Month: August 2012

Get Your Ass to Bellwoods Brewery Tomorrow

Posted on by Ben

Tell your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/squirrel that you’re going to miss your scheduled DVR Breaking Bad catch-up night, tell the kids to find their own goddamned way home from soccer, tell your Zumba instructor you’re not going to make it tomorrow–just do whatever the fuck it is that you have to do to make sure you don’t have plans tomorrow. Hell, you don’t even need to make excuses; just tell them that BELLWOODS AND DIEU DE CIEL COLLABORATED ON AN IMPERIAL IPA AND IT’S BEING RELEASED THURSDAY!

Yes, that’s right, a few weeks ago, before heading off to start a brewery in Japan, Luc Lafontaine, the brewmaster at Quebec’s Dieu du Ciel! brewery, decided to create a few beer-nerd wet-dreams and stopped by Bellwoods Brewery on Ossington in order to create a collaboration beer. Continue reading “Get Your Ass to Bellwoods Brewery Tomorrow” →

‘Tis A Fine Time for Eatin’ and Drinkin’ Outdoors

Posted on by Ben

Because I have a super busy Sunday planned already,  there are, of course, two pretty sweet food and beer events happening that day that I can’t attend.

While I’m watching some talented actors perform scenes written by me and my Second City writing class in the unfortunately titled graduation show, Fifty Shades of Gay (no, really, that’s the name of our comedy show), there will be not one but two great eating and drinking opportunities happening elsewhere–one just a few scant blocks from my home.

The first is Lobstah Palooza, which I’m assuming is misspelled so as to sound the way the east-coast lobsters you’ll be boiling alive and eating might say the word if they had the ability to speak. Cute!

Hosted by Rock Lobster‘s Matt Dean Pettit and Food Network Star Kevin Brauch (aka The Thirsty Traveller) the food is pretty much guaranteed to be good. In  addition to corn on the cob and other summer fare, there’s lobster salad, and, naturally, the price of your ticket gets you a 1.5 pound lobster. What you name it is entirely up to you, but I think “Ben” has a lovely ring to it since I scooped you to this bitchin’ good time. Continue reading “‘Tis A Fine Time for Eatin’ and Drinkin’ Outdoors” →

Danforth Shmanforth: To the Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival!

Posted on by Ben

Unless you live in a cave, you’re probably aware that this weekend is the annual tribute to most things Greek of the Danforth (think more souvlaki and Greek music, less economic collapse and political turmoil).

In fact, this weekend is the 19th annual Taste of The Danforth,  Canada’s largest street festival, which, according to their website, welcomes over 1.3 million visitors (I’m assuming that’s cumulative…).

And while I’m a big fan of gyros, the odd bottle of Mythos, and the Taste of The Danforth generally, this year I think I’ll skip it.

Instead, I’m heading to the first annual Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival, taking place, appropriately enough, at Roundhouse Park. Continue reading “Danforth Shmanforth: To the Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival!” →

Drinking Ontario – The Rifleman’s Ration

Posted on by Ben

For the past week or so, I’ve been at a cottage which is situated virtually on the beach at Lake Huron and which, for whatever reason, has virtually no cell phone reception, and no trace of anything like an “internet service provider.” Accordingly, as you might imagine, I’ve had very few decisions to make every day aside from how early I should crack my first beer and when I need to fire up the barbecue for lunch. I’ve also had ample time under the influence to create stupid word combinations–or stuwocombos–in an effort to save time.

It’s possible I got too much sun.

Anyway, in order to prepare for my vacation, I first took a trip to the Summerhill LCBO, aka my happy place. As a sort of experiment and a means by which to drunkenly preach my own fiercely local brand of craft beer evangelism when people joined my wife and I at the cottage, I made it my mission to bring up almost exclusively Ontario-made beers. Continue reading “Drinking Ontario – The Rifleman’s Ration” →