December 23rd

Christmas celebrations started a day early for me, with a night of catching up with friends (and some Rock Band). As I came from work, my drinking options were limited to the small selection of cold beers at the LCBO nearest me, stupidly forgetting about the nice LCBO one minute away from the gathering. It did give me a chance to reacquaint myself with Amsterdam Nut Brown, the best choice I had. It was a decent beer, heavy on the malty sweetness but not overpowering or too strong of a nutty flavour. My main complaint is that it lacks any real depth – every sip tastes the same. After two cans, that is enough.

Amsterdam Nut Brown on Ratebeer

Today: 1L. Year-to-date: 39.63L.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! There was no beer under my tree, but some scotch and whisky – just was I was looking for! There was a beer book, though.

Cheers! To Nick Pashley

I finished Nick Pashley’s Cheers!: A History of Beer in Canada sometime ago, but don’t assume the lag time of posting this review has anything to do with the quality of the book. If anything, the idea of trying to do justice to the wit and humour of Pashley has me somewhat intimidated. Perhaps it is best to start at the beginning.

I read Nick’s first book, Notes on a Beermat, around this time last year and was happy to have an intelligent, funny and engrossing book that talked about beer in a way that was relatable. The book was composed of observations and stories from a lifetime of drinking, slapped together in an incoherent way that somehow made sense. Because of this, I was a little hesitant when I found that Cheers! would  involve research that was performed away from alcoholic beverages (sometimes). Luckily, the charm of Pashley’s writing still comes out as he traces the history of beer in Canada, including prohibition and the weird and wacky laws that ensued. It takes a skilled writer of non-fiction to combine their personal thoughts and experiences with the subject matter at hand.

My main criticism is that the book lags near the end, when Pashley tours around Canada and drinks regional brews from most provinces and territories. This section feels forced, like he undershot his page limit and needed some filler. Also, most of the beauty from his stories are how the everyday, unexpected experiences at a pub can be the most memorable or transformative (like having cask beer explained to you for the first time, which is as transformative as it gets for a beer geek). His adventure across Canada is, for the most part, forced to be distinct, when the reality is that the most interesting parts do not happen while drinking (every Canadian remembers the horrific Greyhound accident that happened a year or two back, which puts a perspective when travelling on a bus in Manitoba). Pashley went out looking for stories, found none but wrote about it anyway.

The book is still an excellent read and not just for beer drinkers. If you ever meet anyone who is really mad at the government regulated system set up in their province, this book will help them vent their anger. If you haven’t read either book, go run out to your local book store or library and rectify that situation. (Then read the book. Then tell me I was right.)

Holiday programming note: this will be the last post before Christmas. Go enjoy time with your family and stop being on the Internet. (If you can’t quit it, go read Stephen Beaumont’s holiday beer rules.)

Please don’t drink and drive.

There will probably be a glut of posts around the 26th or 27th, depending on how my liver recovers. I hope Santa is good to all the beer lovers out there. (My real wish is for some single-malt. Don’t let me down family!)

Merry Christmas!

December 21st

While it may not always be fair, I always like to try and compare beers to catch the variations between beers of the same style. In this case, the fresh memory of Mike Duggan’s porter was put up against Fuller’s London Porter. The Fuller’s was obviously lighter, in both body and colour. Perhaps because I had let it warm up more than the last time I had it (about a month ago), the flavours didn’t come together as nicely as the Mike Duggan interpretation. Still tasty and a great value, but I give the win to the local kid.

Fuller’s London Porter on Ratebeer

Today: 250mL. Year-to-date: 38.63L.

December 19th

Last night was, intentionally, a night of two brewpubs and, unintentionally, a competition between the oldest brewpub in Toronto and the newest. As I was working in the area, Soph and I met up for dinner and drinks at Granite. My excitement was for the fact that I would finally be trying the Granite Gin Lane Ale, one of the few Ontario barley wines. Poured in an psuedo-snifter, it initially looked like murky apple cider, becoming more opaque as the beer settled and warmed up. At nine percent ABV, it’s not the strongest barley wine out there and not the most flavourful. Mostly raisins and a bit of toffee, it lacked the alcoholic bite and strong dose of hops. While still tasty, my big problem with Granite beers is that they always seem to be very thin and this continued the trend.

