at this point.

What has been the biggest change in the Ontario brewing industry since you started blogging?

Obviously it hasn't been that long, but the number of seasonals has really increased since I've been blogging. A lot of breweries are starting to recognize that Ontarians want more than pale ales and lagers, so they've been making more experimental beers. Diversity is slowly creeping into the Ontario beer scene.

The number of people blogging about beer has also increased - it seems like there is a new one every month! This a great example of how the craft beer scene in Ontario is ready to explode.

If you could change one thing about the industry here in Ontario, what would it be?

I imagine a lot of people will complain about the LCBO and/or government regulations, but my wish is for craft brewers of Ontario to start taking more chances. Take your seasonal beers, brew them year round and make them accessible through the LCBO. Having seasonal beers that you can only get at the brewery is frustrating and does not help craft beer grow in Ontario. Brew really hoppy IPAs, sour ales or abbey-style Belgian ales! I love to support our craft brewers, but they make things really frustrating at times. I won't call anyone out, but you know who you are.

What beer book would you recommend to someone looking to learn more about beer?

Ah, an excellent question for the librarian! Obviously anything my Michael Jackson. His writing is really accessible and informative. The Naked Pint by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune is another great book for those starting out, taking you through the lighter styles and working up to the big boys. Notes on a Beermat by Nick Pashley because it is hilarious and says everything I ever want to say about beer. For those looking for heavy duty reading, The Brewmaster's Table by Garrett Oliver or Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. Oh, and I'd also tell them to subscribe to TAPS.

When you're not drinking, writing, or out at the pub, what else preoccupies your time?

Mainly music (local and not-so-local indie bands, old soul and Motown music) and reading (graphic novels and whatever fiction seems interesting). Getting my heart crushed by Toronto sports teams. Answering questionnaires that let me talk about myself.

Best beer festival or event you've attended?

This year was my first time at Mondial and it was amazing. Now that I've gone, it's hard to imagine not going every year. That's not an exciting or interesting answer, but there you go. Hopefully Ontario Craft Beer Week or Toronto Beer Week will grow to that level over time. 

Name your favourite beer blogging experience.

As cheesy as it sounds, the best part about blogging has been meeting so many people who are enthusiastic about craft beer. It has been a fantastic opportunity to hear brewers, writers, industry folk and drinkers talk about their love of beer. There is a definite beer community in Ontario, filled with amazing people.

Best time for a pint?

After a long day of work.

Ladies VIP Brew Tour - Halifax Seaport Beer Festival

Toronto beer educator, Mirella Amato of Beerology.ca, will be in Halifax next weekend to host the Ladies VIP Brew Tour at the fourth annual Halifax Seaport Beer Festival.  For all you Bluenoser's out there with a wife, girlfriend, female friend, etc., that you'd think would be interested in joining the intimate VIP tour, which includes a guided sampling, pass this information along.  

All the details are listed in the flyer below.

Halifax Seaport Beer Festival Releases Beer Line-Up

The fourth annual Halifax Seaport Beer Festival has just released the beer list for their two day event, which is set to take place next Friday and Saturday (13th & 14th).

There are more than 175 beers to be poured from breweries of all sizes including many from craft breweries in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.

Click here to view the list.

Meet the Beer Bloggers - Chris Schryer

Part Four of the Meet the Ontario Beer Bloggers

Chris Schryer
Toronto Beer Blog
Beer Blogging: 7 Months

Meet Chris Schryer, the creator/author of the Toronto Beer Blog.  Schryer is new(er) to the beer blogging scene here in Ontario, just starting his blog back in January, but he is no stranger to the industry and you might recognize him from Castro's Lounge where he works part-time.  Schryer started Castro's beer tastings around the same time he started his blog, educating customers on flavour profiles, different beer styles, and how to have fun with beer.

His blog features numerous beer reviews, Toronto beer event announcements and wrap-ups, and some personal beer stories. Go check it out.

Describe the moment when you first saw the craft beer light?

When I started drinking, I was made fun of, because I never really liked drinking my friend's beer.  They were all drinking Black Velvet (it was Scarborough, in the 90s) and I just couldn't do it.  At parties they would all be getting annihilated, drinking this truly awful beer, and I would show up with a six pack of Moosehead.  They all called me a beer-snob.  Seriously.  So I guess I've always preferred drinking "better" beer.  I would get Upper Canada, and Sleeman, and anything else I had never heard of.  Then I learned that there was a brewery called Amsterdam on King Street, and they had a bar that *only* served their own beers.  I'd never heard of such a thing.  I went as soon as I could, and regularly went back.  I've been an ardent supporter of local craft beer ever since.

What made you decide to blog about beer?

