Lake of Bays vacates Albertan shelves

Darren Smith, owner of Lake of Bays Brewing in Baysville,
Ontario illustrates that brewing vats are often used as a
personal jacuzzi by owners when the brewers go home. Not
even 30 years old, Smith posed for this shot in a 2011 Great
Canadian Beer Blog story on his then-brand new brewery.

Go East, Young Brewers...

With all due respect to Horace Greeley, who took a previously-published 14-year-old phrase, shortening and refashioning it for an 1865 New York Tribune editorial entitled "Go West, Young Man", these days, things tend to be coming back east. Especially if you're an Ontario craft brewer. It seems the "New West Partnership" (NWP) has claimed another eastern victim.

Okay, quick recap. Back in 2010, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia created a pact whereby they would lower trade barriers between the provinces. Hey, good for them and all that, right? That was until the Alberta government released its 2015 October budget and in it was a punitive tax for craft brewers outside those three western provinces. In fact, for a six-pack, Ontario brewers were taxed $1.50 more than the NWP-inclusive craft brewers.

Muskoka Brewing was the first to yank their products from Alberta shelves, realizing that a pact meant to boost those province's economies was actually incredibly unfair and in essence, exclusionary to Ontario brewers.

Don't let the sweet smell of this hold you back. There is none of that
on the tongue. In fact, this is, so far, the most interesting lager I've
had so far in 2016. Lake of Bays is constantly coming up with their
own specialty beers that are so incredibly unique. Great job, guys!

Muskoka was quickly followed by Steam Whistle, which subsequently filed an injunction against the tax. And then there were three. As of last week, Lake of Bays Brewing, out of Baysville, Ontario, yanked their products off Albertan shelves.

In a carefully-drafted media release, likely penned by owner Darren Smith, Lake of Bays said, "As a mid-sized craft brewery located outside of the so-called New West Partnership, our tax rate on beer sold within Alberta jumped overnight from between 10 and 20 cents per litre to $1.25 per litre" (34 ounces) when the Alberta budget came down. The brewery went on to say they had no advance warning of the out-of-province tax hike, "the effect of which was an immediate spike in the price of our beer to Alberta wholesale customers and consumers." Since they had just hired additional sale reps to manage "the significant sales growth" in the province, "we attempted to soldier on for a few more months but found the added tax burden was simply too much to bear."

Made with real Ontario maple syrup, this 7% Belgian Blonde
Ale is definitely a dessert sipper. A special occasion beer,
it's maple on the nose, more so and nuttiness on the tongue...

Well, Alberta, I'm not sure what to say. I'm glad you've reduced the inter-provincial trade barriers between your two neighbours. Wicked awesome. Polite golf applause. I sincerely hope it makes up for the fact you've totally boned over your province's craft beer drinkers. Proving once and for all that for every positive action, there is an equal and opposite government reaction. (Red Foreman moment: Dumb-asses!)

So, of course, while I feel badly for Albertan drinkers because I want everyone to enjoy Ontario's craft beers, let's take a look at some recent Lake of Bays specialty beers and see what we get to enjoy here. I've had a bottle of their Stone Hammer Oak Aged Amber Lager in the back of my fridge for a while. The problem with somehow being shunted to the back of my fridge is similar to being at the back of a plane. It takes a while before you're going anywhere. But quite by coincidence, the day before Lake of Bays made their announcement, I saw it back there and decided to crack this bad boy open.

Often overlooked due to my penchant for super
hoppy IPAs, Lake of Bays' 10 Point IPA is a
good example of a hybrid North American and
British-style IPA. It doesn't go all west coast on
your taste buds but there is some tangy to this

I'm glad I did. I got a whiff of sweetness on the nose that spooked me a little at first. I mean, sweet as not how you want any lager tasting. On the first sip, that concern was gone as this beautifully-coloured 6.5% beer was both fruity and tangy on the tongue. There was no initial nod to the oak until the aftertaste when I got it ever-so-slightly. It's always fun seeing what magic a brewery can perform with a Plain Jane lager. This was "sawing a woman in half" level of magic. Exceptional lager.

Tim, our Lake of Bays sale rep, popped into my Beer Store recently. Always great to see the guy, Tim had just come from a Mississauga restaurant where he was dropping off two entries to the Canadian Brewing Awards - their Wild North Midnight Bock and Spring Maple Belgian Blonde Ale. I asked him why they hadn't included the Stone Hammer in contention and while he wasn't certain (my guess is there was none left to enter), he did happen to have an extra bottle of their annual Spring Maple Belgian Blonde Ale handy for me. "My favourite thing about this beer," Tim said, pointing to the back label where it noted it was made in partnership with the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers' Association, "is that there are no artificial flavours. That's real maple syrup being used in this." If you don't think that makes a difference, keep in mind we live in a world where lemonade is made with artificial flavours and yet furniture polish is made with "real lemons." That's messed up.

This is why it's important to go to Beer Festivals.
You never know when the owner himself might be
pouring you a pint of their brew. Cheers, Darren!

Okay, right off the top, this is a sipper and a sharer. Nothing but maple syrup on the nose, at 7%, this combines the syrup with caramel and some nuttiness on the taste. An excellent dessert and special occasion beer. But share it. With this much sweetness, you may not want to drink it by yourself. Although I did. Because I'm such a damn trooper.

I'm not sure I've ever reviewed their 10-Point IPA. To those who don't hunt (which includes me so I'm not sure how I know this), I believe 10 points refers to the amount of tips on a buck's antlers. If I'm wrong, hey, shoot me. (Okay, in retrospect, that probably wasn't the wisest thing to say to hunters.) At 6% and a very low 45 IBU (international bitterness units), this combines west-coast sensibilities with some proper British mildness. You get both grapefruit and roasted malts on the nose while on the tongue, a little bit of both citrus and toffee. A true hybrid North American-British IPA, this one is a good starter for someone looking to step up from pale ales. Not a hop bomb by any stretch, I do think it's a perfect gateway beer to those big-ass IPAs. Try this first and then maybe step up the rankings to the heavyweight hop division. 

We just added this pale ale to my Beer Store roster so of
course, it's getting a taste from me. All new products must
be personally inspected by me. It's a rule of the workplace.