Fighting weariness from our long work days and the big meal we had inhaled, we still managed to check out the new brewpub opened by Mike Duggan. The #9 IPA has been around in Toronto for sometime now and has become a reliable option at some bars, so there was a certain level of expectation already put on the rest of his beers. Only the top part of the brewpub was open, a swanky looking dining room and bar. Not ordering food, the menu escaped us but there was definitely some poutine and pulled pork going around, as well as a chalk board oyster sign. Definitely looks like this part of the brewpub is meant to lure in the business clients or beer geeks looking for a fancier night out. A nice touch was the decorative glasses on each table that were filled with different types of barley, though we were tempted to snack on some of it while sitting there.

My order was the London Porter and Soph got the Asian Lager (which I drank a good portion of, so it’ll get a writeup). The first surprising aspect was that all beers are served in lager glasses. Whether it is intentional or they just don’t have the glassware situation sorted out, I don’t know. (It wasn’t busy enough to be out of clean glasses.) The porter was a very dark brown with a lot of chocolate and a bit of oak. Very drinkable, I could picture having this around a fire. The lager was made from Asian rice and hops, creating a really different beer. The lemon and pepper are really evident, but also a trace of banana and sweetness that worked well. The hops in the finish made it a thirst quencher that just makes you want more. I know rice is usually the sign of a terrible macro beer, but that isn’t the case here. Hopefully they’re selling growlers of this in the summer.

Our very nice waiter also offered to get us samples, which is hard to turn down. I got a mini-stein of the Festbier, a German lager that was their strongest brew at 6.7% ABV. Very bready and grassy, it was nice until the alcohol hits you in the finish. Definitely try it before you buy it. The other beers currently available are the IPA, a German pilsner, Irish stout and a weissbier. The IPA is not available for take-home purchases yet but our server said they were hoping for next Monday. (They did have bottles and packages on display, which looked quite snazzy.)

While we were impressed with our visit to the brewpub, especially as it had only been open four days, the location does not seem like an ideal spot. The building is nice, but I can’t see there being a lot of foot traffic. There’s nothing else open on Victoria on a Saturday night, but they may be banking on the 9-5 crowd. I’ll definitely be back, especially when I can buy some of the IPA.

Granite Gin Lane Ale

Mike Duggan Asian Lager

Mike Duggan Festbier

Mike Duggan London Porter

Today: 1.1L. Year-to-date: 38.38L.

December 17th

I have been enjoying the Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock for three years now and it was probably the first really strange beer that I fell in love with. (How weird is it? They take the normal Aventinus, freeze it and remove the ice. Blam-o! Now you’ve got a 12% ice beer.) It was a gateway beer to the wide world of beer and beer styles. (And it’s German! I can finally hand out some praise to the Land of Lagers, just don’t mention that it’s for an ale.)

Of course, the past three years have brought along many other beers with an alcohol content above ten percent, so the Weizen-Eisbock must go through a yearly ritual where it gets re-evaluated to see it the magic is still there. So far, it’s holding up quite well. It poured with a huge, billowing head and a lovely, deep amber colour. There are lots of flavours to go around, with bananas, cloves and caramel malts. The alcohol is definitely present and could use some aging to mellow it, but it worked well as a nice warming beer for a winter day (though make sure you’re at home and planning on staying there).

Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock on Ratebeer

Today: 500mL. Year-to-date: 37.28L.

December 16th

The Cloak and Dagger on College St has always appealed to me because it serves good beer, but is dark, dingy and unpretentious. (Not that the main places for quality beer are pretentious, but you won’t see someone at the Cloak whip out their tasting notebook.) There are downsides to the bar as well, namely loud music, but it has character and gives an option for a long stretch of road that has little to offer.