I'm a web developer, and I wanted to start messing around with WordPress (the CMS I use almost exclusively now).  I thought a blog about beer would give me a great opportunity to make all those days and evenings spent drinking at Volo et al, have some deeper purpose then simple personal satisfaction.  I actually was originally planning on focusing on blogging about events I went to, but I've ended up spending much more time doing posts reviewing beers.  Great excuse to buy beers I've never had before, and trade with other beer folks.

How long have you been blogging about beer and how long do you think you'll continue?

I started blogging in January of this year.  No idea how long I'll keep it going, I guess as long as I still enjoy doing it, and people enjoy reading it.  Kind of like the Rolling Stones.

What has been the biggest change in the Ontario brewing industry since you started blogging?

In even the short time since I've started, the American usage of hops (and many of their varieties) have really started to ramp up.  This is a good thing.

If you could change one time about the industry here in Ontario, what would it be?

The LCBO.  But I'm sure everybody will say that, and it will come as no surprise to anybody who would read a blog about beer, so instead I'll say, while I like hoppy beers, and am happy to see those big bad ass American hops moving north, I would really like to see Ontario brewers make their own identity.  We've got the West Coast, known for big old IPAs, Quebec pumping out lots of crazy Belgian style seers (both traditional and modern adaptations), and brewers just south of us producing super old fashioned beers, insanely progressive beers, hybrid beers, and God only knows what else.  And our identity seems to be trying to keep up.  What if we became known for unfiltered lagers?  Or sexy Imperial Stouts?  Or the best German-style Wheat Beers in North America (why not, we've already got Denison's, the best in the World)?  Come on, we're the biggest province in the country, with easily the most cosmopolitan progressive city.  Why are we chasing at other places heels?

What beer book would you recommend to someone looking to learn more about beer?

It really depends what you want to learn, and what you already know.  Let's assume you're really just cutting your teeth, though.  Start our with Michael Jackson text, perhaps his Pocket Guide to Beer, or Michael Jackson's Beer Companion.  Then read "Notes on a Beermat" by Nick Pashely.  You'll learn stuff, but moreover, it's a funny refreshing read.  Then perhaps get "A Taste for Beer" by Stephen Beaumont.  Now another little jaunt into the humourous history as told by Mr Pashley, "Cheers, a History of Beer in Canada".  Make sure you get some laughs, because up next is a ream of papers devoid of chuckle-filled reading, finish with the BJCP Style Guidelines.  Serious.  I think I probably learned more from reading the BJCP guide then any other single source.  It's just a remarkably slow, technical read.

When you're not drinking, writing, or out at the pub, what else preoccupies your time?

By day, I'm generally found in front of my computer, paying the rent as a freelance web developer.  Outside of that, I have a wife and two year old son, so I spend most of the rest of my time with them, playing, walking on the beach or swimming, or walking around the neighbourhood.  I'm also a mediocre guitarist and worse at a variety of other instruments, and I play hockey through the winter.

Best beer festival or event you've attended?

Personal best was doing the King of Quads at Volo.  The tasting event was cool; well planned and executed.  But it was capped with perfection when a kindly fellow took the seat opposite from me, and turned out to be Ron Keefe.  If you want to really hear some interesting insights into drinking quads, sit next to Ron Keefe, and don't hesitate to ask his opinion.

Name your favourite beer blogging experience.

Getting invited to the Moosehead & Boston Beer Co. announcement about their strategic partnership to bring the Boston Beer Co. products into Canada.  Cool event, with tasty food and drinks, but made the best because I wandered over and spent a few minutes chatting with Jim Koch and Andrew Oland.  Both of whom demonstrated that even owners of breweries that are nowhere near "micro" anymore, are generally friendly, interesting, engaging people.

Best time for a pint?

Any time.  All the time.  Sorry, should have said something clever, like "Only on days ending in Y"

Meet the Beer Bloggers - Jordan St. John

Part 3 of the Meet the Ontario Beer Bloggers

Jordan St. John
St. John's Wort
Beer blogging: 10 Weeks

Meet Jordan St. John, one of Ontario's newest beer bloggers.  Jordan story is an interesting one.  After being put on the waiting list for the new Brewmaster & Brewery Operations Management Program at Niagara College Jordan decided he'd start a blog about his views on the beer industry.  It's been eleven weeks since he wrote his first post and he's done an incredible job keeping it fresh and insightful right from the start.

His blog features a number of 'rants' that I've found to be quite amusing, terrifically written and very thought out.  He also recently added audio podcasts to some of his posts offering his visitors an added element to his site.

Describe the moment when you first saw the craft beer light?