In much the same vein was the McAuslan Brewing (Montreal) St Ambroise Pale Ale. It boasts a nifty 35 IBUs so it's smack-dab in the middle of malty and hoppy. It does incorporate Cascade, Williamette, Golding and Hallertau hops into the mix, has a beautiful amber colour and still has that bready malt on the nose. Lightly fruity on the tongue, it does have a decent linger time. Just 5%, we have us a decent session beer that is also a step up from the milder British style. Lots of brewers finding that balance these days. That's a good thing because given my preference for hugely-hopped, high-alcohol beers, it was beginning to look like building a heavily-harnessed zip-line from my couch to my fridge was going to be my best option for continued survival.

Okay, next up we'll look at some of the winners from Thursday's Ontario Brewing Awards as over 600 entries flooded in this year, representing a 50% jump over last year and a 65% jump in brewers.

I saw this on the inside of my Smashbomb
Atomic IPA cap. It's like Flying Monkeys
Brewing is looking through my back door.

That's almost half as many as entered last year's Canadian Brewing Award where 1,235 beers bellied up to the bar.

To contrast this year to previous ones, in 2015, the OBAs saw 400 entries from 68 brewers while the previous year, just 251 entries came from 46 brewers. As expected, there were a lot of new names in this year's entries as craft breweries continue to open in this province, as well as a fair number of new categories that I don't recall from previous years.

Roger Mittag, the OBA organizer and one of the judges, marvelled in a media release prior to the April 28th event, "It seems like such a long time ago that we started the Ontario Brewing Awards. It was easy back then - ask for submissions, collect the beers and do the judging in one night. Wow, how things have changed!"

A lot of the winners are very familiar to me, both the beers and the breweries, so we'll take a look at that, as well as the increased categories, one of which had no winners. And if you entered but didn't win, please remember this. I have a buddy who was recently rejected by a woman who told him, "You deserve better than me." He actually thought that was kinda nice. I didn't have the heart to tell him it's also another way of saying, "Hey, I'd rather insult myself than date you!" How should help you if your beer didn't win? It shouldn't. But aren't you glad you're not him... you still have beer. That's a win in my books. Okay, guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time when we look at the OBAs, I remain...

A different Rib Eye Jack's Beer Fest

I put a lot of pressure on Chris from Sleemans. He was
my first pour of the day with the Unibroue Ephemere
Bluet (blueberry) Wheat. Chris told me that drinkers
could expect the wheat on bar taps within two weeks.

It's not easy being Steve, the general manager of Rib Eye Jack's Ale House in Burlington. Oh, never mind the burden of responsibility being the boss over one of the best best crews I've ever known (and I have known many over the years.) Never mind the long hours and far too infrequent days off that come with responsibility. Never mind being a fan of the last-place Toronto Maple Leafs as I share that burden, too, and it's ridiculously easy being me.

No, it was April 24th, a day that would truly put Steve's patience to the test. He was our designated driver for the Streetsville Rib Eye Jack's Beer Fest. In reality, it's a 25 minute drive from Burlington. So what's the big deal, you may ask? Well, Steve was responsible for safely delivering and returning back with me (that's really bad), coworker Jay-Dawg (not as bad), sweetheart Cara (the nice one) and our buddy Scott (on par with me for being a royal pain in the ass) to the Streetsville Rib Eye Jack's for their Beer Fest that day. Just like Burlington's version last October, the day was also for a great cause with all proceeds going to the Trillium Health Partners Foundation at the Credit Valley Hospital. Once again, we would find ourselves happily sampling beers (in a sophisticated manner, of course... *cough*) for a noble charitable cause.

You want to put a smile on my and Jay-Dawg's
face? Step One: Be James from Great Lakes
Brewing. Step Two: Bring Octopus Wants To Fight
IPA. Step Three: Actually, that's pretty much it.

So anyway, we made it there in one piece but I have to say it was a familiar ride. Whereas the others were wondering where the hell we were, I knew these streets well. At first, I wasn't sure why. I mean, way outside my home turf. Then it dawned on me as I looked at the street that there is or used to be a Keg Steakhouse down the same street. I dated a Mississauga woman (wonderful lady) about eight or nine years ago and that Keg was our place for birthdays, anniversaries, whatever. Ahh, memories. Okay, who cares? Back to the beer fest. As it turned out, Steve had also managed this Rib Eye Jack's some time ago and as such, he was getting lots of hugs from the sweet young wait staff who remembered him fondly. (Please note, I didn't insert "Really?" there. I want full marks for that.) I mulled over opening my arms wide and saying to them, "I, too, know Steve!" in hopes of getting a warm hug but the high-risk odds of getting repeatedly shot down would have put a damper on my charitable efforts.

So let's turn our attention to the real star of this particular show. That would be Caitlin VanBallegooie, the general manager of the Streetsville Rib Eye Jack's, who pulled this awesome bash all together. Wanna know how to pronounce her last name? Yeah, me too, homey. Not even gonna try.

So how's my man Shayn doing at Niagara Brewing
College? So far, so good, he assured me. Remember
man, when you brew your first IPA, I have about
150 cheesy hop-pun names you can choose from... 

So keeping in mind that this is a charity event and the breweries not only donate their people but also their beer, who did Caitlin entice to attend? Oh, a few... like Great Lakes, Waterloo, Nickel Brook, Collective Arts, Innocente, Sleeman, Barnstormer, Mill Street, (my Scottish favourite) Innis and Gunn, Flying Monkeys, Big Rock, Side Launch, Amsterdam, Muskoka, Creemore, Central City's Red Racer, as well as cider houses Pommies and Brickworks. On top of that was so much tasty food, I could barely keep count. But I did. Turns out I can eat 17 grilled chicken sliders in one afternoon plus far too many desserts to count. Why? Because I'm a guy and it's free food. But also for charity. I'm all about charity. Ask anyone, "What's Donny all about?" and yeah, first they'll say "beer" and then my son, David, but after about 35 or 40 or 80 guesses later, someone might accidentally say "charity." That's me. I'm So Raven when it comes to charity.

While the Burlington edition tops out at about 180 people, I would say with their much larger size bar and humongous beautiful patio, the Streetsville capacity is closer to 400. So anyway off the top, congrats to Caitlyn and her dedicated squad of servers because that's one helluva turnout.

I'm not sure Catherine from Innis and Gunn brewery
is a Scottish lassie but damn, she did pour me a tasty
Toasted Oak IPA from my favourite Scottish brewery.

And Caitlin told me it was sold out six days before the event so the bar is well supported by the local community so that's pretty sweet.

