You Should Already Be Drinking: Railway City Brewing Company’s Beers

Posted on by Ben

Unless you live in a cave somewhere, you’ve probably already tried Railway City Brewing’s Dead Elephant IPA. It’s a perfectly solid little IPA that, for my money, ranks up there with Great Lakes Brewing’s Crazy Canuck among the best of the easier to drink Ontario IPAs. That is, for me, Muskoka’s Mad Tom IPA currently rules supreme when it comes to my go-to IPA, but when I’m looking to pick up a slightly easier to drink, hoppy Ontario beer, it’s a virtual toss up between a few cans of Crazy Canuck and Dead Elephant.

Which is to say: I dig their style.

Sadly, unless you live around St. Thomas, you likely haven’t been introduced to too much else that Railway City has to offer which, as it turns out, is a real shame. Continue reading “You Should Already Be Drinking: Railway City Brewing Company’s Beers” →

Drifting into the argument like wild yeast…

Posted on by Ben

Opinions in Ontario brewing are a lot like assholes and IPAs: These days, everyone has one.

There seems to be a lot of beer writing occurring as of late on the subject of beer writing itself—so I thought I too would jump on the masturbatory, navel-gazing bandwagon and offer my two cents and pretend that this little space I’ve carved out on the internets has any sort of influence at all.

The “conversation” largely began on the prolific and insightful “A Good Beer Blog.” Author Alan McLeod had offered up his opinion (as beer writers are wont to do) on an interesting little project being conducted by a co-operative of Ontario brewers who, in a nutshell, are attempting to brew beer adhering to ancient Belgian techniques that will, hopefully, see the beer fermented by wild indigenous yeasts the Brewers are hoping will drift into the open brewing vessels.

This is a broadly simplified explanation, and many other media outlets have done a much more detailed job, so feel free to seek them out if you want more information on the project (though be forewarned, none of them seem to answer my first question about the whole process, namely, won’t birds poop in the beer?!). Continue reading “Drifting into the argument like wild yeast…” →

High Octane Local Beers to Fight the Mid-Autumn Chill

Posted on by Ben

With this bloody cold nip in the air, but still a couple months before the official start of Winter, we’ve entered a nasty, windy, often wet part of the year frequently devoid of sunshine, but without any of the charms that snow can bring.

Accordingly, it’s a time of year that’s best suited to a certain kind of beer with a hearty dose of that most comforting autumn ingredient–and I’m not talking about pumpkin.

No. I’m talking about my old friend alcohol. It’s cold and rainy out and it’s a time for comforting oneself with strong drink. So in the spirit of this drab season, here are some potent local offerings that just might serve as a welcome port in the storm.

Continue reading “High Octane Local Beers to Fight the Mid-Autumn Chill” →

Indie Alehouse is Brewing Some Fantastic Beers

Posted on by Ben

Jason Fisher had been dreaming of opening a brewpub for years. But his long, difficult struggle to get the Indie Alehouse open was finally coming to fruition and he was about to share his beer–recipes for some of which he had held onto for years–with the world.

Five minutes after finally getting a liquor licence and becoming legally entitled to pour the fruits of his labour for thirsty residents of the Junction, he opened the doors and welcomed a customer–a Junction resident–who told him how excited she was that the doors were finally open on the neighbourhood’s first brewpub. So she placed her order–for a glass of wine. Continue reading “Indie Alehouse is Brewing Some Fantastic Beers” →

You Should Already Be Drinking: Tequila Tromba

Posted on by Ben

As is probably obvious from previous posts here and from my role in creating the Ontario Brewmaster’s Cup, I tend to try to support local businesses when it comes to my consumption of alcohol. This is getting increasingly easy thanks to the recent surge in amazing  Ontario craft brewers and, thanks to smaller distillers like Still Waters and 66 Gilead, is become a little easier when it comes to some spirits.

I like to drink and when I do I like knowing that the (considerable amount of) money I spend on alcohol is going toward helping a smaller, local business. I know, I’m weird like that. Continue reading “You Should Already Be Drinking: Tequila Tromba” →

When drinking local becomes a problem: Locarexia Nervoso

Posted on by Ben

I have a problem.

I didn’t realize it was a problem until quite recently but a couple events have made it quite clear that it’s real and it’s something I need to deal with.

The first time I knew I had a problem was following a softball game. My team, comprising a number of work colleagues, opted to hit a bar in order to drown our sorrows following a 20-10 routing and, since it was the nearest bar to the diamond, we had the unfortunate experience of visiting The Dog’s Bollocks on Queen.