I think that it probably would have been in about 1996 or 1997, probably at the Kingston Brewing Company. Back in those days they were still brewing on premises instead of contracting out and the Dragon’s Breath Pale Ale was a quality product that was being distributed by Hart. The place has gone downhill pretty severely since, but in its heyday they did a really nice line of beers with rotating seasonals and decent food. I’d like to see someone step up and revivify the place, but they have no impetus to recapture their former glory because they get a huge student crowd year round. The prices are low and it’s still better than a lot of stuff you can drink in Kingston, as long as you don’t order the cask which doesn’t seem to turn over fast enough to ever be in condition.

I remember sitting in the courtyard patio out back of the pub in the sunshine with a Dragon’s Breath and a lamb burger, thinking “Hey, this is pretty good.” I’m certain I was underage at the time, but I haven’t really been carded since I was 16. I guess that I started out drinking craft beer in Ontario, and that fell by the wayside when I went to university in New Brunswick, where there were $5.50 pitchers of Moose Dry. Sometimes economy wins out, especially when your university football team loses its homecoming game 110-0 and the nearest city is Moncton and the municipal pastime is depression and birdwatching.

What made you decide to blog about beer?

Truly, I’m blogging because I applied to Niagara College, which is going to be the first brewing program in Canada. At some point I was reading Heat by Bill Buford which is about a reporter who decides that he’s going to join the kitchen workforce in New York City and document the process. He’s getting his ass kicked by Mario Batali and Marco Pierre White and someone’s Italian Nonna. I figured that if he can write about that, people might be interested in someone going in to the first Canadian brewing program. What’s more Canadian than giving up a career to go brew beer? There’s got to be an audience for that!

I set aside some blog space on Wordpress and I figured that I would eventually launch the thing, maybe a month before the course started. Problem is that I’m well down the waitlist for applicants, so it’s not likely to happen this year. And then I figured that next year they’re probably going to look at your credentials, so I decided to write about Ontario beer in order to gain some credentials. Essentially, I’m doing this to have a shot at going to Niagara College’s brewing program next year, which I admit is a roundabout way of doing things when I probably should have tried to bribe the registrar.

I kid. I’m sure he’s an honorable man and would never consider such a thing. Although, clearly, some publicity for the program couldn’t hurt. *cough*

How long have you been blogging about beer and how long do you think you'll continue?

Ten weeks, so far. I think I’m in this for the long term at this point, given that people seem to be reading the thing. I didn’t really think anyone would read the thing when I started. I wondered whether some of the verbiage would make it inaccessible.

What has been the biggest change in the Ontario brewing industry since you started blogging?

In the last eight weeks? Probably Ontario Craft Beer Week was the biggest thing, but mostly because of the amount of coverage it seemed to get. There were bloggers and reporters from the papers and a very small amount of TV coverage.

Currently it’s a little like Schrodingers Cat. The observation of the industry is changing the outcome, if only in a slow and nearly imperceptible manner.

If you could change one time about the industry here in Ontario, what would it be?

The majority of the brewers seem to have bought in to the idea that they need to compete on the terms of the large Macrobreweries: You need a lager. You need an amber. You need a light beer. You need an affordable downmarket lawnmower beer.

One of the things that I’m going to look at over the next year or so is a suspicion I have developed that competing in the lager or pilsner market is actually really bad for business in terms of competition. Craft brewers have to do things the large breweries cannot or will not do if they want to succeed in the long term. You can’t beat Molson Canadian at their game. You are never going to outsell Labatt Blue. At best, at the absolute best, you might create something that some people view as an alternative if they can get it and it doesn’t cost too much.

You have to change the game and you do that through a combination of defining the craft beer industry’s rhetoric and language and continuing to create new beers at a consistent quality. That’s what the Ontario Craft Brewers need to be doing. Guide the perception. Make it accessible. Give people a reason to drink the thing. You can’t take for granted that people want to drink craft beer. You have to give them a reason to do it. And when they get to the point where they’re actually trying a bottle of it, that bottle had better not be skunked or underfilled or diacetyl-y. It had better be exactly what it’s supposed to be and it had better do what it says on the label. The next five years are going to make or break the individual Ontario breweries and quality, consistency and media narrative are going to do it.

What beer book would you recommend to someone looking to learn more about beer?

For someone just starting out learning about beer, probably Nick Pashley’s superb Notes On A Beermat. There are more technical books, but if you get something written in America in the last decade or so it’s going to be biased to the American market. I’m assuming your hypothetical person is Canadian, and in that case Nick’s a good introduction since he’s entertaining and accessible and very funny. He’s not talking about the nuts and bolts of brewing beer or rating beer or even appreciating beer. He’s talking about the experience; the soul of the thing.

When you're not drinking, writing, or out at the pub, what else preoccupies your time?

