The reinvention of Trafalgar Ales and Meads

Trafalgar Ale and Meads owner Mike Arnold and General
Manager Connor Orchard pose behind the seven awards they
won at the 2015 Ontario Brewing Awards. Well done, guys!

A funny thing happened at the Ontario Brewing Awards a couple of weeks back. Oakville's Trafalgar Ales and Meads won the "Newcomer of the Year" award.

So why is this funny or even unusual? Because the only thing older than Trafalgar Ales and Meads is some of the underwear I still own. Ladies, don't judge. Guys, you know what I'm saying, right? Don't even get me started on a tattered high school football jersey that two ex-wives and several girlfriends have tried to throw out. In vain. For the record, I didn't play one single down of high school football. I practised with the team just enough to score the jersey... and bailed. No biggie - 100% sure I sucked. But I have the jersey!

Way back in 1994, the brewery was established by Mike and Nancy Arnold and George Hengstman so really they're kinda like that old tattered football jersey (but, well, not as old and stanky.) So how did this Newcomer thing happen, you ask? Well, now, that's a damn good question and one I had to ask the brewery itself.

Roger Mittag has some pretty serious beer cred as
the man who created the Beer School, as well as
the Thirst for Knowledge program. Oh, did I
mention the Prud'homme Beer Certification
program he runs? Also, he clearly loves his stouts

Sarah from the brewery got back to me very quickly and explained it like this: "This was the first year we've submitted entries since 2007. (Co-organizer and juror) Roger Mittag felt that because we won so many brews in the competition, without competing or being involved for years, that we had reinvented ourselves."

So who's Roger? Well, as it turns out, Roger really knows his stuff. A former professor at Humber College's School of Hospitality, he entered the beer industry with Labatts and then left to found the Thirst For Knowledge, an organization that focuses on events celebrating the beer experience. Then he created The Beer School and because that wasn't quite enough, he went one step further, establishing the Prud'homme Beer Certification program, the first of its kind in Canada. So it would seem that Roger is, first and foremost, something of a Beer Professor. He's also definitely someone I want to meet in a professional capacity, him being the professional and me being... well, I guess that makes me the capacity. Not sure I've ever been that before but hey, always up for something new.

So as it turns out, there was some grumbling about a brewery not nearly as old as my football jersey winning Newcomer of the Year at the OBAs. So Roger went to his blog and hashed it out.

I'll be frank. Just don't. The Maple Leaf Lager, formerly
known as their Old Mill Elora Grand Lager, is virtually
indistinguishable from any of the mass-produced lagers.

Said Roger: "There are quite a few people out there who are more than happy to criticize the selection of our Newcomer of the Year this year... Trafalgar Brewing has been absent from the OBAs for a very long time and I, for one, was very happy they chose to return." Noting that they may tighten up the definition a little next year, he added in a parting blow: "It's very easy to observe from the outside and offer criticism. I'm more than happy to welcome help in managing and administering the competition and the awards ceremony."

Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark! Call the Burn Unit and, well, bring lots of ice. Frankly, if I were in that position, I would have said, "Put up or shut up, you whiny babies" but I like the way Roger phrased it much better. Far more eloquent than I am. Other things more eloquent than I am also include the Incredible Hulk and orange pylons.

I thought Trafalgar's ESB was fairly good while
their Irish Brown Ale was, what can I say, too thin.
Don't even ask me about that Honey IPA unless you
are truly eager to hear some nasty swear words...

Okay, so full disclosure. The first three Trafalgar beers I ever had was their Hop Nouveau, Honey IPA and Smoked Oatmeal Stout. To be honest, I ripped the first two to shreds in this space well over a year ago - one was flat-out poured down the drain.

I gave the Smoked Oatmeal Stout a passing grade and have had another since that time, simply because the first time, I drank it immediately after having a St Amboise (Montreal) Oatmeal Stout, which I instantly discovered was one of Canada's best. So I thought, "Okay, try again but this time, not after a big gun." And yeah, I thought it was pretty decent... but thin. ("Thin" will be a recurring comment with several of their beers.) After that, I tried their Maple Leaf Lager, again for this space. Little carbonation (another recurring theme) and zero complexity, even for a lager.

But at Christmas, long after after swearing off their products, I saw their Chocolate Orange Porter at the liquor store and thought, "Oh what the hell, it's only a few bucks."

Okay, what you are looking at here might just be the
best beer ever made by Trafalgar. The Mighty Oak
Imperial Oaked Brown Ale has a bit of complexity to
go with an outstanding rich barrel-aged flavour...

To my surprise, I quite liked it and said so in this space. A novelty beer, certainly, remarkably similar to those chocolate oranges you whack on a table during the holiday season, again, a little thin but kinda tasty and fun.  However, for a blog two St Patrick's Days ago, I had happily imbibed another of their products without realizing it. Turns out they also brew all the Black Creek Historical Brewery products you find at the liquor store and among my green offerings on the day was their Irish Potato Stout which as I recall, I found a little bit basic but still flavourful. It reminded me of that ancient Irish ditty sung by wee children of the Emerald Isle that goes something like... ♫ My potatoes bring all the Irish to my yard. And they're like, "That famine was hard. Damn right. That famine was hard..." ♫ Everyone knows that song.

So their history with me has been hit-and-miss, to be frank. But Sarah wasn't kidding about their reinvention. In the past year, they have recruited a couple of young hot shots from the Niagara Brewing College with one goal - to put a fresh shine on this old Edsel. After the OBAs, it's tough to argue the results. The little Oakville brewery that very much polarizes craft beer drinkers is mounting a something of a comeback.

