Props to the Prez (and the PM too)

I was all set to give props to the Prez for furthering the cause of craft beer’s international reputation, not to mention further cementing our wonderful relationship with the US of A by not welching on a bet.

And under this pre-story scenario our own fearless leader was going to be painted with the brush of lame for taking the safe choice for his end of the bargain.

It turned out to be not exactly like that, but I was never one for letting the facts get in the way a good story, especially if it’s about beer, gambling, international relations, women and the great game of hockey.

This is about the Great Hockey Bet, of course, the one placed during each Olympics whenever the U.S. and Canada play a meaningful game. And each time President Barrack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper place a small wager on the outcome.

Winner gets beer.

In Vancouver it was the gold medal double when both the men and women teams from the two hockey powers faced off in the Olympic finals. We won both games four years ago, and two cases of beer were the spoils.

Last month the nations collided again. For the women, it was the gold medal game and it was a game for the ages – if you’re Canadian – with Canada scoring twice in the final four minutes to tie the match and then winning it in overtime over the slightly favoured U.S. ladies . The men, meanwhile, met in the semi-final, with Canada also winning that game – with more beer on the line – before defeating Sweden to capture gold.

Obama declared his beer choice early, declaring that should the American lose he would pony up White House-brewed beer. To be precise, a case of White House Honey Blonde Ale and a case of Honey Porter, both made from honey from the First Lady’s own hives.

That’s a powerful endorsement of craft beer, I’d say.

The first time the media reported the bet I read only that Harper was putting up Canadian beer, so I assumed Molson Canadian beer.

Now I drank my share of Canadian in my day and I love the beer fridge ads getting major play during the Sochi Olympics, but choosing a commercial beer, especially one synonymous with the “I Am Canadian” theme, is both cliché and really lame.

Turns out I didn’t know what I was talking about. Either that or the PM was thinking Molson Canadian all along until an advisor whispered something in his ear about scoring a few political points by spreading the love around. Or I’m just being cynical.

Beau's Lug Tread - A 'lagered' ale

In any case, Prime Minister Harper announced on March 12 – a couple of days after President Obama delivered on his end of the bargain with the White House brew – that, should Canada have been defeated in the game, he would have delivered one case of beer from Beau’s All Natural Brewing, and one case of suds from Big Rock Brewery.

Big Rock is a Calgary brewery noted for its Traditional Ale (Harper represents a Calgary riding in the House), while Beau’s – home of Lug Tread Lagered Ale and The Tom Green Beer, is strategically located between Ottawa and Montreal.

The timing of our fearless leader’s announcement may be suspect (I know, I'm being cynical again) but the end result is another big boost for the craft beer sector.

I have to be careful not to give Obama too much credit for this anyway. The jury is still out on the White House beer (which you can brew at home, thanks to a recipe made public after a Freedom of Information Act request, no less) and his choice four years ago was 24 Molson Canadian and a case of his favourite beer, Yuengling, a lager which scored just 27 on Rate Beer.

(One reviewer described the taste as “metallic, corn, weak malts, sugared beets, bland lettuce and dry hay.” Ouch.)

On the other hand, Obama is quite possibly the first sitting President to brew his own beer AND he showed really good comedic timing (and some major cajones) when he went up against Zach Galifinekos on the funny man’s Between Two Ferns talk show. Really funny stuff.

What the hell. Props to both of them for shining a powerful and very political light on the craft beer industry.

Ales to the Chiefs!

*

Speaking of international beer relations, I ended up defending our honour (sort of) today at an Ajax LCBO. The fellow in front of me – a hipster sort – had a couple of cans of Guinness and I remarked that it was kind of obligatory to buy the world’s most popular stout on St. Patrick’s Day. He said yes, but that it was too bad we didn’t make any good stouts.

Well. I’m no fan of stout, but we make some world-class varieties in this great nation and I told him so. I pointed in the direction of the beer cooler in the back and told him exactly where he could find some, too.

He mumbled something so I smiled and let it pass.

I pointed at the six Smashbomb Atomics in front of me and told him I needed to stock up on my IPAs today; St. Patrick’s Day or not. He told me it was too bad we didn’t make any good IPAs in the country. “Not like the U.S.,” he added.

Well. I gritted my teeth and said we make plenty of fantastic IPAs here and pointed again at my Smashbombs. “Flying Monkeys,” I added, pointing again at my six-pack, “is an awesome brewery and Smashbomb is one of the best IPAs out there.”

“Sure,” he grudgingly conceded, “but their IIPA is better.”

“You mean Shoulders of Giants,” I asked, referring to the Imperial IPA released last month at a party I was supposed to attend. “Were you at the release party?”

“Uh, no,” he stammered, looking confused.

I smiled again and told him to have a good day.

Hipsters.

*

Just a trio of new beers to talk about this time, starting with a couple of beers the lovely  Cat and I enjoyed Saturday when we did a bottle run down to Bellwoods Brewery in the Trinity-Bellwoods neighborhood in Toronto.

After buying a couple of bottles of their wonderful Witchshark – still number one on my IIPA list – as well as singles of the Catherine Wheel Belgian IPA and a new (to me) IPA called Cat Lady (yes, Cat bought some too), we discovered the brew pub wouldn’t be open for an hour.

Damn. My bad.

So we headed back north and ended up at Against the Grain Urban Tavern in Leaside, not a block away from Amsterdam Brewery and ten minutes from Cat’s apartment. “How is it you haven’t been here before,” I asked her. “I don’t know,” was her only response.

Anyway, it was a craft beer pub and we had a flight of four six-ouncers, one of which was Johnny Simcoe APA from Great Lakes. I have to say I was a little apprehensive because it poured yellow and I had my heart broken by a yellow IPA only last week.

I needn’t have worried. It was excellent. There was a rich, creamy head and it was quite hoppy. Lemony, even. At five per cent it instantly became one of my favourite session beers and probably takes top honours for beer under 5.5 per cent. Very good.

At home that evening I tried the Cat Lady. Light in colour but not in strength at 7.2 per cent, there was the usual grapefruit plus hints of pine and an earthy taste. Very little head. A very nice beer.

And, because it is St. Patrick’s Day, I had to go Irish at least once today. Smithwicks got the call and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a red ale and poured a coppery-red with a nice balance of malts and some sort of fruit I can’t identify. At 4.5 per cent it’s another fine session beer.

I'll leave you with a message from Great Lakes Brewery about the practice of drinking green beer on this special day:

 "If you insist on adding green dye/colouring to your beer this St. Patrick's Day, please don't use #GLB beer! Better yet, just don't do it!"

Amen.