Halifax!

Hello from Atlantic Canada! I made it to the other coast!

Now, I know I was supposed to get all the way to Saint John's but in case you don't know (like I didn't) it's a serious (and expensive) bitch to get up there if you don't have a car.... so I decided that getting as far as Halifax is good enough for me! Newfoundland will have to wait for another trip.... which means there HAS to be another trip!

The microbrewery I hit up was Garrison, which opened up in 1996 and is located right by the famous Pier 21. I chatted with Sam the bartender, whose zombie apocalypse beer pick (Belgian IPA) was not available for tasting, so I had some of their Unfiltered Imperial IPA instead. Tasty!

                                                         Glorious!!!

Next up, I went to the Heart and Thistle brewpub, which is all the rage in Halifax, to sample their Catholic School Girl IPA:

It's an IPA infused with orange and ginger... and man, you get that ginger! It's a bit more of a savoury beer in my mind and the ginger sends a nice warm jolt from the back of the throat to the cockles of the heart. That being said, the orange offers a refreshing quality to the beer.... I wouldn't sit and drink it on the patio when it's +30C, but I can see it as a nice patio in the fall beer.


First night in Halifax I went out with some cool people I met at my hostel and we went down to the Lower Deck Pub (the place to be on Sunday nights, dontchaknow?). The Keith's is poured freely and large dudes circle the crowded, long picnic tables with mugs of it ready for the drinking! By the time the band started the place was completely full and you find yourself singing and clinking glasses with those around you..... it was exactly how I imagined the east coast to be!

And of course I went on the Alexander Keith's tour.... There is nothing really said about the modern making of the beer but the tour is kinda like going to Fort Edmonton Park or the Ukrainian Village: people dress up and sing and give you some beer. It's worth the $18 ticket. If you go to Halifax do the tour. You'll have fun!

So, there you have it! The Great Canadian Beer Adventure 2011! Hope whoever the hell actually reads this thing had fun following along!

Les Belles Bieres du Montreal

Montreal is a city full of delicious food, sexy people, and all the beer in the world. It's an amazing place and I spent five days there taking in all of the above!

First of the two famous Montreal brewpubs which are a must for the beer lover is Brutopia:

I tried two beers there: Jeanette the waitress' zombie apocalypse pick IPA and her summer recommendation, a Cherry Wheat Ale.

The IPA was pretty good, but not zombie apocalypse material. It pours a nice amber colour and has a good head on its shoulders (haha!). You get a nice citrusy hops on the nose but I found the taste quite metallic.... Meh at best.

Now, the Cherry Wheat Ale.... that's the ticket. In case you don't know, it's hot as hell in the summer in Montreal. All humid and sexy and whatnot. So, you need a nice easy drinking and refreshing wheat ale to make the days bareable. This is that beer!

You get the cherry smell right from the beginning and as you can see, it pours a nice hazy orange/goldish colour. Its got a great cherry tartness to it but still finishes just a little sweet... So well balanced, so drinkable, soooooo gooooood!

Next stop was the go-to brewpub of Montreal and the reason for my visit: Dieu Du Ciel!

I met up there with a friend from high school, Zach, and together we hammered a few down.. I'm just too excited!

First one I tried was a cask conditioned American IPA. To be clear, cask conditioned means it's served out of the vessel it fermented it, like back in the olden days. No forced carbonation or filtration here. No sir! What does that result in? Real Ale.... and that's something that's not so easy to find at the local pub.

But, back to the beer

Look at that head! And it lasted the whole way through... I was sipping it for over half an hour and yes... still a nice foamy top! Know what that means? Protein! It's so good for you it's not even funny.

It's hard to tell from this dark picture but the beer is a hazy dark amber colour and has barely a hint of carbonation. It's served at about 4 degrees so you get all that good flavour. Hops are there from the word go and  they offer a floral/grapefruity taste. The mouth feel is really something.... it feels like your mouth is puckering in the sofest way possible.... I know that sounds ridiculous, but so is this beer!

Next I tried some of Zach's Imperial Stout au Cafe... how regal.

This bad boy is strong at 9.5% and it's very very dense and savoury, so they only offer it in half pint servings. Not a bad idea. It's got an extremely creamy mouth feel and tastes like a chocolate laced coffee orgasm. Yes, that's how I want to describe it. You want it, don't you?

Finally, I tried an English Mild Ale (4.2%). I tried this instead of our waitress' zombie apocalypse suggestion. I just wasn't in the mood for a Belgian Blonde that night....

