Rib Eye Jack's Beer Fest

My coworker and bro Jay-Dawg (the good looking
one on the left, not the skeevy hippie) had some very
good fortune this year as his birthday happened to
be the same day as Rib Eye Jack's annual Beer Fest

Birthdays are a funny thing. They can fall on a good day or conversely, a bad one. Suffice it to say, if your birthday is December 25th, such as my coworker Marie, it's gonna suck for you all your life. I would suggest the only worse day than that would be January 1st because, well, no one is gonna be in any kind of shape to help you celebrate it.

My birthday is February 14th and lemme tell you, that's a mixed bag at best. I mean, it's kinda my day, right? So I am pretty much the only guy I know who actually get gifts on Valentine's Day. But on the other hand, if I'm with somebody, well, it's probably wise to give her something too. Whoever said, "Giving is better than receiving" was a freak. Receiving rocks, especially when it's beer.

Now my coworker and good buddy, Jason, a.k.a. Jay "like the letter", happens to have his birthday on October 25th. Meh, a pretty nondescript day, I would ordinarily say. Except this year as it happened to fall on the same day as Rib Eye Jack's Ale House's Beer Fest.

The big man on the right is Jason, a Twitter buddy who I finally
met, as well as his wife Susan (in the stripes) and friend Daria.
I knew Jason was a huge Hamilton Tiger Cat fan but what I didn't
know about him was he is the size of the entire Ti-Cat front line!

It's kinda nice when the party is already planned for you, I say. So our little "party of six" descended on the bar, ready to rock out Jay-Dawg's b-day at this four-hour (noon to 4 pm) event. As well as me and Jay, there was his younger brother Jonny and his girlfriend, Alex, both former coworkers of mine, as well as fun-loving couple Steve and Sarah.

Now before I get too far into our beer-driven shenanigans, a quick word about the annual event. It was a mere $25 to get into the door but that money is earmarked for the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation. Thus by drinking and eating excessively, we were actually doing noble charity work at the same time. And I will repeat that until I actually start believing it... so chew on that, Mother Teresa! And secondly, a raise of the five-ounce sample cups to Rib Eye Jack's GM, Steve, who busted his hump getting some outstanding craft brewers to this event. Among them were: Innocente Brewing (Waterloo), 20 Valley Brewing (St. Catharine's), Bayside Brewing (Erieau) Flying Monkeys and Barnstormer breweries (both from Barrie) Muskoka (Bracebridge), Great Lakes (Tarrana... sorry, Toronto) Creemore (Creemore Springs). Mill Street, Amsterdam and Steam Whistle (more Taranna), Big Rock (Calgary), Lake of the Woods (Kenora), Sleeman's and Okanagan Springs (Guelph and Guelph via BC), my home-boys Nickel Brook plus a distillery, mixing up rusty nails using Grant's Scotch and Drambuie. There were food stations scattered throughout - let's face it, this was gonna be a win-win day of pounding beer noble charity work on our behalf.

Andrew Hill's acoustic sets were the
background music of the day. At one point,
Alex was watching, turned to me and said,
"This guy is really good!" Indeed, he was.
Built-for-football Jason took this picture

Courtesy of the fine taxi service provided by Upstairs Amy and her son James, I arrived a little bit ahead of the rest my party of six, all of whom live in the same condo complex, literally five minutes up the road. But once they landed, it was game on. Jay had collected money for their tickets (which I had pre-purchased) and gave it to me when he came in. I instantly handed him back his ticket money because, let's face it, when else are you gonna get a birthday buddy fully fed and half in the bag for $25? I think I got off pretty easy there. (But at the same time, I was drinking too doing noble charity work so don't you judge me!)

But the purpose of events such as this, for me anyway, is to meet as many craft brewery people as possible. I met them all, in fact, so good on me. I'm pretty sure Jay and Jonny did, as well, chatting up everyone while Steve was probably on a first-name-basis with every food server there. If I had to guess, I'd say Steve probably weighs about 170 pounds and I personally saw him eat 50 pounds of food. But it was our ladies, Alex and Sarah, who were impressively out there, finding new discoveries. At one point, they came flying back to our portion of the bar, excited about a new beer from Sleeman's, their Dark Chocolate Lager. So of course, I wandered over to the Sleeman's-Okanagan Springs booth and tried it out. Talking to Chris at the table, he told me the beer would be included in their next seasonal mixed 12-pack.

Okay, Shayn from Innocente Brewery was
a great guy to talk to. As one of their sales
reps, he's the guy going into the LCBOs,
trying to convince them to carry some of
the Waterloo brewery's line. Being that I
consider both Innocente and Toronto's
Rainhard Brewing to be the best new
brewers in the province, it should be a
piece of cake. But it's long, hard work.

The beer tasted pretty good - the chocolate was prominent - but what impressed me even more was that Sleeman's is pushing harder to brew unique beers. They are considered, by most, to be one of the bigger breweries now so they could easily rest on their laurels. But they're now going beyond their safe zone and trying new things. They know their Original Draught and Cream Ale will still sell a crap-ton - they certainly do at Jay and my Beer Store - so I like that they've pushing themselves to the place where they're saying, "Don't rule us out, people." Also any time that any brewery tries to up the game on any lager? Big thumbs up from this guy.

Speaking of cream ales, there was a newcomer there - 20 Valley Brewing, out of St Catharine's. I asked the two nice ladies what they had brought this fine day and it was a cream ale. Not exactly my favourite style but you know I'm gonna try it, right? Actually, it had a nice little tang to it. I would drink this again. Talking to the ladies, I asked about the brewery, which I had to confess I had never heard of. "Oh, we're new," smiled one. "How new?" I asked. "Three weeks old," she answered. Whoa. That's new. Like baby giraffe can't even stand up on its wobbly legs yet new. They have no presence on either Google or RateBeer yet - they're that new. So I complimented them on the beer, which I thought was pretty solid and a guy off to the side with a beard said, "Thank you." Ahhh, there was a brewer in our midst. They lurk in the background, hiding in the shadows... like ninjas! Rib Eye Steve, who knows all and sees all, told me they contract out of a Niagara Falls brewpub called Taps.

