Tag: beer

Come enjoy beer, bourbon, and smoked meat (with me!)

Posted on by Ben

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A few months ago, I had an opportunity to host an event organized by the folks at Orchestra Marketing that combines the typically forced act of “networking” with the slightly more enjoyable act of drinking beer.

Dubbed “beerworking” the event was an exercise in learning a little about beer while meeting new people and has since blossomed into a popular ongoing series of get-togethers hosted by knowledgeable fellow beer scribe, Crystal Luxmore, for whom I was substituting when I last hosted.

Thankfully for me, Ms. Luxmore again finds herself otherwise engaged for an upcoming event and I’ve been asked to fill in.

Also thankfully for me, this event, taking place on Thursday March 12, from 6:30pm – 9:30pm  has evolved to include not just craft beer, but also bourbon and smoked meat. No really. It’s like they’ve taken a page from my dream journal. All that’s missing is 90s era Tiffany Amber Thiessen.

The event will feature beer from Sudbury craft brewery Stack Brewing who, rumour has it, are gearing up for broader distribution of their heretofore relatively unknown beers, so you’ll have a chance to try a few beers you probably haven’t had before.

We’ll also be enjoying a selection of bourbons from the portfolio of Kirkwood Diamond Canada, including Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare and I’ll make some effort to explain why beer and bourbon go well together (aside from the answer my grandpappy always gave that “you got two hands for a reason!”).

Lastly, because all this good drinkin’ will surely work up a hunger, we’ll be enjoying a selection of cured meats from none other that Toronto’s Caplansky’s.

I know, I know. At this point you’re probably already saying “Just shut up and take my money,” so here’s the link to get tickets. 

It’s just $50 a person which, considering you’re getting three beers, three bourbons, and three different sandwiches, is a hell of a deal (even if the experience will be marred slightly by having to listen to me pretend I know what I’m talking about).

If you bring a friend you can get a pair of tickets for $90, but considering the event is designed to meet new people, rolling solo is obviously cool, too.

See you there! I’ll be the guy covered in mustard.

My Top 10 Beer Lists

Posted on by Ben

If writing for and reading blogTO has taught me anything, it’s this: People fucking love lists.

Accordingly, in what might be the smartest, laziest, SEO-ist thing I’ve ever done, I thought I’d post the ultimate click-bait this Friday afternoon in a blatant attempt at attracting some traffic to the blog while doing as little work as possible: A top ten list of  lists.

Brilliant, right?

Below is a linked list of my favourite lists that I’ve written. And while this is an exercise in supremely lazy writing, it turns out that this is actually pretty damn informative, and not a bad way to get you in the mood to drink a few beers this weekend, if I don’t say so myself.

Now I’ll just share a link to this post on twitter with some trending hashtags and badaboom bada bing, I win the internet today. #bonerpatrol Presumably if this goes well, I might one day conceive of a top ten list of lists of lists, but I assume the universe would implode if I did that so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Enjoy! Continue reading “My Top 10 Beer Lists” →

Allowing booze sales in convenience stores is a dumb idea

Posted on by Ben

Convenient Beer

Clearly, I’m among those who feel that the province’s beverage alcohol retail system needs modernizing.

I think most would agree I’ve been pretty vocal on that subject in the past.

You’d think then, that I’d be on board with recent initiatives from the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) to lobby the province to let them sell booze.

Well I’m definitely not. Booze in convenience stores is a dumb idea.

In fact, allowing convenience stores to sell alcohol will simply give us more of the same shitty system we already have, just in more locations. And more of the same isn’t better, it’s worse. Continue reading “Allowing booze sales in convenience stores is a dumb idea” →

Win free admission to Beer 4 Boobs!

Posted on by Ben


beer4boobs

It’s not often that you can justify your drinking by claiming that it’s for charity, but on Sunday April 7th, you’ll be able to do just that at the second annual “Beer 4 Boobs,” a unique event bringing a group of passionate local brewers together to help fight breast cancer.

As with last year, the event will feature an ample selection of specialty and one-off beers brewed especially for the occasion. Unlike last year, however, this year’s festivities have expanded to included not one but two evenings in two different cities so as to better showcase the selection of beer offerings from the likes of Amsterdam Brewing Co., Black Oak, Mill Street, Oast House, Railway City, Beyond the Pale, Camerons, Niagara College, The Ship, Grand River, Bellwoods, Silversmith, Trafalgar, Indie Ale House, Cheshire Valley, Granite and more. Continue reading “Win free admission to Beer 4 Boobs!” →

There is no beer for Valentine’s Day

Posted on by Ben

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There is no “appropriate” beer for today.

In fact, you don’t have to shoehorn beer into every occasion and you don’t need to make beer relevant to whatever holiday/event/celebration might be occurring on any given day.

Perhaps today, on Valentine’s Day, that’s all the more clear.

Sorry, but beer and Valentine’s day don’t really go together; as much as a large swath of marketing people, beer writers, editors, brewers, etc. might want you to believe it.

Beer isn’t really romantic.

