Consumed: Amsterdam Tempest Imperial Stout - by Rob Symes

The following review of the new Tempest Imperial Stout produced by Amsterdam Brewing Co. was written by Rob Symes of Toronto Beer Week.

There were only 710 bottles packaged of the Tempest, and it has been selling extremely well, so it would be recommended that you call the brewery first before heading there to purchase some... yet, you should still go and check out their other brands.

by Rob Symes:
There’s a storm brewing at the Amsterdam, though this kind of storm only includes a wind warning if consumed with a side of chilli nachos. Amsterdam’s newest beer – Tempest Imperial Stout – joins a small stable of Ontario examples of this weighty style. The buzz on the rating sites is that this brew delivers and that an increasingly experimental direction is paying dividends for the Bathurst Street outfit, and we’re ready to join the chorus.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the packaging for this beer is sexy, dark and sinister. A back and white image of the high of a hurricane casts a shadow over the label, but it’s the waxing that really grabs your attention. It’s rare to see a bottle dipped in wax in Canada. The practice is becoming increasingly prominent in the US – partly to indicate bottles suitable for aging, partly because it looks so damn good, and partly because it improves the appearance of a bottle and increases the chances of the sale. With a few notable examples (Half Pints Burly Wine springs to mind) our brewers have left waxing to their legs and chests, so it’s encouraging to see a waxable style on the market, and a fantastic job done of making the bottle look good.

So, the bottle looks good, but what of the contents? Another thumbs up, and a classic appearance, with a bordering on midnight body and a couple finger of dirty tan head that leaves abundant lacing. A few bubbles lazily make their way up the glass, indicating that the requisite full body is in place. The aroma is the weak point, lacking the fullness of Southern giants like Great Divide’s Yeti, but it still delivers a decent punch, mixing old coffee grounds with a light lactic note. It’s very much in the vein of a traditional English take on the style, and that continues in the flavour, which delivers a good coffee hit, followed by anise and bitter chocolate. I heard that the IBUs for this came in quite high, but it seems more subtle and drinkable than expected, and the bitterness seems to emanate more from the roast than anything. The posted ABV of 9% is nicely integrated – you can tell this is a big beer, but at no point does it cross the line into boozy. The medium body helps to boost the flavours, and a pillowy carbonation bulks things up somewhat. Things improved further as it warmed, and a little below room temperature is probably the best serving point, allowing the full range of flavours to make their presence felt.

Canada’s most populous province sorely lacks imperial stouts, and this entry from Amsterdam is a welcome addition. Its bad boy looks and robust flavour makes for a satisfying quaff, and for those interested in cellaring, this should hold up relatively well.

Amsterdam Tempest Imperial Stout is currently available at the brewery retail store: 21 Bathurst Street, Toronto.

Hop City Lawn Chair Hefeweizen - By Rob Symes

**Hop City Brewing Co. launched a new beer last night and Rob Symes and I were there to sample it.  Rob, who has written here before, has kindly provided you with his thoughts.  Enjoy!**
(sorry for the quality of the pic)

By Rob Symes:
Yesterday I was fortunate to head down to the launch party for the new beer from Hop City - a craft brewery that has the backing of Moosehead. Late last year, Hop City debuted on the scene with Barking Squirrel Lager, a crisp and drinkable beer that instantly reminded me of a Creemore. While Barking Squirrel would not displace any of my craft favourites I'd take it in a heartbeat over the crap that's available in most bars. The announcement that the new brew would be a hefeweizen got my hopes up that this beer would eclipse its predecessor and become an option I'd consider on a regular basis. I love hefeweizens and their rich flavours of sweet banana, spicy clove and tangy wheat. After extensive tasting of hefes from three continents I can happily say that the local Denison's Weissbier is one of the best in the style. The flavour profile described by the brewery seemed to indicate good things and whetted my appetite:

"A true Bavarian style Hefeweizen with a deep golden colour and naturally cloudy appearance. A beautiful balance of exotic fruity and spicy notes followed by a crisp refreshing finish."

So how's the beer? Well firstly I should reveal that they've gone with the name: Lawn Chair "Classic" Weisse, and the tagline on the coasters reads "Grab a Chair". They've certainly got the whole retro summer look going on, and for a brewery whose website talks about beer not being about expensive ad campaigns, there's certainly some slick marketing and big money behind this one. I grabbed a couple pints over the course of the evening in the interests of you, dear readers. This is what you can expect from Lawn Chair:

Volo-nteering at Cask Days: By Rob Symes - Guest Writer

While I was busy tasting the beers during session 1 of Volo's Cask Days, friend and frequent guest writer, Rob Symes, was busy behind the Toronto station pouring samples for the excited crowd, and it appeared throughout the session that he was having a grand-old time. Today he shares his views with us all (except for the part about the ribbing he was getting from some of the regulars). Ladies and gentlemen, Rob Symes...

As readers of this fine blog know, this past weekend was a big one for Toronto beer lovers, as Bar Volo hosted its 5th Cask Days festival. I’ve been going to Volo for a good while now, and feel lucky to have such a good bar within striking distance of home, so I figured I’d show some gratitude for all the good beers I’ve supped and volunteer to work at this year’s Cask Days. I turned up forty minutes prior to the first session on a wet and windy day in Toronto. Fortunately for the line that soon began to gather, the rains had abated, and like some kind of divine thumbs up the clouds were slowly clearing away.

The first thing you should know about planning an event is that however much groundwork and preparation you do, there is almost always a crunch period at the end as life starts to mix curve balls and changeups into what had been a steady diet of fastballs. The casks aren’t labelled yet, some have only just arrived, there’s a fountain of IPA at the bar and the doors are scheduled to open in thirty minutes. It’s a testament to the quality of the Volo team that the opening is only delayed by a few minutes. This is a side of the weekend that most punters don’t see – its hard, hectic work that places a lot of pressure on the people who want the event to go as smoothly and enjoyable as possible.

I start off manning the Toronto station, which proves to be a popular one as most of the regulars are eager to try Ralph’s mild. I’ll find out later that it’s an excellent interpretation of the style, and perfect to start the evening off with because it only weighs in at 3.8%. A note to all you folks who drank the IPAs or barleywines and then went for the mild – you’re doing it all wrong. It’s the beer equivalent of drinking your OJ after brushing your teeth. Milds are delicate beers and if the palate acclimatises itself to higher intensity beers off the bat, you’ll miss out on the complexity and subtlety they can offer. The other quick sellers from the GTA were St. André’s Freshly Squeezed Barley Juice (a misnomer – I later found it was all about juicy hops), and Durham’s Black Eye (something of a black IPA if you’re happy with that oxymoron).

The second shift began at 9pm with my move to the Ontario East and North-West station, which had a number of interesting offerings. Church-Key’s Islay Scotch Ale proved to be very popular amongst the scotch lovers I talked to, and the novelty factor of Hockley Valley’s Peanut Butter and Jelly had a huge cross-over appeal. As with session one, the crowd is enthusiastic about the selection, and I’m repeatedly told that this is the best cask days yet, which bodes well for the continuing improvement of the Ontario beer scene. I’ve had some damn awful casks since moving here from the UK six years ago, but I can honestly say that after ploughing through a good number over the weekend, that the quality was high across the board, and that these beers would fare well at any of the CAMRA fests I’ve worked at.

