Hanging with the craft beer reps...

Another Saturday, another successful Food Truck at Nickel
 Brook Brewing in Burlington. This past weekend saw Jonny
Blonde, centre, bring his associate, Layal, to the Drury
Lane brewery on December 13. On the left is Tony Cox,
the Nickel Brook employee who has made Food Truck
Saturday a reality. Getting them off-season as he does,
he has been gaining a lot of fans in the food truck world!

That I would stop into Burlington's Nickel Brook Brewing on a Saturday for a multi-growler refill shouldn't come as news to anyone. My loyalty to them is somewhat akin to the Stormtroopers' allegiance to the evil Galactic Empire in Star Wars - minus all that "dark side of the Force" rhetoric. Now granted, I'm not gonna actually compare myself to Stormtroopers because as anyone who's watched any Star Wars movie can tell you, these guys are the crappiest shots in the world. It's like the first criteria for being a Stormtrooper is being seriously cross-eyed or even visually-impaired. You may as well hand these clowns feather dusters and tell them to go clean the Death Star like the precious little French Maids they are... except they'd probably miss the wall.

But this past Saturday when I popped into Nickel Brook, there were a few extras for me. I got to meet Jonny of Jonny Blonde food truck fame, as well as his associate Layal. Both great people and I got to sample a delicious potato wedge and sausage dish, liberally coated with melted cheese. If I can't literally feel my arteries harden when I eat something, don't serve it to me. Ain't nobody got time for healthy eating at Donny's Bar and Grill...

My beloved Labatt's Blue melton jacket with
distressed leather sleeves looks a lot like this!

But because I was on my way to my Beer Store shift and was wearing my uniform, Nickel Brook owner John, of course, happily took the opportunity to give me some harmless grief. (Craft breweries view the Beer Store the same way Kia Motors views Ford, no doubt.) That was only compounded by the fact I was wearing my winter hack-about Labatt's Blue bomber jacket. I got this jacket about 20 years ago at a silent auction during a Celebrity Sports Banquet. A die-hard Blue drinker in those days (how times have changed, eh?), I was determined to win this jacket, standing no more than 10 feet away from it at any time. Whenever I saw someone write their bid for it, I walked right over and bid a dollar more. Not $5 or $10 or even $25... a dollar. I call that "The Price Is Right Bidding Strategy" and guess what? It works. For $76, the jacket was mine! (But I would have gone as high as $78 - just sayin'...)

So naturally, John teased me about that, too, since Labatt (along with Molson's and Sleeman's) is one of the huge corporate owners of my place of business.

I have always loved the beers made by Founders Brewing
out of Grand Rapids, Michigan and it turns out their
beer philosophy on the side of this tank is the reason!!!

If he and I ever bet on anything and he loses, I plan on making him wear my Blue jacket for a solid week. But the point of all this is that my growlers were filled by Amy this day, an employee of theirs I had actually never met - believe me, that's a rarity. A very nice young lady, it turns out that she is a Nickel Brook sales rep, who just happened to be working that day at the brewery. And one of the favourite parts of my job is meeting brewery reps.

Now the reps for the Big Three are seasoned pros though if you are clever enough, you can pick the odd industry secret out of them, particularly about their competition.

But no, it's the smaller craft brewery reps that I love talking to the most, simply because as the days pass, I know more and more about their products. Sometimes more than they do. About a year ago, we got a visit from the Flying Monkeys' rep and of course, one of my co-workers yelled out: "Don, the rep for Flying Monkeys is here!!!" so I excitedly rushed out to introduce myself and immediately took her into our self-serve cooler where her product was prominently displayed. And then I began quizzing her on some of their upcoming releases, notably their Shoulders of Giants Imperial IPA. The poor lass was floundering a little, not knowing much about it so I dialed it down to the releases that we carry, instead out of courtesy. She was very well-versed in those!