But let's get to the brewers, shall we? I started my day with Chris from Sleeman. Now this poor guy had a small disaster before the doors even opened. With no one near it, his table, filled with product, fell over, dumping the entire cargo-load. Clean-up efforts began instantly (Caitlyn's staff were there within milliseconds) and in the end, he lost about a case of beer. Fortunately, he brought plenty so I made him my first stop as he brought Unibroue's (the Sleeman-owned Quebec craft outfit) Ephemere Bluet, their blueberry wheat, and a nice light start to my day. Also we have a Unibroue mixed pack in my store with the cherry version so I wanted a head-start. They also brew an apple, cranberry and pear Ephemere. It was the perfect choice to start a great day - light, fruity and summery. Of course, I told Chris that since he was my first server that everyone subsequent would be measured against him. He was the bar that was set. "Oh no," he smiled. "Too much pressure!" Actually, looking back at the pics, I had already met Chris at the Burlington Rib Eye Beer Fest, as was also the case with Barnstormer's Allie and Adam from Flying Monkey. These poor people have seen far too much of me in a short time. I hope there's a victims support group for them.

Brett from Mill Street Brewing brought their
much-anticipated West Coast Style IPA to the beer
fest. Tough to judge on a sample but it seems that
the brewery may have hit a homer in the IPA game

One of my favourite stops is always Innocente out of Waterloo and their travelling server, Shayn. That makes three straight beer fests where I've seen him, making him a natural leader for the We Had To Serve Don Victims Support Group. But Shayn, formerly the brewery's GTA sales rep, has taken a career turn, enrolling in Niagara Brewing College. Just one semester in, he is settling in. "It's alright. It's taken me a while to get used to being back in school, instead of being on the road and working all the time." But hey, it's brewing, not something dull like accounting or Calculus (although chemistry is about to become very important to him.) "Yeah, it makes it a little easier when you get to go to class and drink beer all day."

When I caught up with Andre at the Nickel Brook booth, I was stunned at the selection - their 9% Immodest Imperial IPA and their 9.5% Malevolent Black Imperial IPA. Usually breweries bring lighter fares to these. "Dude," I asked plaintively, "Are you trying to kill us?" Turns out the very weary Andre had worked a Food and Drink show all weekend (either Hamilton's or Waterloo's where they won best brewery) and grinned, "If I go down, I'm taking some of you with me!" Challenge accepted!

"We don't need no stinkin' session beers!"  barked
Andre, holding up Nickel Brook's 9% Immodest
Imperial IPA. Actually, he didn't say that. It's from
some cowboy movie and it was "badges", not beer...

Granted, I may have made a tactical error when I showed him the neighbouring Junction Craft Brewing had bigger sample glasses than his (probably for our safety). Reaching behind his cooler, he pulled a 12-ounce cup and filled it with Immodest. "Here you go," he laughed, "Good luck with that!"

Okay, after a brain cell zapper like Immodest, it's best to retreat to lighter fares so I sought out Sean at the Side Launch Brewing booth to sample their brand new Mountain Lager. Which is ironic as Sean was roughly the same size as The Mountain on Game of Thrones. The lager is the latest commercially-available addition to the Side Launch family after their Pale Ale, Dark Lager and Wheat (the last two being the former Dennison Dunkel and Weissbier - long story.) At 4.7%, it's a crisp, clean lager with some real flavour. "Yeah, it's a style the brewery figured we should have," he told me. And just in time for Summer sippin' on the patio.

Another light offering that got some praise from both me and Jay-Dawg was Innocente's 4.3% Purgatory Black Cream Ale. Not a favourite style for either of us, the darkness gives it some roasted malts on the nose and deeper caramel on the tongue. Nice job!

What do you drink when Side Launch's Sean is your
server at a beer fest? Whatever the hell he hands you.
Part man-part wall, this happy dude was bloody huge!

A couple of nice Kolsch beers on hand with Junction Brewing's Track Layers Koslch and Big Rock's Rhinestone Cowboy Kolsch making the scene. At 5% and 4.6% respectively, these two ales that wanna be lagers, were easy-sipping brews with nice malt on the nose and faint fruitiness on the tongue.

And session ales were plentiful as Junction brought its 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards silver-medal winning 4.5% Brakeman's Session Ale while Collective Arts had their newer 5% Stash Session Ale. Comparing notes, Junction server Jamie told me that the Brakeman was a big favourite of his while I noted that thus far, their Engineer's IPA, a nice British-west coast mash-up was my head-of-the-class.

Meanwhile over at Collective Arts, server Graham said their Stash was "meant to be a gateway beer. It's got some good flavour but it won't be too over-powering to anyone trying to cross into craft beers." However, when it comes to the brewery's next Collective Project beer, that one's still a mystery. As their first one out of the gate was the fantastic Black IPA, what would be their next direction?

Graham holds up their big seller from the day, the
Ransack the Universe Hemispheric IPA. The crowd's
tastes were very much in line with what's in my fridge

"My guess is it's going to be the complete opposite of the Black IPA so a real summer beer like a Saison or a Hefe-Weizen."

But what was their big seller of the day? The thing is he had, as well as the Stash, both the brewery's first beer, the Rhyme and Reason Extra Pale Ale, the gold medalist at the 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards and the more recent Ransack the Universe IPA, a personal favourite. You see the way the craft beer shelves are set up at my Beer Store, beers have a six case spot on the bottom shelf, a four case hole in the middle shelf or an eight six-pack spot on the top shelf. Jay always reserved a bottom shelf spot which he has coined "Donny's Swing Hole", meaning simply when he orders our craft stock he has to anticipate which IPA that I will be taking home the most over the next two weeks. Previous occupants have included Flying Monkey's Smashbomb Atomic and Muskoka's Mad Tom. But the current occupant of Donny's Swing Hole is Ransack the Universe, based solely on my recent buying patterns. They're both outstanding beers so who was the big winner at the Beer Fest? "Oh, the fan favourite today was the Ransack," grinned Graham. "Crazy different but still super drinkable for a strong IPA."

