Rainhard, Brock Street ready to take on the big guys

It had rained the whole day previously and it was a wet and dreary Sunday morning when I ventured west to cut the grass at my Mom and Dad's place in west Toronto. The weather was appropriate, however, because I was going to visit one of the city's newest breweries after my chores: Rainhard Brewing.

The setting was fitting as well: housed in a 1940s factory in the heart of The Stockyards (in what was once Canada's largest abattoir), Rainhard Brewing is located in what is now a gloomy ghost town of abandoned factories and warehouses. (It was, until 1998, also a dry part of town. Gotta love the Temperance movement!) Once found, however, it was all worth it as founder Jordan Rainhard has carved out a welcoming oasis amongst the surrounding neglect and decay.

Rainhard, who turned pro earlier this year after a few years as an award-winning home brewer, has built a 7 BBL brewery with a tap room, event space and retail store on the site - mostly by his own hands (with a ton of help from his wife Katie) - which also sports a very cool bar, made mostly of  2 X 8s.

Ale heaven at Rainhard Brewery

The beer lineup is stellar, too. On tap on the day I visited (and I was the only customer in there - c'mon, people!) was Armed 'N Citra, Rainhard's flagship pale ale, Lazy Bones IPA and his crazy nine per cent, 90 IBU Russian Imperial Stout: Hearts Collide. He has since added a IIPA, True Grit Farmhouse Ale and Day Walker India Session Ale.

Armed N Citra was very sessionable (5.2 per cent) with lots of citrus, tropical fruit and some pale malts on the tongue. Lazy Bones was even better: sweet and fruity on the nose with more dark fruits and citrus on the tongue. Tasty, but could have used a bit more punch. I brought home a couple of bottles of each and sampled the stout, which was far too complex to rate on just a wee taste. Next time.

This is definitely a brewery to watch.

Another new start-up I visited recently is Brock Street Brewing in Whitby, which held its soft opening in April - so 'soft' several thousand people showed up - and its grand opening July 4.

On tap in April was their  Blonde, an Irish Red and an American Brown Ale. Since the soft launch the four local fellows who run the place (three hail from Whitby; one from neighbouring Ajax) have added Double Vision, a 7.5 per cent Imperial Pale Ale, as well as the Brock Street Porter.

I rather liked the American Brown. It's a nutty and hoppy style I am slowly warming to and this is one of the better examples.



The Brock Street Brewery team. When four guys open
a brewery the first thing to do is...drink beer!

The Double Vision IIPA left me wanting a bit more, however. It poured very dark and was nicely carbonated but all I got on the nose was malt and it tasted of malt and  dark fruit with very little bitterness.

I expect if they ever get around to making a regular IPA it will be better.

The boys from Brock Street are the latest in a wave of breweries opening in Durham in the past couple of year, a list that also includes 5 Paddles (Whitby), Manantler (Bowmanville), Old Flame (Port Perry), and Underdogs (Oshawa), with more on the way.

The locals are already surprising some of the established breweries around the nation. Manantler earned a silver medal at the Ontario Brewing Awards in the spring for its delicious Dark Prince Black IPA and Old Flame won gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards for its Old Flame Red.

All but Underdogs will be at the Durham Craft Beer Festival, which will be ... today, damn it, so hop to it and watch them do battle for your taste buds against some of Ontario's best brewers, including Cameron's (Oakville), Sawdust City (Gravenhurst) and Great Lakes Brewery of Toronto, the two-time Canadian Brewery of the Year.

If you can't make it I'll let you know how the battle went.

*

Speaking of the Durham Craft Beer Festival and Manantler (my favourite of the newbies), I have several beer reviews from the little Bowmanville brewhouse that I need to get out there.

Liquid Swords IPA

The Citra Situation was a happy surprise, as I now know that Golden Ales, if made properly, are delicious. This one gave me tons of lemon and grapefruit on the nose, followed by bright citrus, lemon candy and some tropical fruit on the tongue. Decent bitterness for a session Golden Ale.

Rye-Diculous was another good one. The aroma wasn't much - some rye, a little citrus - but it builds into a solid offering with citrus, some dry malts and pine. And rye - we can’t forget the rye! The bitterness lingers lovingly.

One of my favourite pale ales of the year was Falconer's Flight, a single hop offering that was very tart and very citrusy.Grapefruit, tropical fruit (mango, perhaps?) and lemon flavours carry this beer right past refreshing and into the delicious zone.

Roberta Blondar, another Golden Ale that was the first in a series honouring great Canadians, was citrusy on the nose with some dark fruits and even cherry on the tongue. It was sweet but not cloying, as well as light and very sessionable.

Finally, an IPA from Manantler: Liquid Swords. This classic unfiltered IPA offered plenty of lemony hops, with grapefruit and resiny flavours as well. Very nice.

Cheers!

A week full of memories (and a fridge full of beer)

It was a week to remember for me, what with my beloved Oshawa Generals winning the Memorial Cup, my beer bro and former college roomie arriving from far off New Zealand, and the little matter of me proudly carrying the flame during the Pan Am Games Torch Run.

The fact that I have some cool swag, even cooler memories and a fridge full (well, not anymore) of truly awesome beers means the good times just keep on giving.

It was all Gens to start the week as the boys won the Memorial Cup - junior hockey's biggest prize - for the fifth time and the first in a quarter-century.

With General Motors - the team's namesake and original sponsor - threatening to pull out of the Motor City and take several thousand jobs with it, the Cup run was a welcome diversion for Oshawa residents. The team, which was ranked number one in the nation for 16 consecutive weeks and knocked off hockey's next wonderkid - Connor McDavid - and his Erie Otters in the OHL final, ran the table in the Memorial Cup and finished it off with a dramatic 2-1 overtime win over the Kelowna Rockets in the final.

Captain Josh Brown and the Memorial Cup

My city loves its junior hockey and especially its Generals and the town damn near shut down that Sunday night and the hangover - more than two weeks later - still lingers. The good kind of hangover.

The visit from my Kiwi pal (by way of Gananoque) Steve was up next on my week from the Gods and it had the advantage of having more beer involved. The Gods approved.

