When Speakeasy got too loud... and great beer

That's my man, Lloyd, on the drums in the Led Zeppelin
T-Shirt with Stewart on guitar and Kristine on lead pipes

It was the kind of invitation that reminded you, oh hey, that's right, we're still in the thick of Summer! Ahh, Summer-time and the living is, indeed, easy...

Now I know Lloyd and Vicky through my son's swim team, the Burlington Barracudas, on which their son, Brandon, also competed. That means I used to see them every month at swim meets and on occasion, at the Wednesday night swim practices at a local Burlington pool. You ever watch an hour and 15 minute long swim practice? It consists of kids swimming back and forth. That's it. If no one drowns (and I'm happy to report no one ever did), it was a successful practice. You do it for your kids but on the Excitement Scale, it falls somewhere just below watching paint dry (and not the whole wall - just a specific 2-by-2-inch patch) and eating chalk for fun and profit...

So screaming back to the whole Summertime And The Living Is Easy part of this...

Good golly, Miss Molly, this young lady
Kristine has some impressive chops!!

Now when Lloyd and Vicky decided to hold a backyard Summer BBQ, they added a brave new twist to it - an outdoor concert. You see, Lloyd's the drummer of a rapidly-gaining-popularity Toronto-area bar band Speakeasy. At this point, I should note that Lloyd is indeed lucky to be married to the vivacious Vicky (who took the pics I'm using here) because yeah, drummers and bass players, well, the ladies aren't flocking to the stage to get a piece of that. Singers and especially guitarists, well, that's where all the action is. The band specializes in classic rock so you're gonna hear a lot of Heart, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Pat Benatar, Guns N Roses, Alanis Morissette... all that great shake-your-stuff, get-em-on-the-dance-floor music. This was my first time hearing them and now I get to the part where the couple holding a backyard concert is a brave endeavour. Y'see, Lloyd and Vicky don't live out in the country somewhere - no, they live smack-dab in the middle of a quiet Burlington suburb. Because of work, I didn't get there until about 9:30 pm, which was into the band's third set on the night. Upon being greeted warmly with a hug, I asked Vicky the obvious question: How had they not got any noise complaints?

Corey and Monica - the couple who
showed up because they heard music

"Oh, that was easy," she laughed. "We invited all the neighbours" - most of whom had popped in over the course of the night. Okay, that's just brilliant.

As I was driving up, I could hear them from several streets away. While I didn't get the name of their bass player, a stand-in filling for the regular guy on vacation, Lloyd's drums and guitarist Stewart's sharp notes could be clearly heard from quite a distance. But as Led Zeppelin themselves noted in their classic tune All Of My Love - ♫ One voice is clear above the din ♫... and that belonged to singer Kristine. Holy frosty mug of beer on a hot day, that tiny lady can sing! She reminded me of a young Ann Wilson of Heart and I have always believed to this day that Wilson has one of the best set of pipes in all of rock. Kristine's got that same range - impressive, to say the least. Jaw-dropping, to say the most.

Well, all good things must come to an end and that happened at about 10:15 pm when a nice lady cop stopped in to say the show was over, due to a noise complaint. But she was quick to add, "Tell the band that I thought they sounded really really good!" While that was a bummer, Lloyd was thrilled to hear the complaint came from three blocks away! Kristine happily continued on with an unplugged acoustic set and things continued to roll for a while. It was a blast! In fact, it was so much fun, we saw a young couple, Corey and Monica wander in to enjoy the free show. Turns out they were at a nice restaurant having a romantic dinner quite a distance away and decided they weren't ready to call it a night just yet, what with Corey's Mom watching their two-year-old. All young parents can relate to that.

Ayinger Brau-Weisse: this is how you spell
"delicious" in German. Except it's "lecker"

They heard the music and simply drove towards it. "We didn't want to go home yet," smiled Monica. "We could hear all this great music... so here we are!" After getting some cold beers handed to them, the pair happily swapped funny stories with a group of strangers and had a great extension of their night out.

Great night and big props to Lloyd, Vicky and Speakeasy for all the fun. How tight was Speakeasy, even with a fill-in bass? Well, by my third Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale, I had my White Man Stationary Sway on. What's that? Hey, glad you asked. It's a 'dance' move where you stay in one spot, never ever move your feet but slightly use your hips, upper body and arms to sway with the tunes, thereby giving the illusion of an innate sense of rhythm - but without actual dancing, which would instantly dispel that illusion. I've totally mastered that! Do not move your feet. Not even a slight shuffle. Because then you're dancing and that can be judged. And you'll suck. Badly. But this is supposed to a beer blog so let's talk Summer suds. 

I have long maintained that no one makes a wheat beer like the Germans. I've had some great Canadian and American wheats but let's face it, the Germans have a 500 year head-start - they were bound to learn a few extra wheat brewing tricks.

The Belgh Brasse line-up out of Amos,
Quebec. Had all three but one was head
and shoulders above the other two...