The Burlington Rib Eye Jack's Beer Mafia splashed down
into Streetsville Beer Fest on Sunday and had a blast. That's
wee Cara under my ugly mug on the left while everyone's
favourite beer technician Kylie is on the right. Not sure who
some of the others are but that's Smilin' Scott in the ball cap

But man, we had fun up there in Streetsville. The Burlington crew showed up large and did some damage to the supplies. I had a chance meeting with Great Lakes social media manager Troy, outside the washroom and he got a big laugh because, of course, I was posting on Instagram... or was it Twitter? Maybe Facebook? (Does it matter? They're kinda all the same.) Another chap I'd never met walked up to me and said, "Keep up the great work with the blog. You're pretty funny." Seeing I was very puzzled (by the recognition, actually), he asked, "You are Don Redmond, right?" There you go - my Fan Club has a member. It's a start. At one point, Jay had enough variety and declared, "I'm drinking (GLB) Octopus (Wants To Fight) for the rest of he day!" And I think he just may have. While I still had a few more to try, let's just say Andre at Nickel Brook was probably getting pretty tired of my face by the end. As it was, we drank him out of Malevolent. Might be time to hook Andre up with that support group, too. And, of course, poor Steve had to drive the school bus home and listen to us bicker like children over the radio station. Cara wanted dance music, the four guys wanted not-dance music. Take a guess who won? Every guy reading this knows we listened to dance music. But big thanks to Caitlyn and the Streetsville Squadron for a great day. As Ah-nuld would say, "We'll be bach!" But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

The wild, wild world of beer

Ian Macdonald and his mother Pat are the co-founders of
Old Tomorrow Brewing. I suspect Pat has a better idea of
when Ian's birthday is. Me? I just totally fluked that one out

Every once in a while, I have to veer off the brew reviewing track and talk about random things in the Wonderful World Of Beer. (By every once in a while, I mean every single time.)

But let's look at a couple of events regarding recent columns here... and then some others from the beer world. As you may recall, my last one was about Old Tomorrow Brewing, centering on their three beers and co-founder Ian Macdonald. Now I interviewed Ian last Summer during the Burlington Beer Festival and then I transcribed that chat probably a day or two later with my morning coffee. And there the transcripts sat in my drafts folder for nine long months, waiting for the brewery to release more beers for me to review as they only had the Canadian Pale Ale out at that point. Well, when they released their third beer, the Track 85 Lagered Ale, last weekend, the time had come to finally use those dusty transcribes. So I wrote my piece on Macdonald and his brewery, posted it on Monday (April 18th) and then sent it onto the interwebs via Google+, Facebook and Twitter, just as I always do.

The boys at Block 3 Brewing in scenic
St. Jacobs, Ontario have a little advice for
you on the side of their Seige IPA. In case
you can't read it, it says, "Spending any
time reading a description about this beer
would be precious time wasted not
drinking it. Which is what you're doing
now! It's an IPA, just drink it!" These
four young brewers get right to the point.

What happened next, I did not expect. The brewery graciously thanked me on Twitter, noting that I had coincidentally published the piece on Ian's actual birthday! Holy crap... long odds. One-in-365, to be precise (or 366 this year, I guess.) "Wow, what a present. Thanks for a wicked review! You keep good notes, sir!" the brewery tweeted me. I'm pretty happy about this total fluke and if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy lottery tickets.

Okay, moving along, the column prior to that was about Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville Brewing and LandShark Lager, now brewed in Canada by Brick Brewing. When I tried the beer, I suggested that while it was a much cleaner version of Corona (which has always tasted oddly skunky to me), it wasn't my kettle of kippers but would probably find its market. This was, of course, after two Twitter buddies let me know the beer I had never even heard of was very well known in the United States. Hah, who knew? Well, apparently them and many many others. "I texted my Dad a picture of it," said coworker Jay-Dawg, as his father frequently vacations in Florida and is a big fan of the beer. More to the point, I suppose, would be who didn't know about this beer which was, of course, me and some monk in Malaysia.

But my cardinal sin in that column was suggesting that singer Jimmy Buffett had created a $100 million a year booze and restaurant empire, based on his single hit, Margaritaville. Well, that's when the spam hit the fan, as they say, (shut up, people say that), as a healthy handful of friends piped up, citing Jimmy's many other hits, again not one of which I recognized. Even Jay, who's a couple of decades younger than me, knew of other Buffett hits. I would be like the world's worst Parrot-Head.

LandShark Lager may have been just another pale
lager to me but it has some hardcore fans out there...

Fortunately, I had the whole LandShark thing sorted out a day or two before our Waterloo (Brick) Brewing rep Graham came into the store. Looking around, he asked if we had any LandShark come into our stock. Yeah, sure, I noted, it's right over here. But when we got to the shelf, there was only one six-pack left. And that's from the 48 six-packs we had just five days earlier. Fortunately, we got a whole bunch in the next day and while it's a carefully-guarded state secret, the beer will be prominently featured on one of our display end caps starting Monday (April 25) for $5 off a case, dropping it from $42 to a much more reasonable $37. But like I said, you didn't hear that from me.

Okay, what happens when BrewDog, a cheeky Scottish craft brewery located in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, exhorts its employees to be "more punk"? Well, in one case, an employee let his punk flag fly high and hard.

Graeme Wallace, left, a packing manager at Brewdog, is
awarded Employee of the Month after setting the best-
before date stamp to include a swear word. After it was
discovered, some 200,000 cans of Punk IPA had to be
recalled by the brewery but Graeme? Well, take a look.

Exasperated with management's often-repeated "more punk" mantra, Graeme Wallace, a packing manager, recalibrated the 'best before' stamp to include the phrase "Mother F***er Day" on the bottom of the can. And unlike me, Graeme didn't use asterisks. Some 200,000 cans of Punk IPA had to be recalled once the brewery got wind of the curse word beer. So I guess Graeme got into some serious trouble, eh? Well, no.

In a press release, a BrewDog spokesperson said, "At another company, someone responsible for a prank like this might have been given the heave-ho. At BrewDog, Graeme was awarded Employee Of The Month." Dude, that was a mother-f***ing epic win!

Okay, back to Canadian soil for a story on, well, Molson Canadian. Just like last year when the Stanley Cup playoffs began, the big boys have included a dandy little trinket into their cases of Canadian 24-cans and 28-bottles - a honest-to-gawd Stanley Cup ring. However, unlike last year, the brewery isn't gonna be caught flat-footed by the promotion's popularity and run out of the commemorative rings before the first round of the playoffs are done.

