Toronto’s Burdock Brewery is the real deal

Posted on by Ben

Burdock

It isn’t all that often that, in my semi-professional adventures as a beer enthusiast, I can say I’m smitten, but after having visited Toronto’s Burdock–a bar, restaurant, and music hall that also happens to have a brewery onsite–I must admit to my smittenness. Er, I’ve been smote. They smited me?

What I’m trying to say is that I like the damn place.

Considering options of where to drink before this year’s Golden Tap Awards, my friend Leon (whose hairy arm appears above) suggested Burdock and, truth be told, even though I hastily rehashed a press release wrote an article detailing the release of their first beers, I had not yet actually been to Burdock, so I was eager to check it out. Continue reading “Toronto’s Burdock Brewery is the real deal” →

Sawdust City’s Golden Beach Pale Ale ships to LCBOs today

Posted on by Ben

Golden Beach

This is more of a public service announcement than a real blog post.

You probably already heard the news that the excellent Golden Beach Pale Ale from Sawdust City would soon become a permanent LCBO listing and, if you’re like me, you’ve been anxiously awaiting convenient, all-season access to this tasty little 4.5%, hazy, hoppy, fruity number. Well, today is the day, kids (probably).

Golden Beach has been shipped to stores and while some might get it sooner than others, you’ll see it on the shelf of your local LCBO this week.

For me Golden Beach on store shelves all season long is welcome news because a) It might just be one of my favourite beers. It’s a great example of the type of beer I always have stocked in my fridge: something low alcohol that still delivers a considerable amount of flavour, and b) Nickel Brook’s Naughty Neighbour just hasn’t been tasting the same to me lately so I might need a new beer in my stable for a little while until they figure out whatever issues they seem to be having on their new system. No offence to Nickel Brook, they’re still killing it, generally, but my Naughty Neighbour just ain’t been the same lately.

Golden Beach will be priced at a vaguely wallet-stinging $3.25 per 473mL can, but it’s a damn good beer and even at that price certainly worth occasionally rotating into your regular stock of low ABV, reasonably-priced Ontario pale ales (among which Great Lakes Canuck is still reigning champ to my mind, even though they quietly raised the price to $2.65 from $2.50 recently).

…Aaand somehow I’ve managed to be vaguely insulting to three breweries that I really like with what was supposed to be happy news. Sorry every one.

This is why I usually leave announcements to other people. Long live Greg Clow. I need a beer.

Six beer pairings for dealing with toddler behaviour

Posted on by Ben

Cars and raspberry beer

For roughly the last four months, I have been the primary caregiver for my two year old son.

Yes, I’m a stay at home dad.

The experience has taught me a lot of things. It’s been an absolutely amazing experience to share the summer with my son and each day brings new joy as I get to see the world through his eyes and blah blah blah.

Yes, yes, all that.

But it’s also taught me some really useful things too: namely, that beer is a really important part of parenting.

Seriously. I’ve learned to appreciate beer on a whole other level.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not drinking all day or parenting my son under the influence. I still (usually) wait until around 5pm to crack a beer–I’m not a savage–but when I do, it often tastes far, far better than any beer I ever knew as a childless, amateur beer drinker. Because now almost always, more so than ever before, when I DO crack that beer, god damn it, I have earned that beer.

Accordingly, I’ve also learned that there are some beers that are just far better suited to helping you unwind at the end of certain days than others are. That is, there are without question certain trying circumstances that demand a beer at the close of the day, but I’ve found there are actually certain circumstances that lend themselves better to being remedied by specific beers.

As a public service, here are the perfect beer pairings to deal with six common toddler behaviours. Continue reading “Six beer pairings for dealing with toddler behaviour” →

Ontario’s independent grocers want to support craft beer

Posted on by Ben

grocery beer

Beer is coming to grocery stores.

No, really.

For a number of reasons, it’s been tough to believe that this development, first announced by the provincial government back in the spring of 2015, would ever actually come. Firstly, there’s the healthy dose of cynicism with which we’ve all learned to approach any news about alcohol reform in Ontario, and secondly, there’s the fact that, aside from those early announcements about 450 grocery stores that would eventually be allowed to sell beer, we haven’t actually heard a lot of details about how (or when) exactly this would all happen.

Until now.

In a Ben’s Beer Blog exclusive, I had an opportunity to chat recently with Tom Barlow, President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG).  This chat was exciting for a few reasons: Firstly, I’ve now got some details about what beer in grocery stores might actually look like, and secondly, the fact that independent grocers have been invited to take part in the conversation with Ed Clark and the panel overseeing the reform of beer sales bodes well for Ontario’s craft beer, in my opinion. Continue reading “Ontario’s independent grocers want to support craft beer” →

A beery list of beer lists

Posted on by Ben

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In case you weren’t aware, I also write about beer for local website blogTO. Often, that website asks me to write posts for them in list format. And so, for no reason other than to cure your Monday blues, I decided to compile a collection of them here for what is surely the ultimate in internet entertainment: A list of lists.

Why the hell not? 

20141311-LouisCiferfridge 10 breweries where you can buy growlers in Toronto
20130503-590-MillSt7 The top ten local beers in Toronto for summer 2015
2015425-breweries-toronto The top ten breweries to visit near Toronto
05062013-castros590-02  The top 30 places to drink beer in Toronto by neighbourhood
20121217-old-breweries-toronto-ed The ten oldest breweries in Toronto
2015218-toronto-brewery Five Toronto beer brands you probably haven’t heard of
20111229-craftbeers5 The top ten ways to learn about beer in Toronto
06252013-wren590-05 The top ten underrated beer bars in Toronto
20111221-beer Five Toronto beer trends that need to die in 2015
20111227-parkdale-beer NOSTALGIC BONUS LIST: The top Toronto beer news from 2011 (My first ever list for blogTO. Smell the earnestness!)

