Winter Craft Beer Fest: Baby, it's cold outside

Scotty and Saga raise a cheer at the frostiest event of the
year: The Winter Craft Beer Festival at Steam Whistle...

The Roundhouse Winter Craft Beer Festival at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto is one of the few beer festivals in the world where EVERY beer has the potential to become an ice beer...

Stouts, porters, IPAs, lagers... it doesn't matter. You leave that in your mug for more than 15 minutes and you're swilling down ice chips. I can't remember what the temperature was - something like -15C or -20C but you're right by Lake Ontario and when that wind comes in off the lake, *bam* it's feels like -30C. (To my American readers, that's about -22F... or North Dakota...)

And given the temperature, even a dedicated IPA hophead such as myself went mostly to the belly-warming porters and stouts, many of the high-octane variety.

Batman T-Shirt, flannel and a train station
named after me. Yes sir, I came to party...

Fortunately, they were in no short supply as the Roundhouse Winter Craft Festival had even more participating craft breweries than the summer one. All in all, the event attracted the likes of Black Oak Brewing, Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, Great Lakes Brewery, King Brewery, Left Field Brewery, Mill Street Brewery, F & M Brewery, Wellington Brewery, Niagara College Teaching Brewery, Beau's All Natural Brewing, Neustadt Springs Brewery, Amsterdam Brewery, Grand Rivers Brewing, Lake of Bays Brewing, Sawdust City Brewing, Railway City Brewing, Silversmith Brewing and of course, the hosts themselves, Steam Whistle.

As well as the hundreds of other happy beer lovers, who bought $20 tickets in advance and made it a sold-out event a full 10 days before the gates opened on January 25, my co-workers Saga and Scotty, boss Allison and I all bundled up and made the trek into the Big Smoke for the event, mostly thanks to our Steam Whistle rep who wrangled us some passes when we discovered it was sold out. Only in Canada would an event that charges you to stand outside in the frigid elements to drink ice-cold beer be sold-right-out. We are a culture of a different sort - that much is certain.

Allison and a very brave Wild Bill Hickok-
looking dude who we dubbed Neil Young
because of the frills hanging off his leather
jacket. That's very Neil, circa 1973 or so...

Because I had my little notepad with me, not to mention my outback drinking hat and casual not-winter-resistant attire, the boys instantly dubbed me Hunter S. Thompson. (They were joking but to a former ink-stained journalist, that's actually high praise...) But due to the elements, something happened to me that never would have happened to Hunter S. My pen froze.

Fortunately, I brought a second pen. Which also froze. So while I did record a fair few beers, some of this will involve invoking my memory which was, I'll admit, a little sketchy towards the end.

Since my compadres arrived an hour before me, I was asked which booth I wanted to start with and before I could answer, Saga noted succinctly, "Wait, it's Donny. Flying Monkeys is over there - let's go..." (It's like he gets me...) And I first cracked my tastebuds with their Green Man Imperial Lager. Okay, this ain't your grand-daddy's lager - this bad boy is 8.8% and a mind-staggering 70 IBUs (international bitterness units), numbers more associated with super-hoppy IPAs rather than a lager. The aroma was malty and freezing cold but the taste had that grapefruit hoppiness that I love and have never associated with any lager ever. And from there, we roamed...

Next up for me was an Amsterdam Space Invaders IPA, a brew that I think the guy said they cooked up specially for the Fest. It was a solid offering, probably about 70 IBU and in the 6-7% zone (the guy wasn't sure), a citrus and damn chilly aroma with a fruit finish but from what I heard in the line-up, the biggest request was their renowned Boneshaker IPA, which they didn't bring. Fortunately, they had a  fairly suitable substitute with Space Invaders.

First on deck? Flying Monkeys' Green
Man Imperial Amber Lager - 8.8%
brew that packs a helluva hoppy punch.

And while I came back to Flying Monkeys mid-afternoon for one Smashbomb Atomic IPA, the rest of the day was mostly porters and stouts. Why? Because those are truly winter beers. But just before I did, I bellied up to the Neustadt Springs booth and got an Ever Ard, their nut brown ale. This low-alcohol offering - just 3.4% - is a dandy sessionable with its nutty, Polar Vortex aroma and lightly roasted malt finish. At that point, we stopped to get some pulled-pork poutine from the food truck and then scooted inside the brewery to warm up a little. For the record - and I knew this was gonna happen - Steam Whistle made out like a bandit on this frigid day as hundreds flocked inside to their bar to warm their toes and drink liberally from the bar. Hey, to the hosts go the spoils, baby! Good on 'em...

Saga and I popped back outside and my next choice was set: Sawdust City Brewing had taken their 8.5% Long Dark Voyage to Uranus Stout and infused it with raspberry for the event (and hopefully even a longer haul... fingers crossed. Let's let them finish setting up their new brewery in Bracebridge before flooding them with demands). To differentiate between the two, they tacked the word "Bloody" onto the beginning. You know what I like about stouts? A craft brewery can add more fruits, more chocolate, more nuttiness, more coffee, more anything, really, to a stout... and they just keep tasting great. Different, yes... but also great.

One of two firepits set up at the Winter Fest with many
propane heaters scattered over the grounds to help...

And that's precisely what happened here. They went super-heavy on the fruit, making its nose strong raspberry and Arctic sub-zero and its taste, chocolate covered raspberries. Both Saga and I loved it.

Saw the Lake of Bays booth and had to get a Mocha Porter to up my porter quotient for the day and just like the last time, this tasty beverage had that nice mocha and colder-than-your-mother-in-law's-heart aroma with its lightly chocolate and coffee finish. That's a nice porter, boys

But to me, the real winner of the day was F & M's StoneHammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout. Reason #1 was simply this: they were near the entrance and I don't think many people saw them. So I just kept walking up and getting more and more because, hey, no line-up. I really kept their server dude in sample chips that afternoon. And Reason #2: outstanding stout. Some lovely chocolate, vanilla, coffee and freeze-the-balls-off-a-brass-monkey frigid to the nose and lightly sweet oatmeal and toasted grains to the finish of this 5.5% winter seasonal.

The beauty of asking pretty ladies to be in a photo?
No need to ask them to strike a pose. They just do...

