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”” →

Innis & Gunn Canadian Cherrywood: So how’s the beer?

Posted on by Ben

photo 2 (3)

Calling it a “special thanks to their loyal Canadian following,” Scottish brewers Innis & Gunn have recently released their fifth-annual, limited-edition brew: a scotch ale that has been aged over Canadian black cherrywood with maple syrup added.

Frankly, along with bacon infusion, I can’t think of a flavour that’s been more overdone as of late than maple syrup, so this definitely isn’t a beer I would have picked up at the LCBO if I just happened to stumble upon it; however, the folks at Innis & Gunn were nice enough to send me a bottle to sample–and I’m happy they did.

This is a pretty interesting beer. Continue reading “Innis & Gunn Canadian Cherrywood: So how’s the beer?” →

Old Man Johnson IPA is coming to Bryden’s

Posted on by Ben
Perhaps the beer should have been called "Dork in a sweatshirt"
Perhaps the beer should have been called “Dork in a sweatshirt”

A month ago, I contacted the folks at Great Lakes Brewery to see if I might come out to do little profile and photo spread for blogTO (a post that, aptly, ended up being called “Behind the scenes at Great Lakes Brewery“). When I called, the always congenial Troy Burtch, GLB’s resident social media dude and sales rep, said “Why don’t you come out and brew a collaborative beer with Lackey?” As you can imagine, my answer was something along the lines of “Fuck yes.”

And so on a rainy Friday last month, I got the opportunity to brew a beer with Mike Lackey, a guy who’s been making beer for over 20 years and who’s responsible for some of my favourite local options of the past little while. And when I say “brew a beer with” I mostly mean “added the stuff he told me to add then manned the brew kettle while he disappeared and reappeared sporadically to make sure I didn’t hurt myself/burn the place down.” Continue reading “Old Man Johnson IPA is coming to Bryden’s” →

Mill Street Brewery’s Beer Hall: So how’s the bierschnaps?

Posted on by Ben

Bierschnaps

On Wednesday I had occasion to finally get out to Mill Street’s new Beer Hall location (yes, secret revealed, I wrote a story about The Beer Hall for blogTO without ever having set foot in it. Sue me).

It’s a pretty spectacular place and despite what a handful of reviewers and snarky commenters have to say about the decor, I think most people will be impressed with the place–if only for its size. Pictures don’t really convey how bloody massive the place is and, given that Mill Street is embracing a “soft open” approach, the size of the place seems all the more cavernous given the sparse attendance (but expect that to change once word gets out about this place and once the absolutely massive patio opens later this month). Continue reading “Mill Street Brewery’s Beer Hall: So how’s the bierschnaps?” →

Never mind the LCBO strike, here’s the local brewers

Posted on by Ben

Never mind the LCBO strike

As we rapidly approach the long weekend that unofficially marks the start of summer here in Canada and one that quasi-officially requires that we drink beer in order to celebrate it, we are also faced with the looming threat of an LCBO strike.

As has been repeated in the media ad nauseum as of late, the LCBO is urging us to “stock up” now lest we be caught without any other options for booze this weekend.

I’m growing fairly tired of this refrain for a couple reasons. First, I’m inherently suspicious of any solution being offered by an organization that stands to profit massively from said solution. Perhaps they really are just being nice, but hearing the LCBO say “You better come spend a lot of money at our stores ASAP!” really turns me off actually doing it and, given my tendency to leap to unlikely conspiracy theories, is almost enough to make me think that maybe the whole strike is just a massive, brilliant marketing campaign to get us all hoarding booze (Whether or not the ghost of Elvis is involved remains to be seen). Continue reading “Never mind the LCBO strike, here’s the local brewers” →

No reservations? No thanks. I’m not lining up for shit.

Posted on by Ben

Line Up

There was a review this morning in Toronto Life for the new Parkdale “hotspot” Electric Mud which, surprisingly, rated the bourbon and barbecue joint a mere 1.5 stars. I say surprisingly because, since its inception, Electric Mud has received a series of just-short-of-rave reviews from most Toronto media outlets who pay attention to such things. For example, the Globe and Mail called the food “obscenely, shockingly good,” NOW noted simply that “Electric Mud Rocks,” and even blogTO offered some reluctant praise, admitting the fare was “pretty fucking good.” Everyone, with the exception of Toronto Life I guess, seems fairly enamoured with Electric Mud. And with a bourbon-heavy cocktail list, barbecue on the menu, a classic rock soundtrack, and Bellwoods beer on tap, Electric Mud seems to me to be just about everything I could ask for in a bar/eatery.

I should be itching to go there and see what all the fuss is about.

But I’m not.

The reason is simple: Electric Mud is yet another Toronto establishment that has seen fit to do away with what would seem to be one of the most basic elements of a dining establishment: Reservations. Continue reading “No reservations? No thanks. I’m not lining up for shit.” →

Same shit, different pile: A wholly objective look at The Beer Store’s makeover

Posted on by Ben

TBS

Yesterday, the Beer Store issued a press release announcing the launch of a new “pilot series” of stores with the idea of inviting Ontarians to “meet beer.”

At a glance then, it would seem that the Beer Store had recognized that their sales model needed revision–one of the criticisms of the Beer Store is that their system of a conveyor belt and wall of labels didn’t lend itself well to introducing consumers to new products, so a re-visioning that literally invited consumers to meet beer must surely mean the Beer Store is listening to our criticisms! Right?! Continue reading “Same shit, different pile: A wholly objective look at The Beer Store’s makeover” →