The good folks at Brauerei Aying in Aying, Germany certainly used a few of those tricks in the making of Ayinger Brau-Weisse, a classic unfiltered Bavarian wheat. Banana and spice on the nose, this goes down with the briefest taste of bubble gum which disappears quickly to make way for a malty fruit/banana and light spice on the tongue. It won't supplant my two German favourites - Weihenstephaner Vitus (an unbelievable single bock wheat) or Weihenstephaner Weisse - but I'll tell you that this is the closest I've come to them at this point. And it's damn close. Beautiful tasty Summer beer.

Let's pop back to this side of the Altantic on my jet and land square in Amos, Quebec's Belgh Brasse brewery. My Beer Store recently started stocking their Mons Abbey Witte, a wheat, and Mons Abbey Blonde, a Belgian Ale. As fate would have it, the brewery also had a booth at the Toronto Festival of Beers where I got to try their Mons Abbey Dubbel, which medalled at last month's US Open Beer Championships in Atlanta. I told the guy at the booth I had a bottle of both the Witte and Blonde in my fridge but was eager to try their medal winner. "Oh, I think the Dubbel's our best of them," he told me. After having all three of them now, I have to agree.

Ahhh, the Wellington Brewery Chocolate Milk Stout takes
the best of Winter (stout) and the best of Summer (chocolate
milk) and mashes it all up in this stout, best-suited to Summer

Using Styrian Gold and Hallertauer hops, the Dubbel pours a dark brown with light fruit and raisins on the nose, grapes and spice on the tongue, giving it a bit of red wine intensity in the swallow. Even standing in a booth with an 8-ounce plastic mug at a beer fest, the flavour in this is undeniable. Deserved that silver medal. The Abbey Witte is solid, don't get me wrong, but up against the German Ayinger, any Canadian wheat, even one from Quebec, is going to suffer. Light spice and fruity on the nose (no banana?), this is a little too light on the tongue with only a hint of coriander and wheat. Nice but too mild. Likewise, the Abbey Blonde is also too mild, but on the aroma. It took me several sniffs just to pull maybe a bit of honey off the head. The taste - for a Belgian Ale - well, again I've had some top-notch ones recently and this isn't quite in their weight class.

After several years of contract-brewing at
Toronto's Black Oak, Sawdust City, makers
of the outstanding Lone Pine IPA finally
opened their Gravenhurst brewery two
weeks ago. Complete with the retail store,
they also announced that their Lone Pine
would now be shipped in 473-ml cans,
rather than the traditional 650-ml bottles

Some interesting malt and hop balance on the aroma, I am used to far more spicey punch from Belgian ales on the tongue. This seems to be lacking in that department though it does mask the 7% alcohol. Again, not a bad beer, just not a strong one. 

Beer Musketeer Stevil St Evil recently extolled to me the virtues of drinking stouts in the Summer. To me, they are Winter beers, full stop, end of sentence, period. So I gave it a Brew-Ha-Ha! go with the Wellington County Brewery Chocolate Milk Stout recently. I came away thinking, nope, still a winter beer. Also up against their Imperial Russian Stout, one of Ontario's best stouts, this was too light. Then it dawned on me. While I was trying it in the Summer, I wasn't trying it under "Summer Conditions." So I grabbed a second bottle on Tuesday and drank it on my patio on what was a beautiful sunny day. True Summer Conditions. Okay, now we're talkin'... While the Imperial Russian might have been a bit too much for a patio beer, the Chocolate Milk Stout was better mix. Ladies and gentlemen - perhaps we have found a Summer Stout. Still a little light for a stout, the fact is I don't want anything heavy on the patio at Donny's Bar and Grill. Some light coffee and cocoa on the nose, the almost-too-light chocolate taste belies the 7.2% alcohol-level. Again, this is almost like a Stout Light. But that works well on the patio.

Okay, some huge news out of the tiny Bellwoods Brewery/Brewpub in Toronto yesterday as they announced they would be adding to their operations by expanding into a massive structure on Dupont to keep up with the demand for their superior line of craft beers - yeah, Witchshark IIPA, I'm talking to you!! 

Remember, people, strap in your loved ones
and for crying out loud, please drive safely!!

While keeping the small retail outlet/brewpub on Ossington - so enjoyed by Beer Musketeers Glenn, Cat and myself back in February - they found their retail store was actually running out of beer by Sunday nights. Hence the expansion - which is frankly still months away. All the City Hall paperwork (worked for a municipal government - aye carumba, whatta red-tape, bureaucratic headache they are in for in the next few months... saying a prayer for them right now) and, of course, the making of the Dupont storage warehouse into a properly-equipped brewery to go. Read about it here at: Bellwood Brewery Ready For The Big Leagues

Okay, still don't believe that Ann Wilson has one of the most powerful voices in rock? Fine then. Watch as she reduces Robert Plant to near-tears with her rendition of Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Center Honours Led Zeppelin Night a few years ago. And hey, that Nancy Wilson is pretty damn fine on the acoustic guitar... as the icing on the cake. It's right here at: Heart Kills Stairway To Heaven

But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...