Interesting sidenote: my friends at King Brewery (best German style beers in the Province) saw a lot of customers not just for their beers but also because they had a spigot of warm Thornbury cider on hand. I learned something about myself. While Allison, Saga and Scotty all lined up for some warming spirits, I learned that even in the dead of winter, I will not drink cider. Nothing wrong with it - just not my kettle of fish. Though I suspect if there was a Toronto Cider Fest, I would steer a wide berth away from it. Fortunately, King was next to F & M Brewery's booth... so I wasn't lonely. Me and StoneHammer server guy happily chatted away while he kept refilling my mug. And for the record, while not a single brewer there brought an ice beer, many were consumed, regardless...

While Saga disappeared into the afternoon at about 3:30, ("I couldn't feel my toes!"), the rest of us lasted another hour before packing it in for, well, pretty much the same reason. Yeah, it got cold but I tell you, if they held another in the dead of February, I'd be right back there. Hats off (and balaclavas and parkas on) to all the participating breweries. Outstanding job.

And what would Winter Craft Beer Fest be without snow? It had to happen.

Okay, next up, some session IPAs (meaning low alcohol) for the IPA beginner! Why the Brewery Ommegang Hennepin Saison has me looking towards Spring! How was the Amsterdam Autumn Hop Harvest Ale? And much warmer things...

Shout outs: first up is Stevil St Evil and his look at why he waited until January 22 for his year-end blog on this link called: Because I'm A Procrastinator And of course, even though she injured her ankle on ice recently, my friend KC still makes the tough choice between acting brothers Chris and Liam Hemsworth in this offering called: Can't I Have Both?

Okay, gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here!!! As always, until next we meet, I remain...

If I stop drinking stouts, does Winter stop too?

Ommegang Brewery's Take The Black Stout: the second
in their Game of Thrones line. I eagerly await their next
offering: Kill That Little Shit King Joffrey Blonde Lager

Someone recently told me, "Man, your life is like one long beer commercial..."

Not at all really. In beer commercials, ridiculously beautiful people drink regular commercial fare brews. Nothing wrong with that - I did that for years. But in my world, things are a little different. Those dudes in the commercials with the six-pack abs? Yeah, those gym-rats are fools because their rock-hard abs are exposed and unprotected. You see, I have wicked six-pack abs, too... but I wisely keep mine safely protected underneath an extra-thick coating of special beer "muscle" that I got from a copious amount of six packs of a different sort. Do I even lift? Hey, bub, I do some wicked glass-to-mouth curls that you won't see in your Fancy Dan gyms (but can observe readily at the bar next door). Those happy fun-loving girls in bikinis drinking that beer? Yeah, instead of them playing beach volleyball in my living room, I have a Persian cat that was given to me recently who leaves bloody cat hair everywhere. I really like her (she purrs a lot) but she's a sad substitute to those commercial bikini girls. But honest to gawd, if a member of the Bikini Squad showed up at Donny's Bar and Grill, I'd be more inclined to hand her a vacuum and say, "See if you have more luck than me getting this damn cat hair off the couch." But the biggest difference of all: in those commercials, you'll never actually see someone drink a beer. In a nutshell, that's pretty much the polar opposite of my life.

Lake of Bays Old North Mocha Porter
on a severe angle. I better rescue it from
tipping over and leaving a mess here...

And speaking of polar, through this nasty season that many in the know are calling a Polar Vortex (Ahhhh, that's adorable. I remember way back last year when we called it what it was - WINTER IN CANADA!), I have been padding my protective layer of "muscle" with countless stouts and porters, almost all of which are well over 200 calories per serving, high alcohol, damn tasty and heavier than Honey Boo Boo's momma. One of my most recent was Brewery Ommegang's Game Of Thrones Take The Black Stout, the second offering the Cooperstown, New York craft brewery has released honouring the HBO hit TV show.

Was it good? Is Jon Snow the bastard son of King Eddard???? Much to my surprise, I didn't get hints of chocolate from the aroma coming off the deep brown head. I got coffee and either figs or raisins (not sure which). A touch of chocolate to the taste but also dark fruit... I'm thinking black cherry. It comes in a 750ml bottle with a cork and wire cage and while I don't like the word 'hero', I used my bare hands to savagely rip off that cage, uncork that bottle and free that 8%, 210 calorie beer from its captivity. Put THAT in your next book, George LL Martin! Also please don't kill me off. Especially the way the Stark family bought it at a not-so-friendly wedding.

Want heaps and heaps of chocolate with your beer? Well,
Flying Monkey's The Chocolate Manifesto Chocolate Milk
Stout at your service. Maybe the best dessert beer ever.

Next on deck was Lake of Bays Old North Mocha Porter. Want to know the difference between a porter and a stout? Drink them one after the other like I did... and again remember, I don't like the word 'hero'. I do this for you. I simply reap the benefits of the research. Even though I used to lump the two styles together pretty much as one, porters are lighter in hue, taste and weight. If stouts are Winter beers, porters are late-Autumn beers. Some porters, especially one that pours with a pure white head like this, might even somewhat closer akin to dark lagers, according to my taste buds and alcohol content as this measures in at 5.2%. That said, long-time listener, first-time caller... big fan of the Porter Show. The Mocha Porter's nose is coffee and more coffee followed by a - surprise - strong mocha taste with some nods to dark fruits. Didn't knock me on my well-padded ass (again, rock-solid muscle with softer protective beer muscle casing) but indeed a very solid beer. But as you'll see, it has the misfortune of being surrounded by two exceptional stouts so some tough competition for ANY porter on this day.

Straight from San Diego, Green Flash Brewing's
West Coast IPA. Definitely in the top grouping!

And finally, I think I may have stumbled across the world's most perfect dessert beer - Flying Monkeys' The Chocolate Manifesto Triple Chocolate Milk Stout. Okay, this 10% cocoa bomb is outstanding. People, (ladies especially), it smells exactly like chocolate cake. I'm not joking. The notion is to either complement or contrast your food with appropriate beers - my personal belief has always been complement is better. That said, while I wasn't eating dessert when I had this (technically, it was my dessert), I could certainly imagine doing exactly that. The taste, again, heavy on the chocolate but you know those cherry-and-brandy-in-chocolate treats you get at Christmas? There was a wee hint of that, too. Good lord, this beer was delicious. Its high alcohol makes it a sharing beer (I didn't because the cat didn't want any - also, she didn't ask) but I can't imagine anything more worth sharing at the dessert table. I imagine like many specialty stouts, this is likely seasonal so snag one if you see it and tuck it away at the back of the fridge for when guests come over. A hidden treasure. I'm having another right now... so was delicious and is delicious again. Again, ladies and germs, this actually tastes like chocolate cake. It rocks! It's amazing what craft brewers can do with a stout. This stands next to Nickel Brook's bourbon-infused Old Kentucky Bastard for being at the head of the class. I am praying this is not a one-off mostly because I promised my co-worker, Marie, I would find one for her. Don't make a liar outta me, Flying Monkeys... And you know what? Screw dessert. I could drink this anytime. And plan on doing exactly that.

