Matt & Jess set to make waves in Cambridge

(but I don't want them to go)

I was eavesdropping on someone else's conversation when I heard the news that Jessica was leaving.

"You can't go," I said to the long-time Buster Rhino's manager, all-round awesome person and my dear friend. "I'm going," she responded.

Jess is headed west at the end of the month with her boyfriend Matt - the Brewing Mercenary - who is taking a job as a brewer at not-yet-opened Wave Maker Brewery in Cambridge.

Which means Jessica Billingham is leaving.

"How about you stay here and visit Matt on weekends?" I countered. "No," was all she said.

I'm going to miss both of them.

The happy couple

Jessica has been at Buster's for four-and-a-half years, which is slightly longer than I have been coming to this craft beer, whiskey and barbecue joint in downtown Oshawa.

All I have ever known is a confident young woman who effortlessly straddles the line between being sweet and nice and totally amazing to being a self-assured young manager who gets her staff to do their jobs the best way they know how because they want to.

Because it's Jessica.

Surprisingly, Jess wasn't always this way, as I found out a couple of weeks back. Darryl, the capable, culpable and candid proprietor at Buster Rhino's, told me that six months into her job as a server he wasn't sure she had the chops to be really good at it.

"She kept saying sorry so often it was driving me crazy," he said. It was Sarah, the manager at the time and Jessica's friend, who told Darryl  to give her a little more time to find her way.

The rest, as they say, is history. Which is, of course, what Jess will be in Oshawa after this weekend. "You sure you won't stay Jess," I pleaded, summoning up my best puppy dog eyes. "Sorry," she responded, without batting an eye.

Did I mention that I'm going to miss her? I think I did.

Jess, Sarah and me

I worked for the bar for a year, so I know first-hand how good she is at her job. Best boss EVER, in fact. And what you see at work is what you get after work too. One of my favourite people in this world and most others I've visited.

I'll lump Matt in that class as well. My point man whenever I had a technical question about beer (which was frequently), Matthew Chellew is known and loved by virtually everyone in Durham's brewing world, having collaborated with most of 'em during his long run as owner of the Brewer's Pantry brewing supply store.

An absolute peach of a guy too and their beer cellar is something to see.

I knew something was up when Matt sold Brewers Pantry, but when he told me he really wanted to brew full-time I just assumed he would hook up with one of the newer breweries that have taken this area by storm.

(I even started to handicap where he was going to land after I had drinks with Matt and Town Brewery's Tim Ferriman soon after the sale and took it as a sign, instead of a couple of pals just out for beers.)

Instead Matt is going to be working with his pal Scott Pautler, who was the founding brewmaster of Old Flame Brewing and has won 30-plus medals for his beers, including golds at both the provincial and national levels.

Matt

Scott and his family are opening Wave Maker Brewery & Distillery this summer in Cambridge's Preston neighbourhood, complete with a 1,300 sq.ft. tap room.

Scott was in attendance the first time I enjoyed a beer share at Matt and Jessica's Bowmanville digs (Dark Lord Day) and I remember the passion this well-travelled brewer had for beer and brewing. Loved his Lambics, as I recall.

With the Brewing Mercenary ready to join him at the end of the month, I think Wave Maker is going to make out just fine.

The Buster Rhino's staff and us regulars (as well as Jessica's many friends) will be toasting Jess tonight at her farewell party at the bar, one of two events planned to give the couple a semi-appropriate send-off.

There will be cool balloons and maybe even some cake on Friday, I'm told.

The second party is Saturday at the Village Inn in Bowmanville, Matt's long-time part-time bartending gig. Matt is pulling out all the stops at this event, with music by the Doozies and some unique beers on tap for the occasion from Manantler, Little Beasts, 5 Paddles, Town, Old Flame and Chronicle.

I hope to get a head start on at least one of the beers when I pop into Chronicle Brewing in Bowmanville Saturday to see Brewmaster Jim, and buy a few Hasheeshians, a  Hop Hash Hefewizen that was the result of a collaboration between Chronicle and Wave Maker.

Wave Maker's first official beer, as far as I know.

I expect the beer to be great; the parties (both of them) to be even better. The company? Well, that will be priceless, wouldn't it?

Cambridge is not far. I smell a road trip this summer.

Cheers!

An epic Mother's Day weekend (and not just for Mom)

I knew from the get-go my Mother's Day weekend was going to be pretty cool.

