Trafalgar Ales & Meads expands into distillery

Trafalgar Ales & Meads founder-owner Mike Arnold is
venturing into distilling and offers vodka and white-rye
with whiskey up next... once it's aged for a few years...

I have talked to Mike Arnold, the owner of Oakville's Trafalgar Ales & Meads, many, many times but never once about beer. Only politics. Well, yes and no. Allow me to clarify.

Not sure they do this anymore but every election, whether federal, Provincial or municipal, the brewery created a different beer for each party, labelled them accordingly and had a mobile sign out front, marking the scores of each party by their allotted beers purchased at the brewery. The campaign was cleverly called "Vote With Your Throat" and several times was eerily in sync with the final results. For municipal elections, the candidates for Oakville Mayor were given their individual beers - photos on the label and all - and those results were also posted. Again, it could be remarkably accurate. One time when it was bang-on, I called Mike to congratulate him on his accuracy and he shrugged it off, saying simply, "I didn't vote. Beer drinkers did."

The labels for the 2008 Federal Election, representing,
clockwise from top left, the Green Party, the NDP, the
Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives. The beer poll
gave the Liberal the slight edge but the PC's won a majority

Now when I plied my editor's trade in Oakville back in the mid-90s, my publisher, a gregarious chap named Arnie (who continues to be a friend to this day), was good pals with Mike, who it should be noted played a key role in the creation of the Black Creek Historic Brewery, now run by Beer Musketeer Cat's sister-in-law. And as a friend of Mike's, Arnie had some of the brewery's meads in his garage. I shunned them instantly but Arnie, being Arnie, insisted I try them before casting them aside. "You can't say you don't like something you've never tried!" he scolded me. True enough. So I sampled their raspberry and blueberry meads, fresh from Arnie's garage. Okay, I should have stuck to my guns. Both were so acidic, my first question to Arnie was: "Where do you keep the Tums?"  I think I also asked if his Milton Hospital had stomach-pumping equipment readily available.

Clearly, I am not a mead drinker. Why? Well, for one, I'm not a Viking. Nor am I a senator in Ancient Rome. In fact, has any anyone living after, oh say, Mary Queen of Scots, ever drank mead? Definitely a niche market.

"Tastes great!" "Less filling!" "Vodka!" "Beer!"

However, the big news out of Trafalgar is that, as of this past Sunday, they have expanded into being a distillery, as well as a brewery and, uh, meadery. According to an article in the Oakville News online, they have already begun distilling vodka and a white-rye (meaning non-aged whiskey) with actual whiskey, probably five years or more down the road because, well, if it ain't aged, it ain't whiskey. And Canadian whiskey is world-renowned because not only does it do the job, it also apologizes for your hang-over in the morning. "Yeah, I did that to your brain. So very sorry. My bad. Can I get you a coffee from Timmy's?" 'Tis the politest of all whiskeys.

Now I am not a spirit drinker simply because I don't like the taste of most and there's so many beers left for me to try. So it was past time to start sampling Trafalgar's beer, especially since the place is literally around the corner from my Beer Store.

So far, the best of the bunch but that's faint praise...

Thus far, sadly, it has not gone well. I started with their Hop Nouveau, a wet-hopped ale and was expecting something in the vicinity of Amsterdam Brewery's excellent Autumn Hop, another wet-hopped product. The nose is off - sulfuric, metallic even - and it didn't fare much better on the tongue. Bitter, but not in a good IPA way, it has a weak finish and though overly-carbonated, it can't seem to hold its head. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I'm trying, Billboard Cartoon! I'm trying!!!
Strangely, Stevil St Evil yells this at me too!

Next up was their Honey IPA, billed as a pale ale brewed with honey. Okay, word to the wise for all those brewing IPAs: no more brewing with honey. Okay, for starters, this is definitely not an IPA. Despite claiming to be 70 IBU (international bitterness units), there is virtually no hoppiness to this 5.5% brew, which has more in common with, say, an extra special bitter than it ever will with an IPA. That said, different strokes... Beer Musketeer Glenn quite enjoyed it while mine went down the drain.