Part of their Tank Ten project, Great Lake's Lake Effects IPA
was very well-received at Donny's Bar and Grill. Sadly, it's
gone into hiding deep in the murky depths. Will it rise again?

Anyone who's read this blog for a while knows that when it came to IPAs, for a very long stretch, I had The Holy Trinity - Muskoka's Twice As Mad Tom IPA, Flying Monkeys' Smashbomb Atomic IPA and Founder's (Grand Rapids, Michigan) Centennial IPA.

Eventually, Surrey, BC's Red Racer IPA pedalled its way over here and the group became the Fab Four.

Then a couple of months back, Newport, Oregon's Rogue Brutal IPA stomped through town, trashing all in its path... and suddenly, it was the Fearsome Fivesome. All slightly different but equally strong in character. All top-ranking between 97 and 99 on RateBeer. All cherished and much-beloved (if not short-lived) guests at Donny's Bar and Grill.

So this laconic surfer dude named Green Flash Brewing's West Coast IPA floats way inland from San Diego, looks around at the other bad boys in their torn jeans and tattered shirts and says simply, "Zup, bros? I'm packin' 7.3% and 95 IBUs (international bitterness units). What's your game?" And thus, as it was written in the Ancient And Sacred Transcripts, the Fearsome Fivesome became the Sexy Sextet.

This Black Oak 10 Bitter Years IPA might also be a
limited edition, as well. If you see one, grab it quickly...

With the aid of four distinct hops - Simcoe (grapefruit), Columbus (pungent), Centennial (pine/citrus) and Cascade (floral) - you get all of that in the aroma... and the taste. A four-pack of this costs roughly what a six-pack of the others do (except Twice As Mad Tom, also a four-pack at the same price and Brutal IPA in the 650-ml bottle) and is well worth every penny. Except we don't have pennies anymore in Canada... so worth every nickle. It notched 99 on RateBeer but also was the only one that snagged a perfect 100 on style points, meaning as true to IPA form as it can possibly get. I used to think the best things about San Diego (my favourite American city) were the beautiful Spanish architecture, the super-friendly (and staggeringly attractive) people and a pretty kick-ass zoo. Well, West Coast IPA now holds spots 1 through 5... so you all shifted down a little. Sorry. Life happens. Changes occur. Deal...

The first beer I try at the Winter Craft Beer
Festival tomorrow? Ohh, probably this???
Sawdust City's awesome stout but infused
with raspberries? Plus I'll need the 9.7%...

Okay, two more very quickly here, if I can... (Oh wait, my blog... of course I can.) I wish I had told you all about Great Lakes Brewery's Lake Effects IPA sooner. Turns out, as part of their Tank Ten project, it was limited and I didn't know. It's gone now. (Not my fault... every time, I learn something new about a beer, it pushes something old out of my brain. I had to get my son to tie my shoes the other day. And show me how to use a door.) This 7%, 80 IBU brew was dynamite. The nose was grapefruit and pine, the taste was citrus and... I think peach (that's a first) and my gawd, it was tasty. And now it's gone. And I feel badly for not telling you sooner. So badly that I...

Okay then, moving along quickly (because I don't dwell), there's also Black Oak Brewing's 10 Bitter Years IPA on the table. Black Oak is famous for using reverse osmosis water for their beer (please don't ask me what that means - my kid had to tie my damn shoes so for sure, Grade 10 Chemistry is pretty much gone), this former-Oakville, now-Etobicoke brewery has created this 8%, 83 IBU beer that IPA lovers will jump on. (Note to self: get the boy to show me - again - what the jumping motion looks like.)

How many of my beers will look like this tomorrow? Answer:
none! I drink way too fast for this travesty to happen to me!

This 10th anniversary beer (not sure about the "bitter" part - hope it wasn't something I said...) is a beauty. Strong pine and orange on the nose, it has a really nice grapefruit and super-light caramel taste. Snagged a nifty 99 on RateBeer. BUT - I repeat but - I have no idea if this is a special edition. It may well be since it's commemorating the brewery's 10th anniversary. You see it, you grab it. Don't worry. My son will tie your shoes. For a price.

Okay, folks, tomorrow I am off to the outdoor Winter Craft Beer Festival at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse with Beer Store co-workers. If you don't live in Canada or near Toronto, I will tell you this... baby, it's cold outside. With the wind-chill, it's gonna be about -25C - or -13F to my American friends.

Ouch! When the Dallas Stars kicked
Toronto Maple Leafs'  ass the other night,
they put this mockery on the scoreboard.
I hate when they use Miley Cyrus against us!

So like, drinking beer in a Minnesota barn in January. But half its wall are missing. Quite possibly like many barns in Minnesota. I have no idea... But there's a 1% chance Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will be there and wouldn't that be fun?

Oh, also on behalf of Canada, sorry about the whole Justin Bieber thing. He used to be a nice kid. We're not sure what happened there. Well, too young, too much money, not enough IPAs is probably it. Wait, is he even legal yet?

But if I survive this frigid outdoor Winter Craft Beer Festival (I believe stouts will keep me alive), I will write about it on either Sunday or Monday. As soon as my son explains to me again how the days of the week work. The silly, irrelevant things you forget, eh?

And finally... yeah, it has been one long beer commercial... with some exceptionally great beers and many more to come. Okay, folks, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

Cat and Don's Most Excellent Amsterdam Adventure

Cat looks up at one of the humongous vats
at the new Amsterdam Brewery in Leaside

For a brewery that won three golds, a silver and a bronze, not to mention Beer Of The Year for their Spring Bock at the 10th Annual Ontario Brewing Awards last Spring, you'd think I'd have no problem finding Amsterdam Brewery. I mean, their address is published on their website, I have Mapquest.com - should be an easy A-to-B fluid motion. So when my friend Cat asked if I needed directions for a tour we were taking on Saturday, I laughed that hardy, typically-male "I don't need no stinkin' directions" laugh.