Actually, I knew on the Thursday prior when I got carded ("Can I see some ID") but I've already told everybody I know so we don't need to go there again. But the weekend, oh that was shaping up very well.

There was the visit to Toronto to see my folks, for starters, which was a given because Sunday was Mother's Day and because they are pretty awesome people. There was a Kim Mitchell concert back in the Shwa Sunday night, which would be amazing for several reasons, one of which is the son of my college friend Kim (Nelles, not Mitchell) is IN THE BAND.

Then there was my Saturday night play-date with @BeerStoreDude in Oakville, which had been semi-planned for a while but had only been finalized the week before. I was looking forward to that simply because Donny Vegas is a good man to drink with.

But my Saturday, from nine in the morning when I got home from work, till eight or so that evening when I would hop in my car for the drive to Oakville (Don worked until 9:15), was looking to be as legendary as anything on my itinerary (okay, except for Mom) because I was planning on doing nothing.

Not nothing exactly - I did some cleaning, got the laundry done, got caught up a bit on my writing and had a couple of nice naps - but after a super busy couple of weeks at my two jobs I really needed some me time.

Falgarwood

I was feeling a bit refreshed when I pointed the car west to meet up with my college chum and former roommate at 3 Brewers in Oakville's Winston Park Plaza.

I was bringing gifts - as I always do - but the problem with promising a buddy some beer without a date set for the gifting is that the wait could be several or even many weeks in the future.

Don and I at a beer festival some
years back. Don is apparently
unhappy there is a human head
growing out of his left shoulder

In that time I always find other brews that I think Beer Bro Don would like and add them to the six-pack case and by the time I head out there to drink with him I'm using a big box and it's more than half-filled.

Then I apologize for giving him so many. I am so Canadian.

Anyway, I arrived at the brewpub first and ordered a White, a 4.7 per cent Belgian-style Wheat beer, to pass the time until Don arrived, which happened a couple of sips in.

So we drank a few beers (we moved on to the six per cent, 60 IBU IPA), shared some nachos and then headed back to Don's childhood home (forever to be known as Falgarwood Estates), where every day is Mother's Day after my pal moved back home a few months back to take care of his Mom, the tres chic Gramma Jay.

More beers out of Don's man cave beer fridge followed, with the highlight being Amsterdam's Space Invader IPA, a brew loaded with tropical fruit and pungent, bitter citrus that was out-of-this-world good. (What? You thought I wouldn't go there?)There was a little Willy Nelson and some more beers before we settled in to watch Thor: Ragnarok. Which I had somehow never seen.

Space Invader IPA from Amsterdam Brewery

(Great movie. It's a film about the catastrophic end of an ancient civilization that is straight up hilarious. Nobody but Marvel could pull that off.)

And when my La-Z-Boy took control soon after Thor was over, well, that was the end of a pretty chill first day of my weekend.

Sunday was a far busier day, especially after it started a little earlier than I expected when Don came into the man-cave and woke me at the ungodly time of 7:30.

(Dude! It's my one day off to sleep in ...)

All was forgiven when he bought breakfast in the morning, though it was at McDonalds, our second choice, because really, who'd a thought breakfast joints would have lineups on Mother's Day?

And then, with my eclectic box of beers from Don safely stashed in my car (including two more of that amazing Space Invader IPA) and a super kitschy Trump bottle opener from Vegas as well, I was on my way back east, with the GPS set for Downsview and my own childhood home.

The Two Mamas

I was expecting a long list of chores on this day, but really all I did was cut the grass (first cut of the year) and do a few odd jobs, one of which was to clean out the shed in the backyard.

I made note of the hole chewed in the back corner of the roof and the overpowering stench of urine and was about to tell Dad he might have some animal issues when I noticed a big cardboard box on the top shelf that showed signs of destruction.

So I shook it.

She had eyes just like
this, but sadder

Out popped a big mama raccoon, who stared at me from just above eye level with the biggest and saddest eyes I have ever seen on a trash panda.

And then I heard the squeaks from the box, as if I needed confirmation for what I was dealing with.

On Mother's Day, for crying out loud.

"I'm sorry Mama," was all I said, as she continued to stare mournfully at me. "But you're gonna have to go."

Dad and I agreed to best way to deal with the situation was to simply leave the shed door propped open and hope she left with her family to a new den after nightfall.

Mom

(Which she did, because I was back last weekend and the stench was reduced to mild pungency levels. Shed's still a mess though.)