While wearing a Montreal Canadiens ring is likely to
leave a nasty stain on your hand, I would gladly wear a
Toronto Maple Leaf one. Some 20 Stanley Cup winning
teams are honoured on the rings available in the cases.

In an interview with the Winnipeg Sun last April, Andy Gervais, a Molson marketing manager, said he knew going in that the rings would be popular "but the overwhelming feedback from our customers and consumers blew us away." The brewing giant had about 400,000 rings made up for the promotion last year but were stunned when the entire allotment was gone less than two weeks into the playoffs. And there are some crazy stories that surfaced around those rings.

"There's one out of Winnipeg where a guy came into the store and bought 40 cases so he could try to get two complete sets." (My guess would be he got maybe one with a tons of repeats.) But these rings, made overseas, are the real deal - made of zinc and plated in either brass or nickle. And since they come free in the cases, many drinkers have been posting them on Craigslist or Kijiji for $20 to $50 a pop. Teams like Montreal and Toronto inch closer to $100. One seller with a complete set put the entire lot on Toronto's Kijiji for $1,100. When a Canadian-buying customer sporting a New Jersey Devils cap came into my store, I asked him if he got his Devils' ring yet. "No but I also want a Maple Leaf one," he grinned. Huh? Why? "Just so I can say I got a Stanley Cup ring before the Maple Leafs did." Cheeky bastard. Go work at BrewDog and leave us Leaf fans alone.

The news that Marek and his family would be
returning to their Czech Republic homeland later
this Summer caught everyone, including Steam
Whistle Brewing employees a little off guard...

Next up is a bitter-sweet announcement that caught not only Toronto craft beer lovers flat-footed but also employees and management of Steam Whistle Brewing itself. Last week, Brewmaster Marek Mikunda told his bosses that he and his family would be moving back to their beloved homeland, the Czech Republic, later this Summer. For many who love Canada's premier Czech-style pilsner (count me among them), after 11 years at Steam Whistles' helm, Marek was as iconic a figure within the brewery as, well, founders Cam Heaps and Greg Taylor themselves. After stints at both Labatt and Creemore Springs, Marek came to the brewery in 2005 but it was his youth in the Czech Republic that made him the perfect fit for the Roundhouse gang. In 1984 at the age of 15, Marek began his brewing apprenticeship in the Pilsen (Plzen) region of the Czech Republic. After graduating university in 1993, he joined the training program at the Pilsner Urquell brewery and eventually rose to become their Brewmaster for two years. Believe me when I say one of the biggest points of pride for many Steam Whistle employees is the fact that their Brewmaster was actually from and trained in the Plzen region. Over the years, Marek had lead his team to a gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards and five golds at the Ontario Brewing Awards.

I bought this T-Shirt and strangely, I got no kisses
or beer. This has got to be discrimination in some
form, I would suggest, against scuzzy smelly men.

Saying he will be missed is certainly understating it. Even though I have never met him, from the stories I had heard, he is a remarkable man and a much-beloved coworker. Godspeed to you and yours, good sir.

What goes around comes around, as they say. A few column back, I told the story of how I met Ryan, the hops-loving, astute young fellow who picks the beers for the LCBO at Dundas and Walker's Line in Burlington. Because he had brought literally hundreds of Great Lakes Brewing's Octopus Wants To Fight IPA into his store, I figured he deserved some accolades. And so before leaving, I returned from my car with a Smuttynose (Hampton, New Hampshire) Finestkind IPA for him as my Beer Store is the only one I know that stocks it. I guess he really liked it. Just yesterday, Jay chirped, "Hey, Donny, your LCBO bromance paid off. Some guy just came in and told me that the LCBO guy in Burlington sent him here to get some Finestkind." Well, how about that? Regardless of where we work, be it the Beer Store, the LCBO or the grocery store, the guys and gals who love good craft beer are one big family.

Okay, let's leave this one on a non-beer note but one that tickled my funny bone in the past week regardless. I was on Facebook when the news broke that Guns N Rose singer Axl Rose would now be fronting AC/DC, as well.

Did we have some fun at "Fat Axl" becoming the
new lead singer of AC/DC? Yes, I believe we did

That lead to someone crafting a hilarious meme of a very portly Axl Rose singing, "Black in Black... I need a snack" which I posted as soon as I stopped laughing. That lead my beer-writing buddy, Robert, aka Drunk Polkaroo, to happily note "Fat Axl makes me feel skinny!" Before long on the thread, Beer Bro Stevil St Evil took to simply calling him Faxl whereupon former journalism buddy, Sparky, decided to hashtag that even more simply as #faxl. Of course, I instantly got the meme generator out and created a few of my own, including, "She was a fast machine... She kept my kitchen clean", "I'm on the highway... to heart disease" and of course, "A whole lotta Rosie... but a much larger amount of dinner." Granted, Facebook being Facebook, an old college associate, who's apparently some sort of Faxl worshipper, chimed in that he didn't appreciate our humour. Really? Tough shit. And speaking of the overly-sensitive, I recently asked a guy to not park in our handicapped spot at the Beer Store. It may have been the wrong call. Given his response, he might have Tourette's Syndrome. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

A closer look at Old Tomorrow

Ian Macdonald, co-founder of Old Tomorrow Brewing,
hoists up an Old Tomorrow Canadian Pale Ale at last
Summer's Burlington Beer Festival down at Spencer
Smith Park. Back at this time, this was their only beer.

The best thing about going to beer festivals - besides the beer, of course - is that you get to meet the people who work at all these craft breweries, be they employees, sales reps, on rare occasions, the brewer and my favourite of all rare sightings, the actual owners.

And while he certainly had helpers, manning the Old Tomorrow booth when I arrived there daily (for three straight days because, well, why not?) was none other than co-founder Ian Macdonald, who started up the brewery with his mother, Pat, in the fall of 2014. His mom has worked for the Provincial government as well as numerous hospitality companies while Ian came into the craft beer industry as a marketing professor with George Brown College. They are, as far as I know, the only mother-son tandem in Ontario craft brewing. Hell, one of the founders-brewers of Hop City Brewing, Kevin Gray, got into the industry simply because his mother didn't want him to. Ask any parent - children can be so defiant.

Now when I met Ian last Summer, he let me know that the brewery had a couple more beers coming out shortly - the Monty's Golden Ryed Ale and another (style not determined at that point) this Spring. Just two days ago, it came out - their Track 85 Lagered Ale.