And of course, I got lost. Seriously lost because Mapquest sent me off the Don Valley Parkway one exit too soon, making their subsequent directions useless. In fact, what the "one exit too soon" does do to your travels is send you further away from your destination. You know that super-panicky feeling that overwhelms you when you innately sense you're moving further away from beer, rather than towards it. You sense a "disturbance in the Force"? No? Just me? Okay, then... (Liars..) So this (heavy sigh) led to several phone calls to Cat, who laughed and laughed, stopped laughing briefly and then laughed and laughed some more... and eventually she got me turned in the right direction. Easy for her - the recently-opened brewery, nestled in the Leaside community of Toronto, is a five-minute drive for her. I was driving in from the suburban wilds of Burlington... with faulty directions and stubborn male stupidity as my navigators. I've always believed that beer lovers were born with a beer compass within.

Took me a while to find Amsterdam Brewery but when I did,
clearly I was in my happy place. Beer as far as the eye can see!

So after eating sufficient crow, (say three Hail Mary's and five 'I'm an idiot's, my son...), suffice it to say, we didn't make the 1 pm tour. Fortunately, the brewery holds them every hour on the hour on Saturday so we could simply wait until the 2 pm tour and well, if you're gonna be stuck somewhere with some time to kill, where better than a brewery? So we nestled up to the tasting bar and got a preview of what we were about to see in the brewing process.

Our guide, an amiable and outgoing fellow named Chris, walked a rapidly-growing collection of us through the brewery, explaining each step as we went along. I knew a good chunk of what he was explaining about the actual brewing process from my stint at Toronto's Beer Academy but I knew little beyond that. When it came to the bottling and canning process, as well as their volume and distribution, I knew nothing and drank it all in with rapt fascination. We learned Amsterdam, which will turn 30 in 2016, cranks out the equivalent of 300,000 cases of beer a year in bottles, cans and kegs. In Toronto, that puts it just behind only two other craft outlets: Mill Street Brewery and Steam Whistle Brewing. According to Chris, when they bought Peterborough's Kawartha Lakes Brewing 10 years ago, they not only continued their line, they brought the KLB brewmaster in to make it. He remains with the company to this day. (The award-winning KLB Raspberry Wheat has a huge following during the warmer months and for my money is the best fruit-flavoured beer out there. Muted sweetness and wheaty goodness.)

The Amsterdam-jammed  inside of Cat's beer fridge,
 which is conveniently located beside her Lazy-Boy
 chair in the living room. Ironically, my beer fridge is
 located, ahem, roughly 12 steps from my Lazy-Boy.

When it came time to belly up to the sample bar, we got to try all the beer we'd heard about, including the KLB Raspberry Wheat, as well as Boneshaker IPA and Natural Blonde, both of which I have heaped liberal praise on in previous blogs. Their 4.1% 416 Lager is unfiltered (much like Boneshaker) so there's a very light natural cloudiness to it with a grassy aroma and a very very light citrus hop to it. Great summer session beer. Their Wee Heavy Scotch Ale threw me with its very earthy aroma but this 6.2% brew has a nice malty finish - definitely a cold weather beer. The nicest surprise of the samplers was their Big Wheel Amber Ale. I'd had it a few years ago and just kind of forgot about it. This 5% offering is lightly hopped, just 19 IBUs (international bitterness units), relying more on its imported malts. Burnt malt gives it a crisp, clean taste. It's one of Cat's favourites as her beer fridge (right) will attest. But the one I wanted to get my hands on was their Fracture Imperial IPA, a 9%, 115 IBU hop bomb that they sold in their retail store.

Why? My buddy, Glenn, who recently made the foray into IPAs (not gonna say it was this blog that sent him down this path... *cough cough*... it totally was...) bought one and said all he could smell was pot. That's not surprising as Chris explained to us that numerous hops came from the same botanical family as marijuana.

Amsterdam's uber-cool ceramic swing top growlers

I could see where he was confused. Its aroma is pine, pine and more pine but yeah, if you think pot while you're smelling it, that certainly comes to mind. Granted, that just begs the question: why was Glenn thinking of dope? Citrus and tropical fruit dominate the taste, which is outstanding. It scored a couple of points higher than Boneshaker on RateBeer (95 vs 93) but Boneshaker had a huge edge on style point. So naturally, as well as the singles of Fracture, I also grabbed a case of Boneshaker IPA and singles of their Autumn Hop Harvest Ale and KLB Pale Ale. I'll let you know one night when I crack open a quiet beer... followed by 11 incredibly noisy ones. (They say you can't always get what you want. And yet, every time I want a beer, that theory goes down the crapper.)

My poor friend Kevin tried a Mad Tom IPA
for the first time and got Gus Fring-ed. 

Another buddy, Kevin, also emailed me a few days back to say he had dipped his toes into the IPA waters after years of drinking traditional Canadian fare. So what's his first IPA? Uhhhh, wow - Muskoka Brewery's Mad Tom IPA. One BIG step up from what he's used to. I was actually afraid for him. Hell, I was afraid for his entire family. So I emailed him back, asking, "Did it blow the top of your head off?"

His two-word answer: "Sort of..." But he attached a picture of Breaking Bad drug-lord Gus Fring (Kevin and I watched the entire series over the course of a month at virtually the same time) with his face, well, half blown off from the last episode in Season 4. Ummm, way too late spoiler alert? That's good old Gus on the right there. Crime doesn't pay. He should have opened a craft brewery. Regardless, the other night, Kevin continued his sojourn into craft beers and was thrilled with Flying Monkey's Hoptical Illusion Not Quite Pale Ale, which reminded him of an English Bitter. In fact, he drank the entire stock the restaurant had, which was only two, but still, we can all shout with pride, "Kevin drank them dry!!!"

Okay, a couple of corrections from my last blog... and I can't believe I've written this many without a single mea culpa to date. In my last blog, I said that Steam Whistle's unique green painted-label bottles were re-used 20 times, as opposed to 12-15 for the industry standard. The brewery was quick to correct me. It's actually a staggering 45 times, three times the industry standard!

Turns out that Black Oak Brewery has
been taking loving care of Lone Pine IPA

The next correction came from Aaron Spinney, the head brewer of Sawdust City Brewing in Bracebridge. I had said their Lone Pine IPA was brewed in the Brewmasters Course at Niagara College. Uhhhh, not quite. The college was cited as the source brewery by RateBeer, where I got the info and it turns out that's not quite the case. Here's Aaron's message...