 

 

 

More details emerge about the LCBO’s growler program

Posted on by Ben

LCBO Growlers

On Monday August 24th, the LCBO sent an email to some of Ontario’s craft brewers to invite them to submit products for the launch of their growler fill program that will start with their flagship Summerhill location.

Ben’s Beer Blog has obtained a copy of the email and it includes some details about the program that until now have been something of a mystery.

The email reveals that the space will include the LCBO’s first growler station as well as a craft beer tasting bar. Furthermore they are actively seeking beer that they don’t already have available for sale in packaged format (so we won’t see the Bud Zone Growler Station as some beer nerd grumbling posited).

The LCBO has indicated that their staff will dispense beer directly from kegs into the growler; however, it did not reveal if they would be investing in a proper growler filler or merely filling them from a draught tap (presumably–and hopefully–it’s the former given their investment in this). Continue reading “More details emerge about the LCBO’s growler program” →

A visit to Silversmith Brewing Company

Posted on by Ben

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Perhaps I’m a touch jaded from acting as Ontario beer’s resident angry old man for the last few years, or perhaps it’s a side-effect of not leaving the house all that much in the two years since my son was born, but it’s not often that I find myself wholly impressed by a new experience with a brewery.

But that was certainly the case this past week after I finally managed to pay a visit to Silversmith Brewing Company in Niagara On The Lake and I was altogether pleasantly surprised.

Founded in 2011, the brewery is in an Anglican church that was built in 1894, and was generally well preserved after having acted as an antique store for 25 years after its life as a church. Much of the church’s charm remains in the form of red-brick walls, exposed beams, and an ivy-lined exterior, but the interior has been converted into a down-right excellent tasting room and bar replete with live wood and thoughtful touches like draught handles made from repuprosed ball-peen hammers. Continue reading “A visit to Silversmith Brewing Company” →

Contest: Win a Dine Alone / Beau’s All Natural prize package

Posted on by Ben

 
Dine Alone Records, founded in St. Catharines and Toronto and now based in TO, Nashville, and Los Angeles, are celebrating their 10th Anniversary.

To mark the occasion, they’ve launched a handful of new initiatives including Dine Alone Rye Whisky, a mobile record store called Wax on Wheels, limited edition vinyl and poster series, and, most importantly, they put together a big ol’ box of swag that they want to give away to one lucky (Toronto-based*) reader of Ben’s Beer Blog.

Yes, Dine Alone has teamed up with  Beau’s All Natural Brewing to create a super cool package and one lucky reader of this blog (who lives in Toronto*) will get to take it home.

The package is valued at over $350 and includes:

  • A branded Beau’s / Dine Alone 12-pack case that doubles as a vinyl crate;
  • Eight Dine Alone LPs;
  • A bunch of Dine Alone swag, including sunglasses, playing cards, patches, stickers, and matches;
  • A bunch of sweet Beau’s swag, including coasters, bottle openers, a t-shirt, and a hat; and
  • A Dine Alone 10th Anniversary download card, featuring songs by Alexisonfire, Arkells, City and Colour, k-os, Monster Truck,Yukon Blonde and more.

To determine if you’re worthy of so much bitchin’ merch, I want to know about your combined love of music and beer: tweet or Instagram your favourite beer and record pairing and include the hashtag #recordsandbeer. 

On Friday August 28th, I’ll select one lucky reader (from Toronto) at random to go pick up their new tunes and gear.

*it’s a big heavy crate and it’d be too expensive to ship out of Toronto. Sorry folks who don’t live in the centre of the universe. 

Bud Light expands successful Rita franchise and places brewers on suicide watch

Posted on by Ben

ST. LOUIS, August 13, 2015

The Bud Light Lime Ritas franchise is growing.

Building off the success of the Lime-A-Rita, Straw-Ber-Rita, Mang-O-Rita, and Raz-Ber-Rita, Bud Light has announced a forthcoming Pineapple-Rita, the newest bold flavour in the lineup of Bud Light’s refreshing beer cocktails.

The brand anticipates continued success with the launch of Pineapple-Rita, which is an 8% ABV flavoured malt beverage blending all the exciting refreshment of Bud Light Lime with the taste of pineapple.

In anticipation of the production of large volumes of Pineapple-Rita, Bud Light has also announced that they have placed their brewmasters on round the clock suicide watch. Continue reading “Bud Light expands successful Rita franchise and places brewers on suicide watch” →

The LCBO’s statement on imported beer freshness

Posted on by Ben

LCBO

Depending on when you’re reading this, I am either just about to or just have published a brief post on blogTO about “The LCBO’s stale beer problem.”

For that post, I reached out to the LCBO for comment and though I included excerpts of their statement, the blogTO article was limited in terms of column inches and the statement couldn’t be included in its entirety.

Given that we beer folks so often lament the LCBO’s efforts on keeping their imported beer fresh, I thought it was worth publishing the statement in toto.

To my mind, it seems like we’re maybe giving them a bit of a bum rap. It looks like they’re making solid efforts to handle a situation that is presumably pretty big considering the size and scope of the LCBO’s import alcohol business.

What do you think? Continue reading “The LCBO’s statement on imported beer freshness” →