Adam from Flying Monkeys showed us the coiled inner
cooling system of their draught dispenser. The brewery,
known for their hoppiness, went a different direction this
time and brought their Mythology Pilsner and Deep
Tracks Nut Brown Ale. Actually, both were pretty good

Okay, back to the beer in a minute but now a brief foray into the party of six shenanigans. At one point, Jay and I wandered out on the patio for a smoke. It was a nice Autumn day and there were probably a dozen of us out there, filling our lungs with carcinogens, Suddenly, Rib Eye Steve came flying out to tell us, "You can't do that!" I realized I was holding my beer and rushed in to give it to Cara, the pretty server (and total sweetheart) manning the greeter's booth. It wasn't until I came back outside that I realized the beer wasn't the issue. The patio is licensed. But I had forgotten that Ontario's stringent smoking laws don't allow you to smoke even on an open-air patio. I had basically run back inside the bar with both my cigarette and beer... and actually handed Cara the wrong thing - my beer. Actually taking a smoke into the restaurant? I didn't break the law. I shattered it. Not sure what Cara would have done with the cigarette, though. One possible defence: "Don't look at me!! Don just handed it to me." Steve looked at me and said slyly, "You should know better!"

These nice ladies working the Barnstormer booth were
Allie and Hannah, who brought their Cirrus Session
IPA (excellent) and their Polar Pumpkin Ale (nope,
not gonna try it even for free) to the Beer Fest that day

What can I say? I'm a fairly typical guy that way. I always know I'm wrong and in trouble. I'm just never certain why. Also, apparently, I'm still the first one to be singled out by the school principal. (Truth be told, if a cop drove by and saw us smokers on the patio, the bar could be hit with a pretty hefty fine.)

I also had the opportunity of introducing my motley crew to Wayne Brown, the co-organizer of the Burlington Beer Festival. (Leading Jonny to say, "Do you know everyone here?" No, dude... just most of them.) Both Jay and Steve, who attended the festival with me on the Saturday, had the opportunity to tell Wayne they hazily remembered it but had a blast. I know that feeling. When I learned Sarah coming, I asked Jay, "Was I still at the Beer Fest when she showed up (later in the evening)?" He wasn't sure himself. Like I said, a hazy night. I honestly wasn't sure if I had phantomed (the act of disappearing into the night without a word to anyone) before her arrival. After about 20 minutes, I finally manned up and asked, "Sarah, did we meet..." She finished my sentence with an amused smile, "... at the Burlington Beer Festival, yes. How are you, Donny?" And gave me a big hug. Okay then, mystery solved.

Yeah, you could go to a bar hoping to meet beautiful women.
Or you can just bring your own. That's probably easier. Here,
Alex and Sarah gesture to the many beers that Jonny spent a
solid 15 minutes scooping up when he heard the breweries
were ready to shut it down at 3:45 pm. That boy moves fast.

Of course, sibling rivalry reared its funny head at one point when Jonny was telling me that he reads this blog on a fairly regular occasion - that occasion probably being that he's on the porcelain throne and has nothing better to do. Jay looked at him and said flatly, "You know what surprises me about that? That you can read now. When did that happen?"

But here's the thing about having Jonny there, besides the fact he's a good friend and a great guy. He calls it like he sees it. Number One: "Wow, the waitresses here are all so pretty." (He may have said "hot.") This would be after meeting Cara, my lovely beer technician Kylie (totally dressed to the nines and pulling off that whole "Damn, girl!" thing), ball of fire Tiffany and 1940s pin-up look-alike Betty. Yup, they sure are. All of them. Tiffers gave me a cool gift for my boy David - Batman symbol lights that shine on the ground when you open the car door. David is gonna freak out. Number Two: "I can't believe all the great craft beer they have on tap. We have to come here more often." (My evil plan worked!)

Upon hearing that the breweries were starting to shut it
down at around 3:45, Jonny flew from table to table,
grabbing as many beer samples as he could for us.  That
tradition is called mine-sweeping and Jonny's good at it

This would be the plus side to bringing four newbies to my bar as Jay has been there a handful of times with me. All of them live within walking distance of the Tin Cup Sports Bar. A nice enough place but I suspect their last new beer was Miller Genuine Draft. You want good beer? You come to Donny's home away from home. And finally, he uttered Number Three towards the end and I think we were all feeling this one. "I bet I've had $70 worth of beer already." Well, I was there 15 minutes earlier so make that $80 for me. This beer slamming whole noble charity thing never stops, does it? We're totally givers.

Perhaps my favourite introduction of the day was when Nickel Brook owner John Romano wandered over to chat. I pointed out Jay and told John, "This gentleman is one of the biggest fans of your Naughty Neighbour (American Pale Ale.) He now drives directly to the brewery to get it." John happily gave Jay the big thumbs up and I think Jay was maybe a little pumped to meet an actual brewery owner. All of which forced Jonny to ask once again, "Seriously, is there anyone here you don't know?" (By the end of the day, nah, I pretty much knew everyone,)

Ooooh, sorry, Jonny, we have a new mine-sweeping
champion. Here we see Shona at her table, taking
the crown. I have cropped some out of the photo but
there were - no joke - 27 full sample cups on the table

Interestingly enough, Big Rock, the Calgary outfit that has had a strong presence in Ontario for years, brought some Lake of the Woods Brewing Sultana Gold, the blonde ale produced by the Kenora brewery. It was a decent enough beer - blonde ales are a little light for me but it was nice. But tempering that judgement was the fact that I know Kenora all too well. Working at the Kenora Daily Miner and News as a sports editor was my first journalism gig out of college. This is what I remember about that pulp-producing town. It was bloody cold, Like "penguins would do nicely here" cold. Temperatures of minus 40C (the exact same number in Fahrenheit for American readers) were not uncommon in the winter. And I mean, during the day. We actually plugged our cars in at night so the engine block wouldn't crack. I remember walking into work once (my plugged-in car wouldn't start) and it was so cold that the breath from my nose froze my mustache. And when I wiped my face, chunks of the mustache fell off. It actually hurt to breathe. Not surprisingly, I lasted maybe a half year before retreating back to Toronto. But I got Beer Bro Glenn a reporter job there and he happily lasted a few years. Apparently, Glenn likes to fish and the Lake of the Woods region is renowned for that sort of not-really-a-sport. Glad they have a new craft brewery now, though.