Steve has been living in Wellington, New Zealand - one of the world's craft beer capitals - for some 15 years and has only been back home once since then, for his brother's wedding. This time Steve was here for a sombre occasion: to bury his father John, who died May 25.

Steve got to spend some time with his family to celebrate his Dad's life, and he continued to celebrate John Cossaboom's time on this earth in Burlington, where he was hosted by Beer Bro Don, who took two week's holiday to help his pal celebrate the only way they know how: by drinking copious amounts of IPAs and their friends.

How many beers did they drink?  Hard to say, but if you read this Stevil lands at DB&G or this The fine art of day drinking - both lifted from the legendary Brew Ha Ha beer blog - you may get an idea. I know Don learnt something new: don't engage the big guy in a drinking competition.

I know Don can drink, but I don't think he realized how many Steve (estimated height: 5 foot 19) can put away. There were (substantiated) stories of Don fast asleep while Steve, umpteenth Imperial IPA or some other form of liquid dynamite in hand as he watches the hockey game; tales (unsubstantiated; possibly made up) of late night mascara sessions; and this appeal from Don to Steve's sister, the lovely and talented Kim:

"I am throwing the A beers at Sasquatch here and yet he does not fall? W-T-actual-Fuck?"

That's Amy on the left, Gordo (with the Captain America
 glass) and Steve, the guest of honour, in the middle

We gave Don a hand on the Thursday night when Donnie's Bar & Grill welcomed a half-dozen Humber J-School alum (and a few Beer Store people, who are always welcome at DB&G) for a mini Humber College Journalism Reunion.

There was, besides the three of us, the always interesting and uber-cool Other Steve, and Ann, who has retained her wit and her famous tight curls from all those years ago. From Don's Beer Store family there was the captivating and charming Amy, the legend that is Gord, and Sandi, who had left before my arrival.

Poor Sandi, knowing I was passed out at 9:30 at the last DB&G party, probably came especially early to see me. Fooled her - I had to work extra late and then I made my customary border run to grab some Stone (Cal) beers and assorted other American IPAs, so I was running several hours behind.

My revised strategy paid off. After many hours talking about current projects (Michael Jackson? Wait, what?), the good ol' days (they were pretty good) and drinking plenty of beer, the crowd started to thin a little bit.

The beers were fine, hoppy and plentiful. I can't speak for the early birds, but I enjoyed a Canadian-made Goose Island (smooth and tasty but not exciting), the always awesome Smashbomb, Headstock fresh from the growler, a Long Dong Pilsener from Great Lakes, an Aprihop from Dogfish Head (courtesy of Consumers Beverages in Niagara Falls, NY), the new and improved Stone Pale Ale, a Cameron`Rye Pale Ale and a Ruination 2.0 from Stone that was amazing enough to deserve more attention in a future blog.

So good.

I wasn't even mad that Don drank half of the top notch New Zealand IPAs Steve had brought with him (No Hop Zombie? Say it ain't so!) and gave the rest away to Kylie, his favourite Beer Technician. Okay, maybe a little. But I got over it.

And then it was just Steve (not Other Steve), Ann (of the Michael Jackson Project fame) and me. And then, just me.

Last man standing.

No Hop Zombies? No, because
Steve and Don DRANK THEM ALL!

For those who were there at a previous DB&G soiree (or read about it here Unapologetic about Beer), I repeat: Last. Man (or Woman). Standing.

In the morning (I bailed on work that day) I enjoyed a nutritious (and delicious!) breakfast of Mill Street Coffee Porter and a humongous apple pie (courtesy of Other Steve) with Don and Steve, giving me another chance to catch up on old times with the big guy after nearly 30 years apart. Seeing him in New Zealand - a place I visited in 1989 - is on my bucket list

And then I was off home to Oshawa for my big day with the Pan Am Torch, while Steve hopped on a plane that afternoon for Vancouver (another of his old stomping grounds) before heading home to Wellington.

(I stopped at Nickel Brook on the way out of Burlington for a growler of Headstock and met John, the boss of this amazing brewery. I gave him a gift of a Dorado, a IIPA from Ballast Point of San Diego, and he gifted me a couple of Headstock in return. Bonus! I just hope he realized the Dorado was 10 per cent alcohol. I found out myself that night. Liver killer but really good.)

I wrote about my Pan Am experience before (Shwa Stories: Passing the Torch) so I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say it was fucking AWESOME!

I changed my mind. I  will bore you with some of the details.

You know when you hear the anthem being played and you get goosebumps? It was like that except I was actually singing the anthem in front of 20,000 people. Except I wasn't really singing, because then 20,000 people would be screaming in agony, and it was more like two hundred people, but you get my point.

I felt pride. Pride gets a bad rap, but pride can be pretty cool.

My family was there to watch my moment in the sun, which is a figure of speech as it was raining like a sonovabitch that day. The rain didn't put a damper on the run at all, though. Really, really awesome.

I was number 61 on the day and number 60 - the person who passed me the torch - was Marta, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who was in Canada for the FIFA Woman's World Cup. She had a television crew following her around but I didn't recognize her until just before we boarded the bus to head out to our appointed spots.

Passing the torch

Of course I had to get a quick picture of the two of us. "Weren't you the World Footballer of the Year?" says I, showing off my vast soccer knowledge. "Five times," she corrected me.

I guess that makes Marta - with apologies to our own Christine Sinclair - the greatest women's soccer player in the history of the game. Pretty damn cool, I'd say.

The actual run went far better than I dreamed - I was worried that my torn knee would let me down - and my 200 metres of fame was over far too soon. You still owe me ten minutes, Andy Warhol.

And then I was back home, my wonderful week for the memory banks over. Until I got on my computer and saw the congratulatory messages from my friends. I have more friends than I thought and I thank you all.

And the good times kept on rolling when I looked in my fridge; filled with lots and lots of great beer.

Truly a week to remember.

R.I.P. John Cossaboom 1929-2015

Twitter vs Facebook: just one gets me out of the house (for beer)

I've always been a loyal Facebook supporter but I'm starting to really warm to Twitter. Much against the better judgement of my lazy ass, Twitter is getting me out of the house more.

Only to breweries so far, but hey. Baby steps.

