It’s that time of year, when the neighbourhood-branded toques come out and we snuggle that slightly stinky stranger on the subway just a little closer to stay warm. It’s also a time when our taste in beer migrates toward the darker, boozier offerings to keep Jack Frost from nipping at our noses – among other extremities.
Here are my picks for local beers to drink this winter in Toronto.
Bellwoods Brewery’s Bring Out Your Dead
Bellwoods Brewery’s ridonkulous imperial stout, aged in cognac barrels for over a year, is rich, warming, and scarily smooth for its potent 12.2% alcohol content. Save this one for one of those days you drop your gloves in the slush and get splashed by the streetcar and need a magic elixir to turn things around. This is it. Available at the Bellwoods Brewery retail store in 650mL bottles.
Mill Street Brewery’s 100th Meridian
Who says winter beers need to be as dark as Frosty’s eyes and as strong as the smell of your hockey equipment? 100th Meridian is the newish organic lager from Mill Street and with just a slightly heartier malt profile than most lagers, is the perfect refresher for after-snowman building or post shinny. Available in 341mL six packs at the LCBO and Beer Store.
Indie Alehouse’s Zombie Apocalypse
Dark, boozy, and a little scary, Zombie Apocalypse is a lot like your twice-divorced uncle on Christmas Eve. For a getaway from family this season, shut the blinds, put on sweatpants, pretend the world no longer exists and enjoy the brief silence with this roasty 10% imperial stout. Until the undead/inlaws come knocking… Available in 750mL bottles at Indie Alehouse’s retail store.
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