Mike, the server for Steam Whistle, holds up their
unfiltered pilsner, something only available for
Beer Festivals. And every time I have it, I said to
the server, "You have GOT to bottle this!" One
year, they made it using rye malts. Oh man, good!

Back to the birthday boy, it seems Jay and I have a lot in common. While I worked at a Mississauga Beer Store throughout the 1990s (beginning to end), I left for a few years. But I came back and Jay and I started working part-time on the exact same day in the same store in 2005. Our employee numbers (which he still remembers) were one digit apart. Then we both became full-timers on the same day in 2008. New employee numbers, again one digit apart. At that point, they split us up just as a teacher puts two misbehaving boys on the opposite sides of the classroom. But we had something else in common on Sunday. On Friday, Jay threw out his back. "I had to roll out of bed, it was so bad." He has no idea how. On Saturday, it happened to me as I was loading beer. I went home early and could barely get out of my car when I arrived. So we were a couple of wounded soldiers. Beer Bro Stevil St Evil, who had a history of back woes, offered up a handful of suggestions before realizing, "Oh man, are you gonna missed the Rib Eye Jack's Beer Fest?" Not. A. Chance! If I had to be wheeled in there on a goddamn gurney, I was going. Even though we didn't know each other was hurt, it seems Jay was of like mind. You know what fixes a bad back - four solid hours of charity work drinking countless craft beers. I'm no doctor. But I understand medication. So to Rib Eye Steve and the beautiful working ladies who helped made this happen, thanks for a great Sunday afternoon and a great birthday for Jay! You fixed my back. For four hours, anyway. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

Sour power or dour sour?

As could be expected, the outspoken Scot, Liam
Mckenna, Brewmaster at YellowBelly Brewery
in St John's, Newfoundland, certainly had plenty
to say about the sale of Mill Street Brewing to
Labatt last Friday. Long story short? People
should drink whatever beer they want to drink.

As it turned out - and perhaps I shouldn't have been that surprised - the last blog that looked at the sale of Mill Street Brewing to goliath Labatt generated a bit of interest. Fair enough. It's not every day that a craft brewery gets snapped up by a big brewer in this country. Whereas it seems to be happening weekly in the United States, it's such a rarity north of the 49th Parallel that went it does happens, we all look to the example of Canadian actor Keanu Reeves and let out a collective, "Whoa..." (In actual fact, Keanu was born in Beirut, not Canada. While he was certainly raised here, I'm not entirely sure why we all think he's Canadian. Perhaps it's because being Canadian is such an excellent adventure?)

But (and never tell him I said this) I was stoked when a brewmaster weighed in with me on the big news. That would be my straight-shooting buddy, Liam Mckenna, the brewmaster at YellowBelly Brewery in St. John's, Newfoundland - a walking, talking No Bullshit Zone of a proud Scotsman. And being a craft brewer himself, his response was not entirely what I expected. But then again, it's Liam, man, so you never know what this guy is gonna say. You just grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show.

"I would rather have my local brewery owned and appreciated by another brewery versus a bank or a group of self-serving shareholders. There. I said it." Does he think the new ownership might alter things at Mill Street? Nope. "Mill Street makes a great pint. I expect this will not change."

Mill Street Brewmaster Joel Manning has both a
big fan and an ally in Liam Mckenna, who believes
that this ownership transition will not affect the
quality or integrity of Mill Street's countless beers.

With a big nod to his Toronto counterpart, he continued, "(Mill Street brewmaster) Joel (Manning) is but one of many great brewers to have graced our presence. Our beer lives are that much more rich and diverse for their contribution. Their Tankhouse (Ale) has always been on my Top-10 'go-to' beers ever since my first encounter." (As well as Tankhouse, if I could add their 100th Meridian Amber Organic Lager, Coffee Porter and Vanilla Porter on there as my Mill Street go-to brews. You know, if anyone cares. I mean, it's not like it's my blog or anything. Okay, okay, geez, back to the guy who actually knows something about brewing.)

As for the fact that Mill Street can no longer be considered craft, due to the size of their new ownership, Mckenna has his own views. "Craft is a term that brings us together and drives us apart. I expect it will always be thus. Craft, in my estimation, embodies in (its) ethos of approach to beer that keeps it simple and embraces the local. Ingredients, bands, sports teams, art exhibitions, local development. It is fundamental to the success of the genre."

And while he has no problems with Mill Street's role in the Labatt purchase, he is blunt in the new owner's recent tactics in trying to pass off some of their products - oh, let's say their Shocktop and Goose Island lines - as craft beer.

My Beer Bro, Stevil St Evil, suggested that if Labatt is a
hands-off owner, perhaps their new property should only
make a subliminal reference to their new ownership. So he
Photoshopped their presence, lurking in the background.

"It aggravates me when those who are obviously not 'craft' try to climb on our coat-tails. Let me be clear in saying that I do not believe Mill Street to be (any) part of this issue. Nevertheless, their sale to a multinational reinvigorates certain issues (such as) misrepresentation, obfuscation, lack of ingredient labeling - whatever sticks in your 'crafty' craw."

But he veered back to beer in general at the end. "All beer is good beer. Some is, for all sorts of reasons, better than others. That subjective judgement (that beer drinkers have) is and as always will be just that - subjective. Drink the beer that you like. Think about the reasons you like it. That's all that I or any other reasonable brewer could expect."

Okay, if I'm gonna try to drink sour beer, you can be damn
sure that at least it'll be the ones from my hometown brew
crew at Nickel Brook. On the left, we have the Raspberry
Uber Berliner Weisse, on the right, the regular version of it

In case that's too subtle, what I think Liam is saying is if you like Mill Street, keep drinking Mill Street, ownership be damned. Radical concept - that whole drinking the beer you like thing. I hope it catches on.