"Loved the article. I'd just like to clear up one thing about our Sawdust City Brewery. We brew all our brands (Lone Pine included) at Black Oak Brewery in Etobicoke as our facility up North comes to a completion. In 2011, while I was in school and Sam Corbeil was teaching there, we did a few batches at Niagara College for testing. I've been personally brewing this since I started with Sawdust back in April. Prior to my arrival, Sam and the boys at Black Oak have been brewing our elixir.

Keep up the good work, wicked blog. And remember don't be shy to contact us for any information or questions you have for us. This industry is a very friendly and open and we love sharing... And drinking.

Enjoy the beer, keep on blogging!"

Wow, cool. Good on Black Oak... whose 10 Bitter Years Imperial IPA will be getting some serious praise here in the near future. And thank you, Aaron, for being so cool about my gaffe. (Note to self: buy more Lone Pine IPA... I really like the head brewer... he's good people.)

Hey, hey... look at what KC got me for Christmas!

Okay, last blog I promised to review the Lake Of  Bays Mocha Porter, Flying Monkeys The Chocolate Manifesto Chocolate Milk Stout, Brewery Ommegang's Game of Thrones' Take The Night Stout, as well as their Hennipen Farmhouse Saison. But a very cool brewery tour interrupted that. The good news? I've had three of the four so next time, okay? Quick question: are there ANY bad porters and stouts? Seriously. I know it's cold out but... geez, I am loving these winter beers. Gotta be the chocolate. No rush... we all know I'll pop a tasty brew or five and write a blog (or go on Facebook) when I have nothing better to do in a few days. Unfortunately, I also do that when I do have better things to do. Like cleaning Donny's Bar and Grill. The dust bunnies are starting to steal the beer. Thieving dust bastards.

Okay, shout-outs! First up, of course, is Cat who did the Amsterdam Brewery tour with me! You rock. That was a blast! Mill Street next. Next on deck is my friend, KC, who, like me took a wee break over the holidays. Well, folks, she's bad and she's back. Check out her very funny Confessional of a Former Fat girl at: I'm Back, Baby!

Two comedy troupes take a run at beer and they're both funny. First up is comedy group Nacho Punch, who run the piss out of craft beer geeks here at: Hipsters Love Craft Beer And well, I love craft beer so I'm not gonna let that funny video go unchallenged. So here's Random At Best taking a run at commercially popular brews: An Honest Beer Commercial. That one has some language so watch around young ears.

QUICK ADDITION: Cat reminded me to say that you can get 25-packs (yes, 25) of Big Wheel or Natural Blonde at the Amsterdam brewery for $32.95 plus deposit. Jump on that, people... not sure how long that's gonna last!!!

Okay, folks, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

1. 
   

Discovery Pack Challenge... accepted!!!!

According to one of our customers, you will need 12
of these to open one 12-pack of Steam Whistle Pilsner

HAPPY BREW YEAR!!!!

Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. The first day of 2014 saw me post a lazy-ass, year-end Best Of... blog, which was followed by me watching my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings in the outdoor Winter Classic in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And then the day ended in spectacular manner when I dumped a Flying Monkey's Smashbomb Atomic IPA on the keyboard of my laptop, frying the machine.

I got a new laptop within two days... but that Smashbomb Atomic IPA??? That can never be replaced. (A moment of silence, please...)

Okay, long enough... I can get more. I trust we all feasted through the holiday season, washing down copious amounts of holiday food with seasonally-appropriate stouts and porters. And IPAs. And pale ales. And lagers and pilsners. And delicious red ales. And I hope you all made sensible New Years Resolutions. Mine was: Try many, many, many, MANY new beers. I may have gone one "many" too far but... nah... I think we all know I'm good for it. The sacrifices I make for blog research. (Note from Don's Liver: I lead a horrible existence and I hate you all...) Shut up, Liver!!! Can't you see I'm trying to save the world one beer at a time????

Discovery Pack Challenge.... ACCEPTED!!!

Okay, before I jump into matters of beer, first a Holiday Story from the Beer Store. Obviously, we see A LOT more customers over the holidays, some we're not familiar with. That was the case with Crazy Bottle Opener Man (or CBOM, as we shall refer to him.) I got flagged over to help a customer by a young co-worker, Cam. The minute I stepped over, Cam took off from the grouchy old dude like a scared rabbit. That should have been Hint #1. So it went something like this...
CBOM: Why doesn't Steam Whistle come in twist-off cap bottles?
Me: Well, like many craft brewers, they believe you get a better seal with bottle opener caps. However, we do have it in cans, as well.
CBOM: Beer in a can? It's (expletive) garbage. I may as well drink sheet metal. (Actually, I'd pay to watch this crotchety old dude do that...)

Little known fact about Steam Whistle bottles:
they are made of thicker glass than the industry
standard bottle and are reusable up to 20 times
as opposed to 12-13 for the industry standard.

Me: Well, we have bottle openers up front. They're pretty nice and fairly inexpensive.
CBOM: (Sarcastically) Well, that's just great! Are you going to give me 12 of them for the price of one?
Me: (Puzzled) I got a free opener in a 12-pack of Steam Whistle that I've been using for the last four years, sir. Why would you need 12 bottle openers for one 12-pack?
(Buckle up, gentle reader... it's about to get weird...)
CBOM: (Angrily) Well, geezuz, son, you know what it's like!! You open your beer... and then a friend opens his and the opener just disappears. And there's still 10 beers to open. And you can't! Now you need an opener for every bottle!!!
Me: (Long pause) Ever thought of getting new friends who don't steal your openers at a rate of one-per-bottle?
After that, I walked him through the entire cooler looking for an alternative. It went something like this...
CBOM: (pointing) Does that beer have a twist-off cap?
Me: Yes, sir, it does!
CBOM: Yeah, I don't like that beer.
In the end, when CBOM was starting to feel like the world's worst date, I went into the back room, found a spare opener in the junk drawer, handed it to him with  a 12-pack of Steam Whistle and said with a smile: "Just chain it to a belt loop. If one of your buddies manages to steal that one, you may notice you have no pants..." Steam Whistle, this loon is all yours. I'm sending him directly to the brewery from now on... Get ready with free openers. When I went to the back, Cam asked incredulously, "Did that old guy also tell you he needs 12 openers for a 12-pack?" Yup, he sure did...

Can I come up with an Ontario Craft Brewers'
Brewmaster Choice Discovery Pack that is as
outstanding as theirs was? No but I can at least try!

