Category: Craft Brewing

Starting a craft brewery? There’s an app for that

Posted on by Ben

iCraft brew

When I first started reading the press release for the “iCraft Brew” app, “available for free for both Apple and Android devices,” and “geared toward that person who has dreamed of starting a craft brewing business,” I’ll admit my reaction was something along the lines of “Oh god. Really?”
Frankly, I’m skeptical of anything that refers implicitly or explicitly to the craft beer boom in Ontario as a “business opportunity” because I think it invites people to craft beer who aren’t so much into beer as they are interested in making a buck. The “craft beer business opportunity” mentality, to me, is what’s leading to an influx of less-than-stellar contract-brewed beer in cans that aren’t really helping the market so much as crowding it. To generalize: People who get into craft beer because they like beer are good, and people who get into craft beer because they want to make a buck are fuckheads. Continue reading “Starting a craft brewery? There’s an app for that” →

My uncle doesn’t give a shit about craft beer

Posted on by Ben

Not my uncle

My uncle doesn’t give a shit about the The Beer Store monopoly.

He also doesn’t really care to ponder the finer moral issues of the LCBO. 

Instead, he’s content to consume large amounts of Budweiser and, when the mood strikes him, Bud Light, and he has been happily doing so for virtually all the years I have been alive.

I think you’ll agree then that my uncle is a consumer of beer. Yet, if you were to scan the conversations currently happening in relation to beer in the province of Ontario, there’s not a lot out there that would interest my uncle.

Indeed, “raging against the Beer Store” and “bitching about the LCBO” probably rank among the most popular of all tropes when it comes to beer writing (see: this blog)–and with good cause. That the Beer Store–a foreign-owned private entity–is allowed to exist as the only alternative to the province’s state-run liquor distribution seems to me to be a fucking travesty. Similarly, said state-run liquor distributor, the LCBO (which I happen to thoroughly like) is far from perfect. Continue reading “My uncle doesn’t give a shit about craft beer” →

Let’s talk about contract brewing

Posted on by Ben

Cool Expansion Before

It’s that time of year when everyone begins to trot out their end-of-year reviews and we look back on the year that was in beer.

And as we beer writers all surf through our own stories from the previous year in an effort to slap together an SEO-friendly list of happenings we’ve already written about, I feel like there is one item of significance that will get overlooked in a lot of people’s round-ups. It’s the fact that Cool Brewery in Etobicoke is currently wrapping up renovations that will see their space increased by 20%–renovations that have added  four new 330-hectolitre fermentation tanks, vastly increasing their production capabilities.

As they themselves noted in a recent edition of their newsletter, COOL NATION NEWS! each of these tanks will hold the equivalent of 96,800 bottles of beer.

As you probably know, it’s unlikely that those bottles will all be filled with Cool Brewing’s own brands of beer, Cool Lager, Buzz Hemp Beer, and Stonewall Light. Instead, it’s far more likely that the space will be dedicated to Cool’s other, increasingly lucrative business; namely, renting out their space to contract brewers. Continue reading “Let’s talk about contract brewing” →

Local listomania!

Posted on by Ben

Hey dudes,

In case you’re wondering where I’ve been (Shh, I like to pretend there are people that frequently check my blog hoping for new content), I’ve been focusing my beer-and-booze-related writing efforts over on blogTO, a site where I actually get paid a little bit to write.

In case you missed it (Shh, I like to pretend there are people who actually click the links I share on twitter and facebook), I’ve written a few list-focused posts for blogTO as of late, and the result is that, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve now got all your Ontario beverage options covered for a while.

So I have provided the linked images below in order to cover all your local-drinking and Ben Johnson-reading needs until I have some time to devote to Ben’s Beer Blog again; but that might be a while because I’m currently working on a number of–you guessed it–list-focused posts for blogTO. Continue reading “Local listomania!” →

Big Rock SAAZ Republic Pilz is coming to Ontario

Posted on by Ben

*an earlier, stupid version of this post was written as though SAAZ Republic Pilz was Big Rock’s first foray into Ontario. As Toronto Star Beer Columnist Josh Rubin helpfully pointed out, Big Rock beers have actually been here for about 20 years. This post has been revised to reflect the fact that this Big Rock Brewery is indeed the same Big Rock Brewery that currently has Big Rock Grasshoppper Wheat Ale, Big Rock India Pale, Big Rock Light Lime, Big Rock Traditional Ale, and Big Rock Warthog Ale all listed at The Beer Store. Yes, the entire conceit of this post–which was intended to be a transcript of my initial thoughts on the news–has essentially been destroyed, but I’m going to try to salvage the thing anyway because I don’t have time to rewrite it and oh great the baby’s crying I have to go. 

Saaz PPilsner

A couple weeks ago, the interwebs were all a-twitter with news that one of Canada’s oldest craft breweries–Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery–was bringing some new beer to Ontario.

The obligatory press release explained that the first of a series of new beer releases here would be SAAZ Republic Pilz, a pilsner with “a distinct but mild bitterness on the front end followed by a slight hop middle and a clean, refreshing finish.” It also explained that this release represented the first of of a total of three new beers slated for release in Ontario.

