Month: June 2013

When it comes to beer, all that really matters is taste

Posted on by Ben
"They really should have served this in a stange."
“They really should have served this in a stange.”

Obviously I like the process of making great beer.

I appreciate the effort that goes into the act of making beer, the attention to details, the thought that goes into choosing the right ingredients, the adherence to traditional styles or conversely the use of innovative new techniques.

I have an appreciation of the work that goes into making good beer.

However, I feel it needs to be said that none of that shit actually matters.

All that really matters is taste.

You can worship at the altar of the beer-making gods, study techniques and principles of brewing and find new and crazy ways to forward the art of beverage crafting, but unless you can put your pint of beer in front of someone who will say “That’s a good beer,”….who cares? Continue reading “When it comes to beer, all that really matters is taste” →

Hogtown Ale Cans Are Coming to LCBOsHo

Posted on by Ben

Hogtown Ale

Good news for fans of Toronto’s own easy-drinking Kölsch: Cans of Hogtown Ale will soon be coming to the LCBO.

Yesterday the guys from Hogtown hosted a little shindig at the Duke of Devon to celebrate their first anniversary and to announce the arrival of their beer in cans. They also just received their LCBO product number, which means you could see their cans on store shelves very, very soon.

Incidentally, the Duke of Devon–the watering hole of choice for the company’s proprietors–was the first place to pour Hogtown Ale, so it’s good to see the lads have stayed loyal (also incidentally, the original Duke of Devon launch of Hogtown Ale was the first story I ever wrote for blogTO way back in January 2012–and yes, that makes the “first anniversary” math a bit hazy here so let’s not dwell on it). Continue reading “Hogtown Ale Cans Are Coming to LCBOsHo” →

Win tickets to the Back Alley Beer Festival at Stout Irish Pub

Posted on by Ben

Stout

Here are two things you should already know:

  1. Ontario Craft Beer Week officially kicks off on June 16th and continues until June 23rd.
  2. Stout Irish Pub on Carlton near Parliament is the best bar in Cabbagetown.

Here are two things you probably didn’t know but you are going to like:

  1. Stout Irish Pub is hosting the awesomeley named “Back Alley Beer Festival” on Saturday June 15 to put you and your liver through the paces as a perfect warm up to OCB Week by pouring beer from over 20 different great craft brewers
  2. I’m giving away four free passes to said awesomely-named event.

All you have to do for a chance to win is post a comment on this very post letting me know why you prefer to drink Ontario beer. I’ll randomly select two winners and each winner will win a pair of passes (so use your real email address when you sign in to comment).

Your free pass will include your admission (which the plebs will be shelling out $20 for) and five tickets each good for a 5oz sample drink.

TWIST: While I’ll select the winning comments at random from a hat (an actual hat!) every comment that I find funny will go into the hat twice, meaning you get a second chance to win if you can just make this dead-inside beer blogger muster a chuckle.

So….why do you prefer to drink Ontario beer?

Pot-sweetening update June 12: The folks at Stout have just offered up 10 Stout-branded frisbees as runner-up prizes. First beer, now frisbees? Can this contest get any better?!

The lost barrel of “Trombsterdam”

Posted on by Ben
This is actually the best picture I took of the beer. Make of my phone's choice of focus what you will...
This is actually the best picture I took of the beer. Make of my phone’s choice of focus what you will…

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be among a select group of “media influencers” chosen to attend a private dinner at the still-under-construction second location for Toronto’s Rock Lobster. Now if hearing “media influencers” and “private dinner” makes you picture an intense session of social media junkies instagramming the shit of their meals, you should know this: 1) You’re absolutely right, and 2) I don’t care what you think I ate an amazing seafood dinner and got an article out of the deal.

You should also know this: In addition to the aforementioned delicious meal, the evening provided some excellent libations. Barrel-aged cocktails are the name of the game at Rock Lobster so it was no surprise when a handful of good ones ended up in my belly that evening. What was a surprise though was the appearance of a collaboration I had heretofore never heard of: Trombsterdam, a seemingly-right-up-my-alley joint effort from Tromba Tequila and Amsterdam Brewing Company. Continue reading “The lost barrel of “Trombsterdam”” →