As to those who used the internet to dump on both the deal and Mill Street with the harshest of words? "The vitriol is baseless and hurtful in regards to the future of Mill Street, I believe. I have suggested many times to the most vehement that they move out of their mother's basement. It continues to fall on deaf ears," he chuckled. So there you go, Mill Street, let the haters hate. You're not the Jackass Whisperers. Get together in the Mill Street conference room, everyone hoist a pint and yell in unison, "Unexpected plot twist!" Then you just keep on keeping on...

Okay then, as promised, the Sour Beer Challenge! Now you have to understand, sour beers are a very polarizing style. People either love them or hate them. Why? Because they're so damn sour! My friends are split down the middle on sour beer issue.

When I spent a few hour with Nickel Brook brewer
Patrick last March, he walked me through the
entire brewing process. Here he is in a room filled
with barrels of sour beer, a style he believes will be
the one that eventually replaces IPAs as the go-to
style of choice for the discerning craft beer lovers.

When I spent a few hours with Nickel Brook brewer Patrick back in March, he walked me through the brewing process, which is a lot more complicated than you may think. Lemme tell you this for free, drinking them is a helluva lot easier than brewing them. But after discussing every under the moon (hey, when a brewer is trapped with you for three hours, you pick his brain!), I finally asked him what he though the next big beer style would be. Thinking it over, he noted, "Hoppy IPAs are the thing now but I have a feeling that maybe sour beers will be the next big thing." Two other unabashed IPA fans agreed. My favourite beer technician at Rib Eye Jack's Ale House, the lovely Kylie, is a huge IPA lover but she has jumped on the sour bandwagon in a big way. It was love at first sip. Her boss, Rib Eye Jack's GM Steve, who actually takes trips to Vermont to find new single, double and triple IPAs, was a slower sell, admitting that he wasn't a fan at first but has come around and quite enjoys them now.

On the other side of the coin, we have everyone's favourite St John's brewer Liam, who didn't mince words. "Fuck sours! That may be a bit strong. Hah! I have been at tastings where the presenter was all poetic about a particular sour beer. Fast-forward to my notes, saying things like, 'Wet ass, shitty diaper, cheese, vomit, dog breath, horse blanket, mouse shit'. I could go on. I wish I was kidding. Obviously not a fan."

My face when I first tried a sour beer. I'll bet
this picture tells you some new things about me.
For starters, I am an infant and an Asian one, as
well. What the hell did my late father do when
 he was overseas, fighting in the Korean War???

Standing on Liam's side of the fence is Beer Bro Stevil St Evil, who weighed in from his perch in Wellington, New Zealand. "Good luck on the sour beer challenge. I have officially decided I do not like sours. At all. One bit. I did manage to tolerate one last weekend, a French one that had been aged properly so that most of the sourness had been banished. So it wasn't really a sour by sour standards. Sours are evil. The guy I was drinking with, 'British Ian', ranted about sours for a good five minutes, about how they are opposite and wrong for what a beer should be. I agreed" Also a renowned Hophead like myself, Kylie and Steve, he added with a chuckle, "I guess we now know how people react the first time they taste a proper hop-monster of an IPA when their taste-buds aren't ready for it. Shock! Awe! Horror!"

The first time I tried a sour, Kylie lucked out as I took one sip, grimaced, slid it in front of her and said, "All yours." At her urging, when Nickel Brook Brewing came out with a raspberry version of their Uber Berliner Weisse, I gave it another shot, buying a one-litre howler of it (as well as three two-litre growlers of Headstock IPA to wash away the taste, if need be.) It was... tolerable but man, that was sour! As an IPA drinker, I also learned there's a huge difference between bitter and sour. Huge! So finally, in an effort to be as fair as possible to the sour style, I bought a bottle of Nickel Brook Uber Berliner Weisse and the raspberry version to try them side-by-side.

Well, lookee, lookee at what finally landed in
local LCBOs - the Sawdust City Brewing's
outstanding Golden Beach Pale Ale. A real
favourite of my co-worker, Jay Dawg, we'll be
looking at it, as well as their Gateway Kolsch
and Old Woody Alt in the next edition of this.

While I will admit that with each progressive tasting, my absolute stand against them has become a little less adamant, it is probably not a style for me. That said, adding some fruit to the mix - in this case, raspberry - actually makes them slightly more palatable. Like porters and stouts that actually benefit from a little fruit infusion, I think sours are the same. If nothing else, the raspberry distracts you a little from the sourness. So while I may not be quite as emphatic in my distaste as Liam or Stevil, I will say with absolute certainty that I'm firmly on their side of the fence (where we have set up a table and are happily piling into top-notch red ales and IPAs.) Not my cup of tea. Certainly an interesting style, I will say that much. But for now, sours are off the table and by that, I mean the table directly in front of me where beers are placed.

However, I will likely try one again from time to time - spaced apart by months, no doubt - to see if either my taste-buds or opinion change. Like Stevil said, the first time I tried an IPA, I probably thought the top of my head was going to explode. Now I can't get enough of them. Beers are funny that way. It's like those people who say, "You don't need alcohol to have fun." Yeah, well, you don't need shoes to walk across gravel but it's a helluva lot better with shoes, isn't it?

The bat flip heard across an entire country. When Toronto Blue Jay Jose
Bautista hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning of their deciding
game against the Texas Rangers last night, he tossed that bat... LIKE A
BOSS! Texas players may not have been pleased but a nation cheered!!

Okay, coming up next, we have a bunch of goodies, including a look at Sawdust City Brewing's Gateway Kolsch and Old Woody Alt, as well as revisiting their Long Pine IPA, which recently won Brewmasters Choice for Best Beer at the 2015 Golden Tap Awards in Toronto and their outstanding Golden Beach Pale Ale, which wowed both myself and coworker Jay-Dawg at the summer Burlington Beer Festival. And don't forget about Rib Eye's Jack Beer Festival on Sunday, October 25 where they lock the doors from noon to 4 pm and for $25, there are 20 brewers in the house, as well as five separate food stations, prizes and a big-ass 30-ounce souvenir mug. And according to the flyer, there will be live music, courtesy of "Andrew Hill". I'm not sure why they put his name in quotation marks like that but I do suspect the Witness Relocation Plan might be the reason. Call the restaurant at 905-633-9929 but call them now. Tickets are nearly gone! Jay Dawg and I will be there but you can always stand on the other (safer) side of the restaurant. It's a big place. Okay guys and dolls, that's all, that's all and I am outta here!!! Until next time, I remain...