A little less than ten hours after I started working (and a full seventeen since I left for my day job) the customers begin to trickle out. To be honest, the end of the day’s pouring is a relaxed affair, especially compared to the crazed rush of the first session. There’s no rapid serving, no line-ups of people after the bell has already been rang and no one complaining that they have left over drink tickets. It’s been a good evening and every one seems to be leaving in good spirits (Halloween pun intended). It may be the end of many people’s night, but the work isn’t done yet. The cleanup takes a full hour and involves lugging casks outside to ensure they don’t spoil. It’s a long day for me, but it’s an even longer weekend for the staff, who will be pulling the same gig on Saturday and Sunday.

So what did I take away from this experience? Firstly, the amount of work and effort I thought went into this event was even greater than I imagined. As a volunteer I just turned up, poured a few beers and helped with clean up, but the regular staff do an amazing amount of work, and they’re a credit to Ralph. Secondly, the man himself has a tireless dedication to the success of not only this event, but of the beer scene in Ontario. Buy him a drink, support the events Volo hosts and remember that the bar serves good beer year round, and not just during Cask Days. Finally, the community we have here is diverse, but strong. I had the opportunity to speak to a lot of people while I poured and I was struck by what a good bunch y’all are. Hopefully we can spread the word, convert a few people to the cause and push through some real change in this province.

If anyone is interested, these were my top 5 beers of the weekend (please note, these are Rob's top picks):
1) Benelux Amato Texas reserve Brown - a guest beer from Montreal.
2) Fuller’s IPA - a spot on English IPA and a rare cask outing.
3) County Durham Black Eye - show me another brewer who does cask this well.
4) F&M Nightmare on Ale Street - a complex spiced stout.
5) Beau’s Nightmärzen - hearty lager with a nice hint of vanilla from barrel aging.

**Stay tuned for my thoughts on the entire week of cask!

Amsterdam Tempest Stout Back For A Day - International Stout Day

For those of you who missed out on getting your hands on some of Amsterdam Brewery's Tempest Imperial Stout back in the summer, now might be your chance.

The brewery will have a very limited number of bottles available today at their retail store as a means to celebrate International Stout Day, which is today.

Here is a review that Rob Symes wrote for the Tempest back on July 8th.

by Rob Symes:
There’s a storm brewing at the Amsterdam, though this kind of storm only includes a wind warning if consumed with a side of chilli nachos. Amsterdam’s newest beer – Tempest Imperial Stout – joins a small stable of Ontario examples of this weighty style. The buzz on the rating sites is that this brew delivers and that an increasingly experimental direction is paying dividends for the Bathurst Street outfit, and we’re ready to join the chorus.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the packaging for this beer is sexy, dark and sinister. A back and white image of the high of a hurricane casts a shadow over the label, but it’s the waxing that really grabs your attention. It’s rare to see a bottle dipped in wax in Canada. The practice is becoming increasingly prominent in the US – partly to indicate bottles suitable for aging, partly because it looks so damn good, and partly because it improves the appearance of a bottle and increases the chances of the sale. With a few notable examples (Half Pints Burly Wine springs to mind) our brewers have left waxing to their legs and chests, so it’s encouraging to see a waxable style on the market, and a fantastic job done of making the bottle look good.

So, the bottle looks good, but what of the contents? Another thumbs up, and a classic appearance, with a bordering on midnight body and a couple finger of dirty tan head that leaves abundant lacing. A few bubbles lazily make their way up the glass, indicating that the requisite full body is in place. The aroma is the weak point, lacking the fullness of Southern giants like Great Divide’s Yeti, but it still delivers a decent punch, mixing old coffee grounds with a light lactic note. It’s very much in the vein of a traditional English take on the style, and that continues in the flavour, which delivers a good coffee hit, followed by anise and bitter chocolate. I heard that the IBUs for this came in quite high, but it seems more subtle and drinkable than expected, and the bitterness seems to emanate more from the roast than anything. The posted ABV of 9% is nicely integrated – you can tell this is a big beer, but at no point does it cross the line into boozy. The medium body helps to boost the flavours, and a pillowy carbonation bulks things up somewhat. Things improved further as it warmed, and a little below room temperature is probably the best serving point, allowing the full range of flavours to make their presence felt.

Canada’s most populous province sorely lacks imperial stouts, and this entry from Amsterdam is a welcome addition. Its bad boy looks and robust flavour makes for a satisfying quaff, and for those interested in cellaring, this should hold up relatively well.

Amsterdam Tempest Imperial Stout is currently available at the brewery retail store: 21 Bathurst Street, Toronto.

Toronto Beer Week Six-Month Countdown Event

TWO PUB CRAWLS TO HIT CITY ON SATURDAY MARCH 19TH

February 23, 2011 (Toronto, ON) - While St. Patrick’s Day may be on March 17th, craft beer drinkers will be awaiting the 19th with anticipation, as Toronto Beer Week (TBW) marks the start of its six-month countdown by inviting beer lovers on a drinking tour of some of the city’s finest establishments. The 2011 edition of TBW will take place over ten days in September from the 16th to the 24th, but drinkers can get a preview of the fun on March 19th.

Two pub crawls will hit the streets of the city at 2pm. A downtown crawl will be hosted by Cass Enright (founder of the popular Bartowel.com and Freeourbeer.org) and Rob Symes (news editor on Bartowel.com and contributing writer for TAPS The Beer Magazine). The crawl will begin at the Queen & Beaver at 35 Elm Street, before proceeding to The 3 Brewers, Duggan’s, beerbistro and C’est What.

At the same time, a second crawl hosted by Troy Burtch (Director of Sales & Marketing with TAPS The Beer Magazine and creator/writer of the Great Canadian Beer Blog) and Nick Pashley (author of ‘Notes on a Beermat’ and ‘Cheers! An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada’) will hit Kensington Market and the Annex. After meeting at The Cloak & Dagger (394 College Street) the next stops will be Caplansky’s Delicatessen, Burger Bar & Tequila Tavern, The Harbord House and the Victory Cafe.

A number of one-off beers will be available at most participating locations in addition to an already stellar lineup of brews. Food and drink promos will also be available at certain locations.

TBW crawl host and notorious propper-up of bars, Nick Pashley is a fan of pub crawls, and provided this quote in the run-up to the March 19th events: “Why a pub crawl? If you have to ask, this might not be quite for you. Some of us who can't wait for Toronto Beer Week have put together not one but two pub crawls. The concept is simplicity itself: turn up, buy beer, drink same, tip the bar staff, chat amiably with fellow pedestrians, move on to next pub and repeat as required. Bask in the company of Cass and Rob downtown or Troy and Nick in lower midtown, visit a few fine pubs, and drink excellent craft brews. You have better things to do?”

While there is no fee to participate in either crawl - other than your beer... we’re not that generous - RSVPing is recommended. For the downtown crawl email numbers to Rob at rob@torontobeerweek.com, and for Kensington Market / the Annex email Troy at troy@torontobeerweek.com.


About Toronto Beer Week
TBW is a series of events dedicated to the celebration and advancement of the craft beer movement. TBW will showcase authentically brewed and flavourful beer, the talented brewers who create them, and the licensees who proudly support them. It’s all about good beer – no bland, mega beer permitted!

TBW is a collectively owned organization involving some of Toronto’s most seasoned and passionate beer industry members. Our team includes publicans, brewers, media, marketers, and authors, all bringing their valuable experience and vision to create a significant event that reflects the best interests of all participants.