I have a soft spot for Facebook, as it has allowed me to reconnect with old friends and stay in touch with new ones and offered a sounding board to try and say funny or poignant things from time to time.

I use Twitter more for business, such as pumping up the blog or giving shout-outs to great breweries in the hope they offer me a job or free beer one day.

And now I use it to get the hell off this chair and into the big wide world and Lord knows I could use the exercise.

One such day recently started with me on Facebook, where I read the news that Sawdust City - makers of the very awesome Lone Pine  IPA - was finally getting around to brewing a double IPA called, appropriately, Twin Pines IPA. My pal Don - who watches nature shows in case he ever gets off Facebook and has to go outside -  immediately took to Twitter to declare it a must-have, even though the beer`s release would be limited to the brewery (Gravenhurst) and lucky pubs around the province.

All I could hope was that Darryl, my favourite bearded publican, would get some for Buster Rhino's in Oshawa. As Sawdust City and Buster Rhino's have a healthy`relationship based on making money and selling great beer, I could afford to be hopeful.

Beer...and chocolate

It seemed only minutes later Don was back - this time on Twitter - but now he was raving about the LCBO release of Karma Citra, the world class IPA from Great Lakes Brewery of Toronto, Canada`s two-time Brewery of the Year. "It`s showing up in all the Burlington LCBOs. Get on it!" he said to me, to Great Lakes and to whoever was listening on Twitter at the time. "Not showing up out here at all," said I, after googling the LCBO's product search site. I wasn't the least bit concerned, however, as I had been drinking it all week at Buster Rhino's after the recent Great Lakes tap takeover. "I'm sure it'll be here by Monday," I told him.

But all this talk of beer was making me thirsty and I remembered that I still hadn't paid a visit to the Manantler boys, who had just opened up a brewery in Bowmanville.

Today seemed like as good a time as any.

Manantler is about as new as it gets, having opened their five hectolitre brewhouse this winter (Train Bridge Pale Ale and Rococo Chocolate Milk Stout were the first two offerings) after nearly a year of brewing off-site.

Their abbey-style Pursuit of Abbeyness was one of the hits at the Durham Craft Beer Festival last September but after brewing it at Church Key Brewery in Campbellford (and none of this, "here's the recipe, go nuts" stuff - these guys took over the brewery for the day and brewed, cleaned, carbed, filtered and packaged it themselves) the four home brewing friends who make up Manantler were eager to open up their own brewery.

On February 21 they got their wish, setting up shop in a very cool brownfield site adjacent to the historic (1901) Bowmanville Foundry, just north of the downtown. With a chocolate factory, a candle maker and a caterer - among other tenants - the area is quickly becoming a feel-good gentrification project for the town; if one can accept that something next door to a century-old working iron castings foundry could be 'gentrified.'

And now there's a brewery in the mix, clearly driving the coolness quotient through the hop-stained roof.

Manantler has basement digs in this place and entering the bottle shop/tasting bar was not unlike walking into Sam Malone's bar on TV's Cheers - not that anyone called me Norm, and not that I'm beginning to look like him. Tasters and flights of whatever Manantler was brewing at the time was available at the bar, and with a skeleton of a deer/man riding a bicycle on the wall and antler tap handles on each of the kegs the lads could be accused of having an unhealthy relationship with deer bones.

Chris, one of the friendly
neighbourhood Manantler dudes

Or it could just be cool.

(Food at the bar is provided by neighbour Kings Court Caterers, who come in on the weekends to use Manantler beer to create dishes like crab cake malt balls; beer braised pulled pork sandwiches with Manantler BBQ sauce; and steak and ale pie with porter gravy. Mmmmm.)

I had a flight of Rococo Chocolate Milk Stout; The Dark Prince Black IPA; and Clown Punch IPA; and went home with a bottle of each.

The Rococo was quite tasty, with coffee and dark chocolate on the nose and more chocolate (semi-sweet this time) and more roast coffee on the way down. Very smooth with a hint of plum at the end.

The Dark Prince was one of the better Black IPAs I've had. With a gorgeous bubbly head on an ebony body, this beer gave up a citrus and coffee aroma, followed by more coffee, some dark chocolate and caramel sweetness and a bit of a citrus tang. Nicely carbonated, the beer showed off its 'dark' side with a bitter finish. Solid.

The Clown Punch had lots of pine and sweet malt on the nose, and then lots more pine and bready malts. There was pineapple and some dark fruits from the hops, albeit somewhat subdued. I thought it needed more bitterness but it was a good IPA start for these guys.

I told Chris, who was manning the bar this day, to not be afraid to throw some serious hops at their IPAs in the future. Us hop heads, I said, can handle it.

"We are not afraid," Chris promised, and told me to keep an eye out for their next offering in the hops department.

I'm looking forward to it.

On the way back to Oshawa I decided to stop in at the Bowmanville LCBO. Just in case Karma Citra, the fourth-ranked IPA in Canada (according to Rate Beer) and the highest ranked IPA with any kind of shelf time at the LCBO, was going to make an appearance.

A quick walkabout revealed no Karma Citra and I was about to leave when a staffer came into the beer cooler and started opening a case. "Uh, is that Karma Citra?" I asked, seeing the Great Lakes logo on the box. I didn't need to wait for an answer. "I'll take three," I said, reaching in and helping myself.

Turned out to be a pretty good day - I just had to get out of the house.

Thank you, Twitter.

                                                                                  ***

It was only a couple of days later when Twitter told me to get out of the house again. This time the voice on the internet told me to go down to Buster Rhino's and see what was on the chalkboard.

I  saw a bunch of bottles from Bellwoods - one of my favourite Toronto breweries - and was set to order a Catherine Wheel, a fine Belgian IPA I'd enjoyed about a year ago, when I saw the words Twin Pine IIPA.

That didn't take long.

This was a powerful pint of pine and earthy goodness. Drinking it was like being slapped in the face with a pine bough and loving it. But not just any old Jack Pine from some Group of 7 painting, no, sir. This was like being smacked across the head with a branch from  a 200-foot Ponderosa Pine, with the Incredible Hulk doing the smacking. After you stole his beer. Twin Pines (8.8 percent ABV with 88 IBUs in honour of being Sawdust City's 88th brew) was full of pine, citrus, tropical fruit and booze with a huge bitter bite at the end. Dangerous and delicious.