The brewery redeems itself to a certain degree with their Smoked Oatmeal tout. At 5%, it is a lighter stout than my favourites tend to be but does have some smokiness on the nose. The taste - light chocolate - is a little more, well, timid than I expect in a stout but over-all, it's a decent offering. It unfortunately suffered immediately by preceding a Montreal-brewed stout, not naming names (*coughs* St Ambroise) that instantly blew my socks off. This will be mandatory reading in the next blog. No excuses. There will be a test afterwards. All of that being said and done, I never say never (except I just did twice - never again - *facepalm*) and I will be popping into Trafalgar for their Paddy's Irish Red - a style I love - and their Oak-Aged Rye Ale, which sounds promising. Let's see how it stacks up next to their cross-town rivals Cameron's outstanding Rye Pale Ale. So rest assured, Glenn, (in my best Ah-nuld voice) "Ah'll be bach..."

Look at that teeny, tiny word under
Summer. It says Apricot. Okanagan
Spring, you are cheeky devils!!!

Recently landing at the Beer Store was the Okanagan Spring Craft Pack with three of the Vernon, BC brewery's beer - their Pale Ale, their 1516 Bavarian Lager and their Apricot Summer Weizen. To be frank, I bought it for the Summer Weizen because I'm always on the hunt for a good wheat beer. The Pale Ale is a decent patio beer, light, non-distinct, as well as non-threatening, much pretty on par with your Keith's and the like. The 1516 Bavarian Lager is a wee step up - not much on the aroma at all and a little coppery on the tongue, it's an okay though not at all outstanding lager. Again, a patio brew.

No, it was their Apricot Summer Weizen that grabbed me. If you look at the label to the right, you can barely see the word "apricot" under "summer". In fact, without my reading glasses, I didn't see a word there at all. I was drinking it and couldn't figure out what fruit I was tasting at first. Usually, with wheats, it's orange peel. Not this one. My coworker Marie finally pointed the "apricot" out to me - thankfully before I drove myself crazy trying to figure it out. Obviously, once you know, the nose is apricot (my first note - "some unknown fruit, def not orange") and on the tongue, although the fruit is there, it's beautifully muted, gives it some tartness, allowing the hazy wheat to shine through. Scrap the other two - here's your patio beer!!! It very much outshines another apricot wheat which was overpoweringly sickly sweet that you'll read about in the next blog. Again, not naming names (*coughs* St Ambroise).

Hopus is not hoppy - it is fruity and spicy. It
is also a remarkably tasty strong Belgium ale

From Beer Musketeer Cat came the recommendation of Hopus, a Belgian strong ale out of the Brasserie Lefebvre in the Belgian town of Rebecq-Quenast. Despite its name, this is not hoppy in the least although you get some nice citrus and orange on the nose. On the tongue, this 8.2% offering is a crazy mixture of bitter and sweet, fruity yet spicy - a lovely break from all the IPAs and stouts Cat and I consume with alarming frequency.

And speaking of the Beer Musketeers and IPAs, one beer I neglected to mention in that Debauchery at Donny's Bar and Grill blog was Arch Brewery's Dinner Jacket O'Red IPA. Contract-brewed by Arch Brewing on the premises of our friends Wellington Country Brewing in Guelph, this one was the middle-of-the-pack for us. More malty than hoppy on the nose (though I did get some pine), it pours a hazy red, had decent carbonation and was grassy on the tongue. It was pretty good but more of a Beginner IPA and certainly not in the elite class of either Nickel Brook's Immodest IIPA or Stone's Ruination IPA.

Amanda gives thumbs-up to all who donated to the Leukemia Bottle Drive

And finally, other than mention the shenanigans of my co-workers, I don't talk much about the Beer Store here. That's because this is a beer blog and Head Office has a perfectly effective and capable Communication Department. That said, I'm sure HQ won't mind a quick shout-out on a personal point of pride. This past weekend, on May 24-25, every store across Ontario held their Returns For Leukemia Bottle Drive whereby we ask customers if they would be willing to donate some of their empties with all funds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. As always, our customers were remarkably generous as we alone raised over $2,000. That was just on Saturday. Probably, another sweet G on Sunday. At 10 or 20-cents each, that's a lot of empty bottles. The across-province tally will likely be known inside the week but count on it being well over $1 million. Okay, I'll let the Communications Department take it from there but on my end, big shout-outs and hugs to Team Captain Marie and head volunteer Amanda for their hard work. See that red shirt Amanda's wearing? Their faces and arms all looked like that by day's end. They started as volunteers; they finished as lobsters. Which means they would go well with a wheat beer.... perhaps one brewed by Okanagan Spring? See? It always comes back to beer.

Okay, guys and dolls, I'll be back in a few days but until then, that's it, that's all and I am outta here!!! Until next time, I remain...