Marie gets herself a new Beau

Walkerville Brewery co-owner Chris Ryan and Brewmaster Nick
Poloski  can take credit for Marie's new-found love of craft beer

My co-worker, Marie, has found herself a new Beau. Now I'm not suggesting in the least that her current beau, Ernie, should be panicking as this new Beau actually comes in the form of craft beer. And obviously, even really good beer can't take the place of the warmth within human companionship.

(That said, I'm looking around my living room at the countless empty bottles of Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA and realizing that not once - ever! - has one of them demanded that I call my mother-in-law to apologize... Clearly, Smashbomb and I have a story-book romance happening. Guys, I don't even have to buy flowers. It's pretty freakin' sweet.)

But when I first met Marie nearly three years ago, she was a devoted Coors Light drinker. (She and most of Canada - I believe it may just be the country's largest-selling beer.)

Meet Marie's new Beau - their Lug Tread
Lagered Ale. Maybe Ernie should worry...

One day, she decided it just wasn't cutting it anymore and ventured forth into new brews. Mostly European ones she'd never had (our store has a humongous selection) but also new Canadian ones that were showing up - the Keith's Hop Series and the like - your stepping stones from mainstream to craft. She was really liking some, not so much others - the same way we all do. But I can pinpoint the exact time things really changed for her. She and Ernie went to the Caesar's Palace in Windsor because he had been invited to a High-Stakes Poker Tournament. While there, Marie hit the slots and found one incredibly generous machine that paid off a lot of cash - twice in two days. Flush with a wad of bills that could choke a hungry, hungry hippo (as they favour marbles anyway), the pair wandered down the street to the nearby Walkerville Brewery, which re-opened a couple of years back, under new ownership. Fascinated with the tiny brewery's 125-year history with countless owners and even more closures, bankruptcies and reopenings, I wrote a Brew-Ha-Ha on it back in May when the couple brought me back a one-litre (34 ounce) howler of their tasty Indie Pale Ale. I don't even remember what they got that day, other than their first growlers, but Walkerville ended up springboarding Marie well into becoming a full-fledged member of The Craft Pack...

Nickel Brook Brewery in Burlington has
now become a destination point for
Ernie and Marie as they refill their
growlers with Headstock Light Lager
and a few others they have on tap!

But it was a few weeks back that she had her first "Ah-Hah Moment!" with craft when she tried a Beau's All-Natural Brewing's Lug Tread Lagered Ale. That ubiquitous Ah-Hah Moment means simply in the case of craft beer, there is no turning back. Also given the often higher ABVs in many craft beers, at a certain point in Marie's case, her blood-alcohol level means her two dogs are in charge of the house. Back to Lug Tread (which farmers will tell you is the tractor wheel treadmarks left behind in the mud), this is a unique beer that crosses the "lager is lager, ale is ale and never the twain shall meet" boundaries. Beau's Brewmaster Matt O'Hara created it by first top-fermenting it like an ale and then cold-filtering it like a lager, making the multiple award-winner one of Ontario's best.

At the same time, Marie realized that my beloved Nickel Brook Brewery was on route to Ernie's job at J and G Quality Meats (175 Plains Road East, Burlington) so she decided to stop in and see what all my raving was about. She got to sample what they had on their expansive taps and settled on the Headstock Lager as another favourite. (Truth to tell, I've never had it. A beer I've never tried is called a unicorn. They exist... but they're increasingly rare and hard to spot.)

