Comics, beer and Fearless Fred

Suicide Squad must have been a smash hit at the theatres because I sure saw a lot of Harley Quinns at Toronto's spring Comicon.

Oddly enough, I didn't take a picture of a single one of 'em. Too busy with the Cat Women, the Spider-Gwens (I think) and the Fearless Freds.

One Fearless Fred, anyway. He of the 102.1 The Edge radio fame.

I knew he was a comics guy (The Fourth Planet) and a host for Teletoon, so I was not surprised to see him on Artists Alley. But a beer guy? That I didn't know, and I discovered that bit of intel when he complimented me on my choice of t-shirt (Hop Zombie from Epic Beer of Aukland, New Zealand) and I stopped to chat.

Fearless Fred Kennedy

Turned out he is a serious beer guy. He has plenty of big-time brewing friends and has collaborated with a few, including Sam Corbeil of Sawdust City. That was a raspberry Saison dubbed Alison Breer, in honour of actress Alison Brie (How to be Single, Mad Men, Get Hard, and the voice of Black Widow for a video game).

Fred has also organized a few homebrew competitions and used to have a regular beer podcast.

An Ajax resident, Fred's new neighbour is just-opened Falcon Brewing and he wanted to support his local and give a little love to the new kids on the block.

No problem Fred. Ajax and Durham Region, say hello to Falcon Brewing and to their Brewmaster, David Draper, who is a regular at Buster Rhino's and has even been known to walk in with his own keg. Gotta love customers who bring in their own beer!

This is Violet Love. I'm pretty sure
she's also Cat Woman but I forgot to ask

But there is more to a comic convention than beer, and I ended up buying some art (Joe Jusko!) and picking up some back issues of Daredevil and Black Widow as well. Not to mention taking pictures of some of those cosplayers, who are always a hit at these affairs.

Comicon is also more than beer and comics, and most of the cosplayers - amateur
and professional - come from other realms of pop culture. From the Walking Dead to the WWE and from Star Wars to the Simpsons, you can see it in full costumed display on the convention floor.

Still, I was in and out in under two hours, which left me plenty of time to wander up the road to Bar Hop, where I indulged in my first New England-style IPA from Great Lakes Brewing: Meanwhile Down in Moxie.

I'm really becoming a big fan of this style. This murky mug of magic was bold and beautiful, with mango, tropical fruit and resiny citrus fairly bursting from the glass. Super delicious.

Comics, cosplayers and beer. If you're looking for a reason to go to Comicon (FanExpo - the big one - is held at the end of July), that's a pretty good trifecta right there.

The #Beersaint returns

I wrote recently about my trip to Great Lakes Brewery in Toronto and Alternative Facts, the English Mild brewed in collaboration with a team of beer bloggers and social media stars that included my pal Robert, AKA the Drunk Polkeroo.

Paul Thebeerguy

The beer was amazing; by far the best English Mild I have ever had. Which probably makes it the best of two. Maybe three. This was the first memorable one anyway.

Memorable or not, it wouldn't do to enjoy a Polkeroo-brewed beer (he threw some malt in the tank in a very brewmasterly way) without sharing it with someone in his wide circle of friends.

So I called Paul Thebeerguy and told him to meet me at Buster Rhino's for a pint. I wasn't actually looking for a trade, but Paul, being the #Beersaint, brought me a bottle from Left Field Brewery of Toronto, one of the best new breweries in the city.

So we sat at the bar and drank a pint - in my case a half-pint of GLB's awesome Apocalypse Later Black IPA, as I was about to start work - before taking our prizes home to chill for later.

I love this #Beersaint thing. I think I could finally be an unofficial member of the club.

Paul will tell me if I qualify.

Super hoppy beers, more Sours and a Saison

My gift from Paul was Left Field's Anniversary #4, a Saison that delivered soft, tart citrus up front, followed by a crisp taste with lemon and spices very prominent. As they say, tasty as.

The rest of the beers in my backlog of brews to review were either super hoppy or sour, or in one case, both.

