Tag: Great Lakes Brewery

The Ontario beer state of the union

Posted on by Ben

Ontario Flag

On Thursday, at Beer Bistro in Toronto, awards were handed out to the fan favourites in a variety of categories for Ontario’s beer scene for the 2016 Golden Tap Awards.

The occasion, which likely skews a little too heavily toward Toronto beer bars and breweries, is probably about as good a way as any to take the pulse of the province’s current beer trends, and thus seemed to me like an appropriate time to reflect on the Ontario beer scene generally. Also, yes, I won one of these awards again last night and so I feel compelled to actually contribute something instead of resting on my laurels.

And so I had a few beers and thunk on it, and I’ve concluded that the craft beer scene in Ontatio is great.

But it’s time to get serious. Continue reading “The Ontario beer state of the union” →

10 totally true facts about Toronto Beer Week

Posted on by Ben

tbw

In a few hours, Toronto Beer Week will kick off with a launch party at the Summerhill LCBO.

The next week will feature a slew of events in and around the city and even an official beer, Interloper, a barrel-aged, blended farmhouse beer made by Indie Alehouse and available at the LCBO, participating TBW bars and at Indie’s bottleshop.

That much you probably already knew.

But to help you make the most of your Toronto Beer Week and give you the inside scoop, I’ve put together this list of 10 totally true facts about Toronto Beer Week.

Everything written here is totally 100% true. Obviously. Continue reading “10 totally true facts about Toronto Beer Week” →

Mike Lackey: The Proost Questionnaire

Posted on by Ben

The Proust Questionnaire is a famous questionnaire about one’s personality. Its name and modern popularity as a form of interview is owed to the responses once given by the French writer Marcel Proust. Ben’s Beer Blog has co-opted this format in order to provide a revealing look at people making beer and working in the beer industry in Ontario. As such, I’ve renamed it The Proost Questionnaire, since “proost” is the Dutch word for cheers. Clever right?

Mike Lackey is the head brewer for Etobicoke’s Great Lakes Brewery. Here, the man responsible for some of your favourite IPAs goes deep to talk about his favourite jacket and his secret love of bees.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? 

Having a beer with the game on in the backyard.

What is your greatest fear?

My wife one day realizing that she can do way better than me.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Living in the same neighbourhood, keeping the same job and keeping many of the same friends through most of my life.

What is your favorite occupation?

Playing hockey. Continue reading “Mike Lackey: The Proost Questionnaire” →

Contest: Win two tickets to The Craftmas Beer Experience

Posted on by Ben

You checked our shitters, honey?

CONTEST CLOSED: 

Congratulations to Phil for his winning comment and xmas movie and beer pairing:

Die Hard paired with Maclean’s Pale Ale because Yippy Ki Ay Mother Fucker!

Call me a sentimental son of a bitch but a comment that references my favourite Christmas movie, names an Ontario craft beer, and drops an eff bomb seems to me like what the holidays are all about. Congrats, Phil! Enjoy the Craftmas Beer Experience.

This holiday season, the folks who have brought The Beer Experience to Berkeley Church for the last two years as part of Toronto Beer Week are getting into the festive spirit.

The innaugural, aptly (if awkwardly) named winter equivalent, Craftmas Beer Experience, promises much of the same elements that have made The Beer Experience a success the past couple of years–and Ben’s Beer Blog wants to send you and a friend to the event to check it out.

Happening at District 28 near Toronto’s Port Lands on Thursday December 4th, The Craftmas Beer Experiences promises unique and festive beers from Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co, Black Oak Brewing, Cameron’s, Creemore Springs, Great Lakes Brewery, Junction Craft Brewing, Kensington Brewing Company, Mill Street, and Wellington, among others. There will also be food provided by Matt Basile’s Lisa Marie Food Truck.

Tickets, which include five drink tokens, can be purchased in advance for $25 each, but for one lucky Ben’s Beer Blog reader Christmas is comin’ early, because we’re giving away two tickets! Ho, ho, effing ho.

In the spirit of the season, to enter, simply leave a comment here letting me know your favourite Christmas movie, the perfect beer to pair with it, and why.

On Monday December 1st, the contest closes and I’ll pick the best/most entertaining entry to receive two free tickets. Preference may or may not be given to people who spread word of this contest via twitter.