For more information, please contact:

Cass Enright
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
cass@torontobeerweek.com
416.520.5817

Rob Symes
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
rob@torontobeerweek.com
416.660.5620

Troy Burtch
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
troy@torontobeerweek.com
647.400.7051

Mondial de la Biere - Days 4, 5, 6, 7

I left off my last Mondial post at the end of day three so I'll pick it up at the beginning of day four (my day four), the third full day of the festival (Friday).

Day 4
This was the day that the MBiere Contest awards were to be handed out to all the winners of the 5th edition of the tasting.  A group of international judges gathered on days 1 & 2 to judges numerous beers available at the festival and shortly after 4pm the winners where announced in the media tent:

Platinum:
A la fut - Trippe à 3 a la Brett
Gold:
Benelux - Congo
Benelux - Cuda
Broadway - Sein d'esprit
Hopfenstark - Saison Station 55
Le Saint-Bock - Malédiction
Le Saint-Bock - R.I.P.
Le Saint-Bock - Sacrilège
Le Saint-Bock - Sacrilège ultime
McAuslan - St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout
Trou du Diable - La Saison du Tracteur

Le Saint-Bock was the big winner with four gold medals (all four beers are big and bold, strong in strength) and A la fut received the Platinum award for their Brett infected Trippel.  **Starting next year the MBiere Contest will be named in honour of the late Greg Noonan**

We had more help in the TAPS booth from Jordan St. John again and we had another busy afternoon.  By this point my voice started to go and my legs felt like cement...but my energy remained high with each new subscription the magazine received.  There were a lot of people stopping by the booth, including Gerry Heiter, the founder and organizer of the Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria, BC.  Great guy!  Really passionate about good beer.  We chatted for a long time about his festival and how alcohol regulations in BC limit him from throwing a festival similar to Mondial.  

Another Toronto TAPS reader, Rob Symes, arrived on Friday night to volunteer in booth for the entire weekend and when day three came to an end we headed out to Le Cheval Blanc to drink some sours.  We started off with a couple bottles of their single hop Warrior IPA, 100% fermented with bretts, bottle conditioned.  Unfortunately it was for us and we ended up sharing the bottles with the large contingent of Toronto people who were also there.  A bottle of Boon Mariage Parfait ended up on our table and got us back in the game.  Delicious.  There were also glasses of a Saison aged for five months in Chardonnay Oak barrels and more.

Hungry and tired we headed down the road to Le Saint-Bock for some dinner and a night-cap.  Back to the hotel.

Day 5

Saturday morning.  Getting close to the end.  Close to some rest and relaxation.  Saturday was not the day for rest, though.

It was raining a bit in the morning which thinned the early morning crowd but it picked up again early afternoon.  All the Quebec brewers who stopped by the booth kept saying, "You haven't seen anything yet.  Wait till 5pm."  Well, by 3pm the place was packed.  And I mean packed.  Each time a glass was dropped the entire crowd let out a deafening cheer, something that would continue all day and all night.

At 5pm we had another volunteer show up which provided Symes and I the opportunity to head to Dieu du Ciel for some pints.  Penombre and Isseki Nicho were my selections and both were damn nice.  I could drink the Nicho everyday.  We sat beside a dj from LA who was in town for work and decided to stop in to try all the beers.  On the other side of us was a couple from New York who came into town just for the festival.  It was fun to rub it in that the Jays just beat the Yankees in 14 innings!

Back out to the street and off to the famous Schwartz's restaurant for some smoked meat.  Simply amazing.  If you haven't been before - go.  We grabbed a spot at the counter (after waiting outside in line for 15mins) and soaked up the atmosphere.....and the meat.  

After finishing up the food we headed back to the festival to work the rest of the night.  When we got back the noise was crazy.  The last two hours of the festival flew by and we even managed to sell a few subscriptions, even though reading was the last thing on most people's minds.  Our t-shirts were pretty hot sellers though.

Numerous trip to the exhibitor bar area and our previous session at Dieu du Ciel, plus the previous nights, were catching up to me.  It was back to the hotel and off to bed.

Day 6

The last day of the festival.  Rain, lots of rain.  The crowds were thin until about 4pm or so.  The exhibitor fridge was running low and many of the breweries, and the petit pubs, were slowing running out of certain products.  However, we had many, many coupons left and because it was the last day we had to take advantage of them (we really did).  

My day started and ending with beers from MicroBrasserie Le Trou Diable.  The Saison de Tractuer, which one a gold medal, was/is a beautiful beer.  I did a small video interview with Andre Trudel who was thrilled with winning a medal.

I also did an interview/beer tasting with a reporter from Belgium who was interested in how Canada's perceived Belgian beers.  We sampled some beers from Brasserie du Boco (Blanche de Namur) and Brasserie la Binichoise (Blond) while he asked me about Canadian beers, Belgian beer labels and what I tasted in each sip.  

Over in the media tent Mirella Amato (Beerology) was leading a blind tasting of Ontario and Quebec beers and individuals were tasked with voting on each beer - either from Ontario or Quebec.  Amato was shocked, as was I when she told me, that 18 people thought that the Stout from Ontario's Hockley Valley brewery was the St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout while only 3 people got it right.  Interesting...

The day was coming to a close and we started tearing down our booth.  Loaded and packed in the TAPS trailer we headed out to dinner.  We found a Polish restaurant in Old Montreal that served Unibroue and Polish coffee.  Back to the hotel after dinner to polish off the beers we accumulated over the course of the week.  3:30am - day over.

Day 7

Up at 9am.  Sore head.  Got the vehicle and headed off to Chambly for some cheese.  Got some cheese.  Drove home.  The end.

Mondial was a great experience - everything I thought it would be.  I'm looking forward to attending again next year and I'm excited to see the new location.

Canadian Champagne? La Futee Blanche

While I continue to play catch-up in my ever increasingly busy life (boo hoo), Rob Symes comes through and saves the day by forwarding me a recent review he did of a Canadian Champagne beer from Quebec. This will be Symes fourth guest appearance here on the old GCPB blog and you can expect many more posts from him in the future.

A month or so ago I became a Canadian citizen, and the impending celebration had me thinking about what to celebrate with. For some bizarre reason champagne has managed to corner the market in this department, but I’m a) not splashing out at least $50 on a bottle and b) a beer drinker. Luckily relief came from one of the rarest forms of beer in the market – a Bière de Champagne – beer brewed with champagne yeast to produce the sparking spritziness and pop that we would expect from a veuve cliquot. What’s even better, this beauty is from Canada. Au Maître Brasseur is a Quebec brewery with two champagne-style beers under their belt already, so if you love beer and have a celebration coming up you might want to hit these guys up. Anyway, here’s how I found their beer, La Fûtée Blanche:

This is an impressive looking beast of a bottle. 750 ml, corked and caged with gold foil around the neck - it looks all the part of a champagne beer, and pours into our champagne flutes the colour of apple cider with an impressive white mousse. While the head dies down somewhat it is adequately sustained by the high carbonation and lays down the odd streak of lace. Its a nice appearance, though I do feel a clearer beer would have been a better choice for the style.

The aroma is a tad subdued, but is characteristic of a malt-forward wit. Orange peel and coriander mix in with apple and pear. Overall, its clean and seems appropriate for a champagne style - I mean I'm not expecting to be punched in the face by the aroma as soon as the cork is popped.

The flavours are nice, leaning heavily toward a Belgian Wit, but with more fruity esters than I'd normally expect. Orange, coriander and wheat make up the expected character, but banana and apple also make their presence felt. The finish is crisp, with a fresh orange sharpness cleaning the palate. Its a delicate, but delicious range of flavour which I really appreciated, and my wife loved.