All that was left after that - besides planning out my bedding plant job for the next weekend - was to go inside, eat some lunch and spend some quality time with Mom.

Mom's memory ain't what it used to be (Getting more adorable every day) but she's more chill than she's ever been and, as always, great company.

But, with a concert to attend that evening back in Oshawa, I had to say my goodbyes and head home to my shower. And the plan was to go straight home from Downsview, but when I got to Keele Street and looked at the 401 traffic below - stop-and-go as far as I could see, minus the 'go' part - I changed my plans.

Outta Left Field

I've been meaning to try Left Field Brewery in Toronto's east end for some time and figured, why not today?

It hurt a bit to come within minutes of Bellwoods' Hafis Road location (my usual go-to when I'm at my parent's house) and not pop in, and I came awful close to stopping when I neared the Junction area and its many awesome breweries - Rainhard, Indie Ale House and Blood Brothers, to name just a few - but I had a tight schedule and I had my eye on the prize: Left Field.

Left Field Brewery in Toronto's east end

I took the scenic route, turning south or east whenever traffic slowed and passing more signs promoting the upcoming exhibit by Banksy, the British street artist and all-round provocateur, than I could count, before arriving at the brewery, which is located in an alley off Greenwood Avenue.

The street has a name - Wagstaff Avenue - but it's an alley, which actually adds to Left Field's coolness quotient.

The waiting list outside - the tap room was at capacity - probably helped too, though it didn't help me and my schedule. But I was in within ten minutes and enjoying a glass of WHIP, Left Field's delicious Smoothie IPA made with peach, mango and black raspberry.

I brought a ton of beer to take home, including Take Two IPA, Laser Show IIPA and Squeeze Play Plum Sour, resisted the urge to buy some tasty-looking cookies for sale in the tap room, and headed home to Oshawa.

It really is those unplanned side trips that sometimes turn out for the best.

Two Kims and a (really talented) Sam

Once home and cleaned up, I walked the six blocks down to Buster Rhino's for a beer and to hopefully meet up with my friend Kim from our Humber College days many years ago. Kim's son Sam is in Kim Mitchell's band, as I mentioned, and Kim (my friend, not the rock star) was trying to get to Oshawa in time to have a drink with me and catch up before walking the sixty feet east to this night's venue, the beautifully restored Regent Theatre.

We didn't have time for much catching up, but Kim, who remains as beautiful as I remember but has added elegance to her repertoire, stayed for a beer - a Canuck Pale Ale from GLB, so she made an excellent choice - before she had to hurry to the theatre to see Sam and get her ticket.

Lou and Sam Pomanti in the home studio

Kim, a Drama student at Humber, was an accomplished actor through the 80s and into the early 90s, appearing in some pretty big flicks, notably Cocktail (with Tom Cruise) in 1988, Counterstrike (1990) and Conspiracy of Silence (1991).

Kim took a break from acting not long after marrying Lou Pomanti, a legendary musician, composer and arranger whose CV includes a stint as the musical director for the Junos, touring keyboardist for Kim Mitchell and a few dozen other bands and orchestral arrangement for Michael Buble's 2009 mega hit Haven't Met You Yet. Just to name a few. I'd call that legendary, for sure.

Sam (1995) and Cara - a seriously talented writer - followed, and it was Sam who learnt to play by ear as a boy and soon followed Dad into the music business.

Sam, who is now 22, always has a few projects on the go, including his band Moonhead, which was Dr. Frank-N-Furter's house band in FOX TV's 2016 re-make of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Kim Mitchell

And now he can add keyboardist in the Kim Mitchell band, a job held by his Dad a quarter century before.

I settled into the theatre and my seat soon after my friend and watched a kick-ass rock show by a couple of veteran rockers in Mitchell and long-time collaborator Peter Fredette (bass, vocals), a not-quite-as-veteran drummer in David Langguth and the kid, 22 year-old Sam Pomanti.

I was a big fan of Max Webster, Mitchell's first big band, and they played a lot of hits from my misbegotten youth, and it was the youngest member of Mitchell's current lineup that had my attention for the entirety of the show.

This man is a star in the making. Smooth on stage and super talented on the keys, young Pomanti is a name you are going to hear a lot more often real soon.

His Mom certainly thought so, rocking out at the back of the theatre like it was 1983 again. I caught her after the show to congratulate her on her fine choice in children when she said we were going upstairs to the Green Room to meet Sam and his band mates.