Skull Pucker may or may not be the world's first Sour IPA, but it was certainly the first I'd heard of. This 5 Paddles beer smelled lemony fresh with a distinct tartness, along with light citrus and a bit of limey juiciness. The  sourness was present in the finish. This brewery continues to impress.

I enjoyed Bellwoods' Plum version of their Jelly King line of Sours recently and I got my hands on the original Jelly King last week. So tart and so delicious, with lemon and grapefruit and plenty of juiciness. Dry-hopped is definitely the way to go with this style.

I picked up a bottle of  Jasmine IPA from Steamworks Brewing, mostly because my pal Trevor (formerly of Manantler Brewing) had an job interview with this Vancouver-area brewery.

Trevor ended up catching on with Russell Brewing (Surrey, B.C.), and that's too bad for Steamworks, as the World's Sexiest Cellarman would have tweaked this beer and made it much better. This was floral, fruity and a bit spicy on the nose, with jasmine and lemony hops on the finish with very little bitterness. It was okay; nothing more.

Speaking of Manantler, I popped out there a week or so ago for the first time since a major management shuffle saw the departure of not only Trevor but also James, the Brewmaster and co-founder.

I was sorry to see them leave, especially after tasting Hot Tropics Belgian-style Table IPA, which was Jim's last brew at Manantler.  It was fantastic. The aroma was all citrus and there was loads of flavour on the tongue, with citrus, a hint of melon and a bit of spice. I've always said that producing a great beer under four per cent alcohol required mad skill, and this could be the finest super light beer I've ever enjoyed.

But I'm not worried about Manantler - always my favoutite local - continuing their legacy of awesomeness. With Chris in charge as Brewmaster, they're still in good hands.

Flying Monkeys went the other way on the alcohol scale with their Super Collider 2.0, a 10.4 per cent monster that quickly became a regular in my fridge, despite the presence of big malts that threatened to overwhelm the hops.

The aroma of this unconventional IIPA started with some orange and tropical citrus before a rich sweetness took over. Honeycomb malts were prominent, with pine and resiny citrus there as well. Smooth and deceptively easy drinking for such a big (102 IBU) beer.

I absolutely loved it.

Look out craft beer world: here comes Josh!

I have known my friend Josh since he was a six year-old kid, fresh off the boat from Bristol, England.

He immediately became a part of our family, as he and my son Matt were classmates and best buds from the start. Josh was also one of those kids who never knocked at the door but just walked right in. We never minded a bit.

Josh has always gone into life full bore; from his drumming days with Into Exile (Matt played guitar), and his (brief) music promotion career; to his love of golf and to his current status as a carpenter and all-round handyman.

His passion for everything he did was admirable, though it was sometimes detrimental to success and happiness as well.

His newest passion? Craft beer, and my boy has, as usual, jumped in head first, visiting breweries every chance he got. He just returned from the Toronto Winter Brewfest (his first beer festival), and his post from the homeward bound GO Train Saturday night said it all: "Beer fest was a success. I am quite intoxicated." With a thumbs up, of course.

Welcome aboard Josh. We must get together for a beer or three.

Cheers! 

Dark Lord Day and the coming of the Sours

When your boss asks you to knock off a little early and come drink beer it's not often it's your darkest day.

But when the beer being shared is Dark Lord from Three Floyds Brewing in Muncie, Indiana - one of the most sought after beers in the world - it was well worth it for me to get in touch with my dark side.

Dark Lord is released one day a year - traditionally the last Saturday in April, though this year's event will be on May 13 - and is only available at the brewery, creating a fervour unmatched in the craft beer world. Even Pliny the Younger, the celebrated Triple IPA from Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, California, spreads the love around for a week or so.

Dark Lord, a Russian Imperial Stout brewed with Dark Matter coffee (of course), vanilla and molasses, is one day, one location, and the attendance is capped at 6,000 after crowd control issues in the past.

So yes, Jessica, I'll come to this bottle share. Thanks for asking.

Dark Lord Day fans

It being a beer share, I had to bring something to this party too (hosted by Jessica's beau Matt, of Brewing Pantry fame), so it was lucky for me I had a bottle of Harry Porter and the Complicated Coffee Order in my fridge from a recent trip to Great Lakes Brewery.