The next day Twitter was at it again, informing me that Manantler had another IPA in the fridge. A Double IPA at that.

Out of the house I go.

Roadkill was the beer's name and it came with generous helpings of Amarillo, Citra and Chinook hops. The aroma wasn't much but it tasted of pine and pineapple and the booze - 7.5 per cent - was masked beautifully. Really nice and bitter on the finish.

The boys at Manantler are not afraid to brew a hop bomb or two, just like Chris promised.

Colour me impressed.

                                                                          ***

I have a couple of reviews of Beyond the Pale (Ottawa) beers to finish this blog, starting with Tongue Twister, a Double IPA that clocks in at 8.2 per cent. Maybe not as deliciously sadistic as advertised, but it is a piney hop monster with a ton of dankness. Pine, citrus, tropical fruit and some floral notes stay with you until the swallow, then it’s big caramel malts and a hit of booze with more pine. Deceptively and dangerously smooth.

I followed that up with Rye Guy, the little brother to the amazing Super Guy I enjoyed last year. There is plenty of pine on the nose with some citrus notes. Tastes of pine, orange peel and rye spiciness. Sweet bitter finish but overall light in body. Tasty.

Cheers!

Mother Nature loves beer (I think)

I knew it was going to be tricky making it to the Great Lakes Tap Takeover at Buster Rhino's on this snowy Saturday night, what with Mother Nature threatening to put my best laid plans in the deep freeze.

We all know what a bitch Mother Nature can be, so I was going to need some good karma to make this happen.

My full-time job is in property maintenance and that means when it snows I have to be there shoveling it and salting it and otherwise making sure the sidewalks and runways of our malls are clear of it so shoppers can safely spend their money.

Most of the time Mother Nature co-operates by sending down the snow in the afternoon. The salt that is down already takes care of the first few centimetres and we're able to come in late at night or in the wee hours to do our work. By lunchtime the following day we're done and home bound, freeing us up to do our thing during the day, sleep deprivation notwithstanding.

This didn't look like it was going to be one of those days.

The other complication was that I was scheduled to work my delivery job that evening, with the plan to drop in at the bar after my short shift - 9:30-ish - and get a couple hours drinking in before going home to catch a couple or three hours sleep, as I had to be back at work early to clean up the remaining snow.

What, that's not what your work day is like?


Anyway, it didn't look like Mother Nature was going to work with me with her latest temper tantrum. The snow started building in the morning and I knew we would have to return in the afternoon to deal with it, jeopardizing both my part-time job (no small thing - I need the money) and the tap takeover.

No way I was going to miss that.

We worked two shifts that day. We came in early Saturday to do our litter run, with the outside chance we would stay to fight the storm.

Not a flake to be found.

But the snow started falling fast and thick as we left the yard and I started worrying about my delivery job, which was scheduled to start at 4:30 that afternoon. Keith didn't understand the fuss. "Which job pays more?" he asked me as we rolled away. This one or the delivery job?"Doesn't matter," I grumbled. "I want to do both. I need it to snow at MY convenience."

At this point I looked at Keith and at the other two guys in the truck and noticed it was 5:20, or possibly 4:20. After that I didn't give a shit.

By eight the litter run was done but it snowed heavy all morning and by 12:30 I was back at work with shovel and salt bucket in hand. The accumulation wasn't bad - I think we got five cennies that day - but it looked like an eight hour clean-up (especially as we had to move the snow while the parking lots were full of shoppers) and I really needed to get to my other job, if only for a few hours.

It's not normally a wise move to get mad at Mother Nature but damn...

I tried to give my crew a pep talk to remind them of the importance of me getting back to Oshawa to work (and then to Buster Rhino's to drink great beer) but halfway through my speech I noticed they had already left the truck and were inside Tim Horton's taking a break.

I think I was in there with them.

Anyway, we got the job done quicker than I thought - we left a few low priorities areas like back doors and such for the next day - and I was on my way back to Oshawa at 6:30, allowing me a couple of hours at least delivering Chinese food, fried chicken and drugs, among other things.


This was after a stop at home first - I oozed salt from every pore and several orifices and my left foot was frostbit -  to freshen up and confirm my ride to the bar.

I had tried my pal Brian first, as he was always up for drinking beer; craft OR crap, it didn't matter to him.

"Sorry, Pizza. Eleven-thirty sounds too late for me," said Brian.

This, coming from someone who believes a beer for breakfast was a perfectly acceptable way to start one's day, was surprising.

So I called my son Matt. "Number One Son," I began. "I'll buy you a beer if you drive me downtown..." Matt, like all my children, loves me dearly despite all my flaws and readily accepted the offer and even offered to come back and drive me home if I needed. As long as he didn't fall asleep.


At 9:30 we were off, and I thought about my plan of attack for the umpteenth time. A dozen beers on tap and two hours to drink requires strategy - unloess your name is Andre the Giant.

It's nearly spring so that meant Karma Citra was back, and this world class IPA - number one in Ontario, last time I checked - was tops on my to-do list. Swamp Juice IPA - a blend of three or four Great Lakes IPAs would be present and accounted, as well as Canuck (one of my go-to session ales) and fellow ales Pompous Ass and Devil's Pale Ale, all of which I was very familiar with.

Two Porters - the highly regarded Harry Porter and a coconut porter called Hanlan's Point - would also be in the house.

The other five on tap were worth trying if for no other reason than their names: possibly the coolest names in craft beer, which is this business, says an awful lot. There was Ice Hole Pale Ale; Idiot Mittens (a Belgian inspired Winter Warmer); Bad Blake Goes Pacific; Dirtbag McQuaid For a  Fine Gentleman Malt Liquor; and my personal favourite, Long Dong Pilsner, which had earned itself some pretty good reviews.

I had already decided that the Long Dong Pilsner was the perfect beer for Matt, who hadn't yet embraced the world of good beer.

Buster Rhino's was packed when we arrived, which is always a good sign, especially for Darryl, my favourite bearded publican. But the lovely lass at the bar greeted me with sad news. They already finished one of the kegs. "No," I said. "Not Karma Citra." Not to worry, she replied. "It's the Long Dong Pilsner. None left. Sorry."