I play some banjo and guitar. I read a lot. Currently I’m about halfway through books by David Foster Wallace, Mark Twain and Jerome K. Jerome. I cook pretty proficiently. I also do freelance voiceover work when I can get it. I listen to a lot of music, and I’m slowly getting back in to jazz. At one point I was considering being a professional musician, but it’s a hard life being a gigging trombonist.

I’ve also recently gotten back into the gym upon the realization that beer may actually contain calories. I’m trying to get my deadlift tonnage back up to 3000 pounds a set. I think it would be fun to try and flip a Smart Car when I get back to that point.

Best beer festival or event you've attended?

Mondial 2009. It was the first one I attended so it left an indelible impression on me. Plus, Aphrodisiaque on tap, man.

Name your favourite beer blogging experience. 

Trying to figure out how I was going to write about Broue-Ha-Ha in Montreal. I love the place for its eccentricity, but it’s hard to explain it to someone who’s never been there.

Best time for a pint?

The mid-afternoon: preferably before everyone else has gotten out of work so that you feel as though you’re getting away with something. It’s the kind of calculated idleness that makes life worth living.

Meet the Beer Bloggers - Alan McLeod

Part 2 of the Meet the Ontario Beer Bloggers

A Good Beer Blog.  Simple title that speaks the truth.  It is a good beer blog.  It was one of the first such sites that I started reading before starting up my own.  In fact, when I was considering writing about pubs and craft beer almost four years ago I contacted Al to see if he'd be interested in me submitting stuff for him to post on his blog.  In the end I decided to start a blog of my own, but I continue to read Al's site on a daily basis.

Unlike the other Ontario beer bloggers that will be featured in the upcoming days, Al and I have only met in person on two occasions.  Al lives in Kingston and doesn't make his way to Toronto to often and I don't find myself in his beautiful city that often either.  It was a Southern Tier beer dinner hosted by Roland and Russell a couple of years back where we first met and then last year he came to Toronto for work related reasons and we got together for some drinks at barVolo.

Al's a great guy with strong opinions who doesn't back down from any comments...which is why his blog is read by brewers and beer industry people the world over.

Without further ado, meet Alan.

Describe the moment when you first saw the craft beer light?

Hard to say when craft beer got my attention because craft beer only become a common term after I started liking good beer. I grew up in Nova Scotia, hitting legal age in the early 80s. At that time, good beer meant Newcastle Brown or that weird malty pale lager from Norway the Liquor Commission shipped in for some reason. But around the mid-80s the Granite Brewery started up on Barrington Street and a guy south of Moncton NB opened a micro called Hans Haus that quickly got on the shelves. After a few backpacking trips to the UK, a few of us started homebrewing and the obsession had begun.

What made you decide to blog about beer?

Like a lot of bloggers at the time, I had a connection to an IT firm. I started a culture and politics blog in 2003 but noticed I had regularly posted on beer. Year in or so, I got the stand alone beer blog set up at a time when there were a few home brew blogs but no other beer fan blogs that I could find. 

Who long have you been blogging about beer and how long do you think you'll continue?

So, I have been blogging about beer for around seven years now.  At first, it was howling in the wilderness and really mostly about me recording my own education.  It got more exciting a few years in when I got quoted in the New York Times in 2005 and was hailed in an article published in 2006 by the Associated Press as something of the instigator of the beer blog movement.

Since then, I have written outside of the blog and gained enough ad revenue that beer pays for itself.  More importantly, I have also gotten into the conversation. Brewers and professional beer writers consider my views - even if they don't necessarily agree. Growing that sort of role interests me so I don't really see any end to the blogging.

What has been the biggest change in the Ontario brewing industry since you started blogging?

That is hard to say. Certainly there are more craft brewers now but there has been a limited expansion of the sorts of beer available. No one really needs another amber or pilsner on the shelves. The biggest change in retail is the LCBO's efforts to stock more good beer but their selection and institutional knowledge about good still leaves a lot to be desired.

If you could change one time about the industry here in Ontario, what would it be?

Beer in corner stores. Ontario is surrounded by jurisdictions which prove there is absolutely no issue with private beer sales. Go to a Wegmans in New York, a speciality food and wine shop in Michigan or a dep in Quebec and you do not see the end of law and order. You see civilization. Ontarians treat themselves as sheep as far as alcoholic beverages go.

What beer book would you recommend to someone looking to learn more about beer?

That is tough. For a newbie with a keen interest, Randy Mosher's Tasting Beer is a great start. If you want to start into beer history and culture look to UK authors like Martyn Cornell and Pete Brown. But if you are already there and want to get into the big leagues, find Prof. Ungers books on medieval beer brewing in the low countries or Hornsey's massive text on brewing history from the earliest cultures of the Middle East to the present day.

When you're not drinking, writing, or out at the pub, what else preoccupies your time?