That should do the trick.

I arrived at Matt's sumptuous underground lair in Bowmanville as soon as I was able and found the sharing well underway. They had saved me some Dark Lord, though, and I enjoyed two vintages of this rare brew: 2011 and 2015.

At 15 per cent alcohol, this is a YUGE beer. I found the newer Dark Lord to be super smooth for such a potent brew, but the 2011 version seemed to have a lot more going on. Both poured jet black but the six year-old beer brought an intoxicating aroma of plums, figs and other demonic dark fruits. The taste is more dark fruits and dark chocolate and a rich sweetness.

Both were big, bodacious beers meant to be sipped real slow.

Check one off the beer bucket list.

The Dark Lords

The other guests at this little affair included Matt's pal Steve, as well as a couple from Old Flame Brewery in Port Perry: Maddi, and Scott, who also happens to be the Brewmaster.

No shortage of beer knowledge there. I didn't mind soaking in some of that know-how, as long as I got to drink great beer while doing so.

Plenty of that, even after the the Dark Lord bottles were emptied of their goodness.

Next up was another Russian Imperial Stout, Singularity, a 12.2 per cent ABV beast from Driftwood Brewery on Canada's Left Coast. This was thick and sweet, with chocolate and bitter coffee on the tongue. Smooth, with a hint of booze. Really, really good.

We changed it up from the dark beers to go with Jessica's contribution next: Lolita, a pink rose-coloured Belgian-Style Pale Ale fermented with wild yeast and aged in raspberries in wine barrels. This Goose Island beer was sour. Really, REALLY sour. I've been trying a lot of sours lately to (hopefully) acquire a taste and I've found some (particularly the dry-hopped varieties) very appealing. Lolita, not so much, as my Rate Beer review attests:

Meet Lolita, from Goose Island

Wow that’s sour! Mouth-puckeringly sour. Raspberries and spices but mostly just sour. A bit much for me. I’ll come around eventually. Maybe.

My opinion of this brew wasn't shared by the rest of the group. In fact, it sparked a discussion of how fantastic this style could be. Steve was prepared to rank Sours as "this close" to being number one in his book, while Matt had Sours, IPAs and Stouts as his three favourites.

Matt liked Lolita so much he was looking sadly at the bottom of the bottle. I would have offered him the rest of my glass but thought it bad form so I soldiered on and drank it. Jessica just said (sweetly) to stay the hell away from her Lolita.

(I don't remember what Maddi offered but Scott, who has travelled extensively in Europe seeking out fine beers, said a good Lambic is "something special.")

Pere Jacques, an 8.7 per cent Dubbel (also from Goose Island) was up next. Complex and tasty, with spices, dark fruit and brown sugar. Smooth with big malts. It was a big hit at the table.

Harry Porter and the
Complicated Coffee Order

A little snack was now in order to soak up all that alcohol and Matt and Jess broke out the cheese plate, which is a thing every time I visit these two beauties.

Bread, meats and a bunch of cheeses, including a goat cheese with cranberries (courtesy of Steve, I'm told) that was ... heavenly. It was a far better snack plate than I would have provided, that's for sure, and we made quick work of it.

After that feast there was room for one more beer: my Harry Porter and the Complicated Coffee Order, which was GLB's popular Harry Porter brewed with vanilla beans, cinnamon, coffee and a "small amount" of scotch bonnet peppers.

It was fantastic. Matt raved about it, in fact, and I thought it was smooth and delicious, with a hint of heat at the end. My Porter of the Year so far.

It really is the people who make bottle shares special, but it helps if the beer being shared is amazing too. I enjoyed both on this night.

And thank the (Dark) Lord I didn't have to get up for work the next morning.

Ghosts, the Apocalypse and Polkeroo too

One of the memorable beers from Great Lakes Brewery's recent 30 Anniversary party was their (appropriately named) 30th Anniversary Ale.