Our Side Launch Brewing rep was a little more than surprised
when I identified their Dark Lager as the old Denison's Dunkel

Just last month, I heard the siren song again: "Don, the rep for Flying Monkeys is here!!!" But this was a new rep, Jaime, so I was all gung-ho to quiz her as well. When I started talking to her, she quickly flipped through her note-pad, stopped on a page and said with a big smile, "Okay, you're that guy!" Gotta be honest - my apparent reputation as a quasi-knowledgeable Beer Geek with the small brewery reps is now preceding me and believe me, that is a personal point of pride. Granted, my ability to magically turn alcohol into regret and bad decisions is another personal point of pride so let's face it - my bar for my pride is set pretty damn low. Jamaican dudes couldn't limbo under that bar. Fire ants, cockroaches and beetles would be sorely tested to clear it.

This is how fast I move when someone tells me there's a craft
brewery rep visiting my Beer Store. I'm there... in a Flash...

But more of the same when Side Launch Brewing (Collingwood) sent their rep, Jen, into my store with their Dark Lager, which was gracing our shelves the very next day. Talking to myself and co-worker Saga, the friendly young lady came in, introduced herself and started talking up their Dark Lager. I stopped her quickly by saying, "Yeah, great beer! This used to be Denison's Dunkel." She smiled at me, wide-eyed, staggered that a Beer Store dude would actually know that. Saga laughed at her deer-in-the-headlights reaction and said quickly, "He writes a beer blog."

Shhhhhh... Truth to tell, a Side Launch server at the Burlington Beer Festival told me back in the Summer so I researched it and later wrote about it here back on July 25th. So I'm not some genius beer savant here. Just a thirsty beer-exploring dude... like Christopher Columbus with no boats to speak of, unless it's the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa DrinksLikeAFish.

One of my favourite beers from Lake of
Bays Brewing - their Spark House Red
Ale, as well as their Mocha Porter, as
well as their 10 Point IPA, as well as...

However, I want full credit for retaining that knowledge because every time I learn something new about beer, something else I learned long ago gets pushed out of my brain to make room for the new info. Like, say, car keys. Where do you put those on the car to make it start? Touching the steering wheel with them doesn't work. Also, shoe-tying has become a real challenge.

Okay, Lake of Bays Brewing went a different route than the pretty young female beer rep, sending in burly beer-loving dude Tim. About a year ago, Tim came in to check out my Beer Store. Naturally, I was all over it, singing the praises of both my self-serve store and how it could help their brands, as well as heaping praise on their Winter-only release, the delicious Mocha Porter.
A few weeks back, he popped back in to let me know their Baysville, Ontario brewery would be selling their Spark House Red Ale, Crosswinds Pale Ale, Rock Cut Baysville Lager and Top Shelf Classic Lager in my store. He actually waited for me to be finished dealing with a customer, telling my co-worker, "No, it's okay. I know this guy over here." After a year, he remembered our little show-and-tell. But I also happened to be the guy on the phone when the brewery called to place its order with us. I ordered a couple of trays of each and when the delivery came within two days, the invoice said at the bottom, "... as ordered by Don with many thanks." You gotta love the small touches made by the boys and girls of the craft beer world. But slide me some Mocha Porter just so I feel, y'know, truly appreciated. Joking! (Not really.)

Okay, the Innocente Conscience American
IPA is murky and smells funny but doesn't
taste too bad though I've certainly had better.

In the span of 14 days, we have also added Toronto's Collective Arts' Rhyme & Reason Pale Ale (one of Ontario's best pale ales) and their Saints of Circumstance Citrus-Infused Blonde Ale, making it seven new craft beers on our shelves in just two weeks. (Trust me, I will be the first to admit this is a rarity.) But my work environment just keeps getting craftier and craftier, though space for all the new products is actually becoming an issue. Talk about your #firstworldproblems. Of all these new-to-us beers, the only one I haven't tried is the Saints of Circumstance because, well, "the eagle has just landed" but I sometimes call this horse-and-pony show a beer blog and well, that means it's Beer O'Clock here at Brew Ha Ha. Let's get our drinking hats on, kids...