When a giant buys a craft brewery

When Stevil St Evil landed at Donny's Bar and
Grill for a three-day bender Sophisticated Beer
Sampling at the beginning of June, we began
the transition from coffee to beer with Mill
Street Coffee Porter every day. Did it fool our
livers? Perhaps momentarily but not for long

So there I was on Friday, writing a blog about my Nickel Brook buddy, Tony Cox, who had taken me on a Tony Cox-guided tour of the Arts and Science Brewery in Hamilton when suddenly I got a text... from Tony Cox.

"Labatt just bought Mill Street," the text read. My response was immediate. "You are shitting me!" Nope, he texted, "John (Romano, owner of Nickel Brook Brewing) just told me." Quickly, I went online and yes, several media outlets were reporting the sale.

The response on Twitter and in the comments section of numerous online stories was, as can be expected, overwhelmingly negative with comments along the lines of "I have just drank my last Mill Street product" and countless references to "selling out." The more scathing, vitriolic comments amused me as always - it's interesting how insanely brave and viciously nasty some people are when they are hiding behind such online names as Bob-123. But man, they are funny in their outrage. I suspect that's not the writers' intent but hey, we get our laughs where we can, right?

Now before I continue, I have two big disclaimers to make here. Number one, I am a Beer Store employee and as such, Labatt shells out 49% of my weekly pay-cheque. And number two, before I started this blog in June 2013, immersing fully myself into the wonderful world of craft beers (well, all beers really), I had been a dedicated Labatt Blue drinker for decades. I'm not ashamed of that in the least because hey, you can't change the past.

When Labatt and Mill Street made the big announcement on Friday, the
boys were front and centre. From left, Mill Street CEO Irvine Weitzman,
Labatt President Jan Craps, Mill Street Brewmaster Joel Manning and
Mill Street co-founder Steve Abrams.  So what changes at Mill Street?

Indeed, in all honestly, there was huge pieces of my past that are hazy at best due to Blue. As the Germans are wont to say, "C'est la vie!" (No? Wrong people? Dammit, Jim, I'm a beer drinker, not a U.N. translator!) Now given these disclaimers, my first thought was, "Is Labatt trying to recoup some of my lost pay-cheque, previously spent on Blue by buying up a craft brewer I have been known to frequent on occasion?" Let's not rule that out as a possibility, people. But for the sake of quasi-accuracy, let's put that way, way down Labatt's Purchase Requirement List somewhere near the bottom.

I guess, yes, I can pour a Labatt Blue in this Mill
Street Brewing glass now and that is exactly what's
in there. The bottle on the left, however, is from the
early-1990s when Labatt put Blue into funky painted
label bottles and called it Pilsener, its original name.
So did I drink that Blue? Damn straight. Cost me $2.

So as I do work (depending on your definition of "work") for the Beer Store, you are welcome to take everything I say here with a grain of salt. Indeed, take it with all of Colonel Sanders "11 secret herbs and spices" for that matter. I write these as an off-hours Beer Geek, nothing more. And frankly, it's usually under the influence of some excellent (and sometimes less so) craft beers. But I also have some decades of journalism under my belt as both a reporter and editor. As such, I am fluent in Corporate Speak, having been piled under literally thousands of PR-heavy corporate releases back in the days, paper that would have been better and more accurately used in a washroom. So that's what I'm using today - those dubious skills - as I pour through what all the parties in this Mill Street/Labatt transaction had to say.

(Quick aside, political press releases were even worse than corporate ones. One time, I was on the phone with a political party treasurer and asked him about the party's deficit as outlined in a release. He stopped me cold. "We don't call it that," he stated flatly. Okay then, I asked, what do you call it? Hand to heart, he replied, "We call it a negative-surplus." There was a 40-second pause while I covered my phone to regain my composure as I had a giggle fit.)

There has been perhaps no greater comedic portrayal
of a PR flack than Aaron Eckhart's turn as a lobbyist
for the giant tobacco industry in the hilarious movie,
Thank You For Smoking. If you haven't seen this
movie, do so. It's one of the funniest flicks ever...

So let's see what the main players had to say during Friday's big announcement and then I'll translate it for us all into Regular-Speak with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

First on deck is Labatt President Jan Craps who said, "Our partnership and investment will accelerate its growth in one of the most dynamic beer segments..." Translation: "Mainstream beer growth is stagnant. Craft beer growth is growing. We want some of that tasty pie." He continued, "...while fully preserving Mill Street's creative character and pioneering spirit." Translation: "If we could make beer like this, we would. We can't so the next best thing is buying someone who can. We may just let them do their thing so long as, well, we keep eating pie."

Next up is Mill Street CEO Irvine Weitzman who said, "Our partnership with Labatt is a natural evolution in our growth..." Translation: "You should have seen the Brinks trucks backed on my front yard this morning. It was sick." He continued, "... that will allow more Canadians to enjoy our beer and secure the legacy of our brands..." Translation: "I am so stinkin' rich right now." And finally, ".. by allowing us to remain focused on the authentic characteristics that have made Mill Street what it is today."

Is it just me or does this product look a lot
better in that glass than the Blue did? This
is actually a very strong IPA from Mill
Street Brewing, which is quite new for me.
They take their Tankhouse Ale and then
dry-hop the hell out of it. The result? Some
breadiness and citrus on the nose, some
caramel on the tongue. The Cascade and
Nugget hops really give this 7.5%, 80 IBU
(international bitterness units) beer some
real pop. This is definitely one of their best
from an outfit not known for their IPAs...

Translation: "Have you ever heard of the Hawaiian island called Molokai? It's called Irvine Island now. Just bought it, bitches."