This is a good session beer. Nice amber ale: fairly light on hops with a very smooth finish... It's the kind of beer you sit and sip while seriously discussing zombie apocalypse survival strategies. Or it's a nice beer to sip and take in the amazing atmosphere. Dieu Du Ciel a small spot with wooden chairs and tables haphazardly strewn about and full of people loudly chatting in english, french, and wacky combinations of the two.... Perhaps it's heaven?

In conclusion, this place is awesome! Go there! Now! Also, the beer list is ridiculous, so plan on spending a few hours (or days) glued to your chair.

Next up, Halifax! Canada's ocean playground.... or something.

Old Toronto Beer Tour

Throughout my entire cross country adventure, I've kind of just showed up at breweries and demanded they wet my whistle! In Toronto, however, I actually went on an organized beer tour..... It was seven hours long and it was awesome!
It's called the Old Toronto Beer Tour beerloverstour.com and it's hosted by Oliver Dawson, a former employee of Upper Canada Brewing Co as well as actor and opera singer. After Sleeman's took the company over in 1998, however, he left and started doing beer tours, first in Europe and then in Toronto. And we should all be very thankful for that!

The group of beer lovers meet up at Steam Whistle Brewing bright and early at 11am for lunch and for the only actual brewery tour. It's awesome because you get to have tasty sandwiches and drink beer with other people who also love beer.... and most likely sandwiches.

As far as Steam Whistle Pilsner goes..... it's o.k. It's a triple filtered Czech style pilsner, which is refreshing and delicious on a hot day when all you want is some delicious fizzy lager that tastes like a nice pilsner. It's got a distinct yet very smooth  noble hops character, which doesn't linger... so you are chungging it down before you know it! Good party beer in my opinion.

Also, fun fact! On each bottle of Steam Whislte there is the inscription 3fg, which stands for 3 fired guys. That was supposedly the original name for the brewery when it started in 1998 because the three guys that started the brewery were fired from Upper Canada Brewing Co. after it was bought out by Sleeman's.... how bout that!?

At about one o'clock, if I remember correctly, we board a yellow school bus and head on to the next brewery, Amsterdam Brewery. Before that, however, we are taken to the Canada Malting Silos, which is a Toronto Heritage site, and given a brief history of the immigrants who came to Toronto and recreated the beer cultures from their homelands.

Back to the beer at Amsterdam: that's where the real tastings start to happen and when the writing in my notebook starts to get a little harder to read.....

At Amsterdam we tasted a lot of different beers (lagers, IPA's, etc) but the most interesting was the Raspberry Wheat Ale. It's interesting because it sort of tastes like a sour lambic type beer (that's a blended Belgian style that's fermented with wild yeast). They use real raspberries in the recipe, not syrup, so you get a real raspberry smack on the nose and the it continues to punch you in the throat with tarty tarty goodness!

Once back on the bus we were given another sandwich, and yeah, you want it!

After that we were taken to the Cork Town district of Toronto to look at the outside of the historic Dominion Brewery as well as take a tour around the neighbourhood (many brewery workers back in the day would have lived in the area). And of course, after this little walk we're treated to another sample of beer at the Dominion on Queen bar.

The tour finishes up at Mill St. Brewery (unless you pay extra for the beer dinner at Granite Brewery), where of course a few more samples are to be had.....

Thank goodness I had my friend Mike to pick me up! So much beer! (insert Homer Simpson drool noise)

Next up: La Belle Province! Montreal, Quebec....

Oh Ottawa!!

As you can see, I am not dead.... I just haven't been updating due to having lots of fun and going on trips to Niagra Falls and sweaty sweaty gay bars..... I have arrived safely in Montreal, however, and since its freaking hot outside right now, I've decided to update in the comfort of central AC.. ah!!!

I hit Ottawa to visit Beau's Brewery but we got sidetracked by visits to the Parliament and a super scary ghost tour of the Ottawa jail. So, instead of going to the brewery itself, my friend Mike, his super upbeat friend Natalie, and myself picked up some Beau's Organic Lagered Ale and reviewed it on our own:

This is a largered ale, which means it uses ale yeast but it ferments at the cooler lager temperature and it ferments longer than an ale yeast would. This results in a crisper, lager-like ale that still has some of the spiciness/fruitiness that an ale tends to deliver.

In my opinion it's a little hops heavy and it leaves a long lasting bitter aftertaste. It's not bad but I find it a little off balance.

Mike commented that it left his mouth feeling soft and Natalie enjoyed that light carbonation that the beer offered.