Well, does it get more Canadian than this? A single
skater on a frozen pond, taking shots at an empty net
with a couple of Old Tomorrow CPAs chilling in snow

While I had initially planned to write about this last year, I decided to leave the info in my draft folder until the third beer came out so that I would have more to say about this fledgling brewery. But I had a really great chat with Ian when Beer Bro Glenn and I cornered him in his booth on the Sunday of the beer fest. He and his mother both share a deep love for all things Canadian, especially our rich history. That became immediately apparent with the picture of our first Prime Minister Sir John A Macdonald on the can of their inaugural Canadian Pale Ale. (A young co-worker once asked me if that was Pierre Trudeau on the label. Uh, no, that's not Justin's old man.)

But what in tarnation is a Canadian Pale Ale? Frankly, until Old Tomorrow, I had never heard of that style. Well, tell you what. I'll let Ian take it from here. "Our CPA is brewed with six ingredients. What we wanted to do was create something that was uniquely Canadian. (What) we were going for was a flavourful but also very smooth and approachable beer and we think that speaks to the Canadian personality." (That means it's excessively and unfailingly polite, first and foremost.)

There are two memorable and iconic moments from
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler.
Everyone remembers the Canadian Women's Hockey
Team smoking cigars and drinking Molson Canadian
on the ice after their gold-medal win. This is the other.
Jon Montgomery has just won the gold for the skeleton
and was walking triumphantly through Athletes'
Village when someone handed him a full pitcher of
beer. So what's a Canadian boy to do, knowing the TV
cameras were on him? Well, he just started chugging.

Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. Carry on, Ian... "And to do that, we combined different ingredients, different styles - an IPA, an American pale ale, an English special bitter beer. So in it you've got Canadian barley and Canadian rye, as well as Cascade hops - there's your American pale ale style and Canadiana in there. And from the old world, you've got your UK pale malt, your (caramel) malt and Slovenian Styrian hops and that's the old world, more British side - a bit more on the bitter side from the IPA style. And together, we think it makes a really flavourful but approachable style of beer that you can enjoy all year round."

And thanks to Beer Bro Stevil St Evil's suggestion of using the voice recorder on my phone to interview beer fest booth workers and do beer reviews on the spot, here is my and Glenn's initial reviews of Old Tomorrow's CPA. Out of courtesy, I have translated it into English from our second Beer Fest language, Slurry As Hell.

Glenn: This is one of those beers - and this is the ultimate compliment - I could drink this all day! (Frankly, it sounded like we already had.)
Don: Nice light taste. Lightly fruity on the tongue. John A Macdonald on the label. They're calling Old Tomorrow a Canadian Pale Ale. Little fruit and hop on the nose but it's really low IBUs. What's the IBUs on this? Okay, it's 18 IBUs.

Okay, I took my own picture of Old Tomorrow's Monty's
Golden Ryed Ale but I like my Facebook buddy, Paul
TheBeerGuy's picture a lot better so I basically just
stole it. Do NOT tell Paul TheBeerGuy, okay? I mean,
this was WAY cooler and more arty than mine so I just
"borrowed" it. Like I said, do NOT tell him. Wait?
What? He's standing right behind me, isn't he? Damn.

Okay, in the sober light of day, here's a little more on the 4.9% Canadian Pale Ale. It leans a little more on the British side, as evidenced by the low IBU (international bitterness units) but some deep musty fruit on the nose and real nice bitterness on the tongue. A solid outing.

But the one I was most looking forward to was their Monty's Golden Ryed Ale for two reasons. Reason 1: It's named after 2010 gold-medalling winning skeleton Olympics competitor Canadian Jon Montgomery, who famously chugged a pitcher of beer after his victory during his walk-through of the Athletes' Village in Whistler, BC. Get it? Golden Ryed? And Reason 2: Yay, it's aged in oak that housed Canadian rye! (Wait, do I even like rye?)

Okay, turns out that no, it's bourbon I like, not rye. (I'm a beer drinker! I don't know my liquors at all.) But that said, the rye (Canadian whiskey) wood adds some interesting depth to this 5.2% ale. I did, in fact, noticed some nice light rye on the nose, as well as the wood it was aged in. On the tongue, this is quite smooth (they used good rye barrels) as the subtlety of the rye blends well with an earthy taste. I've never tasted any beer quite like this, to be honest. Had the rye influence been any stronger, I would have had a hard time with it. But somehow, it's got just the right touch.

Well, it didn't take me long to track down this beer. In
fact, it was one day after its release. The third outing
for the gang at Old Tomorrow is another strong beer

Okay, full disclosure time. If my beer-writin' buddy Drunk Polkaroo and his lovely wife not attended a wine-and-beer fest in Toronto on Saturday night, I would have had no idea that Old Tomorrow's third offering, the Track 85 Lagered Ale, was even released. His Facebook-Twitter-Instagram reports from the night clued me in. (You're being watched, Robert, by me, CSIS, the NSA, Mrs Polkaroo... ♫ Every step you take, every move you make.. ♫) So naturally on Sunday morning, I was all over the LCBO product search, looking for it. Turns out the liquor store on Dundurn in Hamilton (just 20 minutes away) had a big stack. I actually scored a pretty sweet stash from that trip but this is about Track 85, which was the last section of railway track that crossed Canada when the last spike was driven in to secure the track at Craigellachie, BC, in 1885. And when I drove in that final spike, I united Canada from coast-to-coast. (My story. Sticking to it. Pointless to argue.) As lagered ales become more popular, it's not surprising that Old Tomorrow brewer Jamie Mistry went for this style, which top-ferments like an ale but cold-filters like a lager. Using both Canadian and German Noble hops, this 4.5% alt beer has some nice muted fruit on the nose and light-bitter layered malt on the tongue. A strong one.

Side Launch Brewing defines their pale ale as
American but I think it might be another example
of a Canadian Pale Ale. The IBUs are high but
there's something to the malts that's very British

But going back to the notion of a Canadian Pale Ale, I have had another that seemed similar in style to Old Tomorrow's and that was the Side Launch (Collingwood) Pale Ale. Yes, at 40 IBUs, the 5.3% ale absolutely qualifies as an American Pale Ale but there's something about the bready malts in this, combining with the American hoppiness that gives it that Canadian hybrid feel, described by Ian. It smells British style but has that lingering hop sensation on the tongue. Frankly, it's just a great pale ale. We stock their Dark Lager (a very good dunkel) at my Beer Store but damn, I wish we had this and their outstanding wheat, as well.

