Great Lakes @ Bar Volo

This isn’t going to be a particularly long or drawn out post, but I wanted to congratulate the great folks over at the Great Lakes Brewery (in particular Mike Lackey) for the awesome beers served at barVolo on Saturday. A total of nineteen one-offs were available, including four casks, two oak/barrel aged beers and one lambic – quite the amazing feat for one brewery to pull off. The fact that it was an Ontario brewery making all these beers? Stunning.

Also amazing was the fact that there was a lineup going out the door twenty minutes after the event started. (There was actually a lineup before the bar opened, but I wasn’t there to witness it.) Capacity was quickly reached, with many people opting to wait outside until they could get inside. The wait was definitely worth it for everyone outside (and inside, where we still had to lineup for our pints), with a glorious array of beer styles available. It was a hop-lovers paradise with a number of IPAs and pale ales on the lines, but also a saison, two wheat beers, a stout, porter, barley wine and the aforementioned lambic.

The best part was that none of the beers were throwaways or cast-offs. That is not to say they were all spectacular, but I’d gladly take an ambitious but slightly flawed beer for the sole reason that the brewer is trying to be unique. The Dalai Lambic, for instance, was not actually that sour, but tasted more a raspberry fruit beer. Apparently this was because of oxidization, not due to added flavour or fruits, and that the beer had drastically taken a turn for the worse in the past week. But who else in Ontario is trying to make a wild ale? You’ve got to love Great Lakes for at least attempting that style. I have no doubt that with time and practice they’ll be able to make an excellent sour. Until that time, I will happily drink the test batches.

The oak aged beers were also much talked about during the night. The Redwood Pale Ale and Unicorn Ale (the barley wine) with both oak aged, to varying degrees of success. If you like making out with pine trees (and who doesn’t), then the Redwood would have been just your thing. The barley wine was a little subtler, though obviously still a work in progress. But how many other Ontario brewers have tried oak or barrel aging? Once again I have to reiterate my respect for Great Lakes in attempting beers that few others in the province are willing to make.

My favourite of the night was probably the California Love Pale Ale, a collaboration brew done with Volo under the House Ales moniker. It was full of extremely juicy citrus flavours and was a sunny spring day captured in a glass. The Lazarus Breakfast Stout, also made by Jordan St. John of St. John’s Wort, was a nice, rich coffee stout, but unfortunately missing the chili that was in the first batch (which I never tried, but could visualize in the beer when tasting it. Please bring back the chili). Fans of Dieu du Ciel’s Aphrodite/Aphrodisiaque would love Harry Porter & The Bourbon Soaked Vanilla Beans, which had tonnes of vanilla but no bourbon. All beers that I wish were available on a regular basis.

To everyone in attendance, the evening felt like a coming-out party for the Ontario craft brewing scene. Events in Toronto don’t have to outsource to breweries from the States or Quebec, but can draw big crowds with our local breweries. The sad part was that few representatives from other breweries were present to see the great things done by their brewing brethren. It has also become quite clear that these events have outgrown what Volo can handle in terms of capacity, at least in the winter months with only a partial patio available. Yet no other bar seems to be willing to do the work to organize their own events, which is baffling to me when you see a lineup running down Yonge St. Just goes to show why Volo was rated one of the best beer bars in the world. Thanks again to Great Lakes and Volo for making me proud of Ontario craft beer!

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