In the end, we all liked Beau's Organic Lagered Ale, but none of us are prepared to pick it as the last beer we drink before our brains are eaten by zombies..... I give it 2 Stephen Harper love handles out of 5.

Next up: The Old Toronto Beer Tour

Winnipeg's Half Pints Brewery

O.k, so I didn't have the greatest time in Winnipeg this last week; my back acted up and I was hurting quite a bit while in town. I pushed through the pain enough, however, to make it out to the Half Pints Brewery (the only craft brewery in Winnipeg) to sample some of their beers and take an extensive and informative tour.

David Rudge, the brewmaster, is a self proclaimed brewing addict (as in addicted to brewing beer, not drinking it) and every Saturday he hosts the nearly hour and a half tour of the working brewery. Most brewery tours I've been on have lasted about twenty minutes; so, if you really want to hear and see the whole process from beginning to end, this is the beer tour for you!

As mentioned before, my back was not feeling great the day I saw Half Pints, and as such, I didn't take any extensive notes and now I can't remember anything in particular about what I tasted (good thing this isn't my real job ;-))

So, instead I will leave you with a few pictures from the brewery and the knowledge that it is available in Edmonton at the ever impressive Sherbrooke Liquor Store.

My next stops are Toronto and Ottawa..... I will write something down this time.

Oh Regina, Yo Mamma done got me drunk....

Good day to all you faithful followers of the blog and welcome to friendly friendly Regina.... Now, the microbrewery scene is a little scarce here in Saskatchewan (not counting Paddock Wood and Great Western Brewing Co. in Saskatoon), however, Saskatchewan is home to the most microbrew pubs per capita in the country! The most famous brewpub in Regina is Bushwakkers but I didn't end up going there; rather, I got my microbrew pub fix at a small place called Slow Pub....

This place is great! Friendly staff and good beer brewed by cool people! I sampled their Yo Mamma Pilsner.... a lot. Oops! Luckily, I wrote legibly enough in my notebook that I can share my thoughts with y'all!

This tasty elixer pours a golden yellow and has only a slight hops on the nose. You get a bitter hops (of the noble Hallertau variety) bite at the beginning which mellows out quickly and finishes clean and refreshing. There's also a nice grapefruity quality to it, which I always dig. Like I mentioned before, this beer is VERY DRINKABLE, I had more than a few, which led to my decision to hold off on the beer for the rest of my time in the city.... I'm not trying to get fat here! Besides, missing Bushwakkers gives me a reason to come back to Regina, which is really lovely.... I even wrote down I LOVE REGINA!!! in my notebook while sampling this brew, so it must be true. Oh me!

Here's a picture of J.D, the brewmaster and chef at Slow Pub. A very nice, knowlegeable, and passionate guy....

I will leave you all with a look at some of the labels they use for the off sales of their brews.... I'm a fan! And I think most of you will be too!

Next up, Half Pints of Winnipeg!

Home for a rest..... of sorts.

On my epic bus/beer journey to the great expanses of the East I stopped in Edmonton for some hugs, a proper shower, and to do laundry. It was a grand old time!

Edmonton is home to three microbreweries: Alley Kat, Ambers, and Yellowhead. While home I had some delicious Aprikat Wheat Ale from Alley Kat. It's their original beer and it does not disappoint! It's a filtered wheat ale so it pours out a nice clean straw yellow, you get the apricot right away in the nose, and the apricot is very very present in the flavour. It's crisp and refreshing and you get a good tang, not a sickly sweetness. Finishes smooth.... great for the patio!

Ani Difranco enjoyed an Aprikat while playing at the Edmonton Utopia Festival over the weekend.... she called it tangy.... And I agree.

Also, while back in E-Town, my sister Danielle and I tried Ambers Lunch Pail Ale

This bad boy pours a golden amber type of colour and you get a hint of banana on the nose. There are four kinds of hops used and you get a nice light bitter bite that finishes off mellow and smooth. Easy to drink.

Danielle deems is worthy for her lunch pail

Finally, the siblings and I tried what is probably the strongest beer ever bottled in Canada. It's an offering from Alley Kat made specially for Sherbrooke Liquor Store, which has over 900 beers in the fridge! GO TO THERE!!!! sherbrookeliquor.com

It's called Glenda Sherbrooke and it's a Barley Wine aged in oak barrels from Glenora Distillery in Nova Scotia.