Okay, kids, that wraps up another edition but I wanted to warn you in advance that from now on, this column will be written in Morgan Freeman's voice. And I expect you to read it that way so you may want to practice now. Start with some passages from the movie, Shawshank Redemption. If that's not working for you, switch to Samuel L Jackson and just swear a lot as you're reading. Sound really pissed off. It'll work. Trust me. Next up, some goodies from my homeys at Lake of Bays Brewing. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

Wasted away again in Margaritaville...

The quasi-popular LandShark Lager landed in my
Beer Store last week with the delivery from Brick
Brewing. I had never heard of this beer in my life.

The funny thing about Twitter, Instagram and Facebook is this: if you post something you don't know much about, you can be damned sure some of your friends do.

That was the case last week when I received in our Brick Brewing order from our good friends in Waterloo. Sitting among the three pallets of beer was a new one called LandShark Lager.

Of course, I had never heard of this beer when I tweeted a pic but mentioned that I did like the packaging and the name reminded me of a Saturday Night Live skit from the old Chevy Chase/John Belushi days.

As it turns out, this beer is very well known in the United States as it is part of the Margaritaville Beverage empire. That's when Twitter buddies Adam (@TheBrewHead) and Jay-Mac piped in for an educational three-way chat.

Adam: Unless I'm missing something, that's not brewed by Brick.
Me: Yeah, it is now. Says on the packaging something about being brewed by Brick under licensing from Margaritaville Brewing, etc...

Who is Jimmy Buffett and why is he making $100 million
every year? Well, he took a song that was kinda popular
in 1977 and basically turned it into this huge brand...

Jay-Mac: Isn't that Jimmy Buffett's beer? I think I drank some in the airport in Jamaica.
(Revelation #1: I hadn't yet made the connection between Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville Brewing Corp until Jay-Mac said that. Because I'm a clueless idiot who needs others to shine a million-watt spotlight on a situation before I get it.)
Adam: Well, it's terrible anyway. I had it a couple of years ago in Cape Cod. (Then a little yucky-face icon.)
Me: Hmmm, a 4.6% cerveza-style beer? Can you say Corona 2.0? Pass...
Jay-Mac: Si...

That's when Revelation #2 kicked in. I have never noticed this beer every time I've wandered through singer Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant/bar when I've been to Las Vegas, which currently stands at six visits but will increase exponentially when our Canadian dollar strengthens up a little. The bar's right smack-dab in the middle of the strip attached to the Flamingo Casino Resort. Because you can enter on the south end, wander through and exit on the north end, right back on the strip, it makes for an interesting and very colourful side-excursion.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant/bar right in the
middle of the Las Vegas strip. Because why would you buy
a $4 margarita everywhere else when you can get a $15 one
at this fine establishment? That name has a lot of power.

Hell, I even had a margarita there once while my girlfriend at the time opted for a Pina Colada (which spawned a far worse song than Margaritaville.) I did so just to say I had a margarita at Margaritaville, even though it cost three times more than every comparable margarita on the Vegas Strip.

So before we get to the beer, here's a Reader's Digest primer on singer Jimmy Buffett. Basically, he had one hit in 1977 called Margaritaville but rather than fade into obscurity like, say, Dexy's Midnight Runners or Right Said Fred, he parlayed that name into a booze-and-restaurant empire, netting him $100 million every year. How? Well, quite possibly because the world is filled with idiots like me who pay three times too much for a drink with his name on it. He still plays about 30 concerts a year which are rabidly followed by a huge fan base called Parrot Heads, a play off the Deadheads that follow the Grateful Dead around like stoned lemmings. So the guy, who turns 70 on Christmas Day this year, ain't hurting for scratch. Let's see Rupert Holmes try to replicate that with his heinous "Escape (the Pina Colada Song)" from 1979.

This beer is so light that I'm surprised it's not levitating
the glass off the floor. Just a cleaner version of Corona.

When I was Google-Imaging "Margaritaville, Las Vegas", I saw all sorts of neon references to LandShark Lager I missed so I guess I was too hammered just didn't notice it. I do remember the sign that said, "No passport needed" at the entrance, however, which was good because mine was locked in the hotel room safe. So, of course, in the name of both Science and this column, I felt compelled to try a LandShark myself. How was it? Well, Adam pretty much called it in advance. It was like a slightly cleaner version of Corona, which sports an identical 4.6% ABV. But you know what else is slightly better than Corona? The dishwater in my sink at the moment and perhaps even the sweat off the butts of the Al-Qaeda guys in the desert. Billing itself as an "island style lager", it's actually just another pale lager that the world doesn't need but will likely prove popular on the name alone. Much like Corona. But frankly, if you crave a cerveza-style thin-ass lager, I say stick to Labatt's Brava at $33.50/case rather than this at $42 or Corona at $49. (Wait, what... $49? Did the Mexicans evade Mr Trump's wall and carry that stuff here on their backs?)

The Stone Cali-Belgique IPA is a bit of a cheat in
the White IPA category as it leans heavily on the
"Cali" and not so much on the "Belgique" side.

Well, since I'm already dealing with a beer style of which I am no longer a fan but that I fully acknowledge is also the most popular beer style in North America by sales, why not keep that ball rolling as we look at another style about which I am less than enthusiastic? That would be Belgian or White IPAs. Perhaps as a stand-alone style, they aren't the worst thing ever but up against even half-decent IPAs or Black IPAs, these are the weak cousin incapable of giving you a solid push on a tire-swing. They are the cauliflower of the IPA world in that they won't kill you but wouldn't you much rather eat steak?

Okay, so what are Belgian IPAs? Well, the brewers take some Belgian basics, such as funky European yeasts and spices used in their world-class Dubbels and Tripels, then meld them with some good old North American hops. It should work, right? Two great tastes brought together as one, like chocolate and peanut butter? Not so much. To me, it ends up being more like blending ice cream and cheeseburgers. I like ice cream, I love cheese burgers. But I eat them separately in no particular order because I'm an adult and can start with dessert if I feel like it. Unless my young son is around because he's gets all "proper order" on my ass. I'll don't call him Little Caesar for his love of pizza.

Dr Evil and I have some dispute about the "Belgian"
aspects of Stone Brewing's Cali-Belgique IPA. Let's
face it - it's Stone IPA with a slightly funkier yeast...