Security wasn't so sure but "my son's in the band" got us halfway there and after being told "okay, but just family," Kim took me by the hand, told the guard with some authority "he's with me," and walked up the slightly rickety stairs to the performer's sanctuary, the Green Room.

Sam, Kim and my smiling self in the Regent
Theatre Green Room after the Kim
Mitchell show. Photo credits to Peter Fredette

All in all, a pretty cool experience. I acknowledged Mitchell when I got upstairs (that was the extent of our relationship but that was fine because I wasn't there to see him), and limited myself to a water from the buffet before having a chat with Sam and his Mom.

Sam is an intelligent and engaging young man and even smiled when I asked him if the other guys in the band ribbed him because he brought his mommmm to the gig.

C'mon. It's an excellent Dad Joke.

I stayed for another minute or two to trade life stories with Kim (Nelles, not Mitchell), and to get Peter (the bass player and long-time friend of the Pomanti family) to take a picture of us before thanking them for their hospitality and disappearing down the stairs and out into the street.

With Buster's still open and my friends Shannon, Adam and Jessica still there, I had to stop in for a nightcap and tell them all about it.

And why not? It was a pretty good story.

Just a part of a pretty epic weekend.

Cheers!

"Can I see some ID?" - Brew Wizards makes my day/week/year

I remember Matt tweeting something about a tap takeover at Brew Wizards but I thought it had been and gone, so when I popped in to the downtown Oshawa games and craft beer emporium after a delivery shift my only goal was to have a beer before trudging home to bed.

Matt, Manantler Brewing's co-owner and social media guru, may not have believed me, but that's the truth.

So when I walked in and noticed a couple or three of Manantler beers on the tap list I really didn't think anything of it; the brewery and the bar are friends of long standing.

So I ordered a taster of 5 Paddles' Coconut Cream Pie and Single Minded - Azacca from Market Brewing (both very tasty) and contemplated which Manantler beer was going to be my nightcap.

Brew Wizards Board Game Cafe in
downtown Oshawa

That's when Matt tapped me on the shoulder and thanked me for coming in to see him and support my once and always favourite brewery. "Yeah, yeah, that's exactly what I did Matt. No problem," would be my usual go-to response to that statement but I was feeling a bit tired from a 15-hour shift (split between two jobs) so I took a different approach.

I was honest.

"Actually, I forgot. I thought it was last week or yesterday or something. So this is a happy coincidence I guess."

And then I ordered my beer. One of Manantler's Lollihop series of single-hopped pale ales. A Lollihop-Cascade (double dry-hopped), to be exact.

And two things happened that I will remember for months - nay, years - to come.

The second thing is the beer was amazing. An instant contender for Pale Ale of the Year. But I'm getting ahead in the story; the first thing happened before I even got the beer in my hand.

I was carded.

No word of a lie. I am 58 and while I tell myself I am unbearably handsome and have retained most of my boyish charms, others (read everybody else) say something different.

In fact, other than some young guys at work who thought I was in my 40s (they think everybody over 30 is old anyway), the general consensus is I look at least 50.

Matt and his beard at Manantler

So while my ex-wife (I'm looking at you Christian-Ann) and a few of my 40-plus women friends (I'm looking at you Shannon) get asked for ID from time to time and never fail to tell me (and even brag) about it, I have not been asked to prove my age for at least a quarter-century.

(Except for that time in Orlando four years ago, but that doesn't count. For reasons.)

So this was a big thing.

I know my jaw dropped, though my shit-eating grin was able to hold it high while I fished out my drivers licence to show my server, who was clearly new at the job - first day, maybe? - and eager to follow procedure to ensure all patrons have some identification.

Not that I was complaining (then or now) about the inconvenience. In fact, I vowed on the spot to brag to everyone I know about it (done that already), and even write a blog highlighting this momentous occasion.

I can now say I've done that too.

But enough about being ID'd - I want to get back to talking about that beer. (I've told most everyone I know already anyway.)

I swear Manantler has done Cascade before in their Lollihop series - it is one of the three classic 'C's of west coast hops - but it was certainly never double dry-hopped, a process that, among other delicious things, brings out the aromatics of the beer much better than the traditional hops-in-the-boil method.

It worked beautifully in this beer. Lots of citrus in the aroma, with orange, grapefruit and a little pineapple shining through on the tongue. Delicious.

