Sniffle Boy takes on the Hammer (and lives to tell the tale)

I don't know if it was the power of the IPA that penetrated the plugged nasal passageways of this sick pilgrim, or maybe my ill health was just turning the corner for the better.

All I know is that one minute I couldn't smell a fresh cut rose if it was put in front of me and the next, as I sat with my pal Don at Grain & Grit Brewery on Hamilton's west side, I was overloading on grapefruit and pineapple.

And all this from a five ounce sample of an IPA called In the Palms taken straight from the tank by co-owner Joe Mrav for our enjoyment.

I'd like to say this beer cured what ailed me, but that would be a lie, as I suffered from my symptoms for a couple of days longer. But the aroma from that beer was so powerful it was able to cut through all that, if only for a moment.

And while I'm on the subject of my health, I want to state for the record that despite this bad case of the sniffles, I sucked it up (like the trooper that I am) and headed west on late February Sunday to see my beer bro for an epic day of beer drinking in Steel Town.

The only way to disguise my bloodshot teary eyes was to
adopt the googly-eye method, as seen here. I think it
worked: I don't look sick; just insane

This was a twice re-scheduled event, I should also point out, and one of those cancellations was because my pal Don was, and I quote, "sick AF."

He went into more detail, which I will not repeat in this space, but suffice to say his dedication to the craft left something to be desired. Or, conversely, he was a good friend and didn't want to infect me (and everyone else in range) with his virus.

I guess we'll never know who was right.

In any event, I ignored the mild case of nasal congestion that greeted me when I woke up, packed up my toothbrush and pointed my car in the direction of Oakville, with that stuffed up feeling getting progressively less mild the farther west I went.

The quest for #5 took us to Hamilton's
harbour and Collective Arts Brewery

Don was in his driveway when I arrived, so we wasted no time and headed straight to Hamilton's waterfront and Collective Arts Brewery.

My last beer adventure in Hamilton (with Don and the Polks - Robert and Kathryn) centred around a trip to Merit Brewing in the downtown core, so a visit to Collective Arts was tops on my revised Hammer wish list.

Housed in what used to be Lakeport Brewing's headquarters in the 1990s and 2000s (until Labatt bought the plant in 2007 and shuttered it three years later, destroying or sabotaging any useable brewing equipment in the process - but that's a tale unto itself), Collective Arts has turned the former home of buck-a-beer into a sanctuary for top notch craft beer in Hamilton.

Despite the macro size of the brewery, the tap room is quite small. There are three rooms, actually, and on this day the rooms filled up quickly. So Don and I ordered beer (a Life in the Clouds IPA for me, an 8.2 per cent IPA #5 for non-driving Don) and I tried to limit my visits to the bathroom to blow my nose to a minimum.

Donny Vegas at
Fairweather Brewing

One of the chief reasons for making Collective Arts our first visit was the hope they still had IPA #5 left. This Vermont-style Imperial IPA was one of the best things about 2018, and while there was LCBO distribution, that was extremely limited. So the fact there was some on tap was a good sign, but were there any cans left for takeout?

So I made sure I got in line ahead of Don when we had finished our pints and ordered four, as well as more Life in the Clouds and a couple of cans of Mash Up the Jam, a double dry-hopped Sour.

Don was up next and asked for a six-pack of the best IIPA of 2018. He got four, the last four cans in existence. As he noted in his recent blog, sucks to be the fellow behind him, and anyone else in line that day hoping for some IPA #5.

#Sorrynotsorry, I guess.

With my illness reaching Monty Python proportions ("I'm not dead yet!"), we decided to pass on the most excellent Merit Brewing in downtown Hamilton and pointed my car west towards two of the Hammer's newest breweries, Fairweather and Grain & Grit.

Fairweather Brewing is housed in a huge re-purposed factory that gives them loads of room for future expansion.

Grain & Grit Brewery

(The 20,000 sq.ft building is so big, in fact, they have had to rent out part of it, including a portion that has been leased to neighbours Grain & Grit. The camaraderie in the craft beer world never ceases to gladden my heart.)

The tap room is big too, and once I got my order in - Still Shining, a six per cent lemony citrus pale ale - I headed straight for the washroom to blow my nose (for the umpteenth time) and, more importantly, stock up on tissue so it would be clear to our charming server and anyone looking my way that I was sick and not stoned.

Seriously. I looked high as a kite.

But I survived the session at Fairweather and after stocking up on to-go beers - more Still Shining and a few High Grade IPAs for me - and sneezing a few dozen more times, we figured it was time for our last stop.

But where exactly is Grain & Grit, we asked. Our server pointed across the street and up the road a hundred metres or so. Maybe less. I drove. Don walked.

The newest of the bunch, Grain & Grit is a friendly little place, located in what appears to be a former garage.

Friendly also describes Joe Mrav, who brought a background in mechanical engineering and his understanding wife Lindsey (who has a background in graphic design and encouraged Joe to take the plunge) to the business of beer.

Don with Grain & Grit co-owner Joe

They brought in Alex Sporn, a German winemaker with a passion for brewing, and after suffering through the usual bureaucratic rabbit-hole paperwork, opened their doors last October.

The place was busy when we walked in, which was right around the time the sign said they closed on Sundays.

When exactly do you close Joe? we asked.

"When the crowd leaves, I guess," he answered.

I enjoyed the Pineapple Rye Pale Ale (5.3 per cent), which was tasty, though not being able to smell of the beers I had on this day was getting annoying, while Don opted for the Light Ray Session IPA, which clocked in at 4.5 per cent but boasted an incredible 80 IBUs.

That's Imperial IPA territory, folks.

Joe hung around to chat for a bit, and to his credit did not once ask if I was high on something. Perhaps the repeated trips to the facilities to blow my nose gave it away.

Light Ray Session IPA. Under
five per cent with 80 IBUs

Anyway, Joe had a little surprise for us. He disappeared into the brewery side and came back with five ounce samples of an IPA - In the Palms it was called - straight from the conditioning tank.

And Hallelujah, I could smell this beer as soon as he set it down in front of me. Somehow, the aroma of pineapple and grapefruit cut through the congestion that had plagued me all day.

I could smell. If only for a moment.

Then I sneezed and the moment was gone.

After a visit to the bottle shop (Light Ray Session IPA and Huell Melon Pale Ale for me) and saying our goodbyes to Joe, we decided to call it a day and headed back to Oakville.

As Don wasn't going to let me drive home in my state, we went straight to the man cave, where my pal set me up in the Lazy-Boy with a comfy blanket and a few delicious beers, and we watched the first two X-Men movies before I nodded off to sleep.

I'm pretty sure he tucked me in too.

Next trip I hope to be healthy, so I can smell ALL the beers!

Remembering David

I was back in Hamilton a week after the beer trip for a get-together with some family and friends at Rankin's Grill on Hamilton's east side to pay tribute to my father in-law David, who died February 22 after a long battle with throat cancer.

Rankin's Grill was always his and Lene's favourite Hamilton hangout, and we filled up the back room on this evening to remember the man, who was aptly described by Julie, my niece, David's granddaughter and one of the main organizers of the event, as "one of the most stubborn and amazing man to have graced this earth."

David Rozel. R.I.P.

Sounds about right Julie.

It was nice to see some family I haven't seen in years, as well as some of David's friends that I haven't seen in decades.

My young brother in-law Noah, who works at a marijuana dispensary in Hamilton, was anxious to get together sooner rather than later and promised me an "old man discount" if I paid him a visit.

Old man jokes aside, I'm thinking I will take him up on the offer.

Cheers!