This 11.3 per cent Belgian-Style Quad was aged in Pinot Noir barrels for 11 months before being brought out into the light for the party. I described it as "rich and delicious" at the time, but I was going on a five ounce sample.

My pal Robert, also known
as Drunk Polkeroo

That just wouldn't do, so I made a trip to the brewery, located in Toronto's far-off south-west corner, a priority.

Still, it was a couple of weeks after the party before I could make the trip and I was worried they might run out of this beer, despite assurances there would be a few bottles left when I arrived.

No worries. I had a back-up beer if the fridge was empty of 30th Anniversary Ale, a beer that would have been worth the trip all by itself. It was, of all things, an English Mild.

Normally I wouldn't cross the street for an English Mild. Nothing against the style, but a low alcohol, lightly hopped beer is generally not in my wheelhouse.

But this one was special, because this English Mild had the Polkeroo touch.

My pal Robert, known in beer blogging and social media circles as Drunk Polkeroo, was part of a media group invited last month to work with GLB Brewmaster Mike Lackey on a collaboration brew as part of the brewery's anniversary celebrations.

The GLB haul

The result was an English Mild (3.8%) with cocoa nibs called Alternative Facts, a homage (not really) to the new guy running the country to the south of us.

The good news is both beers were in the retail fridge, so I filled up my carry-out case, adding a couple of Apocalypse Later Black IPAs (one of my all-time favourites) and the Harry Porter and the Complicated Coffee Order mentioned earlier in this post.

Now I had to get home, and time, as always, was my enemy. The fastest way would be the way I came in, but I had seen the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Gardiner Expressway eastbound lanes, so an alternative route would be needed.

By happy coincidence my chosen route took me past Bellwoods Brewery, located just west of Toronto's downtown.

If I'm being totally honest it wasn't a coincidence (a shocker, I know), and I admit I tried to fit in even more breweries on the route, but time-is-the-enemy and all that, so Bellwoods, one of Canada's best all-round breweries, would have to do.

Parking is always an issue at Bellwoods, so a quick bottle shop raid strategy was called for.

The Bellwoods haul

I picked a good day for a raid. Witchshark - the first Imperial IPA I fell in love with, was there, and so was Roman Candle, the brewery's outstanding flagship IPA. Ghost Orchid, a new IPA with a fantasic aroma that I had been drinking regularly that week at Buster Rhino's, was also in the house. There was even a new IPA, called simply IPA with Columbus & Chinook.

And there was Jelly King (Plum).

I had been hearing so many good things about this beer I knew it had to go in my fun box, even though it was a Sour. A dry-hopped Sour, but still a Sour.

My mouth was puckered in anticipation.

All I had to do now was drive back to Oshawa, put my beers in the fridge, shed a small tear I wouldn't be able to drink them yet, and go to work.

I can wait. I think.

Beer 101: Consumption, Enjoyment, Reflection

Turned out I was weak. I couldn't wait that long after all.

I was home with a little bit of time to spare before I had to go to work so I decided to crack open the first bottle of Alternative Facts. After all, it was just 3.8 per cent and it was brewed by a Polkeroo, and a drunk one at that. It had to be first.

For such an inoffensive style, GLB (and the celebrity brewers) sure packed a lot of flavour into this beer. It was really good.

The Alternative Facts brewing team at GLB

There was coffee and roasted malts on the nose and it tasted clean, with mild coffee and much deliciousness. Very drinkable.

I knew this beer was all Polk. I could see him barking instructions as hops and coffee beans and spent grains and whatever else was tossed into the tank. "Step aside Mike," Robert probably said to GLB's Brewmaster.  "I got this."

It may not have gone down exactly like that but the results spoke volumes. Good job guys!

The 30th Anniversary Ale was next (after my shift of course) and this high octane beer was worth every penny. It smelled of darkness and dankness, with plums and dates and raisins all soaked in caramel. The taste was rich and boozy, with more dark fruits, such as overripe wine grapes. A lovely big-bodied beer.

I went straight to the IPAs from Bellwoods the next evening. I've had the deliciously bitter Witchshark, their Imperial IPA, many times (it's one of my all-time favourite beers) and I wrote about Roman Candle, their flagship IPA in this space recently ("really well-balanced with a magical aroma"), but Ghost Orchid was getting its first print treatment.