Death's Tar Imperial Black
IPA from Manantler

So while I should have been home sleeping, I instead whiled away an hour drinking a couple of Cascade Lollihops and catching up with Matt on all things beer.

We talked about the Death's Tar Imperial Black IPA I enjoyed the night before - amazingly good - and how I would have to go back to Manantler on Saturday to get more, as well as some of the Cascade Lollihop, to give to Beer Bro Don when I visited him in Oakville later that day.

He told me the story of how the brewery landed Corey Fairs - the man is just knocking it out of the park these days - and how awesome it was to see Jim Gorry (Manantler's original Brewmaster) back in Bowmanville brewing up tasties at Chronicle Brewing.

We talked about Matt's beard - okay, we didn't, but it's an awesome beard and we should have - and then I thanked him for buying the first round and I was on my way home.

I'm glad I got the tap takeover dates wrong because happy coincidence are pretty cool.

***

I was back in Bowmanville two days later as promised to stock up for my trip to Falgarwood Estates in Oakville to see my college pal Don and I of course stayed for a pint of Cascade Lollihop and to chat with my server, the lovely Mariska.

It was Dog Day at the brewery, by the way, with three pooches having the run  of the place. The two bigger dogs belonged to a couple at the bar ("I hope you don't mind dogs," asked the young lady, which surprised me, but I guess there are anti-dog people that walk among us) and the little fellow trying his best to establish dominance - was his name Jack? I think so - belonged to Mariska.

So after watching the dogs play for a bit Mariska and I got to talking and she asks me how my weekend was going. Anything interesting happen lately?

Well yes, I said, now that you mention it and just then Matt wanders in from the brewery. "Matt, tell Mariska what happened to me at Brew Wizards the other night ..."

Finally - a brewery for Oshawa!

With the number of breweries in Durham Region now in double digits it seemed just a matter of time before one set up shop in Oshawa.

The Shwa can now say they have one, with a possible second brewery on its way.

The Oshawa Brewing Company opened its doors recently and while they've experienced some hiccups in the early days, I'm hopeful they can get locked in for the days and months ahead.

The brewery - founded by Daryl Radovich - is open on Wilson Road South and is offering six beers right now: Oatmeal Molasses Stout, Blonde Ale, Dark Irish Ale, European IPA, Copper Ale and a Grapefruit and Lime Radler.

I sampled a few at Buster Rhino's last week and while I remember the Dark Irish Ale being tasty, all the beers were severely lacking in carbonation, a sentiment shared by most of us freeloaders regulars taking advantage of free beer.

My beer friends Linda and John - both experienced homebrewers - were a little more complimentary after visiting the fledgling brewery, so I'm optimistic that once they get the growing pains out of the way they can get down to making great beer.

A second Oshawa brewery is in the works as well. The Bunkie Brewing Company  has a website and social media set up but are not quite ready to open their doors.

Good luck Bunkie. And welcome to the neighbourhood.

Cheers!

Mother’s Day

This post was first written five years ago. While some things never change, other things in life do, so this has been tweaked and edited to reflect the fact that life throws us many curve balls. My Mom has been a nurturer her entire life but now, at 85, is on the receiving end of TLC from her husband of 63 years: my Dad. Sometimes Karma is a beautiful thing.

My mother is a giver, a nurturer, a helper. She has been so her entire life.

I’ve always known her to be someone who thinks of others before she thinks of herself. And not just thinks, but does. And not just me, my two brothers and my Dad, but anyone who needed help. My Mom always made herself available.

Thank God Mom didn’t like to drive or else she would never be around. Just kidding, Mom. You would be there.

Mom volunteered at our church and at local community centres from our home base at Jane and Wilson to the projects at Jane and Finch. She took courses, partly to better herself, but mostly to be around other people.

And to help.

When it looked like there weren’t going to be any more of us kids on the way, she applied to be a foster mom. Needless to say, she was accepted and my childhood was shared with dozens of children ‘on loan’ from other parents.

She tried to stay a little detached, knowing they would eventually leave, but how could she not love them all? She came close with one – Tammy was her name; lovely little girl – but Children’s Aid wasn’t keen on foster mothers adopting back in the day. Lose too many foster parents that way, I guess.

So Mom soldiered on fostering, nurturing, giving and helping.