Okay, well, Saints of Circumstance is contract-brewed at Nickel Brook under the watchful eye of Brewmaster Ryan so it's not gonna suck. As advertised, we're talking a blonde ale with a citrus punch. That, this 4.7% beer has - citrus up the wazoo. But I was a little surprised to see they used Citra, Centennial and Amarillo hops in this because this does taste like a light summer beer. But with those guns? I want war wounds. It should maim me. At 17 IBUs (international bitterness units), it doesn't. That said, a solid blonde ale. A really good very lightly-hopped summer beer... that I drank in the winter. (Rhyme & Reason has spoiled me - one of the best pale ales in the world.)

Sleeping Giant Skullrock Stout is
malty coffee treat on the tastebuds

Next on the court docket, Sassy Cassy is back home for Christmas from university in Thunder Bay and, well, my little girl came back bearing a one-litre (33 ounce) gift - the seasonally-appropriate gift of Sleeping Giant Brewing's Skullrock Stout. This delicious dark brown oatmeal-infused treat with the creamy tan head is all coffee on the nose with some malty nuttiness on the tongue. This tiny brewery which, I believe, is the northern-most brewery in the Ontario Craft Brewers group, is quickly making a name for itself. Cassy has a real jewel within minutes of her university campus. I am dying to try their Coffee Vanilla Porter next... but no pressure there, Cassy. I don't believe in extortion but I'm gonna guess your car keys may mysteriously reappear as soon as I have one of these babies in my possession. Not that I know where your car keys are. (Seriously, officer, put away the cuffs - you have no proof...)

Okay, popped into Rib Eye Jack's Ale House a couple of Thursdays back because that night is Cask Night and where there is a cask to be tapped, dammit, I will be there. Again, that's the whole delusional Christopher Columbus of the Craft Beer World thing at play here.

This Dunkelweizen combines the best of two very
different styles, infusing wheat into a dark lager...

The bar and its beer technician Kylie did not disappoint as they tapped into a mini-cask of Muskoka Winter Weiss, my first-ever winter wheat offering. Because it's a winter beer, they combine a dunkel and a wheat giving this a unique taste - this is not a light summer offering but one much better suited for these Jack Frost Days. Though unfairly (I think) punished on RateBeer, I thought this was the best of both worlds - the banana of a wheat on the nose, this also had the fruit of a wheat and the rich caramel malt of a dunkel on the tongue. Like peanut butter in a chocolate cup, I thought this was a dynamite combo. (To those who don't enjoy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, I ask only this: how does it feel to be one of Satan's minions?)

While there, I also cracked open an Innocente Brewing's Conscience American IPA. Assuming from their French name that they were based in Quebec, it turns out this is actually a Waterloo brewery - quelle surprise!

There be bears ahead!!! Go into the bar!!!

Okay, this has one funky smell. I asked Kylie what she was getting on the nose. She got tropical fruit. I got dark fruit... and gym socks. Murky as hell with all sorts of floaties in it, this was a different IPA to be certain. However, as advertised on its label, at just 5.7% with a hefty 80 IBUs, it was as bitter as hell but did have some fruit charms on the tongue. No doubt, an interesting one.

Well, we live in a world where I continue to hope Jessica Biel will name her first-born son Batmo... but next on deck should be a fun one. A horde of us are descending on Rib Eye Jack's Ale House this Saturday to celebrate co-worker Marie's 40th birthday. You see, every year, Marie gets gypped because her birthday is December 25th and someone else grabbed the spotlight on that day. That's unfair because Marie was also born in a manger... or a bar-room floor... or in the back of a car... maybe on a ferris-wheel. Actually, I have no idea - it happened 40 years ago. But I will bringing you all the aftermath and hard-to-digest details of the big Marie Versus The Baby Jeebus Party a day or two after. The bar is on high alert, the local police have been informed and hey, Cassy might even get her car keys back. (To be clear, Cassy, that's Sleeping Giant's Coffee Vanilla Porter and no, I have no idea where they are. Still.) But guys and dolls, that's it, that all and I am outta here!!! Until next time, I remain...