The carbonation is perhaps the most marked characteristic of this style. A true biere de champagne should recall that we call champagne 'bubbly'. La Futée Blanche just scrapes in. I really expected a higher, more aggressive level of carbonation, but didn't find it here. While the carbonation was high it seemed more transient in the mouth, which is a minus for the style, but a plus for me. My fear was that I'd find this style of beer to be too bubbly and, if poorly done, bloating. Fortunately I really enjoy this mouthfeel - the carbonation is soft and gentle in the mouth, despite the high number of bubbles. Also, while, it doesn't linger to long, it does do an excellent job of refreshing the palate.

The drinkability is high. We had a 750 ml bottle, and it was gone before we knew it. So why don’t you ditch the traditional bubbly and jump on the beer bandwagon?

C'est What Spring Festival Review: By Rob Symes

I was in Kingston all of last weekend and I was unable to attend the beer events that were taking place in Toronto, including the 5th annual C'est What Spring Festival of Craft Brewers. Luckily, Rob Symes, good friend and frequent guest writer to this blog, was there to provide us with a re-cap of what George Milbrandt (publican) had in store for those in attendance. Here is Rob's take on things.

Last Friday night C’est What flung open its doors to welcome an enthusiastic crowd to its 5th Annual Spring Festival of Craft Breweries. The bar really has this event nailed, and it’s a model of efficiency and quality, so warm congratulations to George and his team. As in previous years, samples were available for the low, low price of $1, which allowed everyone to get a good overview of a lot of the beers offered. Here were a few of the highlights:

Amsterdam brought along two beers – Big Wheel Amber and Strong Spring Bock. The Big Wheel Amber was clean and easy drinking, and will be a good Summer option once its available in cans at the LCBO. The Strong Spring Bock made a rare appearance on keg and seemed markedly different to its bottled incarnation to the point that the creator of the recipe couldn’t even pick it out in a blind tasting. That’s not a bad thing though, because it seems like it may be one of the winner’s of the fest, receiving a lot of good feedback on its dark, fruity flavour.

Flying Monkeys Brewery debuted their Hoptical Illusion, which is destined for the LCBO this summer. It’s a pleasant light drinking ale, with a slight hop bite, and notes of orange and biscuit. It’s certainly a leap forward for the Barrie-based crew, and would make an easy-drinking session beer.

Talking about session beers, Charles MacLean brought along two casks to the festival, both clocking in at under 4%. MacLean has specialised in crafting small batches at his tiny operation, and has replicated a number of English-style ales with some expertise.

My highlight of the festival came from C’est What’s near neighbour in the Distillery District. Mill Street has had a couple of beers in their pipeline for the summer, and this was their first appearance outside of the brewpub. While I found their Peche a touch too sweet for my liking, the Lemon Tea Ale was phenomenal. A great combination of earl grey flavours and lemon balm produces a remarkably light and refreshing beer that’s going to be a winner on the patio this year. Well… at least for some people. A beer like this can be very divisive. We often complain that brewers in Canada play it safe when compared to their American counterparts, and that the styles produced here are unexciting and predictable. Unfortunately when brewers do take the risk, the exoticness of the flavours is often unduly criticised to an extent that I doubt an American brewer would experience. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, the Lemon Tea Ale is definitely worth a try.

Finally, we had a little teaser of what may be at the Black Creek Historic Brewery, as their Dark Ale made its debut. It’s full on berry bouquet should appeal, and the light notes of chocolate and roasted grains compliment the fruity flavours well. Hopefully the success of this beer bodes well for Ontario’s newest brewery.

Toronto Beer Week Update

Things are really starting to pick up with Toronto Beer Week. Events are starting to come in (we just posted the series of events that barVolo has planned yesterday) and we expect more and more will be pouring into our inbox in the weeks leading up to the September 20-26 week.

10,000 copies of the official TBW Passports just came off the printer and they will be available at all participating licensees very shortly. The fold up  - pocket sized passport features images and descriptions of all the participating establishments, including breweries and importers on one side, and the other side features a map of Toronto, marking all the locations where you'll be able to join in on events. The passport is free to grab and we hope that you'll want to keep your copy year round, using it as a guide to the places that support good beer in the city of Toronto.

We also received some good news the other day from Amsterdam Brewing. They have agreed to brew a 10hl batch of the winning entry for the first ever TBW Homebrew Competition. Rob Symes, a TBW Executive Committee member shared the news recently at a Board Meeting, explaining that the brewery will bottle and keg the winning submission similar to what they did with Derek Hyde's Bock recipe over a year ago. The beer won't be produced commercially until after the new year. If there wasn't much incentive to enter your beers before, well, there is now. Contact Symes at rob@torontobeerweek.com to get more information on the competition or visit our website and click on the TBW Homebrew Competition.

Way Overdue Toronto Beer Week Thoughts

Toronto Beer Week (TBW) was just wrapping up exactly one month ago today and here I am behind the eight ball with a very late post on the subject - My Pro's and Con's.

I believe I've mentioned it here before, but before going on, and for the sake of transparency, I should state again that I was/am on the Executive Committee for TBW and one of its co-founders.

A Humble Start
Beginning back in March of this year, a number of individuals starting discussing the idea of holding the first Beer Week in Toronto but it wasn't until a trip to the Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago that John Bowden, Cass Enright and myself actually started to get serious about it. We talked to some Ontario brewery representatives who were present in Chicago and we talked with some British Columbia brewers to see how the Vancouver Beer Week was shaping up (VCBW took place in May, after the Craft Brewers Conference). Upon returning to Toronto the TBW talk heated up and a committee was formed to start the process of getting the event up and running. We believed Toronto was ready for it and could handle a full week of beer events.

After months of meetings, hitting the pavement and working on logistics, our committee brought beer to the forefront in Toronto from September 20th to the 26th. It was the main focus in the city. The mainstream media (Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, National Post, NOW) all jumped on board and provided us with great coverage. There was also great support from online media (blogTO, beer and food bloggers) that we were ecstatic about.

Here are some of my Pro's and Con's

Pro's
Passports - The TBW Passports were a great success from our point of view. There were many licensees, breweries and drinkers that commented on the passports with overwhelmingly positive remarks. Each passport, in case you couldn't get your hands on one, featured a map of Toronto on one side that was highlighted with each participating licensee and brewery and the other side featured small bio's of each participating business.

These passports can be used for pub/restaurant suggestions as they cover the city. So, if you're heading to the west end and you're not sure where to find a good bar with a good craft beer selection, use the passport to see what's in the area.

Licensee Participation - This was key for the success of the week. When we were planning TBW we set a goal of signing up a minimum of 30 licensees - we ended up with almost 50! The response from the publicans surprised even us in the beginning. And after the week was complete, those we've followed up with were more than happy with the turnout their establishments received.

Troy, Fred (Charlevoix), Daniel (Garrison), Cass Enright

Quality of Events - The Ontario Craft Beer Week (June 2010) featured a number of events throughout the province but I felt that many of them lacked substance. Don't get me wrong, there were a number of very good and well organized events during their week, but TBW events had a lot of meat on the bone. New beers, brewers in attendance, beer dinners with international breweries, tastings with beer educators and writers, festivals and much more. There were events for everyone, across the whole city.



The TBW Logo - It will define the week. You see that logo and you are immediately reminded of the week.