I don’t really know how I feel about this release, so, in order to convey my thoughts on the news, I’ve attempted to transcribe the conversation that occurred between the conflicting optimistic and typically dominant cynical voices in my own brain whilst drinking one last week.

Continue reading “Big Rock SAAZ Republic Pilz is coming to Ontario” →

Ontario Beer Co. takes local brewing to the next level

Posted on by Ben

Ontario Beet Company

As Ontarians’ beer-drinking tastes grow increasingly locally oriented and our local options for beer keep growing, it seems something like the natural progression of the province’s current beer trends that a brewer would eventually go the extra step and make a beer that is not only made here in Ontario, but is also made entirely from ingredients grown right here.

Well, one new brewing company has opted to do precisely that and, in doing so, The Ontario Beer Company has perhaps shown why no one else has done it thus far: it’s really really difficult.

Founded by two people with some background in the province’s beer-making scene, OBC is the result of a partnership between Duggan’s brewery founder Mike Duggan and the guy responsible for the great beer coming out of the nano-brewery at Get Well, Brad Clifford.

The duo first met when Clifford, then a fledgling homebrewer, was a regular at Duggan’s Brewery on Victoria (RIP). He started helping out around the brewhouse and actually took part in brewing an early ancestor for their beers to come when they used all Ontario malt and local hops to brew Duggan’s #12, perhaps the first “all Ontario beer.”

Sometime after Duggan’s closed down, Clifford set up the nanobrewery at Get Well and the duo partnered up a few more times to brew an all Ontario pilsner, stout, and an ale. A commercially available all-Ontario beer was something they had discussed for a while but it took considerable planning to actually make it happen.

[Read the rest of this article over on blogTO where it was originally published on October 28, 2013…]

Mill Street Brewery’s Vanilla Porter is Coming to the LCBO

Posted on by Ben

Mill Street Vanilla Porter Can

In case the title didn’t tip you off about the content of this post, I’ll cut right to the tweet-worthy and SEO-friendly portion of today’s entry: the delicious vanilla porter that Joel Manning and co. have been releasing seasonally on draught for the last four years is slated to come to a store near you. Yes, Mill Street Brewery’s Vanilla Porter is coming to the LCBO.

This is–speaking frankly as a person who loves a good dark, rich, winter beer–great fucking news. This is a delicious beer.

And, since I’ll take any occasion to hop on my soapbox, I’d also like to point out that, like a lot of beer brewed by those folks out in the Distillery District, Mill Street’s Vanilla Porter doesn’t get enough love from the city’s beer fanatics. I mean, it’s undeniable that it’s a good beer, but people always seem hesitant to put it up on a pedestal like they would something from say, Great Lakes Brewery, perhaps owing to the fact that Mill Street is generally seen as something like a new mid-level category of brewer one might call “big craft.” Continue reading “Mill Street Brewery’s Vanilla Porter is Coming to the LCBO” →

Seven Ontario beers reviewed in haiku form

Posted on by Ben

Mango Saison

I‘m going to level with you. It has happened on occasion that I find myself the recipient of a free beer or two.

I know I rather publicly denounced the practice of giving away free beer once, but that was in instances where breweries were clearly providing incentives to licensees so that they would  sell their beer, and in this instance it involves me getting the free beer, so it’s totally different…

Having said that, I’m not unaware that the folks who are nice enough to drop off beer for me are often hoping for a little social media love in exchange and it’s often the case that I don’t provide the goods. This can happen for a number of reasons.  Sometimes I keep my mouth shut about beer I don’t love, adhering to the old “it’s better to say nothing at all” adage for the odd time a generally good brewery strikes out.  Sometimes I honestly just like a beer so much that I guzzle it down before I remember to take some notes. And sometimes I just plain forget. Continue reading “Seven Ontario beers reviewed in haiku form” →

Kensington Brewing Company’s Tilt: So how’s the beer?

Posted on by Ben
The picture is tilted. Get it?
The picture is tilted. Get it?

First, it should be noted that when I heard the Kensington Brewing Company was going to be doing a hoppy wheat beer, it wasn’t a tough sell for me. It’s a style I’ve become just short of obsessed with this summer so, when I received a press release announcing the beer, a 4.4% hoppy wheat beer one-off, I’m not even sure I finished reading the email before I responded with something akin to “Me want.”

Luckily for me, the folks at KBCo were happy to oblige and a short while later a friendly gent on a scooter came to greet me with a sample ahead of the beer’s slated Toronto Beer Week release at Toronto bars 3030, Get Well, and “other participating pinball bars in Toronto.” Continue reading “Kensington Brewing Company’s Tilt: So how’s the beer?” →

Northwinds Brewery: So how’s the beer?

Posted on by Ben

Image

A week ago, I profiled up and coming Collingwood-based brewery Northwinds for blogTO. At that time, details about where to get the beer as well as information about what the heck it would actually taste like were not yet available to me. Well, now they are! Here’s a brief review of their first beer, Corduroy Rye IPA, and some details about where to get yours ASAP.

The beer I tried was from a bottle that I’m told was slightly less carbonated than the version that’s ended up getting kegged, which is likely a good thing since this beer poured a nice, cloudy, chestnut amber colour but had a decidedly thin white head–a far cry from the frothy image I stole from their website for my blogTO post.  Continue reading “Northwinds Brewery: So how’s the beer?” →