Sarah, who walked over at this point to see who I was harassing, threw her two cents worth in as well. "Long Dong long gone," she said. Such a funny girl, our Sarah.

Sorry Matt. He shrugged and I bought him a Pompous Ass, an English-style ale that I figured he wouldn't mind, as IPAs make him gag. Meanwhile, I had a Swamp Juice to start, but only because the keg was getting low.

I'd heard of this concoction, a blend of whatever ales the brewery has going at the time, and was anxious to try this one, a mix of Karma Citra and Lake Effect IPAs and Canuck.

It was okay; nothing more. Big aroma of grapefruit, lemon and some tropical fruit, but the citrus flavours faded into the background a bit, leaving some resiny bitterness on the finish. A little light in the body, it wasn't in the class of Karma Citra, which I had next as Matt took his leave.

"If I'm still up at 11 I'll come back and take you home," he reminded me, and I reminded him how awesome he was.

Karma Citra, which I last enjoyed the previous spring, was everything I remembered. An intoxicating aroma of grapefruit, mango and tropical fruit with lots of lingering bitterness, the beer also delivered lemon and orange with slightly chewy malts. Terrific IPA.

I followed that up with a couple of porters, the highly regarded Harry Porter and Hanlan's Point, a coconut porter that piqued my interest. Both were quality sweet beers. Harry Porter delivered coffee, brown sugar, dark chocolate and bits of vanilla and licorice, while Hanlan's Point - named for legendary turn of the century rower Ned Hanlan and the clothing-optional beach on the Toronto Islands that bears his name - gave up coffee on the nose and a whole whack of coconut (what else) as it disappeared down my throat.

Both were delicious.

I moved on to Bad Blake Goes Pacific next, which was tasty, though I wasn't sure what I was tasting. Certainly bitter, but I didn't get much else.

It was getting close to 11 at this point, so I went back to Karma Citra to finish - hoppy, bitter, beautiful - as Matt approached downtown.

That was a good thing, as I had to get up at 2 - three hours away - to go back to work to finish all the spots we didn't get to during the day.

For the record, I slept like a baby, got up on time in the morning, and worked six hours with only the smallest of hangovers.

Must have been all that good Karma.

                        A Christmas story

The last Saturday before Christmas was a busy day for me, as I'm sure it was for most people. I had a few shopping stops to make and not a lot of time to do it as I was headed across the border for a brief beer shopping excursion before heading to a Christmas party in Burlington.

I managed to avoid the mall this day, but not Wal-Mart and Target and the Christmas stress was palpable among the throngs of shoppers looking for last minute bargains.

I had one other stop on this day, however, that more than made up for any Christmas blues I may have been experiencing: The Living Room Community Art Studio in downtown Oshawa.

The Living Room is a storefront art studio for the community - especially those who are most marginalized. On any given day the place is filled with budding artists - most of them children - intent on expressing themselves through their art or learning about their craft at workshops staffed by volunteers.

A sample of what is on display at the Living Room Community Art Studio

Front and centre in this magical place are two people near and dear to my heart: my sister-in-law Mary and my brother-in-law Anthony. Mary in particular is like a rock star here: children would constantly come up to her to show her their work: "Look at this Mary?" and "See what I did Mary?" and "Can you help me?"

And she would look. And she would help. An actor by trade and an art therapy graduate, Mary would
be ringing up a small art purchase and chatting with me, a woman who had come in to praise the studio and a budding artist or two, and then, as smooth as tomorrow's silk, take two strides to her left to welcome participants at a workshop that was just getting underway and then return to us and the conversation without missing a beat.

Like a boss.

Anthony, meanwhile, was also on hand offering advice and assistance, though his presence was a bit more restrained. A movie man and video editor extraordinaire himself, with a ton of experience in independent films as a producer/director and in supporting roles in bigger budget flicks, Anthony spent this day ensuring the workshop participants were able to realize their artistic potential and have fun doing it.

They make a great pair, these two. And the art community in Oshawa is the better for it.

                                                                            *

I was at Buster Rhino's the other day and sitting at the bar was Courtney, who had proven her BFF chops by going on a beer-cation with Sarah last November despite the small matter of not drinking beer. I mentioned to her that I had put her in a blog recently, 11.05: Spittin' good beer, and had she read it?

If the President says so ...

Apparently not, she said, as Sarah just shrugged. "It was the time," I reminded her, "when you two were in here drinking and I came over to talk to Sarah about the 11.05 Triple IPA and, well, spit on her jacket."

She remembered THAT. How could one forget?

I told her I said in the story that she looked at me like I was some crazy old guy, but she disagreed with my assessment.

"I would never think that," she said. "I work with seniors all the time."

I'm not sure if she was serious or sarcastic, but either way I felt a little heat.

I think I got burned.

Fewer models but more 

Mad Tom at Auto Show

The days are long past when I would attend the Canadian International Auto Show to write a General Motors-specific story and perhaps a sidebar of my choosing and actually get paid for it.

The full-time newspaper gigs are history, as all my former employers were squeezed out by the mega corps, and the freelance business - at least in my neck of the woods east of Toronto - has dried up as well, with the remaining newspapers looking inward and taking all those choice assignments in-house.

But I still get my media pass for the auto show each year and I still use it, if only to pretend for a day that I am still a working journalist. Hey - I'm blogging about it, so they are getting a return on their investment.

They treat you right at the show, with free parking right under the convention centre, a free lunch, a media lounge and a refreshment cart that follows you around all day. Pretty good swag, too, if you consider reporter-sized notebooks and data sticks swag. I do.

Yours truly with Jaguar chief designer Wayne
Burgess, who moonlights with Brit metal band
Scattering Ashes

There would also be craft beer at this event, with Muskoka Brewery serving their excellent beers at the convention centre's upscale restaurant. 

Automotive journalists (not me: the real ones) wield enormous power in the business. They can make or break sales with their reviews and car makers actually do a great deal of business at the show, so we are appropriately feted. I help by telling everyone I know the Jaguar XF and other cars I can't afford are absolutely awesome.

(It would have been nice to hear some good news about General Motors jobs in Oshawa at GM's press conference, what with no employment guarantees beyond 2016, but that's a story for another day.)