Now, to be clear, I don’t really mean to slag The Dog’s Bollocks–I recognize that it is a pub and that its most endearing qualities are intended to be its cheap draft, bar food, and numerous TV screens.

I’m no dummy. I wouldn’t expect gourmet from an establishment named after an animal’s nut sack. But my experience was not great–and it’s largely due to my psychological issue. Continue reading “When drinking local becomes a problem: Locarexia Nervoso” →

‘Dam Good News for Beer Drinkers

Posted on by Ben

With the announcement yesterday that Amsterdam Brewing Company is not only moving to a location with bigger distribution capabilities but also opening a brew pub on Toronto’s waterfront, it seems clear that they’re poised to become a bigger player in the city’s, if not the province’s or country’s, beer scene (and we won’t mention which Toronto beer writer was the first out with that story–ahem), and that is really, really good news for Ontario and for beer drinkers in general.

This move–with the company’s focus on having all their products available for retail sales and the strategic choice of a tourist-friendly site for their proposed brewpub– is sure to get an even larger swath of the the population drinking Amsterdam’s beers, so it will be that the rest of the world is soon likely to find out what Toronto’s beer nerds have known for a long time: Amsterdam Brewing Company makes really good beers. Continue reading “‘Dam Good News for Beer Drinkers” →

Craft Beer in Italy

Posted on by Ben

I recently had the extreme good fortune of being able to take a trip to the region of Italy known as Tuscany, and, as is often the case when I find myself awake in a foreign country, I took the opportunity to seek out some local booze.

As you may imagine, travelling in Italy there is a natural tendency toward the region’s world-class wines—and, indeed, few noon-hours passed during my vacation wherein I hadn’t already indulged in a glass of Vino Nobile from nearby Montepulciano, or a Brunello from nearby Montelcino, or a Chianti from nearby—anyway, you get the point: It would have been impossible for me not to get into some local wines and I did so freely and to excess and it was fucking great (and more on that at a later date).

However, as the name of this blog might make plain, I’m something of a fan of beer so, despite finding myself in the town of Pienza—population 2000—I made it my mission to seek out some local beer. Continue reading “Craft Beer in Italy” →

Get Your Ass to Bellwoods Brewery Tomorrow

Posted on by Ben

Tell your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/squirrel that you’re going to miss your scheduled DVR Breaking Bad catch-up night, tell the kids to find their own goddamned way home from soccer, tell your Zumba instructor you’re not going to make it tomorrow–just do whatever the fuck it is that you have to do to make sure you don’t have plans tomorrow. Hell, you don’t even need to make excuses; just tell them that BELLWOODS AND DIEU DE CIEL COLLABORATED ON AN IMPERIAL IPA AND IT’S BEING RELEASED THURSDAY!

Yes, that’s right, a few weeks ago, before heading off to start a brewery in Japan, Luc Lafontaine, the brewmaster at Quebec’s Dieu du Ciel! brewery, decided to create a few beer-nerd wet-dreams and stopped by Bellwoods Brewery on Ossington in order to create a collaboration beer. Continue reading “Get Your Ass to Bellwoods Brewery Tomorrow” →

‘Tis A Fine Time for Eatin’ and Drinkin’ Outdoors

Posted on by Ben

Because I have a super busy Sunday planned already,  there are, of course, two pretty sweet food and beer events happening that day that I can’t attend.

While I’m watching some talented actors perform scenes written by me and my Second City writing class in the unfortunately titled graduation show, Fifty Shades of Gay (no, really, that’s the name of our comedy show), there will be not one but two great eating and drinking opportunities happening elsewhere–one just a few scant blocks from my home.

The first is Lobstah Palooza, which I’m assuming is misspelled so as to sound the way the east-coast lobsters you’ll be boiling alive and eating might say the word if they had the ability to speak. Cute!

Hosted by Rock Lobster‘s Matt Dean Pettit and Food Network Star Kevin Brauch (aka The Thirsty Traveller) the food is pretty much guaranteed to be good. In  addition to corn on the cob and other summer fare, there’s lobster salad, and, naturally, the price of your ticket gets you a 1.5 pound lobster. What you name it is entirely up to you, but I think “Ben” has a lovely ring to it since I scooped you to this bitchin’ good time. Continue reading “‘Tis A Fine Time for Eatin’ and Drinkin’ Outdoors” →