Okay, first challenge of 2014. Even though he now lives in New Zealand, my old college buddy, Stevil St Evil, pays close attention to the Ontario craft brewery industry. VERY close attention. Why? He left the Province in 1985 or so when micro-breweries were just starting here. When he went out to British Columbia, there were a handful of small breweries out there and he started to experiment with other brewers - Granville Island, Parallel 49 and many more. When he left B.C. for New Zealand 13 years ago, craft brewers were just beginning there. In the past few years, that scene has exploded... his adopted country is awash with craft beer. Ontario's craft beer situation is nothing to sneeze at, though... so I was ready for his challenge. A few blogs ago, I reviewed the Ontario Craft Brewers' Brewmaster's Choice Discovery Pack - six outstanding beers from six different Ontario craft brewers - an outstanding collaborative effort.

Brewed by students, made for true IPA
lovers everywhere. But mostly for me.

Stevil's First Challenge: Create another Discovery Pack with six new brewers. Okey-dokey, then. (If I ever say "okey-dokey" twice in one conversation, it's code that means I've been kidnapped and please call the police.) Well, the OCB Discovery Pack had not one but two IPAs so you gotta be crazy if you think I'm not duplicating that. Let's start with the obvious one: Flying Monkey's Smashbomb Atomic IPA... the very beer that "smashbombed" my last laptop and a long-time favourite at Donny's Bar and Grill. Far too hoppy for most of my visiting friends and hey, that works well for me. There's always session beers in the bottom of the fridge for visitors. Had to think long and hard before deciding on IPA #2 but in the end, I went with Sawdust City Brewing's Lone Pine IPA. With its notable citrus and pine aroma, this 6.5% brew washes down with a nice light bite of grapefruit. Brewed at Niagara College's Teaching Brewery, rather than Sawdust City's recently-opened Bracebridge facility, this IPA is actually made by students studying to become brewmasters. Man, they all get A+ where this beer is concerned. Used to hate keeners in high school but at Brewmaster College? You go, beer geeks! Next up representing pale ales is Great Lake Brewing's Crazy Canuck Pale Ale, a zesty, hop-driven offering. At 5.2%, this is damn close to the "Session Beer Zone", right on the 5% cusp and frankly, close enough that you could - and would - drink it all night.

Is it a lager? Is it an ale? It's both... and damn good

Two old favourites for the lighter side of the Donny Discovery Pack - Mill Street Tankhouse Ale and the above-mentioned Steam Whistle Pilsner - the former using Cascade hops to give it some spicy bounce to its fruit flavours, the latter one of Canadian premier Czech-style pilsners. But I need a big closer here so I'm going with Beau's All Natural Brewing's Lug Tread Lagered Ale which is top-fermented like an ale but then cold-filtered like a lager. The result? A wickedly good combination of two distinct beer styles that shouldn't work together... and yet they do! Not hoppy in the least, more malt-driven and in a blind taste-test, you'd probably guess you were drinking a lager. It was the first beer I tried at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse Summer Craft Beer Festival and it was a great starter. For the adventurous beer drinker, in two weekends, there's also a Winter Craft Beer Festival at the same locale that my coworkers and I will be crashing and in our case, that's a literal term. Wanna go? Check it out here at: Winter Craft Beer Festival Even more breweries there than there were in the summer and since it's outdoors, two firepits!!! This is gonna be a blast...

... And your bones will shake when you try this bad boy

But Stevil St Evil wasn't done with me yet challenge-wise. Stevil's Second Challenge: Same six breweries as the last Discovery Pack but six different beers. Okey... ah, allllllrighty then. A little trickier but I'm always game. After all, from all the advice I ever received, the best was "There really is no bad time for a beer." (Thanks, Grandma.) Okay, after each brewer I will put in brackets their beer in the last Discovery Park. First up is easy: Nickel Brook Brewing (Bolshevik Bastard Imperial Stout) is a easy pick, their Naughty Neighbour American Pale Ale, a 5%, lightly-hopped citrus-and-pine treat as smooth at a high roller as a Vegas craps table.

More amber than red, the Spark House Red Ale is a heavily
carbonated great example of a top-shelf American pale ale

Lessee, I think Lake of Bays Brewery (10-Point IPA) must know of my love for red ales because their Spark House Red Ale is a great example of an American red ale, despite a more amber colour. While it kinda got panned on RateBeer, I dispute the low score drinkers gave it. Its aroma is light caramel and nuts, its taste is lightly chocolate and I'm a big fan of its high carbonation. This next one is also a slam-dunk - Amsterdam Brewery (Natural Blonde Lager) will have to put up its outstanding Boneshaker IPA, a 65 IBU (international bitterness units) and 7.1% treat that's among Ontario's best. With its caramel and pink grapefruit aroma and light fruit accents in the taste, I think my friend, Cat, who lives around the corner from the brewery would agree that this would be a lovely birthday treat for her. Today. Because it's her birthday! Hey, Cat, go buy six for me. (No, seriously... don't pull that birthday jazz on me. I want them! In some cultures, the birthday people buy the gifts. Let's make our culture THAT culture!)

This 8% coffee, chocolate and dark fruit stout
is a shock-and-awe bomb of deliciousness.

The pick for Wellington Brewery (County Dark Ale) would have to go to their top-notch Imperial Russian Stout, an 8% bomb of coffee aroma with a full-bodied, lightly carbonated chocolate and dark fruit taste. For my money, this is their best beer. The same with Cameron's Brewery (Auburn Ale) and their top-notch Rye Pale Ale, which as the name would indicate is a specialty grain version of an IPA and an outstanding variation to boot. It should have gone in my Best Of... year-end blog because this highly-hopped 6.5% shock rocket with its rye aroma and strong grapefruit taste is one of my all-time favourites. And I couldn't include it in my year-ender because it's the only rye pale ale I've ever tried. A bit unfair. And finally, I thought of cheating when it came to Muskoka Brewery (Twice As Mad Tom IPA - a twice dry-hopped Imperial IPA) and just using their Mad Tom IPA. But again, that would be cheating. I finally had a chance to try their Summer Weiss just before it got yanked from the shelves (it's a summer seasonal) and it was impressive enough to be my choice for this. The usual hints of orange and spice (coriander?) that you expect from a wheat beer - made for a patio! That said, I think this may have replaced the brewery's equally strong Hefe Weissbier. I'll investigate further. It's the least I can do. And it could possibly involve drinking more beer so I win... and society itself wins. How society benefits is a closely-guarded secret. I'd tell you but... *slice across the throat motion*....