I have a life. I am full time legal counsel as well as one half of a team of parents and foster parents. I am a foodie who loves to smoke his own ribs and pork roasts. I play 1860s re-enactments of old school baseball. I love to get in the car with the family, hunting for beer, minor league baseball, diners and swimming holes. 

Best beer festival or event you've attended?

Because of my life, I don't really go to beer fests. Not the most family friendly activity and, honestly, not a great way to consider good beer on a reasonable budget. 

Name your favourite beer blogging experience.

My favorite thing about beer blogging has been helping others get into it.  I know I encouraged you and Greg Clow but I also gave Knut of Norway and Evan Rail in Prague posting opprotunities as they were starting out.  My favorite convert, however, was Ron Pattinson in the Netherlands who, after he and I disagreed on something rather strongly, I got him encouraged in June 2007 into blogging as a way for people to assimilate his huge wealth of knowledge. I like that the blog has been both an example of what is possible for others in their own explorations of what good beer means to them.

Best time for a pint?

Saturday at 11:15 am on June 27th after mowing the lawn sitting in the shade considering what to smoke on the BBQ.

Meet the Beer Bloggers - Greg Clow

Part 1 - Meet the Ontario Beer Bloggers.....

Meet Greg Clow.  Greg is the author/creator of a number of beer and food related websites, a contributing writer for TAPS The Beer Magazine & Toronto's City Bites, and is well respected in the local beer community.

Describe the moment when you first saw the craft beer light?

I actually wrote quite an extensive answer to this question a couple of years ago when it was a topic in The Session, so I’ll simply cut and paste from there (with a bit of editing):

I attended the University of Waterloo from the fall of 1987 to the end of 1988, with the first wave of Canada’s modern craft brewing scene was just taking off, and a lot of the action in Ontario was centred around Waterloo and surrounding towns and cities such as Guelph and Cambridge. The Brick Brewery was located quite close to the campus, so some of the first beers I drank at the school were their lagers – although to be honest, I wasn’t an especially discriminating drinker, so I’d be just as likely to be seen pounding back Black Label or Molson Golden.

The first time I remember drinking a beer that seemed unique from the others in flavour and quality was during my final term when I was at my favourite hang-out, Phil’s Grandson’s Place, and the bartender recommended I try this new beer they’d just gotten in on tap called Sleeman Cream Ale. Compared to every other beer I’d had up to that point, it had a darker golden colour, a fuller body, and a slightly richer flavour. Certainly nothing exciting compared to what I drink today, but at the time, just the fact that it was noticeably different – not to mention pretty tasty – was enough to make me take notice.

Once I’d made the permanent move to Toronto, I continued to dabble in new beers fairly often. I still drank some mainstream brands, like Black Label (pretty much the official beer of Queen Street at the time, thanks to one of the earliest examples of viral marketing) and Molson Dry. But the micros of the day – Upper Canada, Conners, Creemore Springs, Formosa – were also regulars in the rotation. And hell, the very fact that I had a “rotation” and didn’t stick with one brand made me pretty unique.

This casual sampling continued for the next ten years or so, but then a couple of things happened in the late ’90s and early ’00s that caused my interest in craft beer to really spike.

First, in 1998 I read an article in Eye Weekly about the Belgian-style wheat beer Celis White, which Brick had just started brewing for Ontario on contract. Since Hoegaarden wasn’t yet the ubiquitous brand that it has since become, I was completely unfamiliar with the style, but the description of a beer brewed with spices and orange peel intrigued me, so I tried it, loved it, and ended up consuming a lot of it that summer. Soon after that, I somehow stumbled across The Bar Towel, which was a pretty quiet site at the time, but still lead me to beers and bars that I’d never heard of before.

And then in 2000, I went to Montreal for the first edition of the electronic music festival MUTEK. The last couple of days happened to overlap with Montreal’s renowned beer festival, Mondial de la Bière, so I headed down to check it out one afternoon, and proceeded to have my mind blown by the variety of beers available. That was the moment that I decided this beer thing was really for me. 

What made you decide to blog about beer?

I’ve always been the sort of person who needs to have something to occupy my time outside of my day job, and for many years, that something was activities related to electronic and experimental music: writing reviews, hosting a radio show, presenting concerts, running a small record label. But for a number of reasons, I “retired” from those things during 2005.

By that point, I’d already been keeping beer tasting notes and entering them on RateBeer for a few years, and in the early months of 2006, I offered to help Cass Enright with the news blog on Bar Towel, and also starting writing an occasional beer column for a local food and drink website called Gremolata. This ultimately inspired me to start up Beer Beats & Bites as my first blog.