TBW Homebrew Competition - Rob Symes, another individual on the Executive Committee (myself, Symes, Enright, and Bowden) developed the TBW Homebrew Competition, organized the judging, got great prizes and worked with Amsterdam Brewing Co. to get them to brew the winning entry on a commercial scale in February. He did an amazing job for a first year competition and the homebrewers responded by entering over 90 beers!

Con's
......I'm still trying to think of something.

No, in all seriousness I felt that the week went better than even our committee expected it to go. The people of Toronto, once we got our message out to the public, wanted this. The support from the public was unbelievable. We heard so many stories of licensees seeing new faces, getting returning customers, and at one place in particular, the cask ale continuing to run dry every other day.

One con that I personally have is the TBW website. I was the person that created and maintained the website this year. We used a free service and I believe it showed. The events had to be entered manually everyday, in the same format, and the application we were using provided me with numerous headaches when entering in information. Next year we'll have a 'real website'.

Thanks
I would also like to thank our great sponsors who provided artwork, advertising and more. Thanks to NOW Magazine, TAPS The Beer Magazine, Bar Towel.com, Industry Images, Canada Coaster, Igniter and Axis Gear.

And a very special thank you to the Honourable Steve Peters (Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario) who tapped the Mill Street cask to kick-off TBW - to Adam Grant of the Monks Table: A Gourmand House for hosting the TBW Media dinner in August to help spread the word! - and to Mill Street brewery for hosting the media launch.

Cask Ale Front and Centre: Guest Writer Rob Symes

I had one hell of a good time this weekend. I headed to Volo on Friday afternoon immediately after clearing the work off my desk to kick things off, meeting a bunch of friends for numerous pints of cask ale. The hard work by the CASK! group was clearly evident and all the pubs involved did an outstanding job promoting this (hopefully annual) event. I managed to get to four of the six pubs featured and sampled from each other their offerings. I had many drinking buddies along the way, including an Englishman of my age by the name of Rob Symes, who has graciously offered us this post on his Cask Crawl wrap-up. Enjoy!

This weekend saw a new kind of beer festival hit Toronto, as six locations across the city opened their doors and allowed beer lovers to sample cask conditioned ales. For those of you who are unclear what is meant by cask conditioned, let me explain. Cask beer undergoes a secondary fermentation in the barrel, is free of chemicals and preservatives, and is unfiltered and fresh. It can either be served by gravity (a tap in the bottom of the barrel opens to let beer into the glass), or by using a handpump on the bar. People who like cask beer tend to like it a lot, appreciating the freshness and enhanced taste and texture. This weekend’s event was organised in conjunction with Cask! Toronto, a group of cask devotees dedicated to promoting awareness and growth of cask beer in the province of Ontario.

On Friday night I had a chance to check it out for myself. Bar Volo has an outstanding reputation as a fine beer establishment, and in recent years has become a mecca for cask lovers due to its choice selection of local casks, and its annual fall festival in honour of the great elixir. The MacLean’s Country Organic Ale was a good choice to start, full of lemongrass and herbal flavours; it struck me as a great candidate for a summer patio. As a follow-up, C’est What’s Chocolate Hazelnut Ale made a rare appearance on cask, and would appeal to lovers of nutella with its rich milk chocolate base and strident hazelnut bouquet. The clear winner for me was Neustadt’s Texas Tea Stout, a rich creamy beer, full of roasted coffee, chocolate and cream. This beer is truly a remarkable achievement from a brewery who has hit their stride. The grand-daddy of them all (and an appropriate finisher) is Grand River’s Russian Gun Imperial Stout, a high octane beast of a beer that hides its alcohol well, and goes down a little too easily for something so strong. Grand River has become somewhat of a darling in the local beer scene, and their imperial stout should help cement their reputation.

A pub crawl demands at least two bars in an evening, and a number of people headed to the Victory Café, location of the wildly successful winter cask festival held on a frigid day earlier this year. The bar’s very own Compass Starlight (Nickelbrook) proved to be the perfect session ale, full of citrus notes, and balanced by a biscuit background. Along with the Neustadt, this is my favourite beer of the whole event, and I’d heartily recommend a visit to the Victory to try it. The County Durham Signature would also make an excellent choice for an evening’s drinking, mixing citrus with caramel and floral hints. Our final visit of the night took in C’est What, which was still packing in a crowd despite the late hour. For the Toronto cask lover this may well be ground zero – five handpumps dispensing delicious ale, including the very sessionable house brew, Al’s Cask Ale. County Durham’s Hop Head provided a wonderful burst of grapefruit and Grand River’s Curmudgeon IPA benefits nicely from the cask format. We returned the next day to try the Ploughman’s Ale and Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout with some friends. In keeping with a theme, C’est What also offers its own festivals and cask events, so check out the blog because they are always a great experience.

The festivities carried on throughout Sunday, with a marquis Cask IPA challenge at Volo (which I’m sure you’ll read about once Troy recovers enough to write it up), and the participating bars still pouring the remaining beers. However, the cask conditioned fun does not end with the close of this event. You can grab a pint at a number of fine establishments in the city , including those who took part in this event (The Granite, Volo, The Rhino, Mill Street Brewpub, Victory Café and C’est What?). For a list of other locations in Toronto and the rest of Ontario check out the Cask! Website for further details (hyperlinked: http://casktoronto.wordpress.com/pubs-brewers).

Beer Tripping in Buffalo: By Rob Symes

Craft beer drinking Ontarians are no strangers to heading out on weekend excursions to Buffalo, our neighbour to the South, to stock up on a number of well crafted American beers or other worldly hard-to-find styles at their private beer boutiques. Smuggling back some treasures to share with friends at tastings. Same can be said for day trips to their pubs to scan over beer menu's that can be pages long, indulging in stuff that we can only dream of here in our province.

Rob Symes, who has contributed to this blog on a number of occasions with some great posts, recently headed to Buffalo on a solo journey to discover some of those gems, and he stayed sober enough to put some words together about his experience.

My wife has just boarded a plane and departed for a week-long conference, and I’m at a loose end. An hour or so later I’m barrelling towards the USA on a coach. When I get to the border the guards ask me what I plan to do in Buffalo, and I tell them I’m just going to hang out. Their smiles tell me that perhaps Buffalo isn’t the best place to hang out in. The real purpose of my visit, though, is to see what Buffalo has to offer to the beer lover, and I’ve mapped out 5 bars that I plan to hit over the course of the day. I’m looking at the map when the bus driver strikes up conversation with me. He’s bought some new sneakers, and they’re the most comfortable pair he’s ever had. ‘Even better than New Balance’, he assures me. Thank God the bus is pulling into the terminal.

Coles
There’s not too much I can add to the prevailing wisdom on this great bar. Ask anyone with a knowledge of beer and Buffalo, and they’ll be able to tell you that Cole’s is the place to go, and more or less being the most northerly point of my crawl, it also marked the starting point for the day’s drinking. The selection is flat out excellent, and the only problem I had was narrowing down my choices, while at the same time keeping in mind that it probably wasn’t wise to start off with imperial stouts and barleywines. You could easily spend a long, long time in this bar enjoying great beer. I settle for a Great Lakes Independence Ale and busy myself with my Beaver (the Canadian history magazine, not the oversized rodent). The place is heaving on a Sunday afternoon, but the service is relatively speedy, and its not long before I’m enjoying a delightful eggs Benedict, which is almost as good as my own. Looking at my surroundings I feel like I’m in one part Cheers and one part an old saloon. This is very much an old American bar style, with lots of antique touches, and it eschews the rampant borrowing from other beer cultures which mars many a place. I cap my meal with a glass of Stone 13th, an excellently rich beer from one of America’s most respected breweries, and painfully drag myself away from the seductive beer menu and on to the street.