♫ Happy birthday to Cat, happy birthday to Cat...
go buy me some Boneshaker, happy birthday to Cat... ♫

Okay, next up... lessee, lessee... well, we have the Lake Of  Bays Mocha Porter, the Flying Monkeys The Chocolate Manifesto Chocolate Milk Stout (gonna go out on a limb and bet it's chocolate-y) and... oh hey... here's a special treat from our friends in Cooperstown, New York... Brewery Ommegang's Game of Thrones' Take The Night Stout, as well as their Hennipen Farmhouse Saison. Plus more IPAs than you can shake a big old gnarly stick at - a few really good ones, an okay one and a disappointing one. What Muskoka Brewery beer that's soon to be released has me pumped?? Why the Steam Whistle brewmaster decided to have a Czech-style pilsner as their sole product... and much more coming up in a few days because I've been slacking so far in 2014. 

Always remember that the oldest written recipe ever discovered was for beer. Even when people couldn't read or write, they knew it was somehow important to mark this recipe down somehow. Probably in animal blood or something equally gross. And finally, there's an American comedian who had created a country singer character called Scuzz Twittly who in this video sings the praises of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Definitely NSFW or if young ears are around. It made me chuckle... but I'm very juvenile. Watch it here at: Scuzz Twittly Loves His PBR if you dare... Okay, folks, that's it, that's all and I am outta here... until next time, I remain...

That Was The Beer (Half) Year That Was...

The place that changed the way I would approach
beer: Six Pints Specialty Beer Company's Beer
Academy in Toronto. So basically, blame them...

During my 25-plus years in Journalism, I used to pull this same lame stunt every year. You don't really feel like writing between Christmas and New Years because, well, it's Canada... it's Winter... you'd rather drink... you're lazy... seriously, pick your poison. So what did I do? I loaded up that last newspaper of the year with a healthy handful of "Best Of..." stories for the year.

I remember one Toronto community newspaper editor I had - a genuinely decent guy but so far left-of-centre, he made Karl Marx look like Attila The Hun - looking down his nose at my page-filling year-end lists and haughtily wondering aloud, "How does this serve our readership?" I did what any smart journalist would do... I agreed with him, said he made an excellent point... and continued to do whatever the hell I wanted to. You get what you pay for and believe me, I wasn't getting paid all that much. Eventually, he, too, relented and started his own Year-End Lists, one of which I recall should have been entitled: "Why Everyone Who Disagrees With Me Is Wrong!!!!" (In all honesty, I feel the same way when someone says they don't like IPAs...) He was a quirky little dude. Still, liked him, though. I think his heart was in the right place even though I often wished he would drink a big frosty mug of "Lighten The Hell Up"...

And they shall create me a Steam Whistle throne!!!

Anyways, back to the point. Back in April, the crew at my Beer Store was shipped off to the Beer Academy as part of a chain-wide effort to spruce up our image and beer knowledge. One day at the Beer Academy and I was sold. This blog started at the end of June so that I could basically teach myself about new and different beers and, in turn, pass that along to our customers. Hey, I know EXACTLY what you're thinking - where the hell is this guy's Nobel Peace Prize??? I appreciate your warm thoughts but you know, extensive beer research is a reward unto itself. (But thank you all the same...)

So with a half-year under my belt (literally... gone up a belt notch or two), here's some of the finer moments of My Beer (Half) Year. No seasonals are included. This stuff has to be available year-round! Also not included... anything I've had and enjoyed but have not written about yet. I can't have anyone wondering why Hogtown Brewery's My Dog Has Big Balls IPA wins the Brew Ha Ha IPA title when I've never mentioned it. But trust me, whole new bunch of Canadian winners next year... some that I've had this year! Also no ties. Winner-take-all.

Most people would think a gun is the most
dangerous thing that you can put in my hands.
I disagree. It's this ticket. Or a flame-thrower

Best Canadian Pilsner: Of the dozens of really great ones I've had, two instantly come to mind as the tops and the first is King Brewery's Pilsner which is, without a doubt, one of the most outstanding pilsners out there. But in the end, I'm sliding this to Steam Whistle Pilsner. Both are equally excellent in their own way but King's is based on a German Pilsner while Steam Whistle is based on a Czech Pilsner. I haven't even written a Czech beer blog yet but guess what category I'm looking the most forward to in 2014? They're both winners... but 10 points to Gryffindor! Oops, I mean Steam Whistle! King Brewery... sit tight... your love is coming.

Mill Street Oktoberfest "D'oh" Moment - Part 1: When I and my co-workers, Saga and Andrew "Scotty" Scott attended the Mill Street Brewery's Oktoberfest, the first gaffe belonged to me. Upon entering, the first craft brewery booth I saw was Flying Monkey's Craft Brewery, who were doling out their excellent Red-On-Red Ale. Like a crazed 12-year-old Justin Bieber fan, I excitedly said: "Flying Monkeys is my favourite brewery!" To which, the two servers replied: "You mean Mill Street, right?" All of the booths were manned by Mill Street employees. I had no idea. So naturally, I said with a smile, "Of course, Mill Street! Geez, what did you hear?" Thank gawd, they went easy on me. "Yeah, we heard Mill Street, too..."

I don't even like pineapple, ESPECIALLY on pizza but this
pineapple-infused pale ale continues to rock my world!

Best Canadian Pale Ale: Again, I have had dozens but three bob to the top of the ice-cold pond. There is no denying that Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion Not Quite Pale Ale and Nickel Brook American Style Pale Ale are at the Head Of The Class. But 2013 belongs to Spearhead Hawaiian Style Pale Ale. This 6%, 60 IBU (international bitterness units) might be more at home in the IPA category... but it's won several awards for Best Pale Ale and if the pros believe it's a pale ale, who am I to argue? I know the latitude for pale ales is incredibly wide from somewhat mild to... well, this beer! This is in my fridge more often than, oh let's say, food.

Of all the porters I've had this year, nothing -
but nothing - comes close to this Vanilla Porter

Best Canadian Porter: First off, lemme say this. Brick's Waterloo Small Batch Union Mills Porter surprised the hell out of me. For a medium-large brewery, their Brewmaster did an outstanding job with this one. He went for craft quality... and succeeded. Same with Mill Street Coffee Porter. Both Saga and I were wondering if we'd hate it... and ended up loving it. Also in the running: Cameron's Obsidian Imperial Porter which is rum-barrel-aged. Really tasty stuff! But in the end, this one was a slam-dunk and my easiest choice of the year - Mill Street's Vanilla Porter. Porter-wise, nothing came close to this in 2013.  You don't drink porters? Yeah, shut the hell up, Princess, and try this. Thank me later.