And, as I recently found out, mentoring. I connected with an old friend from the neighbourhood on Facebook a few years ago: Andrea, our regular babysitter from Mom’s fostering days. She asked how I was doing and then immediately wanted to know how my Mom was.

“I have such great memories of the time I spent with your family taking care of foster babies,” Andrea told me. “Your mom taught me so much about children and valuable life lessons.”

I saw from her Facebook pages that she had kids and asked Andrea if that is where she put those life lessons to use.

“Well,” she said, clearly smiling on the other side of our connection, “I learned a lot of patience. I have five children.”

At 85, my mother has her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to keep her on her toes but is long retired from babysitting chores. Until just a few years ago she still had Dad to look after – I thought that would never change – but now, with early onset Alzheimer's to worry about the situation has been reversed. My Father is now the nurturer and it is Dad who now looks after Mom.

He's doing a great job too.

There are days, he tells me, where the disease is not so early onset anymore but they manage to get through it with smiles. Those are just moments right now; fleeting bits of gossamer, really. But those moments will increase in frequency as the months and years go on because that's the nature of Alzheimer's.

Mom is still incredibly chill and freakin' adorable as well. She still worries about her kids (I’m okay, Mom. Yes, I've put on a few pounds. Thank you for noticing), but I think her days of cruising the seven seas with Dad a couple of times a year - her reward for a life well lived - are probably in the past.

But she is not now or ever will be retired from giving and helping. It is her nature to nurture.

I went out to my childhood home in Downsview today to see her (and Dad too), and to cut the grass and to do any other chore Pops had in mind. I'll be back every other weekend this summer to do the same. And every time I make a beeline to the den at the back of the house to give Mom a kiss and tell her I missed her.

And she will smile that adorable smile of hers. 

I love you Mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

Chronicle(ing) the return of the prodigal Jim

When the man who was partly responsible for putting my face on a beer announces he's heading up a new brewery I feel a bit of a responsibility to show up for the grand opening.

When that man is Jim Gorry, the co-founder and original brewmaster at Manantler and known from coast to coast as the Magician with the Mash Paddle (I just made it up so it must be true), then it becomes doubly important to get out to Bowmanville for the opening of Chronicle Brewing.

Jim, who was also my sensei when I learned the secret art of the Bro Hug (Spring, Bro Hugs and our Brewer's Best) left Manantler to head west a year or so ago to find his fortune. Or party, I dunno. I know he worked in sales some and brewed with friends, including our pal Trevor, who had left Manantler around the same time to work in a couple of B.C. breweries.

Chronicle Brewmaster Jim Gorry

The important thing is he's back and he's brewing in Bowmanville again, this time for Chronicle, which opened Saturday on Lake Road in the town's industrial south-east side.

This time Jim is just brewing (assisted by Alan Cowling), as the ownership of the fledgling brewery is in the hands of Ted Paulson. They tinkered with the name of the brewery - they collaborated on a beer with Town Brewery under the name Canadian Parks - before settling on Chronicle, which reflected the passion for "mythology, fables, games, medieval fantasies and sci-fi" shared by both owner and brewer.

So I had to be there.

But it would be later Saturday, rather than earlier, as there was the small matter of a TFC game that day. I was in possession of a pair of tickets gifted to me, courtesy of my cousin Steve, as he and his lovely wife Colleen would be sunning themselves in Hawaii (right next to an erupting volcano) instead of being at the game.

Thanks cuz.

Great seats too, and I figured I should be able to find takers easy enough. This is the defending MLS Cup champions and they were coming off an impressive run in the CONCACAF Championships, which concluded only a few days before.

I asked the J Man first, but he wasn't interested, so I moved on to my pal Steve, who is almost as big a soccer fan as I am. He said sure, but a week before the game he had to beg off, citing work commitments. I got the same answer from my older boys Matt and Cam, so I figured I'd go hang out at the bar and try my luck there.

"Thanks, but I'm washing my hair that day," was the response I got from Shannon, and I got the same answer from Adam.  Philistines, the lot of you, I cried, but I was still stuck without a dance partner for the game.

I was complaining about that very thing the next morning to my work son when Daniel -san interrupted me. "I'll go," he said.

Daniel and I at BMO Field. TFC!!

There. Was that so hard?

So as Jim and his crew were polishing sample glasses and otherwise preparing for Chronicle Brewing's grand opening, Daniel and I were parking my car at the Pickering GO Station for the train ride down to Exhibition Station and BMO Field.