And finally, there's Mill Street's innovative and acclaimed Brewmaster Joel Manning, who gained huge with Labatt's $10 million investment into brewery improvements. "This investment in a state-of-the-art brewhouse that Mill Street will run on a stand-alone basis positions us to reach the very top of our craft." Translation: "I asked for a Ferrari. Seriously, is that so hard? I mean, a $10 million new brewing play-toy doesn't suck so I don't want to get all First World Problems here. But I'd be the only brewmaster with one. I could drive it to our Secret Craft Brewmaster Meetings and be all, check out my sweet ride, peasants!"

So back to reality, what does this purchase announcement mean? At its very core, it means exactly this - Mill Street just piggybacked onto a damn sweet distribution system, one that will now take them across the country and especially into the tough-to-crack Quebec market. Just last blog, I mentioned how Labatt bought up Lakeport only to shut them down a couple of years later. I don't see that happening here. Why? Lakeport brewed discount beer. Labatt could shut them down because they can easily do that in-house, too. I honestly don't believe that Labatt can brew Mill Street beers so why not just own them and let them do that, much like Molson's did quite some time ago with Creemore Springs?

This may just be the best lager I have ever had.
Why? It has tons of flavour, especially for a
lager. Regardless of who claims ownership to
it, I will continue to buy this tasty beverage.

Now for the Bob-123's out there who claim that Creemore Springs is now simply a Molson's product, chock full of preservatives that now enables them to travel coast-to-coast (I have read this more than a few times as there are many Bob-123s out there), I say simply this. You're wrong. Creemore Springs beers still have a shelf-life best measured in weeks, not months. That's certainly one criteria of a craft beer. If all of a sudden, Mill Street has a shelf-life equal to a human pregnancy, I will be the first to let you know.

While I don't personally feel it, I do, at least, understand the outrage from the craft beer purists, particularly those downtown Toronto types fiercely loyal to Mill Street. I have been listening to potential Mill Street sale rumours to either Labatt or Molson's for at least two years now. In fact, I was told by a big beer rep a few months ago that this had already happened quite some time ago and the two parties were just keeping it hush-hush. Negotiations? Probably. A done deal? Nah, not until Friday. In fact, perhaps Mill Street was playing the belle of the ball and entertaining offers from both sides as slick as a coy southern debutante. Who knows? Business transactions are seldom laid out for public consumption.

Are we now the biggest all natural organic brewery in
Canada? Oh yeah, think we are! Are we now claiming
bragging rights? Oh yeah, think we are. Hey, it's cold
here in a Canadian Winter! Throw us a frikkin' bone!

But I will leave the final word to Beau's All Natural Brewing in the tiny farming community of Vankleek Hill. Ontario. They have long waited for this day. Why? Allow me to explain. Every two weeks, we get a delivery from the Beer Store warehouse of just craft beers. (Some craft breweries do deliver directly to us.) While we will get three cases or less of other Mill Street products (as well as other craft products), we consistently get two full rows of Mill Street Organic Lager. That's 96 six-packs. It sells that well. According to our Mill Street rep, it outsells their other products combined on a three-to-one basis. The only product that comes close is Muskoka Brewing's Mad Tom IPA - we order six to nine cases - and that's solely because I work there. But back to Beau's, who produce nothing but organic beer. So now that the Organic Lager is officially owned by Labatt, it no longer qualifies any Mill Street product as craft.

By default, these Beau's All Natural Brewing Lug Tread
Lagered Ale eight-packs just became the largest-selling
organic craft beers at my Beer Store. Hey, it's tasty too!

By legal definition only, I mean, though certainly not by taste. It's still craft to me.

But after the news hit, Beau's quickly pumped out their own press release from Steve Beauchesne, brewery co-founder at Beau's. "We are happy to find out that we are now number one - although because all of our beer is certified organic, I would have guessed we already were. This news makes it official."
Translation: "We're number one! We're number one! What, bro? Come at me!"
"Like Mill Street, Beau's is also gearing up for increases sales on the heels of this announcement with the phone at the Vankleek Hill brewery ringing off the hook this morning with anxious new customers."
Translation: "We can afford a second and maybe even a third phone-line now!"
And Beauchesne ended it in the cheekiest possible way. "Interested Mill Street employees are welcome to send their resumes to: careers@beaus.ca."

Wellington Brewing in Guelph celebrated their 30th
anniversary a couple of weekends back. But how many of
their present day employees would remember this 4.5
litre beer-in-a-box they produced in 1987? Not many...

Translation: "Bazinga! MUAH HA HA HA HA!!!"

Now since it was announced at pretty much the same time, the purchase of SAB-Miller by Anheuser-Busch InBev down in the United States (still pending anti-trust review) for $104 billion makes our Labatt-Mill Street announcement kinda seem like small potatoes. SAB-Miller employees, feel free to crap your pants starting... *looks at watch* now. Mill Street employees, you can continue to work Depends-free unless you like the way they fill out your butt in pants. I suspect this is a hands-off purchase. Maybe yes, maybe no - we'll know soon. When it comes to business deals, I have no sense of proportion. That personality flaw might be a big deal. Or a small one. I'm not sure.

Next up is the sour beer challenge whereby I try yet again to see if I can acquire a taste for these beers. Not much success thus far. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

The Arts and Science behind brewing

Just a man and one humongous pile of Collective Art's Rhyme
and Reason Extra Pale Ale. My trusty tour guide, Tony, takes
a pause during the tour of the new Arts and Science Brewery
in the Hamilton port yards. Okay, this place is frikkin huge!

If my buddy Tony Cox ever decides to hang it up in the craft beer brewing world, he's a lock for a new career. This dude is one world-class, kick-ass tour guide.

Way back on March 23, 2014, Tony gave me the nickle tour (you'll see what I did there in a few words) of the Burlington Nickel Brook brewery. (And there it is - kind of a let-down, yes?) There is little need for me to look up the date. It was my son David's birthday, we were there to get growler(s) refilled and the minute David declared to him it was his big day (as my boy would do), Tony smiled and asked him, "Would you like a tour?" When David responded enthusiastically, off we went. I had never been in the back of the brewery so it was kind of fun for me, too, since this has been my home-town brew crew since I first met owner John the prior December to buy some Bolshevik Bastard Imperial Stout for blog purposes - my first visit there. I remember it like it was yesterday. 'Twas a chilly Saturday morning. No snow but the heat was on in the car. Bought my first growler of stout from a man claiming to be the brewery owner. Turns out he was...