Roman Candle's aroma may have been magical, but Ghost Orchid took the bouquet into the realm of the supernatural. One of the best-smelling beers ever.

Ghost Orchid IPA from Bellwoods Brewery

I enjoyed my first Ghost Orchid from the beer fridge at the bar earlier in the week (thanks Ashley!) and had been drinking this on tap since then. The aroma of pineapple, orange and other juicy fruits filled the air with citrus awesomeness, and it tasted amazing too, with very little bitterness. Outstanding.

I should have bought more.

I tried the new IPA next, the one brewed with Columbus and Chinook hops, and came away impressed, thought it wasn't in the class of Ghost Orchid.

There was peach and orange on the nose, along with some aromatic cedar, and it tasted of tropical fruits, lemon and grapefruit. Light but resiny and very nice.

The Apocalypse Later Black IPAs from Great Lakes was the penultimate beer from the trip and it was hard to wait to get into these. I had enjoyed this before at Donny's Bar & Grill in Burlington, but that was more than a year ago, as this beer isn't usually part of GLB's LCBO allotment.

My new favourite Black IPA. Citrus, pine and sweet chocolate aroma with all that and lots of roasted malts on the tongue. Really smooth and delicious.

The last beer was Jelly King (Plum) and I'd like to say I was anticipating this with curiosity (and trepidation), but that would be a lie. I had it a few days before on tap and it was actually, what's the word?

Yummy.

This could be the Sour that gets me to appreciate Sours. Mild citrus in the aroma and the taste is tart, with plums and pears and grapefruit all vying for attention. There was a sweetness to it as well. Delicious beer.

Maybe  I like Sours after all. The dry-hopped variety anyway. Sorry Lolita.

Buster Rhino's, remembering Nancy, the Generals and beer

I have praised the virtues of Buster Rhino's many times in this space over the years and for good reason.

It is unmatched as the best craft beer bar in Oshawa and the food, well this place can stack up against any barbecue joint south of the border and more than hold its own.

But I should offer full disclosure. Just before Christmas I accepted an offer from Darryl, the well-read, well-fed and well-dressed proprietor of this fine establishment to switch part-time jobs and come work for him.

So I did, and on weekends I am the Buster Rhino's delivery guy.

He pays me an hourly (plus tips), so when I'm not delivering ribs, pulled pork and thick-cut brisket sandwiches and ... where was I going with this? Oh yeah. I like to keep busy.

So I bus tables, deal with the dishes (I do a LOT of dishes), lug kegs to the bar and generally make myself useful to the front-of-house and back-of-house staff.

On those nights when the bar is full I'm busier than Donald Trump's damage
control department and I love it. I haven't experienced the pressure of a daily newspaper at deadline in several decades but this is the closest I've come to that feeling since those bygone days.

Darryl, Buster Rhino's politically astute
and pulled pork-stained pit master

And really, the pressure is not on me. My core job is delivering food and I know my streets really well (and what I don't know GPS does), so as long as I don't screw up by mixing up the orders (can happen; did happen; won't happen again) it's pretty easy.

Which leaves me plenty of time inside the bar to make things easier for my co-workers, especially Jessica, Sam and Shannon, my mentors and my bosses.

I have plenty of experience in the food business but this is my first job in a bar and I'm liking it a lot so far. But it has a dark side: if I haven't been fired by July I'll probably have to work the Durham Craft Beer Festival.

The bright side to that is I'll stay sober much longer. I might even be able to close the joint.

Remembering a political legend

I attended the service for the late Nancy Diamond last month, Oshawa's longest-serving Mayor and one of my favourite people in the sometimes dirty world of politics.

Nancy was a larger-than-life figure in the city's political scene, having served as Mayor for a dozen years, as  well as three terms as a Regional Councillor. That 'larger-than-life' phrase I used was more than just a metaphor: she stood over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and possessed a voice that could command a room but could also be soft as velvet.