Anyway, the new models were great, though there was a severe lack of the other models that are usually ubiquitous at auto shows. Perhaps cutbacks in the industry have filtered down to modelling agencies as well. Pity.

Jake guarding my Mad Tom IPA
from beer thieves

I also couldn't get into the Auto Exotica room, which houses supercars like the $1.9 million Pagani Huayra, a Bentley and Masarati or three; Lamborghinis and Ferraris and Rolls Royces. I had to get back to Oshawa so the 4 pm grand opening was too late for me.

A final downer happened when I went looking for the Muskoka  Brewery restaurant and discovered it wouldn't be open until the show's official opening the following day.

Damn. But my pass was good for the entire week so when I learned Jake was game to see all the shiny models we headed downtown on Family Day. I was going to see supercars, and by God I was going to have a Mad Tom IPA.

So we toured the show - including the Auto Exotica room, where I climbed into the cockpit of a Maserati - and the J Man spent more than a few minutes in the X Box One exhibit, which was clearly his favourite spot at the show. We also made it to the Muskoka Brewery restaurant.

I did say it was an posh restaurant, and the menu prices reflected that. Twelve bucks for an appetizer Naan Mini-Pizza? I think we're sharing this, I tell Jake. "What's Naan," he asks. "Will I like it?" I assured him he would. "Trust me. You'll like it." He liked it.

I also got my Mad Tom, and then it time for us to go. After retrieving my car from the underground parking lot (free on media day; $25 this day) we headed home, after stops at the Indie Alehouse (a couple of bombers of Instigator IPA and one bottle of Barnyard Belgian IPA) and finally at my folks house in the city's north-west end for dinner.

A few more models would have been nice and a break on the parking rates would have been cool, too. Some positive news on Oshawa's economic future would have been even better. But in the whole, a few good days playing reporter again was pretty damn good.

                                                                              *

Beer Headquarters. Wait...what?

The Beer Store has been getting its share of negative press lately but the LCBO hasn't come away squeaky clean either. Seems like a golden opportunity to show Ontarians how viable an option the liquor store can be is wasted if the employees don't give craft beer respect.

Case in point is found in this picture, which shows a few cases of wine plunked down right in the middle of the craft beer section under the 'Beer Headquarters' sign.

So you had extra wine and you didn't know where to put it. Fine. Just don't fucking put it there. 

On the bright side, I was in the same store the other day in a very long line-up with just one teller open. Within seconds that single checkout mushroomed to four. That's how you do customer service. Now if only they could figure out how to treat craft beer customers properly.

Rant over.

                                                                            *

Finally, a few beer reviews:

Mikkeller Green and Gold IPA - A hazy mahogany on the pour with a creamy head, this has plenty of delicious citrus on the nose with some pine as well. There is some sweet caramel and biscuit at the start, then lots of grapefruit and pine with some tropical fruit to give it a sticky bitter finish. Another fine IPA from Northern Europe.

Mikkeller Green and Gold IPA

Spearhead Belgian Stout - Black as a Monks scapular with a thick, frothy head that dissipates quickly. Smoky banana, espresso, dark fruits, Belgian spices and a bit of chocolate. Smooth but also quite light. Could use a bit more oomph but likeable.

Black Oak Pale Ale - Golden with a nice head. Subtle hops and biscuity malts on the nose. A little pine, a touch of citrus and light caramel sweetness. Clean. Very drinkable.

Chimay Blue Trappist Ale - Scored 100 on Rate Beer. Pours very dark with a creamy, almost stout-like head which dissipates quickly. The aroma of Belgian yeast is strong. Tastes of caramel, raisin and more Belgian spices. Very smooth with a slight boozy kick at the finish. Well carbonated. Very nice.

Cheers!

Birthdays, basketball and better beer with the J Man

I knew it was going to be a good day when the ice-cold darkness of a Pickering shopping mall parking lot served up a pair of fifty dollar bills for me to discover.

But I already knew the day was going to be great because I had big plans in downtown Toronto with my youngest son and a day with the J Man is always an awesome day. Now, with the day essentially paid for, the day was going to be even better.

There was going to be some beer involved - there always is with me, even if I'm dragging Jake around - and there was going to be a couple of birthdays to celebrate, but that was going to come later. First on the agenda was a bit of sports history: Jake's first trip to Maple Leaf Gardens.

Home to 11 Stanley Cup championships - yes kids, the Leafs used to be really good - the Gardens made way for the Air Canada Centre in 1999 and was saved from possible demolition a few years back by Ryerson University and turned into a multi-purpose facility, with a rink, a basketball court, a fitness centre and a mega Loblaws grocery store.

The former Maple Leaf Gardens, now known
as the Mattamy Athletic Centre

We were there for the basketball. Jake has become a bit of a roundball buff of late - the success of the Toronto Raptors might have something to do with that - and he and I sat in the cozy court seats to watch Ryerson, the third ranked team in the nation, outgun the McMaster Marauders of Hamilton, the number four team in Canada, by twenty points.

After a trip back to the car - parked in the heart of the city's Gay Village - to get a few packages (beer and beer-related stuff) we hopped on the subway to Union Station and Toronto's entertainment district for our next stop: dinner.

I hadn't been to The Old Spaghetti Factory since Wendel Clark was still playing defence in Saskatoon but the place was as cool and as kitschy as ever and more importantly, Jake loved it, even though he wasn't keen on the funky spice in the meatballs in his spaghetti and meatballs dinner. My Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine was awesome, however, as was the Boneshaker IPA on the bar list, and a little Italian ice cream was enough to ensure Jake and I both left happy.

Jake and I about to be crushed by carousel
horse at the Old Spaghetti Factory

Sufficiently stuffed, we headed out into the night, past the homeless dudes struggling to stay warm
and alive in the midst of a nasty cold snap - adventures in downtown Toronto can be great teaching moments - and found the Real Sports Bar & Grill, conveniently located metres from the main doors of the Air Canada Centre, which was hosting a Raptors game that night.

Inside were friends Cat and Blair, both of whom were celebrating birthdays that week, their pals Andrew and Randolph, and about a million television screens, including one that was 39 feet wide.

That got Jake's attention.