The one - and only - pumpkin beer I will be
drinking this year was Nickle Brook's Pissed Off
Pete's Pumpkin Porter. Nice job on this, guys

But given her level of raw enthusiasm, I knew it was only a matter of time before Marie was suggesting new beers for me and she nearly lost me on the very first one - Nickel Brook's Pissed off Pete's Pumpkin Porter. I tried two pumpkin ales last fall and came to a realization very quickly. Pumpkin belongs in pie and nowhere else. I could tell you the names of those two ales - one Canadian, one British - except I don't remember. You see, I have found a foolproof method of expunging unwanted memories. It's called more beer. Strangely, while alcohol kills brain cells, it doesn't kill the ones that make you want more beer. I relented on the Pissed-Off Pete's for two reasons: 1) Marie handed me one and insisted (woohoo - free beer!) and 2) Nickel Brook Brewmaster Ryan Tweeted the morning they brewed it, complaining that it was too early "for this pumpkin crap" (or words to that effect) complete with a picture of pumpkin pulp. Realizing that he and I were of like mind, I owed it to him to at least give it the old college try. So I did.
Ryan, my man, what can I say? You have taken chicken shit and turned it into chicken salad. By making a porter rather than an ale, you have found a beer style that can be liberally tinkered with - exactly like stouts. You wanna play? Those are the styles you play with, not ales. Ryan is one sharp mofo.

Ernie and Marie brought me back one-litre howlers of the
brewery's Loophole Ale and Edgewater Summer Wheat

Strong pumpkin and spice on the nose, much milder pumpkin, nutmeg and coffee on the palate, it was pretty damn good. I plan on grabbing a six of it for the guests descending on Donny's Bar and Grill for late-October's Drunken Debauchery Part Two Beer Festival. (If y'all could refrain from telling any of the guests that kidneys go for $10,000 on the Black Market, I would appreciate it. Damn bookies.)

But the last time Ernie and Marie went to Windsor, they brought me back howlers of two Walkerville beers - their Loophole Ale and Edgewater Wheat. The lighter 4.5% Kolsch-style patio ale is nice - fruity on the nose, dry on the tongue - but it was the wheat was a happy treat. Banana and orange rind on the nose, citrus on the tongue, the 4.7% white was immensely enjoyed on my patio.

Thanks for the beer. But I'm not exactly sitting
alone here, lady. Where are my friends' beers??

Okay, with Munich's Oktoberfest in full force as we speak, let's close this off with a couple of complementary festival beers. Okay, no one who loves craft would consider Rickards (a Molson's line) to be cutting-edge stuff. That said, gawd bless them, they keep trying. When they released their Autumn taster-twelve, Der Tasterpacken (let's assume that's flawless German), it included four of the Red, four of their Blonde and four of a new one, their Lederhosen. I'm not a huge Rickards fan (though their Dark, a porter, is pretty good) but you know, credit where credit is due. Way heavier than their other products, the brewery made a solid effort with this Lederhosen 6.5% autumn brew. Spiced for the season, that's the nose while on the tongue, all caramel and, well, as I said, a very heavy body. An added bonus? Eight Rickards Red and Blonde on my bottom shelf for visitors, some of whom consider the line to be fancy. Have at it, kids.

Okay, from there, let's cross the Atlantic pond and go to the Dab Dark Draught Lager.

It's not the best beer ever... but it's the best that Dab makes.

This beer gets the living crap kicked out of it on RateBeer, snagging just a 24 as a dark Dunkel. From Dortmund, Germany, is it the best dark lager I've had? Hellz no, not even close - those honours belong to both King Brewery's Dark Lager and Oast House in Niagara Falls and their unnamed dark lager on the Toronto Brew Cruise, homes to (both on land and at sea) two really good dark lagers. But compared to Dab Lager and Dab Maibock, it's a pretty decent step up. So as Beer Musketeer Stevil is fond of saying, "It's like being the prettiest waitress at Denny's..." Yeah, you win but what Dumb-Ass Contest From Hell are we talking about? It's licorice on the nose, light coffee and bitter-sweet chocolate on the tongue. Like it, don't love it. But I would highly recommend it as a step-up beer for lager drinkers.

Okay, coming up next in a few days is a few more from the recent Toronto Craft Brew Cruise, the BC Craft Brewers Guild Natural Selection Mix-Six and five different names for raw chicken that you've never heard of. Also some pretty hard cardio exercises that I think you should be... yeah, I can't even finish that thought without blowing beer through my nose. Okay, guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain, as always...