But on arrival we turned north instead of south and walked into the heart of Liberty Village, one of Toronto's trendy new hotspots. I'm a TO kid, but all this development happened long after I moved east so I had never been here. I did know the area was chock-a-block with bars, with most of them of the craft beer variety.

Our first stop was Local Liberty Village, but the place was jammed so tight there was a lineup just for elbow room at the bar. So we moved on to the next bar, 3 Brasseurs, a brewpub chain I was familiar with, having enjoyed their IPA at their Oakville location with Beer Bro Don earlier this year.

This place was also packed, but with time 'a wasting and a soccer game 30 minutes away, I found a spot at the bar and ordered an IPA (go figure) and whiled away 20 minutes or so drinking a fine ale and watching the start of a Toronto Wolfpack game.

Turns out 3 Brasseurs is the home base for the Wolfpack, a Rugby League squad that plays in the second tier of English rugby and, with a sparkling 32-3-2 record in one-and-a-half seasons is likely headed for the Premiership next year.

If it works...go for it!

Each try (they led 18-0 midway through the first half when we left) was greeted with cheers and chants from its supporters on the bar's second level.

But Daniel and I were here for soccer, not rugby, so we soon headed back to BMO to watch the footy, which started strongly - we led 2-0 at the half - but ended on a rough note. The tired legs of the Toronto eleven  - as well as a video review controversy - contributed to a Chicago second half comeback and an eventual 2-2 draw.

The new VAR review system cost us a goal; led to a penalty shot (heroically saved by Alex Bono); and was oddly not used - and I say this with complete bias - when it should have been on Bastien Schweinsteiger's 69th minute goal to narrow TFC's lead.

The tired legs kicked in during a wild finish when Chicago tied it up deep into injury time to send the fans home believing (rightly) their team deserved better.

I had to nudge Daniel a few times during the action to keep him focused on the game however, busy as he was making prop bets on his phone. He made $600 on one bet in fact, though he lost half of that on a couple of later wagers as the game wore on.

The very awesome Shannon and Jen

He bought my beer at the bar (no way I'm drinking the overpriced macro swill at BMO) and bought us snacks, so no complaints here.

But enough about the soccer game: I had a brewery opening to get to, so as soon as the match ended we joined the crowd - most of the 26,000 in attendance took the GO so it's always a bit of a madhouse - and headed for the eastbound train and home.

I had arranged to meet up with my friends Jen and Shannon - the Tiny Perfect Bank Teller Shannon; not the Not Quite as Tiny but Just as Perfect Shannon I mentioned earlier - at 8, so I had time to wash up and pop in to Buster Rhino's for a half-pint before heading out to Bowmanville and Chronicle Brewing.

Housed in an industrial park on the east side of town (right off the highway), Chronicle is employing a 4.7 hectolitre nanobrewing system, with plans to expand later in the year.

The tap room is cozy (and in need of a little colour that will arrive as the team gets settled in over the next few months) and sidled up to the bar to meet brewery owner Ted and grab a pint of Jim's Mind Flay IPA (naturally) while I waited for Jen and Shannon to arrive.

Three of the five beers on hand for Chronicle
Brewing's grand opening

So very West Coast, this beer. With all the NEIPAs (which I love) saturating the IPA market these days, it's nice to see an old school IPA that is bracingly bitter with loads of pine, ripe citrus and caramel malts to assault the taste buds.

Which is pretty much what Jim said when he wandered in a few minutes after I arrived and greeted me with a flawlessly executed Bro Hug.

"You gotta brew the classics when you start a brewery," he explained.

And then the soon-to-be-father was off to dinner (he had been there all day) and I was left to savour my beer and wait for my friends, who arrived shortly after Jim left.

Shannon and Jen took the smart route by ordering samples of all five beers brewed for the big day. In addition to Mind Flay, there was an Idaho 7 Dry Hopped Kettle Sour (which I had already enjoyed at Buster Rhino's a couple of days before), Heros Handbag English Mild; Robust Milk Porter; and Amber Wheat Ale.

I tried a sample of the Heros Handbag (really learning to appreciate this simple style), toasted my friends on their fine choices in life and (eventually) headed for home, though not before grabbing as many Mind Flays as I could carry and one of everything else.

I get the feeling Jim, Ted and the rest of the Chronicle team will have no problem finding their place in Durham Region's growing craft brewing scene.

Glad to have ya back Jim.

Cheers!