(Use your real email address when you comment so that I know how to contact you)

The Original Snake Bite: return of the church key

Posted on by Ben

The O

Back in the day, when your grandparents wanted a beer at home, they couldn’t just crack one open and pour, they had to punch through the flat topped can with a sharp piece of metal. The crude device they used, called a Church Key, has fallen out of fashion in modern times as technology brought us the pull tab in 1959 and then, later, the push tab in the 1970s–essentially the same beverage can technology we use today.

Lately, however, there seems to have been a movement–whether it’s actually necessary or not–to attempt to create a can that pours beer even better. Coors, for example, patented the Wide Mouth Can in the late 1990s, Samuel Adams released their Boston Lager in “Sam Cans” in 2013 that, while they looked just like normal cans to me, actually featured an “opening [that] is placed further inboard on its wide top to allow for better airflow while drinking, which means the beer’s aroma, a major component of flavor, has a little more room to breathe.” Continue reading “The Original Snake Bite: return of the church key” →

Great draught selection is no longer enough

Posted on by Ben

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Over the course of the last few blog posts, I’ve been trying to make the argument that “good” bars and restaurants need to incorporate thoughtful draught selection into the dining and drinking experience they provide. It’s something I feel strongly about and I hope that my writing as of late has contributed to the conversation on the subject.

Recently, however, I had an experience that made me realize that the inverse is also something worth talking about; namely places that do incorporate a thoughtful draught selection really ought to be held to account to provide a “good” restaurant experience.

I have a feeling that this post might piss some people off, but the thought came to me Saturday night when I popped into C’est What for a few pints.

I’ve been there plenty of times before, but this was the first time it ever dawned on me that C’est What is, to put it frankly, pretty awful. Continue reading “Great draught selection is no longer enough” →

Let’s talk about contract brewing

Posted on by Ben

Cool Expansion Before

It’s that time of year when everyone begins to trot out their end-of-year reviews and we look back on the year that was in beer.

And as we beer writers all surf through our own stories from the previous year in an effort to slap together an SEO-friendly list of happenings we’ve already written about, I feel like there is one item of significance that will get overlooked in a lot of people’s round-ups. It’s the fact that Cool Brewery in Etobicoke is currently wrapping up renovations that will see their space increased by 20%–renovations that have added  four new 330-hectolitre fermentation tanks, vastly increasing their production capabilities.

As they themselves noted in a recent edition of their newsletter, COOL NATION NEWS! each of these tanks will hold the equivalent of 96,800 bottles of beer.

As you probably know, it’s unlikely that those bottles will all be filled with Cool Brewing’s own brands of beer, Cool Lager, Buzz Hemp Beer, and Stonewall Light. Instead, it’s far more likely that the space will be dedicated to Cool’s other, increasingly lucrative business; namely, renting out their space to contract brewers. Continue reading “Let’s talk about contract brewing” →

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” →

Great Lakes Brewery’s “My Bitter Wife” coming to the LCBO

Posted on by Ben

AndrewWilliamson_590-greatlakesbrewery-5014

Well, it ain’t Karma Citra, but it will certainly do the trick.

Fans of brewer Mike Lackey’s great IPAs will be pleased to learn that Great Lakes Brewery’s IPA “My Bitter Wife” is slated for an LCBO release.

The release is part of the brewery’s Tank Ten series, which is apparently a “a tickle trunk of tasty treats,” and is designed to let GLB’s brewers flex a little of their creative muscle, reserving the eponymous fermenting tank number ten at their brewery to let them “brew whatever they heck they want.”

I was lucky enough to be at the brewery on Friday while the 650mL bottles were rolling off the line in anticipation of the LCBO release next week so I was granted this “scoop” as it were (Incidentally, the purpose of my visit was a collaboration brew with Mr. Lackey to brew what I hope will be another of his fantastic IPAs…but more information on that soon). Continue reading “Great Lakes Brewery’s “My Bitter Wife” coming to the LCBO” →

It’s time for a Great Lakes Brewery LCBO release for Karma Citra

Posted on by Ben

If there’s one thing that this city’s beer fans can likely agree on, it is this: Mike Lackey brews some damn good beer.

Having been with Great Lakes Brewery for over 20 years now, the guy knows a thing or two about craft beer and, with his recent releases it seems that he is only getting better with age. It’s almost like his power to brew phenomenal beer emanates from his beard and the longer that thing gets the better his beer gets.

I haven’t done the research, but I bet the day he shaves that thing off would be the day he walks in to Peter Bulut Jr.’s office and proposes brewing a low carb lager. Continue reading “It’s time for a Great Lakes Brewery LCBO release for Karma Citra” →