Beer is comforting, yes. Beer is delicious, obviously. Sharing a beer with a loved one can be a great experience. But beer sexy? No. Sorry, it’s just not.  Continue reading “There is no beer for Valentine’s Day” →

London is Getting a Microbrewery

Posted on by Ben

Forked River

I resisted the urge to add an exclamation point to the title of this post; however, I can’t help but hum the tune to “Hallelujah” when I type the words.

You see, I’m from London and lived there for roughly 85% of my life and while London has always had a lot to offer, craft beer has not been one of those things.

Now, with the arrival of Forked River Brewing Company, that will change.

The recently announced craft brewery is the brainchild of David Reed, Andrew Peters, and Steve Nazarian–all London residents and University of Western Ontario graduates (Go Mustangs!). Reed is an engineer who worked a few years running an engineering department at a beverage R&D firm and has been brewing for ten years; Nazarian worked in the biotechnology sector, working in pharmaceutical manufacturing, drug safety testing, and quality control before getting the homebrewing bug in 2004; and Peters is also a microbiologist who got involved with homebrewing clubs in Ottawa and Toronto. Continue reading “London is Getting a Microbrewery” →

Beer and Star Wars: A Pairing Guide

Posted on by Ben
Sadly, this doesn't actually exist.
Sadly, this doesn’t actually exist.

There’s always a temptation, when you love two things, to attempt to bring those two things together. Most of the time, as with wine and cheese, peanut butter and banana, or drinking gin and attending yard sales, the pairings complement each other; improving your experience of both things.

But if you’re not careful, as with my unfortunate attempt to combine roast beef sandwiches and hot tubs, things can go hideously wrong and end up permanently ruining your enjoyment of both things.

And so, when I recently finally acquired copies of the theatrical version of the original Star Wars trilogy, it was with trepidation that I attempted to find the right tasty, Canadian beer to enjoy while watching each of the films. I considered my choices carefully, and I think I came up with some successful combinations, and so I pass that wisdom on to you. Continue reading “Beer and Star Wars: A Pairing Guide” →

Free Toronto taxi service until January 9th

Posted on by Ben

Taxi

It’s not often that I find myself touting the marketing efforts of a big brewer, but I can recognize a good thing when I see it–so I’d thought I’d share it.

It’s called “Get Home Safe with Hailo and Molson.”

I know this is typically a haven for craft beer and you might be recoiling at the dropping of the “M” word, but relax would you? We’re talking about free cab rides here! And anything helping people getting home safely (and for free) around the holidays is a good thing. Continue reading “Free Toronto taxi service until January 9th” →

Beer? Cocktails? Liquor? Problem solved.

Posted on by Ben

There’s been a lot of debate lately in the world of Toronto alcohol enthusiasts over the merit of cocktails.

Toronto lifestyle publications like the Grid and blogTO seem to have amped up their cocktail coverage, and stories abound in the dailies about the complex new places that mixology is taking Toronto’s drinkers.

The mixed-libation trend seems even to have spilled over (pun!) into the world of beer.

Beer cocktails seem to have reached a new level of prominence and you can even find beer cocktail recipes from certified cicerone, beerologist, and blogger, Mirella Amato in the current issue of the LCBO’s Food and Drink magazine.

[Semi-related sidenote: Back in March the beer cocktail debate really began to rage (as much as online writing about beer can rage…) when Andy Crouch, author of BeerScribe.com called for “Death to Beer Cocktails.”

Ezra Johnson-Greenough, founder of The New School craft beer commentary blog then responded with a somewhat-less-than-subtly-titled “Andy Crouch is a Big Fat Idiot” and various other beer bloggers joined the fray on both sides.

The fracas ultimately culminated in Toronto’s own Stephen Beaumont calling for cooler heads to prevail by noting the “Futility of Either/Or Thinking.”]

In short, things seem to be getting pretty crazy in the world of Toronto libations in general and, as Christine Sismondo summed up in an excellent HuffPo article this week about how exactly we got here, the “mixology” craziness has even reached a point where “today’s professional craft cocktail makers create syrups from scratch and hand-carve ice to achieve specific levels of coldness suited to the level of dilution required.”

Uh, alright then.

Toronto bartenders, it seems, are going to great and weird lengths to one-up each other with the most original concotions and some of them seem to bringing all the annoyingly pretentious aspects of foodie-ism to my favourite past-time; namely, getting drunk.

Continue reading “Beer? Cocktails? Liquor? Problem solved.” →

Please Stop Saying Mouthfeel

Posted on by Ben

Dear Beer Writers,

Please stop saying “mouthfeel.”

Sincerely,

Me

Look, I know “mouthfeel” is a real thing, but let’s just all agree to…stop saying it.

OK?

Let’s let it die.

For the uninitiated, “mouthfeel” is an actual concept used to convey the sensation that food or drinks leave in your mouth and it’s something that’s noted by food, wine, and beer connoisseurs.

It’s not actually a made up douchey, pseudo-concept, as much as it sounds like one, but an honest-to-goodness thing, as is evidenced by it’s inclusion in the dictionary.

mouth·feel

[mouth-feel]

noun
the tactile sensation a food gives to the mouth: a creamy mouthfeel.

See?

But let’s be honest, it’s just a fucking awful word.

Continue reading “Please Stop Saying Mouthfeel” →