Ladies, please take note. I have been married twice and cannot tell you either of my anniversary dates but I do remember to the exact date when Tony took me and David on a brewery tour. To my credit, I knew the anniversary dates then but that's still pretty bad on my end. To your friends, I would be "that guy." Your friends would be all, "Stay away from that guy." I hate interfering friends but they are right this time. I still hate them, mind you... Also, that bitch Crystal wears too much make-up unless she's planning on fighting The Batman. Just sayin'...

How magic are the brewing vats at Arts and
Science Brewing? Well, you can literally see the
electricity around the lower half while the magic
swirls around the upper half. Or maybe that's
just the reflection of my flash and ceiling lights...

Okay, back to Tour Guide Tony, who may be the only bigger Batman fan than me and you will, of course, take note of how I seamlessly I transitioned there using the Dark Knight. Despite the fact that he and his lovely wife, Charis, don't have kids (they opted for cats which are just as finicky as kids but cheaper and far less sticky), he knows how to speak their language as he walked David through the purpose of all the gleaming silver equipment, eliciting "Wow, that's so cool!" from my lad numerous times throughout the process. Like his Dad, he's easily distracted by shiny objects. So Tony knows how to tour. And it was only a matter of time before I knew I'd get the call to The Bigs - the grand tour of the Arts and Science Brewing, a collaborative brewery shared by Nickel Brook and Collective Arts Brewing at 201 Burlington Street East in Hamilton.

The building, formerly housed by Lakeport Brewery, is still a work in progress. Tony estimates it'll be a year before everything is hooked up and all the bugs are ironed out. However, a good number of the kettles, tuns and vats they purchased when Sleeman's shut down its Maritime brewery a while back are, in fact, up and brewing. In fact, while I thought the place was huge, nearly every single employee I expressed that very thought to, all looked around and shrugged, "Nah, it's not that big." Really? My beloved Nickel Brook is Harry Potter's closet under the stairs compared to this place. But what was even more impressive was the significant number of former Lakeport employees Tony either introduced me to (See? That's some solid guide work!) or pointed out.

While of course Nickel Brook has its retail outlet in the
Burlington brewery, Collective Arts finally gets its own
outlet at the Arts and Science Brewery. I've already
clocked it out. While Nickel Brook is five minutes away,
this Collective Arts retail is only 17 minutes from me.

"What I really like," Tony noted, "is that when they tell stories about the Lakeport days, all the memories are happy ones. It was like they were a big family." (Okay, maybe not my family as we put the fun in dysfunctional...) When beer giant Labatt bought Lakeport in 2007, things were peachy-keen for a while. Less than three years later, they shut the plant down, putting 150 employees out of work. That a healthy handful of them landed back in the Arts and Sciences brewery is actually a pretty decent feel-good story. I honestly had no idea there were this many former Lakeporters there until Tony told me. Gave me the warm and fuzzies. Granted, so too did the free pizza we enjoyed up in the lunch room so my warm and fuzzy button is relatively easy to push.

As the grand tour ended, Tony and I both made good use of the Collective Arts retail store as he grabbed a six of their Saints of Circumstance Blonde Ale for Charis (the citrus-infused ale also preferred by my coworker, Jay Dawg), a six of their State of Mind Session IPA for himself while I jumped on 12 of their Ransack The Universe IPA - six for myself and six slated for my homeys, Kylie and Steve, at Rib Eye Jack's Ale House in Burlington.

Well, that's a bitter-sweet sight. The end
of a glass of Nickel Brook's Malevolent
Imperial Black IPA on the bar-top at Rib
Eye Jack's Ale House. Stevil St Evil loves
this picture because it's a replica of the
ugly lamp that the father in the movie, A
Christmas Story, won (which was then
"accidentally" broken by his wife) and I
love it because the foam lacing on the glass
means two things. The glass is very clean
and the beer is very well-made to do that.
And Tiffany, one of my all-time favourite
waitresses, pulls the nylons down to the
lamps' sexy boots every time she walks by.

It was actually Beer Bro Glenn who alerted me to Ransack - I had never heard of it but then again, now I've had Ransack The Universe and Glenn hasn't. Not rubbing it in (I so am). It's what Beer Bros do - taunt each other, rub their noses in our every small triumphs - it's a dude thing.

Okay, after the brewery, Tony and I popped over to Stonewalls, a great pub in Hamilton that's basically around the corner from his place where we happily imbibed some Nickel Brook Naughty Neighbour American Pale Ales on tap. After the second, the question of whether we should have a third came up. "Oh why not?" Tony said. "It's only 4.7%." When I pointed out it was actually 4.9%, Tony did a bit of a facepalm and said plaintively, "Work with me here, Donny!" But here's an interesting little insight into Tony that showed up when the bill arrived. Turns out he gets Stonewalls Points with every bill which he can use to buy their swag. Every dollar equals one Stonewalls point. So how many does he have? Charis, if you're reading this, he only has 11 points. If Charis is not reading this and just you not-Charis people are, multiple that by 100. But if Charis inadvertently read that, I will note that if Rib Eye Jack's did this reward system, my points would be twice as high. And I'm just talkin' the last month. So that Tony guy ain't so bad.

Okay, so Tony and Donny's Excellent Adventure ended with a really great pale ale so why don't we keep that ball rolling with more pale ales? I think I have a few in the arsenal.

Come to the Dark Side, mainstream
drinkers. We have pale ales for you all.
Actually, Rainhard is consistently making
top-notch beers so this is a brewery that
you wanna keep an eye on. Cheers, boys!