Mr. Goodbar
Its Sunday afternoon and I've already had lunch at Cole's. Its the second stop of my Buffalo bar-hop and this is the bit I feel most self-conscious about. There's something supremely decadent about leaving one bar, and taking a sharp left straight into the bar next door. I feel like a lush.

Goodbar is dark and gloomy, even on this sunny July day. An L-shaped bar lies off to the right, and a cross between a pool joint and a frat house lurks on the left. A disparate group of locals line the bar, and they all seem to know each other. The bartender looks like a roadie, but turns out to be a gentle giant. He's manning the frying station, which is kicking up an awesome smell of hot and barbecue wings. I belly up to the bar after checking out the menu of roughly 30 taps, and decide to take it east with a Troegs Pale. The person next to me is talking about beer advocate. It appears to be a place in the know. I make short order of the Troegs - its a simple, easy drinking beer, which fails to last long in the glass - and move on to a Weyerbacher Double Simcoe. The prices are stupidly low, especially considering the barman gifts me my first beer for making me wait a few moments. The damage comes to $4. I'd heard about the washrooms and had been crossing my legs in anticipation since drinking my second beer at Coles. True to form, they are legendary. Every surface is covered in graffiti. The stall door won't close. The toilet seat isn't actually attached to the toilet. Best of all, the urinal seems to resemble a horse's trough and would be the ideal receptacle for some vomit. The place oozes character in a disgustingly beautiful way. It reminded me of Havana, and how the decay made the place. Back at the bar, a four year-old boy is now sat on the stool next to me. Things are getting weird. I drink my Simcoe and leave.

Allen Street Hardware
A brisk walk from Mister Goodbar gives me the opportunity to have a breather and take a momentary break from beer. I sit in a park and watch the passing Buffalo (Buffalonians?). Allen Street Hardware is the third stop in my Buffalo bar-hop, and by the time I get there, I feel thirsty and in fine spirits. Allen Street itself seems like a funky little strip, and there's some sort of street music festival going down, and the music pleasantly wafts through the bars doors, giving the place a cool indie vibe. That would suit this bar. While not exactly ritzy, its a step up from Goodbar in terms of decor, and seemingly draws a hipper crowd. There's a guy at the bar dressed as either Bob Dylan or a 19th century gentleman. Perhaps it is Bob Dylan... I hear he's getting stranger in his old age. The service at the bar is good, but sadly the tap list is not. Only 3 taps, I'm informed - a Fuller's, Duvel Green and the bar-specific Piledriver IPA. I opt for the Green because I'm curiously how this beer matches up to its bigger brother. The answer is poorly. The bottle list seems somewhat better, but I always thought bottles were for home consumption. I pay up and leave. Its a nice place, and in a good location, but I don't know if I'll ever be back.

Colter Bay
Colter Bay is the fourth of my bar-hopping stops, and is only a short walk from Allen Street Hardware. The interior is bright, airy and clean, but not really what I look for. I do however like the islands bar that everyone is sat around - it affords a panoramic view of the diverse clientele and presents a nice opportunity to see all the action. My server is friendly and in no time there's a Great Lakes Commodore Perry sat in front of me. Damn, I love Great Lakes, and this will be my overriding memory of this bar. That, and the peanut machine, which dispenses a handful for only 25 cents. Oh, and I won't forget the server doing shots with the customer - the second time I've seen this today, and perhaps a classy Buffalo tradition. Overall, Colter Bay impressed me. It had a nice range of around 30 local, national and imported taps and commands a good location. If I find myself in Allentown again I'll be back, but right now dinner is calling.

Fat Bob’s Smokehouse
A short stroll brings me to Fat Bob's Smokehouse, an awesome little joint down a quiet side street. The sun is streaming down, so I head straight through the interior and on to a spacious and pleasant patio. Within moments my server is there with a menu, but conspicuously nothing about beer, and I notice there's no tap list displayed outside. I hate asking servers what's on tap, because invariably they forget something (or start "Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light..."), or I get flustered and pick something I don't really want. Fortunately I alight on Flying Bison Oatmeal Stout. A poor match for the weather, but a great pairing my barbecued food.

I'm not American and this is my first time in a barbecue restaurant, so I ask my server what's good, and decide to go with her pick. The recommendation proves to be a good one. The pulled pork is sweet and delicious, the mac and cheese is homey and satisfying, and the grilled vegetables are a homey delight. If you're thinking of eating here go ahead and do it right now... this was one of the best meals I've had all year. As I finish my meal I ask for the bottle list out of curiosity, and its quite good. Sadly, however, its time to leave.

Pearl Street Grill
Its very nearly time for me to stagger on to the bus and leave Buffalo for good, but there’s still time to fit in one more bar, and I wander over to the Pearl Street Grill. Why do I keep coming back here? Perhaps its because its so close to the bus station and makes a good place to kill time? I've had two previous visits to this brewpub, both of which have been served up with mediocre beer. It seems to fall between two stools, with all the beer being better than macro, but worse than your average craft. In this sense, it really pales in comparison to Buffalo's other beer bars. Nonetheless I’ve not written them off yet, so I belly up to the bar, and order what turns out to be an exceptionally poor version of a maibock. Its then that it strikes me that sometimes its not all about the beer. The barman is friendly and the service is exceptional, and an itinerant musician strikes up conversation with me, and we talk about the city. People are laughing at their tables, the lights are low, and the beers flowing. Its been a great day, and I've drank some world-class beers, but I can't help but feel that they were only part of the experience, and that visiting the bars themselves was the real highlight.

I'll be back.

Toronto Beer Week Announces Dates For 2011 Week

TORONTO BEER WEEK IS COMING BACK TO TOWN!

2nd annual event to be held September 16-24, 2011

February 7, 2011 - TORONTO – We are pleased to announce that the 2nd annual Toronto Beer Week (TBW) will once again be taking over the streets of Canada’s largest city. Working off a tremendously successful week in 2010, TBW promises to be bigger and better this year, and due to popular demand will be expanding to add an additional weekend. 2011 will now see 10 days of beer-related events celebrating quality craft brews, and the amazing places you can enjoy them.

For seven days in Fall 2010, the city of Toronto was transformed into heaven for craft beer drinkers as over 50 bars, pubs and restaurants participated in the city’s first ever beer week. They were joined by 17 breweries, 3 brewpubs, and 5 import agencies who delivered on their promise to deliver an outstanding week of great beers, events and venues.

2010 featured an extensive range of memorable events, including brewery dinners, beer festivals, one-off special casks and much more. It could also claim to being a truly citywide event, as good beer bars all across Toronto joined in on the fun. This vast range of events and locations made TBW a celebration of beer that appealed to Torontonians sense of diversity and exploration. A world-class week for a world-class city!

The 2011 edition will commence on Friday September 16th and will run until Saturday September 24th, with plans to include even more unique experiences for beer drinkers. “Last year was a huge success for us, more successful than we ever imagined, and we’d like to build on that and bring Toronto residents much more in 2011,” stated co-founder, Troy Burtch.

“Our team heard a lot of feedback after our inaugural week and the consistent message was that we could stretch out the 2011 week to offer more events, beer dinners, pub crawls, home brew competitions etc. Also, the new 10-day format allows for more individuals living outside the city to travel to Toronto to participate. We heard from a lot of people who made Toronto a travel destination during the week and we’re proud to help boost tourism numbers in this great city.”