We didn't stay too long; Jacob being 12 and in a bar and all. But we stayed long enough to watch the Raptors win on the big screen and Leicester beat somebody in English rugby on our personal booth television.

We also stayed long enough to have a couple of drinks - cokes for the J Man, a Hops and Bolts India Pale Lager and a Mad Tom IPA from Muskoka for me - and to give out some presents for the birthday kids: a smuggled Beer Camp Double IPA from Sierra Nevada for Cat and an assortment of brews (Old Tomorrow Canadian Pale Ale and a 5 Paddles Baby Belge) for Blair, plus a few other items.

Beer Camp!

Just before we got up to leave the latecomers - Don and his lovely date Jessica - showed up. As a reward for getting there before I had to go, I got Don a beer gift too (though I can't remember what the hell it was) and I even got him a free beer, compliments of the Real Sports staff who brought me the another Hops and Bolts instead of the Mad Tom I asked for.

So generous I am.

Jessica and I chatted about how awesome our kids are, Jake and I said our goodbyes and we were off once again into the winter night, catching the train back up to College Station to find our car parked a few blocks north on Church Street.

Then it was home to Oshawa.

It's always a good time when I have good friends, good beer and the J Man.

Cheers!

                                                                                   *

In honour of international beer writing icon Stephen Beaumont, who spoke at length recently of his love of lists on social media (I may have misinterpreted this so don't quote me), I have a list I want to share: My Top 10 beers I have enjoyed only once.

I miss these beers very much.

The trouble with the list is that since I first jotted these notes down, I've had number one (Moralite from Dieu du Ciel/The Alchemist; a near-perfect beer); number two (Immodest IIPA from Nickel Brook; happiness in a glass) and number four (Instigator from Indie Ale House; amazing deliciousness) a second time.

So rather than expanding the list, I just moved everything up. It's a list of seven now and at the top of the list is Super Guy Imperial Rye Pale Ale from Ottawa's Beyond the Pale Brewery, an awesome, fantastic beer that I had on tap at Buster Rhino's last spring and have searched for ever since. One day.

Truly an Epic Pale Ale

Number two on my list is Epic Pale Ale,  a New Zealand beer I found at Beers of the World in Rochester, N.Y. Fifteen different hops were used during the brewing process and the result is a beer with plenty of 'wow' factor. There's citrus and tropical fruit, along with some pine and floral notes. There's a peppery spiciness as well, making this beer quite different from anything I've had before, and quite tasty. A world class pale ale.

Coming in at number three is Amsterdam's Spring Bock, which considering it's a style that is far from my wheelhouse, knocked my socks off when I tried it. Spring is coming, so I hope to see it again soon.


Black Oak's Break of Dawn is next, and this session beer is  hopped up so much it tasted juicy. Big grapefruit flavours along with some pine and citrus give it a wonderful bitter finish and at just 4.5 per cent it is one of the best session beers out there.

Nebuchadnezzar, a IIPA from Sweden's Omnipollo Brewery, clocks in to the five spot, and as this makes an occasional appearance at the LCBO I may have to take this off the list too. Orange and pine and malt with lingering bitterness. Another great Scandinavian IPA.


The first and only saison I have enjoyed was Brooklin's Sorachi Ace. As this is a semi-regular at my local LCBO it's the nearly $10 price tag that is all that's keeping me from removing this from the one-and-done list. Fantastic beer.

The final beer is Rochefort Trappiste 10, considered one of the world's great beers. It smelled of dark fruit of various vintages - plum, raisin - and tasted of more ripe fruit with  hint of licorice. Sweet and bitter at the same time.

Here's to knocking more of these off the list.

                                                                    *

I have a long list of new beers I haven't reviewed in this space (due mainly to the fact I haven't blogged much in recent weeks) so I will get to three here:

Great Lakes Pompous Ass English (session) Pale Ale - Dark orange pour with a frothy head. Lots of hops on the nose. Hints of pineapple and bready malts with very little bitterness. Mild finish. Very drinkable.

Sawdust City Blood of Cthulu Imperial Stout - On tap at Buster Rhinos in Oshawa. The ’t’ is silent but this 9.5 per cent imperial stout wasn’t. There was plenty of licorice and something I couldn't quite identify. Sour cherries I think. There`s definitely plenty going on here.

Hop City HopBot IPA - Not a hop monster, but I got tropical fruits - guava, maybe - and some grapefruit. Pine and more tropical fruit on the finish. Nice bitterness, though it doesn’t linger. A good IPA that gets a little better each time I drink it.

                                                                      *

And finally, congratulations to legendary Montreal brewery Dieu du Ciel for their Aphrodisiaque Stout, which was ranked number one in the world for 2014 by Rate Beer reviewers. Considering Rate Beer's fans are overwhelmingly American, that is quite the accomplishment.

Fresh Headstock and Hot Buttered Beer highlight Winter Beer Festival

I got my first lesson in beer freshness at my pal Don's place, in the hours before we trudged through the tundra to attend the Burlington Winter Beer Festival.

I've had Headstock, Nickel Brook's fantastic IPA, many, many times but I've never been able to drink it straight from the growler, or visited the Burlington brewery for that matter. Don calls those happy things Monday. And Tuesday. And sometimes all the other days in the week.

So while we were waiting for the steaks to finish sizzling on the BBQ (you just lay a towel down in the snow and step out in your flip-flops to cook, in case you were wondering how we Moose-Kissers do it up here) I was instructed to help myself from the fridge. I grabbed a growler of Headstock - Don had picked it up a couple of hours before and it was still unopened - and poured myself a glass, choosing Captain America from Don's super hero stemware collection.

Mind. Blown.

Mmmm Headstock IPA

It had all the hoppy, bitter awesomeness of regular Headstock, but with a healthy dollop of fresh adrenaline added to the mix. It was simply amazing.

I remember having more than one. More than a couple, more like. Okay, we finished the growler. Stop judging.

We also dipped into my own beer stash from Consumers Beverages in Niagara Falls, N.Y. while we waited to hear if our other friends - and my date - were going to make the fest on this stormy, wintry day. I wasn't going to let the threat of a major winter storm stop me from a border crossing to grab some American IPAs from Stone Brewing and others, but I realized not everyone has my dedication/total lack of wisdom.

