July 2013 – Ben's Beer Blog

Aaron and Allana do Toronto’s Festival of Beer

Posted on July 30, 2013August 4, 2014 by Ben

Owing to recent developments (i.e. we had a baby), I was unable to attend this year’s Toronto Festival of Beer; however, given my commitment to covering the city’s beer-related news (and the fact that I had two free tickets), I asked some friends of mine to attend in my stead and report back. Here now, in a Ben’s Beer Blog first, is the firsthand account of this website’s newest (and cutest) correspondents, Aaron and Allana.

Toronto’s Festival of Beer is the best place to go if you like to stumble around in hats made from six packs and exchange plastic coins for a taste of the world’s finest brews. Beer Fest is Christmas for the underemployed – and that is where we belong!

Yumyumyum.

We were given passes to this annual sponsored frat party because Ben just had a baby and all of a sudden doesn’t care about beer anymore. More beer for us, sellout! Continue reading “Aaron and Allana do Toronto’s Festival of Beer” →

Hops and Bolts: So how’s the beer?

Posted on July 18, 2013August 4, 2014 by Ben

You may or may not have seen the intriguing art that festoons the can of Mad and Noisy’s Hops and Bolts at your local LCBO store or plastered on walls around the city and in print ads in newspapers and magazine. And you may or may not have, like me, seen the cool art and the word “hops” figuring prominently in the name of the beer and thought, “Fuck yeah” and happily bought an eight-pack of tall cans with no hesitation.

And if you’re like me, you were thoroughly disappointed. Continue reading “Hops and Bolts: So how’s the beer?” →

Smart people drink more

Posted on July 16, 2013August 4, 2014 by Ben

It’s an assumption I’ve always held and one that really just seems self-evident: The smarter you are, the more you drink.

No, really.

A study conducted using data from the National Child Development Study in the United Kingdom and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States, found that intelligent people really do drink more alcohol.

The specifics of the study, as handily summarized by someone called Ian O’Neill from Discovery News, were as follows:

By tracking the intelligence of children under the age of 16 and then revisiting them as adults, it turned out that kids who were considered “more bright” than others in their age group ended up drinking more alcohol later in life.

And, while it seems like a conclusion that one might be able to quickly to debunk by looking at any number of other possible factors, the study was fairly thorough in controlling other elements (I mean they are scientists, after all). In fact, the study included controls for all of the following factors: Continue reading “Smart people drink more” →

Drinking in the park is not a “hipster” cause

Posted on July 5, 2013August 4, 2014 by Ben

If you follow me on twitter, first of all sorry, and second of all, you know I’ve been heavily promoting my own petition to allow alcoholic beverages in city parks.

And while I’m sure it’s a little obnoxious to have me spamming up your twitter feed, it seems to be working. Crazily, the petition I started over my lunch hour has amassed 2600 signatures in under 48 hours (and climbing–every time I refresh there’s a handful more).

My intention is still to approach city officials first (something I’ve already done, although my own city councilor Joe Mihevc and the councilor for Ward 19 Trinity Spadina, Mike Layton, have not yet returned my emails), although it seems like the issue might be one that needs to be addressed by the province as yet another item under the AGCO that needs revision. Regardless, I’m dedicated to figuring out who I need to talk to and how many signatures I’ll need in order for them to listen, so I’m going to keep at it (apologies in advance to the twitterverse).

However, it’s troubling that so much of the conversation on this issue–on twitter, on comment boards–seems to be couched in an “us vs. them” mentality. Those who seem to oppose drinking in the park seem pretty quick to characterize those in favour of it as “a bunch of hipsters” and their arguments seem to be that those who drink in the park are messy, loud, and disrespectful and are prone to pissing on the nearest tree. This is troubling for a number of reasons. First, with so many reasons to dislike hipsters (see: ironic racket sports, mustache wax), it seems silly to choose their enjoyment of sunshine and adult beverages as a reason to disparage them. Continue reading “Drinking in the park is not a “hipster” cause” →