The TBW team will once again be working with breweries and licensees to create events that suit their independent character, and deliver outstanding and memorable experiences to all attendees. “We’re exploring new and exciting ways to promote the Week and encourage awareness of the incredible beers that are now available in Toronto, as well as the unique venues that sell them, said Burtch.”

To find out about all the latest developments visit us at www.torontobeerweek.com or follow us on our Facebook and Twitter pages (@torontobeerweek).

---

About Toronto Beer Week
TBW is a series of events dedicated to the celebration and advancement of the craft beer movement. TBW will showcase authentically brewed and flavourful beer, the talented brewers who create them, and the licensees who proudly support them. It’s all about good beer – no bland, mega beer permitted!

TBW is a collectively owned organization involving some of Toronto’s most seasoned and passionate beer industry members. Our team includes publicans, brewers, media, marketers, and authors, all bringing their valuable experience and vision to create a significant event that reflects the best interests of all participants.

For more information, please contact:

Troy Burtch
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
troy@torontobeerweek.com
647.400.7051

Rob Symes
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
rob@torontobeerweek.com
416.660.5620

Cass Enright
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
cass@torontobeerweek.com

John Bowden
Executive Committee, Toronto Beer Week
john@torontobeerweek.com

21st Annual Fall Festival of Craft Breweries: C'est What Wrap-Up

The following was written by guest writer and friend Rob Symes, as I couldn't lift my head on Sunday after a long night of pub crawling.

Earlier this year I wrote a piece on C’est What’s Spring Festival of Craft Breweries. Either it wasn’t too shabby or Troy is still recovering from his bachelor party because he’s asked me to do a report on the Fall edition.

As always, C’est What? Does a great job of holding these events, and the ability to sample for $1 or $2 really gives the punters the opportunity to broaden their horizons, try new styles and become introduced to new breweries. This year showcased 46 beers from 33 breweries, and most notably of all saw 11 casks on offer, which is a new high water benchmark for the pub. Attendance was high, seats were at a premium and the servers did the place a credit with their endless pouring.

A definite highlight for me was Great Lakes Redneck IPA, one of the hoppiest and tastiest beers I’ve had from them yet. Full on citrus greets the palate, but has just enough malt to keep things balanced. If you’ve not had a Great Lakes one off yet then you’ve been missing out. The brewery has taken a new direction in recent years with the addition of interesting seasonals, and has continued to accelerate with the installation of a pilot system that they are using to make experimental cask beers. You’ll find the occasional offering popping up at the usual places, but where its really at is their regular Project X event, on the second Thursday of the month.

Experimentation was to be found elsewhere, but with more mixed results. The last C’est What festival saw the debut of Flying Monkeys’ Hoptical Illusion, which has been a nice addition to the LCBO’s shelves with its sessionable character and gentle Amarillo hopping. For the fall edition the brewery brought down the Hoppopatamonkey, a device which allows the beer to filter through fresh hops as its poured. This has been tried before, most notably by Dogfish Head of Delaware, but Flying monkey’s still have a few kinks to work out. While the aroma of the hopped up Hoptical Illusion was delicious and enticing, the flavour erred towards the antiseptic. Though I finished my sample, several around me did not. I believe this was the Hoppopatamonkey’s public debut, and I’m sure with some refinements it will prove to be an interesting and worthwhile twist, so watch this space.

Another unique sight at the festival was a huge wooden barrel sat at the end of one of the bars. This offering was a porter from Black Creek Brewery, who are trying to brew beer the old fashioned way in the pioneer village tourist attraction. I say trying because I don’t know how well they are doing. If this beer is reflective of how things used to be then I’m glad we’ve moved on. If you didn’t get a chance to try it, but a cheap bottle of red wine, pour a glass and have it for breakfast the next day. I like what they are doing up there (I’m a history grad so I dig this), but I can’t see this beer winning over many admirers.

My beer of the fest? Step up Black Oak Brewing to receive congratulations on your new fall seasonal! Black Oak Oaktoberfest will be available at the brewery shop in a couple of weeks. Big toasted malt flavour with hints of caramel and smoke come on top of a great appearance and smooth cask pour. Ken and Adrian know how to do a great cask, but I think this one will also transition well into bottle.

Other new beers on show at the fest included a vienna lager from Grand River, a smoked beer from C’est What and a brown ale from Charles MacLean. Grand River’s cask Vienna was vanilla heavy and easy drinking, so it should appeal to a broad market. C’est What’s Big Butt brings a smooth smoky flavour and the opportunity for some rather obvious jokes (most people seem to like Big Butt), and I believe it is now a regular addition to their lineup. Finally MacLean’s brown ale hit the style spot on. He does some great English cask beers that have subtle flavours but great potential for sessionability.

All things considered, I didn’t find the quality of this fall’s offerings to be as good as previous events, most likely because previous incarnations had set the bar so high. What I did so, though, was our brewers making huge steps in the right direction. Black Oak’s new seasonal was spectacular, Great Lakes continue to surprise, and experimentation has increased. Best of all, cask is becoming more of a preferred format, driven in part by the enthusiasm of our brewers, partly by the market, and partly by bar owners, like George, who are shaping that market.

TAPS The Beer Magazine - Fall 2011 Issue Contents

TAPS The Beer Magazine - Fall 2011 Issue
Up front disclosure: It is no secret that I am 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.10 Bar Snacks Coast To Coast Industry News

p.15 Truly All Canadian
With ingredients such as birch syrup from the Yukon, partridge berries from Newfoundland and teas and berries from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, this ale was designed to exhibit all of Canada.

p.16 Down The Hatch featuring Garrison's Daniel Girard by Troy Burtch
Girard lived and worked overseas for many years, including Japan, and after graduating from the prestigious VLB Berlin, Girard made his way back to Canada.

p.18 The Business Of Beer by Rob Symes
The first article in a series looking at the business of brewing. We kick off with beer’s journey from simple ingredients to something we know and love

p.21 French Connection by Mirella Amato
With the recent expansion, Grisé is very much looking forward to creating a few new brands and is also thinking of reviving a few classic Le Bilboquet recipes that haven’t been brewed in at least eight years. “One has to have some fun. I hate falling into a routine and producing beer just because it needs to be made.” he explains “It helps keep my creative juices flowing.”

p.23 Brewing A Brewery by Matt J. Simmons
Chapter Four in the ongoing series about starting a microbrewery... Lately, the brewery has become the one juggling ball to hit the floor and roll under the fridge. Will we fish it out? Sure, we’ll move the fridge eventually, and we may even do some cleaning while we’re under there. But for now...

p.24 Brew School
Year one is in the books. The inaugural group of students with Niagara College's Brewmaster and Brewery Operation Management program made it through their first year of studies. All 24 of them. We thought we'd ask a number of those first year students some questions to see how year one went and what they're looking forward to in year two.

p.28 Ode To The Great Pumpkin by Mike Tessier
As All Hallows Eve approaches, and the nights get colder, a spell is seemingly cast on brewers all over the world. Like zombies they start sacrificing small pumpkins in their brewing cauldrons...

p.30 Quaffs, Questions & Answers featuring Terry Lock by Mirella Amato
Terry Lock is the chairman for the European Beer Consumers Union. The EBCU was founded in 1990 by three beer consumer organizations, representing Belgium, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, in order to allow these organizations to lobby effectively at EU levels. The ECBU has become the recognized voice of beer consumers across Europe.