In early 2007, my wife Sheryl Kirby and I launched Taste T.O. as a website and blog dedicated to anything and everything to do with food and drink in Toronto. While there were already a couple of sites covering aspects of this scene, none of them were doing it quite like we thought it should be done, so we figured we might as well just do it ourselves. One of the many things I do for the site is a weekly beer column.

A couple of years later, I decided to start Canadian Beer News, because while there were several Canadian beer blogs (including yours) that had occasional posts about new beer releases and other brewery news, there was no Canadian website like the American site beernews.org that features exclusively beer news posts with little in the way of editorializing or personal opinion. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish with CBN.

How long have you been blogging about beer and how long do you think you'll continue?

Beer Beats & Bites was launched in July 2006, and Canadian Beer News in December 2008. I can’t predict if or when I’ll stop either of them, although I’ll admit that since the launches of Taste T.O. and CBN, my posts on BBB aren’t nearly as frequent as they used to be.

What has been the biggest change in the Ontario brewing industry since you started blogging?

I don’t know if I could pinpoint one particular change as being the “biggest” – there have been a lot of little changes that have added up to a much healthier and more exciting beer scene in Ontario than we’ve ever seen before.

But one of the most notable developments – and one which triggered, or contributed to, many of the others – was the establishment of the Ontario Craft Brewers. Their efforts have led to a marked increase in the sales and exposure of locally brewed craft beer throughout the province, and initiatives like the Discovery Pack series have been great successes. They’re doing good work, and I hope they continue.

If you could change one thing about the industry here in Ontario, what would it be?

Again, it’s hard to pick just one thing, but if pressed, I’d have to push for a reduction in the red tape that seems to be a part of doing pretty much anything related to beer in the province. As much as the LCBO has been improving things, especially in the seasonal releases, they and the AGCO are still government monoliths with way too many processes, procedures, rules and regulations, many of which seem ill-defined or even contradictory. Until these things are addressed, there are certain beers and styles that we’ll simply never see in Ontario.

  

What beer book would you recommend to someone looking to learn more about beer?

It’s probably the same answer you’ll be getting from many people, but I’ll say it anyway: You can’t go wrong with something by Michael Jackson.

My personal favourite book of his is “Great Beers of Belgium”, but that might be a bit too focussed for someone looking for something more general. In that case, I’d recommend either his “Great Beer Guide”, or the “Eyewitness Companions: Beer” volume that he completed editing just before he passed away.

(And by the way – if you ask me this question again in a year or so, I imagine that my answer will be “The Oxford Companion to Beer”, a book being compiled and edited by Garrett Oliver that I expect to find as comprehensive and encyclopaedic as other Oxford Companion volumes when it’s released in 2011.)

When you're not drinking, writing, or out at the pub, what else preoccupies your time?

Outside of my day job, most of my other waking hours are filled with things related to Taste T.O., whether it’s the fun stuff like going to restaurant openings and covering food and drink events, to the less fun stuff like tackling all the technical issues behind the scenes.

Aside from that, I watch TV and movies, and try to read when I can find the time. And I should find the time to also start exercising more, as all of the beer and food has really starting doing a number of my waistline...

Best beer festival or event you've attended?

The 2000 edition of Mondial de la Bière in Montreal that I mention above is a sentimental favourite due to it being one of the main events that solidified my interest in craft beer. But my pick for the best beer festival I’ve attended would go to the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival, held each year in Ypsilanti, a small town near Ann Arbor. I’ve been down there twice, and it’s blown me away both times. It’s in a beautiful outdoor venue, features almost every craft brewery in Michigan - many of which brew special beers for the festival – and it has an awesomely friendly and mellow vibe. And best of all – no Bud, Coors or Miller in sight!

Name your favourite beer blogging experience

I’d say that the week I spent in New York City back in 2006 would be up there. I was down for a course related to my day job, and  managed to cram my evenings full of excellent beer adventures, including attending a trade and media tasting presented by a local importer and distributor that was so outstanding that it nearly made me weep with joy.

Best time for a pint?

What time is it now?

Meet the Beer Bloggers of Ontario

Back when I started the "Meet the Brewers" segment of this blog I had no idea how popular it would become.  Some of the quasi interviews conducted with the men and women of the brewing industry (not just brewers) received many hits throughout the day they were posted, some ranking in the top ten posts (in terms of overall traffic) since the start of this blog.

Recently I thought it would be fun to start a shorter segment along the same lines as "Meet the Brewer," so today I give you the "Meet the Beer Bloggers of Ontario" feature.  I thought it would be fun for readers to get to know a little more about the other beer bloggers out there covering the industry with their own thoughts and opinions.  There aren't that many of us, but the number is growing.

I can still remember the comment Greg Clow said back when I started this blog about the lack of Canadian beer bloggers in his "welcome to the show" post he wrote about Great Canadian Pubs & Beer. 

