Tag: lagers

Unironically Rocking Out to Smash Mouth

Posted on by Ben

My name is Ben Johnson, and I enjoy late 1990s top forty pop rock.

It’s something I didn’t ever see coming, but now that I’ve said it out loud, it feels inevitable and — honestly —  something of a relief to admit. It’s one less thing to give a fuck about as I inch closer to middle age.

I first realized I had a problem when I was at the gym and, tired of the same two “Workout” playlists I created seven years ago, I opted for one of those “because you like X” playlists and let the algorithmic gods take me where they may. A few minutes into my breathy, post-weights elliptical jaunt, I realized with some sense of alarm that I was listening to Smash Mouth’s “Walkin’ on The Sun.” Not only that, I realized I knew every word to the song and I was…singing along?

What the fuck.

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‘Tis A Fine Time for Drinkin’

Posted on by Ben

While there is, of course, no such thing as a bad time for drinking (Christenings maybe?), this month in particular seems to have aligned the stars for the city’s beer drinkers to provide ample opportunity for pint tipping.

Two notable events are happening this weekend and next at venues that will soon be ranked [Spoiler Alert] among the city’s 15 best bars for beer selection according to the readers of blogTO : barVolo and The Only Cafe.

VoloAt Volo is, of course, the 4th annual three-day tribute to hops that is the Cask IPA Challenge. The event will feature 26 brewers, all of whom have crafted a cask conditioned (unfiltered, aged and served in a cask and poured without CO2 or nitrogen) IPA and will square off tournament-style in blind tastings until there is only one brewer left standing–ostensibly on wobbly legs after three days of drinking Cask IPAs

The fun kicks off on Friday with an IPA Spinoff Challenge, showcasing some not-quite-IPA styles like Double IPAs and Black IPAs before the official tournament starts Saturday. Complete details including the list of participating brewers and the first round bracket can be found here.

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Why are you still drinking shitty beer?

Posted on by Ben

Not so long ago, I started writing about beer on a regular basis.

Initially my involvement with beer was a pretty casual affair, allowing me to pair two things I’ve always loved; drinking and writing.

Though after a few months writing about beer, meeting with local brewers, attending beer events, and drinking great beer, it became clear I was becoming a little obsessed with beer.

These days I spend a considerable amount of my time reading about, talking about, writing about, and of course drinking, beer and it’s my hope this obsession will soon expand into the world of making beer–but more on that later.

So while I currently cover general beer happenings for the Toronto-centric blogTO, I thought it was high time I had my own place to collect my thoughts on all things beer and document the sure-to-be-messy process of learning how to make my own.

And so, given that I have this new forum, I thought I’d use my inaugural post to pose a question to the city’s beer drinkers: Why are you still drinking shitty beer?

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