Nancy Diamond

I was rarely in agreement with her politics and even my Conservative friends thought she was a bit too tight with the city's purse strings (George Bush's famous "read my lips - no new taxes" line could easily have been Nancy's slogan), but she always, ALWAYS returned my phone calls and always had time for a quote.

To a working journalist, there is no better praise indeed.

I remember my daughter - she was about 10 at the time - taking a call from Nancy and getting all excited. "It's for you," she cried. "It's the MAYOR!"

Nancy had that affect on people.

That influence extended to her family as well. Her nephew, Don Darling, is the newly elected Mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick.

At Nancy's funeral, which attracted a full house to St. George's Memorial Anglican Church in the heart of downtown, I heard some things about her I already knew: She was a fiscal hawk, a powerful speaker and an active volunteer. But I also learnt a few things I didn't know: she was a feminist, an excellent cook and loved good scotch.

Nancy was 75. She will be missed.

Patience, Generals' fans: our time will come

The Oshawa Generals were one of three finalists to host next year's historic 100th edition of the Memorial Cup, the top prize for junior hockey teams in North America.

As a five-time winner (and as recently as two springs ago), the club is the most successful team in the country and as such many fans were crying foul when the selection committee awarded the event to Regina.

Please.

Captain Josh Brown with the Memorial Cup in 2015

From a hockey standpoint, the team wouldn't have been good enough by this time next year. Despite leading the Eastern Conference standings at the trade deadline, management traded away their two best players - captain and 2015 Memorial Cup hero Anthony Cirelli and defenceman Mitch Vande Sompel - , arguing that the Generals wouldn't have been able to compete with the powerful Western clubs in this year's playoffs.

Pretty lame argument, if you ask me. But what's done is done.

Initial reports were the deals were to better equip the team to host the Memorial Cup next year. But the return from those two trades (a ton of future draft picks) make it clear that was never the case.

Just one of the picks - a 2017 2nd rounder acquired in the Vande Sompel deal - would help the club next year.

No, these trades were all about stockpiling assets for 2021, which is when the OHL's turn in the normal Memorial Cup bidding process comes up again.

That is when Oshawa needs to throw its hat in the ring. By then the city's downtown renaissance will be further along (as in finish the Genosha Hotel already!) and a few other problem areas (cranes in the air at the future site of the new GO Station would be nice) will also be showing signs of progress.

It will be 2021, not 2018, when the City of Oshawa gets its moment to shine. Patience, Generals' fans, patience.

Going down (beer) memory lane

As this is supposed to be a beer blog and not an Oshawa love-in, I should finish with something about beer, notably a trio of old favourites I found myself re-acquainted with.

Something about old friends are the best friends?

First up was Roman Candle, an IPA from Bellwoods Brewery that despite being in regular circulation hadn't been in my hands for a couple of years.

I saw it first on tap at Buster Rhino's and as soon as I poured it I tried to kick myself for not going back to it earlier. I missed, but the beer didn't. An amazing aroma of pine and bright citrus. Orange, tropical fruit and pineapple as well. Resiny and delicious.

5 Paddles, Whitby

A visit to 5 Paddles in Whitby a few days later re-introduced me to Midnight Paddles, a Black IPA/Imperial Stout hybrid the brewery likes to call a Royal Canadian Stout. It was the first beer I had from 5 Paddles, back in the early days of my craft beer conversion, and I hadn't had one since.

My bad.

Gorgeous chocolate milkshake pour with a ton of milk chocolate and dark coffee flavours and just the right amount of bitterness. The world's first and finest Royal Canadian Stout.

The final 'old' friend' is one of craft beer's more popular beers: Canuck Pale Ale from Great Lakes.

I've always liked it but rarely actually bought it. Probably because I fell in love with Naughty Neighbour from Nickel Brook and either bought that or something new if I was looking for something sessionable.

I took Canuck for granted and for that I'm sorry.

I've been drinking it at the bar and buying it again at the LCBO and I'm glad I'm back on the Canuck bandwagon. Grapefruit and a little pine meld with some bready malts. Fruity and hoppy and damn tasty.

Cheers!