Some time ago, I was lamenting about the fact that the number of Canadian beer bloggers seemed to be disproportionately low in comparison to our American counterparts. There hasn’t been a huge change since then, but I’m happy to report that at least one newcomer has joined our ranks, with more enthusiasm than the rest of us combined. - Greg Clow, New(ish) Blog Alert, Oct 7, 2007

The number of beer bloggers has risen since that post, and continues to rise.  It seems more and more people are getting behind their computer, pouring a beer and sharing their notes with us more than ever.  And it's great. Unless you're this guy. 

Over the next several days you'll be able to get to know your local Ontario beer bloggers a little better as they've shared their stories with me, answering questions about beer, what they do when their not drinking, talking, or writing about beer, providing their thoughts on the Ontario beer industry and more.  


After you've finished reading their answers, head to their blog, read their posts, familiarize yourself with them; after all they're all about entertaining you with their different beer perspectives. 

Part 1 - Longtime beer blogger/writer, Greg Clow.

Heritage Brewery Looking for Ottawa Sales Reps.

Heritage Brewing Limited in Ottawa, Ontario is looking to add a draught sales representative to it's sales team in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario area. You will be able to sell both the lagers made by Heritage and the ales brewed by Scotch Irish Brewing, 10 products in all. 

If you are interested please send your resume via e-mail to ron@heritagebrewing.com

Gone For The Long Weekend

I'm gone for the long weekend after spending a great night at the Hart House Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ, so here are some links to some old posts.

Garrett Oliver Discusses Beer and Food at the Master Brewers Association of the America's (Ontario Chapter): Click here

Meet Bob Baxter, Founder and President of the Yukon Brewing Co.: Click here

Part Four of the Toronto Pub Crawl Series - Yonge Street: Click here

See ya next week!

Don't Mess With Matt Phillip's - Video

I've been meaning to post this video since the start of the week but other things have popped up that pushed this to the side.  Not today though.

The video below is about an April Fool's day prank pulled on Phillips Brewery owner/founder, Matt Phillips by one of his sales reps, Kurtis, and Phillips' getting him back.  It's priceless.  What does it all mean - Don't mess with Matt Phillips.

**For some reason blogger won't let me embed the video at this time, so click here to view the video: http://vimeo.com/13530857

Toronto Beer Week Present TBW Homebrew Competition 2010

Toronto’s first ever beer week is proud to announce its first ever homebrew competition. 

A huge amount of the world’s best craft brewers started off with small batches at home, and we want to give recognition to the Canadians who are producing stunning ales and lagers out of their garages, basements and kitchens. Not only do we want to give recognition, but we also want to give prizes. Awards will be given to the winners of each style category, who will then advance to compete to be named the grand winner, with additional prizes for those finishing 2nd and 3rd overall. We’re working on putting together an extra special prize for the best in show. 

Further info is available at the Toronto Beer Week website 

Hopefully a number of you homebrewers will be onboard and want to take part. The major aim of TBW is to promote the craft beer scene in the city and province, and to attract more people to it, while improving the existing quality. Homebrewing is a damn fine pursuit, and we'd like to bring it more to the forefront of the public consciousness.  

Shiny Penny Brewery Gets Its Start

Chloe Smith and her husband Cedric Dauchot (in picture), both professional brewers by trade, recently packed up their bags and made the move from Montreal to Saskatoon to get into the Canadian commercial brewing industry, looking to open the Shiny Penny Brewery.  Their first beer was just produced at the Paddock Wood brewery - Saskatchewan Wheat Ale (Belgian Wit).

Dauchot, who studied at l'Institut Meurice Chimie in Brussels (one of the three brewing schools in Belgium), and Smith, with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and a diploma from the American Brewers Guild, have plans to open their own brewpub in Saskatoon one day in the near future.

Smith took some time to answer three questions about their new venture...

Shiny Penny is a new venture for you and your husband I understand - what led to your decision to move to Saskatoon to get into the brewing industry?
My husband and I are both professional brewers, he is from Belgium and I am from Saskatoon, we met while working together in Montreal. We talked about opening our own place for years and for us it was always going to be Saskatoon. Montreal already has loads of great beer and Cedric always says: you have to kill a brewer to take their place in Belgium, there is so much beer there. So when the boom started in Saskatoon we thought: ok it's now or never.

The beer (Saskatchewan Wheat Ale is currently being brewed at Paddock Wood Brewery until you find the right location to open your brewpub. Where will people be able to purchase the Wheat Ale?
The Sask Wheat Ale is really just a one off for us. We were getting itchy feet about not having brewed in awhile and thought it would be a good opportunity for us to have a product to place in investors hands. Paddock Wood generously agreed to let us brew a beer at their brewery and they are selling it for us at their outlet. So while supplies last you can get it at 116-103rd street in Saskatoon.