p.32 Hell Bay by Craig Pinhey
The south shore of Nova Scotia, particularly the area near Liverpool, is famous for the privateer vessels that travelled the coastline in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the war-torn years of this seafaring town. Privateers raided Liverpool on several occasions; targeting French vessels but also doing battle with the British militia. They were not quite pirates, and perhaps didn’t say ‘arrgh, ye mateys’ all the time, but privateers were surely ruthless, and might have proclaimed, “I’d kill for a beer,” and meant it.

p.34 Adventures Of A Craft Beer Foodie... by Tracy Phillippi
The year is 1860, and you and your immigrant family are travelling to the St.Lawrence Market in Toronto. You arrive at the ‘Half Way House’ on Kingston Road in Scarborough. You saunter in, but rather than a taproom, yet your surroundings resemble a modern-day community centre. For this is a time when small-scale, craft beer was the centre of community socializing and an integral part of a healthy human diet.

p.36 Overnight Success by Greg Clow
Muskoka Brewery in Bracebridge, Ontario is a brewery that has overcome 15 years of obstacles and rolled with the punches thrown at them by a constantly evolving craft beer marketplace...

p.39 In Depth by Troy Burtch
Internationally renowned, Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver.

p.45 Judgement Days
As the Canadian Brewing Awards continue to grow with the participation of more and more breweries each year, the number of beers submitted also rises. Thiwas apparent with almost 500 beers entered for consideration in 2011. With 84 Canadian breweries vying for gold, silver, and bronze medal tap handle trophies in 39 different style categories, we needed to increase the number of judging days and sessions while attracting more judges than ever before.

p.46 All The Winners!
The 2011 Canadian Brewing Awards complete list of winners.

p.49 The Perfect Pair
Premier chefs Mark McEwan and Michael Smith create delicious dishes for beer pairing, exclusively for TAPS.

p.53 Weekend Blunch by Chef Michael Olson
I like the idea of brunch, I do, really. But I don’t want coffee with food, and yogurt is not as appealing as it should be, sorry. Stay with me on this one though, I really like the idea of having friends over for a relaxed weekend lunch where we can enjoy some delicious food and look for some new beers. BEER + LUNCH = BLUNCH.

p.58 Savor by Chuck Cook
The intent of SAVOR is to be the premier beer and food pairing event in the USA. From June 3rd-4th, in Washington, DC, 72 independent American breweries were represented, pouring 144 different beers over the two sessions, on a Friday and Saturday night. Two expert chefs paired each craft beer with various delectable dishes..

p.63 Confessions Of A Brewer by Sam Corbeil
Left and Leaving: Leaving is a selfish time, a time to focus on yourself and that’s okay, because it’s once you’ve left that you start to really think about other people and what you’ve left behind. When you’ve left a job, you’re gone; it’s over, it’s final...

p.64 The New Scotland by Matt J. Simmons
...a few days earlier, I stood at the bar in a country pub with a pint of English bitter, picking the locals’ brains for what to expect from their northern neighbours’ brewing styles. “There aren’t any good beers up there,” one local said. He raised his glass to his lips and grinned. “You’ll want to stick to sampling whisky, mate.”...

p.67 Chile's David & Goliath by John Holl
What I came to realize is that Chile, a country known and celebrated for its wine, is experiencing the first real growth spurt following its craft beer birth. There are estimates of as many as one hundred breweries spread throughout the South American country and more being planned with each growing month. If you haven’t heard much from Chile or tasted their beers yet, I’m sure that will change in the coming years.

p.71 High On Gravity by Craig Pinhey
As a homebrewer, I wanted to make two kegs of 3.5-4% bitter, one for me and one for my friend, so I made a strong ale of around 7-8%, hopped the bejeesus out of it, and then split the batch, adding sterile water and dry hops as I kegged it. And it turned out fine. I did not feel guilty.

p.73 Flying The Flag For Proper Beer by Martin Sayers
This year CAMRA – The Campaign for Real Ale – celebrates its fortieth birthday and anybody with a love of British beer will be familiar with the huge success that the group has had in championing traditional styles of beer, ale and cider and the pubs that serve them. What began life as a small gathering of beer drinking enthusiasts has become one of the biggest pressure groups in Britain, with over 120,000 members and a reputation as the most successful consumer group in Europe.

p.75 Cervezas In The Sun by Connie Proteau
Baja Brewing Co., or the BBC as the locals like to call it, is the first and so far, only craft brewery that makes its home on the over 1200 kilometre stretch of land on the west coast of Mexico known as the Baja California peninsula. The brewery is the brainchild of a young man from Colorado. As a college student, Jordan Gardenhire had a penchant for dabbling in homebrewing coupled with a desire to live the surfer lifestyle.

p.77 Keeping It Local by James Burla
A visit to beautiful Vancouver Island is a trip every Canadian should take, but a secondary trip into the Gulf Islands is the really hidden gem. Many brewmasters start their career as homebrewers and after sharing their creations with others often become an integral part of a new craft brewery. This is how it happened for Murray Hunter and Gulf Islands Brewing.

p.79 Tuff Enough For Tofino by Matt J. Simmons
Tempestuous waves crash violently onto the sand as surfers, clad in the ubiquitous neoprene uniform of the Pacific coast, struggle to stay upright in the churning water... and BC’s newest brewery surfs on early success...Tofino Brewery

p.81 True Taste Of Flavours by Luke McKinney
Every field develops its own language, and beer reviewers have a more specialized dialect than a Navajo R2-D2. They discuss fruity tastes more often than Adam and Eve, with better results, and are the only people in the world to regularly use the word ‘ecru’ (because ‘greyishyellowish- brown’ doesn't sound very tasty). Which begs the question: how do notes of pineapple and banana get into a beer?

p.83 Carboys In The Laundry Room by Christine Beevis
What's your homebrew setup? Unlike craft or commercial brewing, with their systems costing tens of thousands of dollars, home brewers seem to be able to cobble together a brewing system from just about anything lying around at home, or available for purchase at Home Depot. Here’s a sampling of a few Halifax-based homebrewers’ setups and their thoughts on the pros and cons.

p.86 Tasting Notes
Fat Tug IPA - Driftwood, Hopyard Pale Ale - Garrison, Blanche - Brasseurs du Monde, Discovery Low Gravity Ale - Spinnakers, Mill Race Mild - Grand River, Vienna Lager - King Brewery

Tasting notes provided by Stephen Beaumont, Roger Mittag, Chester Carey, Greg Clow, Craig Pinhey and Troy Burtch

p.88 Homebrewing Recipe - by Eric Ecclestone
This issue: Belgian Dubbel.

p.89 Brewers, Barkeeps, Redcoats & Rebels by Matthew Bellamy
Few heard the heavy oak door slam shut behind him as the barkeeper John Montgomery entered the tavern that bore his name. The colonial drinkinghole was in a state of frenzy. This fact alone, however, did not distinguish the night of December 4th, 1837. Colonial taverns were often ruckus places, serving as civic centres for elections and meetings, as entrepots for commerce and trade; as sites for social events, from horse races to auctions, boxing matches to craft workshops, balls to religious gatherings and sometimes, as on this night, they acted as hothouses for rebellion.

p.92 My Shout by Stephen Beaumont
My most recent trip, at time of writing, was to London for the biggie of the European beer festival circuit, the Great British Beer Festival. It was not my first such voyage, as I have travelled to the GBBF numerous times in the past, even arriving early enough to judge one year, but as with all such prior trips, it was uniquely illuminating. Here are a handful of the lessons I learned.