Their Ginger Mead? Yeah, not gonna happen.
As hard as it is to believe, I do have standards...

So let's see what Trafalgar Ales and Meads brought to the winner's table at the Ontario Brewing Awards. They won three golds for Schwartzy (Stout), Pumpkin Ale (Vegetable Beer) and and Schwartzy Xpresso (Flavoured Porter/Stout). I will gladly try either of the Schwartzy beers and plan to nag the brewery until I get them. But the Pumpkin Ale, which apparently was one of the highest mark-scorers of the night, I can't try for one reason. Pumpkin. Sorry but I won't be Satan's minion.

They also won three silvers for Ginger Beer (Flavoured Beer), Raspberry Mint (Fruit Beer) and Ginger Mead (Gluten Free). Again, I applaud them but I can't try any of those for four reasons: ginger, mint, ginger and mead. To put it in "teenage girl", I can't even...

Their Black Creek Historical Brewery's "First Four
Decades Gift Pack" is a hodge-podge of brown ales and
stouts. I'm kinda getting brown ale-d out by these guys

But just a few weeks prior to their big night, I stopped into their brewery and grabbed a bunch of their products. Why? Two reasons. One, they are around the corner from where I work. And two, as dumb as this sounds, because of that Chocolate Orange Porter. It was different, quirky and I liked it. Let's start with the weakest links and move forward. The Black Creek Pale Ale was horrid. No real nose and an after-taste of acidic, metallic nastiness. In fact, it is so out of sorts with its RateBeer score (82 - the highest of any Trafalgar beer) that Beer Bro Stevil St Evil suggested I must have gotten an old-code beer. Perhaps but oh man... freaky bad. I may have to try it again.

Does this Irish Brown Ale look a little, well, light brown
to you? Because it sure as hell does to me. Not a winner.

It does get better... with a couple of exceptions. The Trafalgar Extra Special Bitter was pretty decent. Amber colour, some caramel on the nose, wee hoppiness on the tongue. I would buy it again. The brewery also makes a four-bottle gift-pack called the "First Four Decades" by Black Creek. Let's go through those quickly. The Dray Dark Horse is a brown ale and not a king slayer. Zero head, roasted malts on the nose, thin on the tongue. The Montgomery's Courage is a Specialty Grain amber ale that uses rye malts, giving it a little more kick but again, too lightly carbonated. Slightly peppery on the tongue so marks for that. My favourite here should have been the Riel's Dream Stout, one that relies heavily on Manitoba wheat. Kinda different. While it was fairly decent, I preferred the Rifleman's Ration, again a brown ale but this one had some zest. Nice coffee aroma, rich maltiness on the tongue. I was surprisingly impressed.

You see this tree? Residents of Oakville raised hundreds of
thousands of dollar to spare it the ax. So rather to cut it
down to widen Bronte Road, they built around it. What
can I say? The Town of Oakville takes trees very seriously

Okay, let's wrap this up with a lesser effort and then one that they knocked out of the park. Trafalgar's Irish Style Brown Ale - so thin, so non-carbonated, so nondescript. Find a Rifleman's Ration, instead. Or this next one.

But guys and gals, The Mighty Oak Imperial Oaked Brown Ale? I am not a brown ale fan at all and I also think this brewery might be a little too reliant on this not-very-inspirational style, to be brutally honest. But I seriously wish they had entered this bad boy in the OBAs. This is, frankly, the most complex beer these guys have ever produced. Oak-aged, this has coffee on the nose, as well as more coffee and chocolate on the tongue and was a nice little 7% blast, I will say it's one of the better brown ales I have ever had but let's be mindful, that's a little like saying you have a favourite Kardashian sister.

With some new young Niagara Brewing College
blood running amok in the brewery, perhaps
things are about to turn around for Trafalgar
Brewing. With six OBAs awards, maybe they
have already have turned the corner and we
just weren't paying attention? Wait and see

But the thing is I know the story behind The Mighty Oak. You see it's a tribute to a tree. Yes, a tree. In fact, it's about 255 years old now and lives smack-dab in the middle of Bronte Road near the Halton Regional Offices. I know this because I was a reporter/editor when a Public Works department report came down on widening Bronte Road and suggested cutting down the tree. I mean, an oak tree's lifespan is anywhere between 150 and 250 years - this one was already 245 years old. But no, this is my hometown, Oakville, where every home has at least five trees on its lot (likely a Town ordinance) and when the Region pegged the cost of saving the tree at about $350,000 (by building the road around it), a grassroots campaign to save it begun. Among those involved was Trafalgar Brewery, who created a wheat beer in honour of the tree and gave a portion of that beer's profits to the cause. I think the campaign pulled up shy by about $60,000 but the Town, the Region and the Province stepped up and split the balance. The tree was saved, the Town rejoiced, the villagers sang odes from the rooftops. Yes, it was all very weird to cover this story... on news-print... made from trees.

Okay, to the young Turks from Niagara College now cruising the vats at Trafalgar Brewing. A request, if I may. A strong IPA, followed by an Imperial IPA, followed by an Imperial Stout and finally, a top-notch black lager. Take your time. Next week. The week after. Whatever works for you. And for those out there still bemoaning the fact that Trafalgar won Newcomer of the Year, let me remind you of this. Remember when All-Star pitcher Roger Clemons returned to Major League Baseball at the age of 50? That is proof that if you work hard and dig deep within yourself... you can still lose your spot on the roster to Roger Clemons. Suck it up. Life is short. Okay, guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here!!! Until next time, I remain...