They also do a pretty good job of rotating some taps with seasonal offerings and even have a chalkboard menu especially for the beer geek. Ordering off that, I went for the Church-Key Holy Smoke, a smoked scotch ale that I have run across many times but always passed by. It poured with a lovely, cream head and what I can only describe as a brown, slightly translucent colour. (Another knock against the bar: too dark to see and appreciate what you’re drinking.) It didn’t smell as smoky as expected, but the flavour definitely came through. There was a definite firewood taste, as well as some peat. Nothing too overpowering, but nicely balanced. The taste was fleeting, but it was well crafted other than that.

Church-Key Holy Smoke on Ratebeer

Today: 500mL. Year-to-date: 36.78L.

December 15th

To me, dubbles and tripels are to Belgium what pale ales are to North America: every brewer worth a dime makes beers in the style, which creates a glut for the beer drinker to choose from. Most brewers play up some particular aspect to try and differentiate their product. (In Belgium, it’s usually imagery of a monk and/or abbey, especially if there is no actual historical connection. In North America, it’s either hops and/or “all-natural ingredients”.) At first it can be daunting when surrounded by so many seemingly similar options, but eventually you can separate the various tiers. (For beers like Keith’s India Pale Ale, you must refer to Dante’s various levels of hell.)

And all of that is a long, winding way of introducing the very average Bornem Dubbel. It has all the necessary characteristics of dubbels and exemplifies the style, though does not separate itself from the pack. It had a nice body, lots of candied sweetness (perhaps too much for some) and a small trace of alcohol to warn the drinker. A satisfying dubbel.

Bornem Dubbel on Ratebeer

Today: 330mL. Year-to-date: 36.28L.

December 13th

After the kerfuffle that has erupted on the interwebs over the Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 (and 40) coming to Ontario in limited supply, I was fairly certain that this beer was not going to justify all the madness, speculation and hoarding. After all, I happen to think the (very popular) line of cask aged beers more common in Ontario, put out by Innis & Gunn, are not worth the fuss and price.

Doing my best to put all this out of my head, I poured and sniffed, my sense of smell automatically tingling at the integration of whiskey aromas. There is not doubt this is a black beer, with a tan head that did not linger for too long. To some, it may taste like an ashtray, but I loved the melding of roasted malts, oak and an obvious but subtle whiskey flavour. It was one of those beers where every sip gave different flavours: toffee, cinnamon, a hint of bitterness, oak. The Ola Dubh 12 definitely warrants the fuss.

(On a slightly bragging note, I was able to snag a bottle of the 40 today, along with more of the 12. Splitsies, anyone?)

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12 on Ratebeer

Today: 330mL. Year-to-date: 35.95L.

December 12th

Rookie mistake: buying a growler of a seasonal beer when the season is long since over. Chances are it will be far past its prime. Even knowing this, I was happy to purchase a growler of Mill Street Nightmare on Mill Street Pumpkin Ale when I passed through their retail store last week, returning an empty. Even though it was December and the beer was brewed for October, I hadn’t been able to try it at the time and I figured they wouldn’t do something like sell an inferior product. Whoops.

After popping the cap, even before pouring, I could smell a sour butterscotch aroma battling the pumpkin. This duel continued through the tasting, which was a wholly unpleasant combination. There was also a healthy dose of vegetables, but not in the way you’d hope for in a pumpkin beer. A fairly terrible experience and one that I got to drink a whole lot of.

Mill Street Nightmare on Mill Street Pumpkin Ale

Today: 1.2L. Year-to-date: 35.62L.

December 11th

When you’re faced with a bomber of imperial stout, it’s usually a good idea to have someone to split it with. If the beer is supposed to mimic creme brulee, that gives even more reason. At first, the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout might sound like a horrible idea and, depending on your preference, the final result might qualify as one. It definitely does a good job of recreating the taste and smell, with lots of carmelization from the added lactose. However, the added element of alcohol makes it seem a bit like cough syrup, though I found this less as the beer continued to warm up.

It is also very sweet, so much that it would make me sick to sit down and drink all of this by myself in one go. But at the right time (and with the right amount of people), I can see drinking this in lieu of a dessert. If nothing else, Southern Tier has to be applauded for the effort in trying to create such a distinct beer.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout on Ratebeer

Today: 450mL. Year-to-date: 34.42L.