What does the future hold for Shiny Penny?
The Shiny Penny Brewery will be a gastronomy brewpub in Saskatoon. There will definitely be an emphasis on craft beer with rotating taps and guest appearances. However we will also do beer cuisine, things like: spent grain bread and wort BBQ sauce, as well as beer pairing dinners and all that fun stuff.

Hart House Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ: Thursday July 29th

Thursday, July 29th, 2010 @ 7PM
Tickets: $35 Adult / $25 Student (+ tax)
www.uofttix.ca / 416-978-8849

**LESS THAN 100 TICKETS LEFT**

This Thursday Hart House will once again play host to the ultimate summer event - The 3rd annual Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ. Sample some of the best craft brewed ales, lagers and pilsners that Canada has to offer while relaxing in one of Toronto’s most impressive and historic settings. Hart House Chef Marco Tucci will provide guests with an assortment of savory barbecue nibbles while CIUT 89.5 DJs spin and broadcast live from the courtyard patio

Ticket price includes:
- 8 beer samples
- complimentary BBQ nibbles
- live entertainment
(Additional beer sample tickets may be purchased on site.)

* admission restricted to 19+, this event is rain or shine *
No vector bottles, no shivering cans and no color-changing mountains…just good tunes, delicious barbeque and quality craft beer.

PARTICIPATING BREWERIES
Barley Days Brewery · Beau's All-Natural Brewing Company · Big Rock Brewery · Black Oak Brewery · Creemore Springs Brewery · F & M Brewery · Flying Monkeys Brewery · Grand River Brewing · Great Lakes Brewery · Heritage Brewing Company · Hockley Valley Brewing Company · Mill Street Brewery · Niagara's Best Brewery · Nickle Brook Brewery · Steam Whistle Brewery · Wellington Brewery

In addition to featuring Ontario’s very own creative and talented Craft Breweries this year’s festival will also include a selection of award winning Craft Breweries from Quebec courtesy of HMH Negotiants:
Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! · Les Trois Mousquetaires · Microbrasserie Charlevoix

THE MENU
Beer isn’t the only thing on the menu, join us for Marco Tucci’s beer inspired BBQ featuring pulled pork sandwiches, ribs and Jerk tofu served with corn on the cob and coleslaw. Not a beer lover but your friends are all going? No problem, we’ll have wine as well as a special summer cocktail.

THE VENUE
Hart House is a Gothic styled architectural gem that many consider to be the visual icon of the University of Toronto. Nestled in the heart of downtown Toronto, the building is a perfect venue for seasonal events. The 2010 Craft Beer Festival & Summer BBQ will be held within the magnificent courtyard (The Quad) that is located at the centre of this historic building.


ATTRACTIONS
The Big Rock "Rock-Out" Photo Contest - Guests are invited to give us their best rock-out poses in a unique photo op for a chance to win some great prizes.

The Creemore Springs "Big Sipper" Patio Lounge - Experience Aurora 'Beer'ialis as you enjoy a beer under the night sky on this beautiful courtyard patio.

Those looking to continue the party after the festival are invited to check out the Duke of York, a proud supporter of craft beer.

REVIEWS
"Give me a smaller venue, a higher ticket price and a group of people who actually bother to taste what they’re drinking any day of the week."- Norman Wilner, NOW Magazine

"Hart House Craft Beer Festival & BBQ hits the spot"
- Diana Kuprel, www.news.utoronto.ca

The Blast of the Okanagan Spring Fermentor

Jordan, over at St. John's Wort, has had some fun with the recent explosion at the Okanagan Spring Brewery in Vernon, BC.  He has altered the lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot's famous song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" to play into the blast that occurred last Thursday, spilling 32,000 litres of Cream Ale into the street.

Jordan picks up his guitar and sings the beer themed version he created and he has shared it with all of his readers in a audio podcast.  It's good stuff and worth checking out.  Here are the altered lyrics, but head to his site for a listen.

The legend lives on throughout Vernon’s downtown

Of the day the fermenter exploded

The beer, it is said, never gave up its head

And by nighttime the city was coated

As craft breweries go it was bigger than most

Each fermenter held thousands of liters

But there wasn’t a vent and it finally went:

Broken bottles for dozens of meters.

The newspapers claimed that the problem was blamed

On a buildup of carbon dioxide

The force of the squall tore the door from the wall

With the violence and strength of a rock slide

This was the tale of a batch of cream ale

from the brewery called Okanagan

The lumberjacks cried and they broke down inside;

There’d be nothing to drink after logging.

The beer it was spilled and though no one was killed

It was tragic enough to the brewers

Instead of being filtered through beer loving men

It flowed directly into the sewers.