This strong (18.5%) libation pours an orangy/amber colour and has a bit of a floralish citrus on the nose as well as a hint of sourness. You get oak flavour right away as well as a warming feeling from the alcohol. You don't get a lot of alcohol in the taste, rather you get a strong sweetness that is rounded out well in the end..... I do suggest sharing a bottle with someone or taking your time with it if you're drinking it on your own.

Next up: Regina!

Greetings from the West..... the far West

Well, I've made it to the Pacific! Coast number one of the cross-Canada journey has been reached.... now to head for the Atlantic.... but first, BEER!!!

I hit the Tofino Brewing Company, which opened in April, and tried their two beers: Tuff Session Ale and Hoppin Cretin IPA. The IPA is pretty standard for the style: good bitter grapefruity flavour at the beginning that gives way to a smooth finish. The brewery's other offering, which I was able to sample at one of the local bars, is a super drinkable pale ale. When you're in Tofino give 'em both a try for sure because you're not going to find it anywhere else for a while.... Tofino Brewing Company is still without a bottling line... They do, however, get a special thumbs up for using hydroelectic power and a water recovery system that saves 1200 L per batch brewed. Right on!

And here's a pic I took of some cool people a met from Montreal who I enjoyed a few pints of Tuff Session with... Evan, Stephanie, and Sarah all give it a thumbs up.... or the general equivalent of a thumbs up. I wouldn't personally choose either of Tofino's beers as a zombie apocalypse pick... but I'll take it over a surfboard to the face. So I will rate both brews from Tofino Brewing Company 6 embarrassing surfing wipeouts out of 10. Pretty good.

I will, however, give 10 out of 10 embarrassing surfing wipeouts for the view!

Lisa's stamp of approval!

Brewtoria Part II

Well, as promised, here is the rest of my beer quest through the lovely city of Victoria.... I hit the two spots which people were really turning me onto: Spinnakers and Phillips.

First, Spinnakers!
I walked into this beautiful brewpub at 11am and was greeted by some friendly and very knowledgeable staff who offered me several samples of their fine fermented heaven nectar....

I tried their IPA, their Blue Bridge (double IPA), their Extra Special Bitter, their Hefeweizen, and their Tsarist Stout.... The IPA, Blue Bridge, and Hefeweizen are all served at 4 degrees celcius, which mean you can actually taste everything in the beer... and man do you want to! My zombie apocalypse pick is the Blue Bridge; it pours a pale yellow and has some serious citrus on the nose, not really floral at all. Also, the aftertaste is not a lingering one so you're dipping in for more just as soon as you come up for air..... I rate this DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS at 8.2%!!! YOU BETTER WATCH YOURSELF!!! This was also, consequently, the zombie apocalypse choice of bartenders Marc and (Ryan? I think was his name). Compared to the IPA, the Blue Bridge wins out for me because its more complex in flavour. With the IPA you get a lot of hops at the beginning and then a long lingering aftertaste. It's still really good.... but the Blue Bridge is better!

For waitress, Morgan, the zombie apocalypse beer is the Extra Special Bitter, which is poured at 10 degrees celcius.... It's not my choice but it is a fine beer. You got a nice bitter bite at the beginning and then the malt comes to play and you can a sweet kiss at the end.... not bad for a pint of beer! Good for a cool evening sippin', perhaps after an evening of dogsledding....

Final comment on Spinnakers: GO TO THERE!!!!

O.k, so after my pre-noon fun at the brewpub, I hit Phillips, which was a ton of fun! It opened in 2001 and was created by Matt Phillips, a former brewmaster at Spinnakers. He got his brewery off the ground by maxing out all the credit cards he could get a hold of because he couldn't get a loan from the bank... and now he owns one of the coolest breweries on the island! Awesome!

The tour was a ton of fun! Beer is pouring right from the beginning and comes with you as you take a peak at where the magic happens! I recommend the tour for sure! These people are passionate about beer and it shows... it really does.

I tried many a beer at Phillips but the one that stood out for sure was their Longboat Chocolate Porter. It's unlike anything I've tried before... tastes like chocolate milk! It's really interesting for a porter... not smokey or roasty at all..... just chocolately goodness! It's sweet but not sickly sweet, although I think this is a one pint every once in a while kinda beer... you don't want too many of them... then the sweetness will get you..... get you good!

I didn't make a zombie apocalypse pick for Phillips, but Bill's was the Cascadian Brown Ale, which wasn't available for tasting so I'll just take his word for it!

O.k, next up I'll be in Tofino.... see you at the edge of the western world!