Why not start with the Rainhard Brewing (Toronto) Armed 'N' Citra Pale Ale. Okey-dokey, this beer was donated to the Donny's Bar and Grill Benevolent Beer Fund by Rib Eye Jack's GM Steve one sunny day. Why? He's just a giving dude. Okay, these Rainhard guys are a brewery to watch because this beer was almost as good as the Great Lake Brewery's Karma Citra which is an IPA. This 5.4% single-hop beer has a kick that many IPAs do not. Citrus and light fruits on the nose, tons of citrus on the tongue, this is definitely one of those beer you would give a mainstream drinker to see to you could lure him/her to "the Dark Side." (Goldmember voice: Luke, I am your fahzah.)

Okay, had a Black Oak Pale Ale recently and this is a malt-driven, more traditional British style. Pale ales have only started getting hoppy for the last few years. Keep in mind this brewery started in Oakville in a strip-mall off Iroquois Shore Road in 1999 by owner Ken Wood. The fact that he opened a brewery around the corner from where I grew up is purely a coincidence. I think. At the time, they were just trying to offer an alternative to Molson's and Labatt back in those days with this and their Nut Brown Ale. They definitely succeeded with this pale ale which, at the time, was a quite step up from the commercial norm. Indeed, with its light citrus aroma and malty breadiness, it collected seven medals between the Ontario and Canadian Brewing Awards between 2007 and 2013 in the British style category.

This is Bellwood Brewing's Jutsu Pale
Ale but what version? They have made
four different ones and the little label
on the back only identified it as Jutsu

Another gift from Rib Eye Steve from a Toronto outfit that apparently can brew no wrong was Bellwood Brewery's Jutsu Pale Ale. When asked about it, Beer Professor Steve told me the brewery had written a blog about it and that I should check that out. Crossing my fingers and hoping there would be no Math, I did just that and discovered there have been four versions of this beer. After reading the hop-malt-yeast profile of each version, as described by them, I will now blindfold myself, throw a dart at the board and guess that I had Version 3, which uses Citra and Galaxy hops. (To be honest, I'd be screwed if I had to figure this out based solely on the malt-yeast profile.) Powerful citrus on the nose, light fruits on the tongue with some remarkable staying power. And Bellwoods isn't stopping there. "You'll probably see a few more iterations (of Jutsu) before we pick a winner from the six or seven that we ultimately make." Clearly, they like to employ the Mad Scientist approach to brewing. Regardless of which version I had, it was definitely a winner.

Well now, this was a pleasant surprise from beer
technician Kylie as she presented me with a 1L
howler of Stone City's Single Handed Galaxy Pale
Ale, as well as a bottle of their 100 Pound Wet
Hop IPA after a recent beer run to Kingston. 

When my favourite beer technician Kylie did a Beer Run to Kingston, she popped into Stone City Ales, which opened in July 2014. So how's this relative newbie, created under the leadership of Ron Shore and his business partners, Eric and Rebecca Dinelle, doing thus far? Uhhh, pretty damn good, actually, as they took silver and bronze at the 2015 Ontario Brewing Awards in the West Coast IPA category with their Green Goddess Imperial IPA and Uncharted IPA. Nine months into their existence and they're winning awards. So back in March, they decided to create a single hop pale ale, using the Azacca hop. It sold out as fast as they could make it. Their most recent venture, presented to me by Kylie, was their Single Handed Galaxy Pale Ale, again just using the one hop. At 5.6% and 60 IBUs (international bitterness units), this one packed a nice citrus smell with a similar resonance on the tongue. (Galaxy hops closest cousins would be Citra and Amarillo.) Now the day Kylie presented it to me was the same day our Steam Whistle driver dropped a 10-pack can van. Not wishing to take the damaged goods back to HQ, he simply handed them to me and said to divvy them up among yourselves. So I grabbed a few and delivered them to Kylie, figuring everyone needs guest beers.

Holy crap! Another big winner from Collective Arts!
The Ransack The Universe IPA combines tropical
fruit with citrus for a mouth-puckering good treat!

Now to the uninitiated, "guest beers" serve two purposes. 1) Most of my guests have little interest in my top-shelf craft beer and 2) They keep my guests the hell away from my top-shelf craft beers. I love my guests... but not that much.

Now unfortunately as I was passing Kylie this bag of guest beers, Rib Eye Jack's regular Steve was gifting her with some of Wisconsin's finest craft beers, having just returned from the state. Looking at my beers, he howled, "I think she's had that one, Donny!" Even knowing he is right, I can't help but feel the Steve-To-Don Ratio in my life is decidedly lop-sided against me. That said, Kylie's new-found visitors' beer is a far cry above my current bottom-shelf guest beer - Pabst's Blue Ribbon. Just so you know, Pabst won that blue ribbon in 1893 after being voted "America's Best" at the World's Columbia Exposition in Chicago. That'll give you an idea of how badly life sucked in 1893. To be brutally honest, the rushed infusion of Ransack The Universe IPA to Rib Eye Jack's the day after The Steam Whistle Debacle is no coincidence.

I'm putting this in for Tony Cox. When Stevil St Evil
moved into his new digs in Wellington, New Zealand last
week, this was his address marker! Of course, I won't
say the street name because... reasons. (Interpol, for one.)

Which, of course, brings us to that very same Ransack The Universe. (Man, my subject transitions are on today!) Well certainly similar in style to Nickel Brook's Headstock IPA, this IPA uses Galaxy hops from Myrtleford, Australia and Mosaic hops from Yakima, Washington to give it a citrus and tropical fruit nose with a tweak of pine on the tongue. I predict Glenn will enjoy this immensely when he next crash-lands at Donny's Bar and Grill. (That crash-landing part usually ends up being literal.)

Okay, that's a wrap on today's edition but I'll be back in a day or two to look at the news that stunned the Ontario craft beer world on Friday - Labatt buying up Mill Street Brewery. What will this mean for the craft pioneer, what will this mean for the brewing giant and what was Beau's All-Natural Brewing's cheeky response to the news? But remember, kids, alcohol is never the answer. Well, unless someone asks, "What are you doing this weekend?" Don't feel guilty - it's been estimated that .7 per cent of the world's population is drunk at any given moment. That means 49 million people are drunk right now. In unrelated news, the population of Australia is about 24 million, half of that. Not pointing fingers, just sayin'... But guys and dolls, that's it, that all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...