So we cracked open a bottle of Double Jack from California's legendary Firestone Walker brewery, just because one growler of delicious IPA is never enough. This is a 9.5 per cent powerhouse that is heavy on the malt and the boozy goodness, with some citrus and pine bitterness lingering in the background.

I think we were off to a good start. Unfortunately, the texts started coming in from our friends that the snow was going to keep them home bound, so Don and I grabbed our coats and headed downtown to the Waterfront Hotel, hosts of the festival.

How we do winter BBQs
(in flip flops) in the frozen north

Most of the big players were there, such as Flying Monkeys, Muskoka, Mill Street, Cameron's, Amsterdam and Beau's, along with some brewers I hadn't tried before. All of them - and us - were jammed into what looked like a medium-sized conference room in the hotel and the only nod to 'winter' in the name of the festival was the adjoining tent, which served up chili and baked potatoes and provided an opening for the die-hard smokers - I'm looking at you, Don - to get their fix on.

We entered and turned left - finely tuned clocks turn clockwise for a reason, I guess - and I hit up the Amsterdam booth first off to try their brand-new Cruiser All Day Pale Ale, a 4.9 per cent session ale that has been the talk of a few of my friends lately. Chief among the people singing its praise was Amsterdam regular Cat, who was supposed to attend this event but was scared away by the weather. No worries, Cat. I drank it and loved it. Full-on citrus aroma and delightfully smooth, this light-bodied ale is packed with Citra and Sorachi hops: two of my favourites.

(Amsterdam should be happy to note that my review on Rate Beer pushed its score from 83 to 85. I did my part.)

After that it was a bit of a blur, but I remember having Headstock (of course) and Maple Porter from Nickel Brook, watching Don have a beergasm ("Here's two tickets. Fill my glass, please") over Flying Monkeys awesome Division By Zero (an 11.5 per cent Imperial Nut Brown Ale), and enjoying a new IPA from Beau's All Natural called Mission Accomplished. This was a 6.7 per cent ale made with the classic west coast hops (Citra, Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe) plus a dose of Rakau from New Zealand. Not overpowering but real tasty.

I had Mad Tom from Muskoka and Cameron's Rye Pale Ale - both old favourites - and I even tried a Singha Lager, which isn't exactly craft beer. Meh. I've had worse.

Don with Trish Watson of Turtle Island

The highlight turned out to be found at Turtle Island, one of those newbies (for me, anyway) on the beer fest circuit, and their Hot Buttered Beer. This is their Ixcacao Triple Chocolate Stout, mixed and warmed with crockpot melted butter. More like a special dessert treat than any beer I've had before, this stuff was delicious.

It was about that time when  Don wandered over in full voice, having just experienced his double Division By Zero (is that even mathematically possible?), and a nice gentleman named Wayne - who turned out to be one of the co-founders of the festival - politely asked us if, perhaps, we've had enough beer for the evening?

It's like he was psychic or something.

So we bundled outside in the cold to hail a cab (and for me to drop my awesome commemorative glass onto the sidewalk) and headed back to Donnie's Bar and Grill, where I quickly passed out in the easy chair, beer in hand.

Let's do this again soon.

                                                                                *

I took a different approach to my border crossing this time. Instead of trying to smuggle a few bottles whilst declaring a six-pack or so, I went for the honest angle. I put all my buys - seven bombers and a six-pack of regular bottles - right up front with me. Canada Customs still rifled through my trunk and the un-amused fellow implied I was an idiot for going all that way just for a few beers. Clearly a Coors Light drinker, he nonetheless waved me through, duty free. Honesty worked!

My haul included the aforementioned Double Jack from Firestone Walker, a few Ruination (I had forgotten how bodaciously bitter this beer was) and a trio of Enjoy By (02-14-15) IIPAs from Stone Brewing. I also picked up a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for Don's co-worker Marie (she wanted it for a recipe) and a six-pack of West Coast Double IPA from San Diego's Green Flash Brewery.

I also went home with six tall boys of Immodest, the Imperial IPA from Nickel Brook that I had been seeking for weeks - I had it once before, nearly a year ago - so all in all a pretty damn good haul.

I'll do that again soon, too.

                                                                             *

Stone Brewing wanted to ensure their Enjoy By IPA series of beers were enjoyed fresh; so much that they put the best-before date right in the beer's name. This one was 02-14-15, which also happened to be Don's birthday, and it did not disappoint. Citrus aroma with grapefruit and orange, giving way to a little stickiness and some floral notes. This beer is fairly bursting with flavour and if not for the small boozy kick at the end I'd never have known it was a 9.4 per cent double IPA. Terrific beer.

Still fresh and delicious on 02/07/15

The West Coast Double IPA was another winner, though there was no subtlety with this 95 IBU brew. It looks like an ale in beast mode with that rich copper colour and sure smelled like it, with a heavy dose of pine making no secret of the rock solid malt backbone. Really smooth and sticky at the same time. Powerful beer.

I should mention another beer that was still in my fridge when I returned home Sunday morning (after first stopping at my workplace for a seven-hour shift to fight the storm, hangover and all): Love Triangle IPA from Indie Ale House. I bought a growler of this and was impressed. It was so chock-full of Calypso hops I could hear the steel drums banging in my head and it tasted like pine and citrus-scented grass with a slightly floral/citrus aroma, with a touch of vanilla. Very nice.

Immodestly fantastic

The winner on this weekend, however, was the Immodest IIPA Don had snared for me at one of his daily brewery visits to nearby Nickel Brook. I wanted this beer so bad I put three of my best men on the job: Don; fellow beer writer Chris, who promised to mail me some if he could find it; and Darryl,  my friendly neighbourhood publican, who said he'd try to grab a keg before it was gone. Both of the latter gentlemen, fine men that they are, failed in their quest, leaving Don, who said he nearly OD'd on the stuff before grabbing one of the last six-packs for me, to come through.

Thanks bro. This was a truly extraordinary beer. They used an "obscene" amount of Citra and Simcoe hops to give it strong aromas of grapefruit and pineapple with creamy pine notes and a solid caramel malt base on the way down. My highest rated beer so far.

Cheers!