Mill Street Oktoberfest "D'oh" Moment - Part 2: That would be the moment Saga thought he spent a beer ticket on a root-beer flavoured beer. Turns out that after recommending it to another party-goer as the best "root beer flavoured beer I've ever had," the pretty server told us it actually was root beer. My response? "You got A&W-ed, yo!" Scotty's response, which eclipsed mine? "You're Jesse Pinkman, bitch!", referring to the lovable loser of  "Breaking Bad" who was constantly getting the crap beat out of him. Well, Saga spent the rest of the night barking, "I'm NOT Jesse Pinkman!" Scotty and I spent the remainder of the evening, now officially renamed Scottoberfest, laughing and calling him Jesse. If dissing your bro is wrong, I don't wanna be right... Every once in a while even now, if I look at Saga funny... just right, he still barks out: "I'm NOT Jesse Pinkman!" It's a fun game.

"Yo, bitch! Don't call me Saga!!! Ummm, yo...!"

Best Canadian Lager: Tough category for this reason: I had literally dozens of different lagers this year - craft and otherwise - but they're all very different beers. Many beer snobs would not agree with me - some would actually kill me in my sleep for this - but I genuinely liked that Budweiser Crown (amber lager). Besides actually tasting pretty damn good, I appreciated a big gun like Labatt going outside their comfort zone and doing something different. On the craft side, there were a boat-load of crafties that could not be ignored. Amsterdam Natural Blonde is outstanding - clean, clear sunny day patio beer. Right up there with it was Hop City's Barking Squirrel Amber Lager. This lightly-hopped lager was an easy recommendation to me for customers looking for a little bite with their lagers. In the end, I'm going outside the box and saying King Dark Lager was, by far, the best lager I drank this year. Why is this outside of the box? In this country, lagers are slam-em-down, sports-watching beers and this dark lager is anything but that. These are to be savoured... enjoyed slowly. These are a special treat, not a chug-a-lug frat-party lager.

There's bar fridges... and then there's MY new bar fridge!

The How-To-Win-Friends-And-Influence-People Award: Yeah, that would go to me. Friend came to Donny's Bar and Grill and we were going out to meet more friends. I was just finishing getting ready (I decided to go with socks) and told her to go into the fridge and help herself. Well, the fridge here was LOADED with craft beer. I mean, jammed. She yells upstairs: "You might just want to invest in a bar fridge!"
Oblivious as usual, I yelled back down: "What? You mean for the food?"
"There is something seriously wrong with you," she sighed. That said, she had a valid point. There's probably room in my place for this one shown here (above left) if I sell my bed. I can sleep on the couch. I was married twice. I'm pretty used to that.

He had to win. He has a crown. Nuff said...

Best Canadian Wheat Beer: Yeah, I don't even know what to say. After the far-superior German wheat beers - and that's a pretty fair comment because they had a 500 year head-start - I thought I'd never drink a Canadian wheat of the same calibre. So I saw this big one-litre jug of Howe Sound (British Columbia) King Heffy Imperial Hefeweissen with a cool ceramic swing-top and thought, "Oh what the hell... sweet bottle." At 7.7%, this brew is as smooth as a baby's butt... and tasty? You have no idea. German breweries are probably scratching their heads wondering, "Vas ist das?" Not just the best wheat beer of the year... one of the best beers I've had all year, period!

Best Canadian Light Beer: How the hell would I know?

Best Canadian Ale: Okay, this one is tough. Really tough. I had reds (my favourite), I had darks and I had browns. You know what my barometer is for this one? What Canuck ale is ready to be ranked on the (Newport, Oregon) Rogue Dead Guy Ale Scale? I could literally list off dozens of contenders because this is what I drank the most of this year. But, and this is most unlike me, I'm cutting to the chase. Mill Street Tankhouse Ale was so good that I feel like sending a 6-pack of it to Newport with a note that says, "You're welcome. This is how we do it, north of the 49th Parallel. It ain't all igloos, strip malls and Mounties up here. Well yeah, not gonna lie, we have that stuff... but also some damn good craft beer and this bad boy's at the top of list, yo..."

... and sometimes, the crown is put on top of your head...

Best Canadian Stout: I'll make this fast. Nickel Brook takes their already excellent Bolshevik Bastard Imperial Stout... and then ages it a year in Kentucky bourbon barrels to create their Old Kentucky Bastard Imperial Stout. This stuff is insanely good. I would hand this to a beer "stout expert" anywhere in the world with pride.

Best Canadian India Pale Ale: Remember that movie, "Sophie's Choice", where Meryl Streep had to decide which one of her two kids she was gonna hand over to the Nazi's? I never saw it because it co-starred neither Batman nor Iron Man but I heard it was intense. And then I saw something shiny and forgot about it. Well, this is MY Sophie's Choice... except instead of Nazi's and which kid, I have to decide which IPA was the best. Sorry to say but that bitch Sophie had it easy. (Relax... it was a movie... it didn't really happen.)

Yo Rogue! This is how we keep your Brutal IPA cold in
in Canada! Why? Because we're a Rogue Nation, baby!

Sawdust City's Lone Pine IPA was outstanding. So was Surrey, BC's Central City Brewing's Red Racer IPA. Ditto for the Muskoka Brewery twins: Mad Tom IPA and its nastier older brother Twice As Mad Tom IPA. Amsterdam Boneshaker IPA, you are one of my favourites and hands down, have the BEST name. Nickel Brook Headstock IPA... well, I buy you by the growler... you can feel my love. But in the end, which IPA have I bought the most of since June? Step up, Flying Monkey's Smashbomb Atomic IPA because no beer spent as much time in the fridge at Donny's Bar and Grill as you did. At 6% and 70 IBUs, you are both safer than some and yet far more deadly than many... and no, I have no idea how that works. But enjoy the sales spike. It won't end anytime soon. You were the first IPA I tried at the summer Craft Beer Fest at the Steam Whistle Round House... and no one forgets their first love.

People, that's it, that's all and I am outta here!!! I have literally dozens of you to thank for making 2013 the best beer year ever! And I will... another day.

But until that day, I remain...