Okay, keeping in mind that Beer Advocate calls Belgian IPAs "still very much a style in development," (keep working at it, brewers, call me when you're done) let's look at the few I've had. And we're going to start with Stone Brewing's (Escondido, California) Cali-Belgique IPA. Okay, while the brewer refers this one as simply an IPA, what they did was take Stone IPA and brew a special batch with Belgian yeast. That's pretty much the Belgian IPA formula, right? The thing is this little yeast switch-up did little to change the taste of one of America's best IPAs. Bought as an after-thought when I found a Hamilton LCBO stocked hard with Stone IPA, I drank this in the middle of some of those regular IPAs to see the appreciable difference. There was little to none. The special yeast just seemed to add a little touch of banana before the pine and fruity base wiped that out. I mean, it was 6.9% and 77 IBUs (international bitterness units) so there's not a lot of Muscles from Brussels here.

This is probably much closer to a Belgian IPA
style than the Stone offering, which was much
more All-American with its full-strength IBUs. 

Okay, the Four Surfers of the Apocalypso IPA, made by La Trou du Diable (the devil's hole) out of Shawinigan, Quebec, is a truer White IPA as the brewer has blended a Belgian Wit style with the North American style IPA. To that end, you do get some wheat, as well as orange, on the nose but on the tongue, there's a malty breadiness not normally associated with a traditional IPA. Which, granted, this is not supposed to be. So let's assume this is a far more accurate depiction of a White IPA than Stone's version. At 6.5% and 60 IBUs, it would be considered a gentle IPA at best. But to be frank, the malt-bread combo on the tongue (with admittedly, touches of fruit) is more distracting than tantalizing. My problem here is that I am not a huge fan of Belgian Wits, much preferring the German weisses if I'm going to have a wheat beer. To me, the difference between the German wheats and Belgian ones is night and day. This is probably why I will have to add a Belgian Wit category to my Best of 2016 list. The "wheat" category will always be won by a German hefeweizen-style Canadian wheat over a wit, simply because that's my personal preference. The trick now is to find a Belgian Wit I actually like, which could prove problematic. That said, dammit, you all know I'll search until I find one! I'm very much a trooper that way. All that Boy Scout training as a youth, I suppose.

Oh my stars and garters, this was not a strong
offering from Phillips Brewing, which is a
little surprising. I have had a healthy handful
of great beers from this Victoria, BC brewery.

Which brings us to our final contestant of the day, Phillips Brewing's (Victoria, BC) Electric Unicorn White IPA. Okay, its commercial description calls it "a hop-infused white ale, best enjoyed while riding a mystical mono-horned laser beast, racing through the galaxy to the sonic backdrop of screaming metal guitars. Time to ditch reality and take this India Pale fairy tale for a ride." Wow, sounds like an out-of-control, volume-at-11 Guns N Roses concert in a bottle, right? Uhhh, no... not even close. I would suggest a Rick Astley concert description for this, given its, well, flat-out blandness. I think this is what happens when the brewer leans far too heavily on the Belgian Wit side and not enough on the IPA side. Despite being 6.5% and having an (alleged) IBU of 75, this was exceedingly tame. And not particularly flavourful, to be honest. Little wisps of orange and wheat and that's pretty much it. Not sure where those hops are hiding. I'm not trying to crap on anyone's efforts, mind you, but this... well, it was just not the beer for me. It's gonna happen from time to time. Not all craft beer is automatically geared to my tastes. On occasion, some won't float the boat, so to speak.

Okay, next up, we have a closer look at Old Tomorrow Brewing, as well as some strong examples of other Canadian Pale Ales. What's a CPA? Wait and see. That said, is it just me or does anyone else wish you could choose which brain cells that the alcohol will kill first? That'd wipe out some nasty memories, eh?  And hey, Jimmy Buffett, at $100 million/year, you are like the worst hippie ever! But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

The LCBO lads who know their beer

When Great Lakes Brewing's Octopus Wants To Fight IPA
finally landed in selected liquor stores (quite a few from
the looks of the inventory search I did) this month, beer
drinkers danced in the streets. Which isn't very safe...

As a Beer Store employee, I am asked on occasion if there's any rivalry or ill will between the LCBO and the Beer Store. To be perfectly honest, no, not that I've ever noticed.

Perhaps on the corporate level, I could see if there was some competition. For years, we were owned by two, then three Canadian breweries (now foreign-owned) where as the LCBO has always been owned by the Province and neatly deposits over $3 billion a year into their coffers. That's a big slice of cheese. So yeah, there's probably some business versus government jockeying there on the upper-tier level (though not that I've ever heard.)

But to worker bees, such as my co-worker Jay-Dawg and myself, we've always felt some comradery talking to LCBO employees, especially those who know their craft beer. There's an LCBO in Burlington at Appleby Line and Upper Middle Road where I constantly sought out new craft beers. The stocker for the beer section (whose name eludes me) knew both me and this column well and was always on the look-out for new additions on my behalf. I usually walked in after my shift still in my Beer Store uniform, often to be greeted by, "Hang on, Brew-Ha-Ha (90% sure he didn't know my name, either), I've got something new in the back for you!"

LCBO's Ryan wishes they had Sawdust City's Ol' Woody
Alt and Gateway Kolsch in their stock whereas Jay and I
would be thrilled to add Lone Pine IPA and Golden Beach
Pale Ale to our line-up. The grass is always greener, eh?

Recently, Jay told me I just had to go to the LCBO closest to his place at Walker's Line and Dundas. "There's a guy in there who does 'Ryan's Picks' and they're always really good choices." Indeed, when I arrived last week, a big cardboard thumbs-up plaque saying Ryan's Pick were adhered to the display of Great Lakes Brewing's Octopus Wants To Fight IPA, my Best of 2015 IPA choice (beating out its own GLB stable-mates Maniacal Hopshop, Karma Citra and Thrust!) True to Jay's word, Ryan knew his stuff. While another customer and myself made short work of a full tray, taking a dozen each, it became immediately apparent that the shelf life of Octopus would never be an issue at Donny's Bar and Grill as I had to stop in again later during the same week to restock this juicy treat. And it seems that once again, I'll have to go back for more.

Great Lakes Brewing's head brewer Mike Lackey holds up
the Golden Tap Award they won for their Thrust, an IPA!
He is standing in front of the brewery's now-famous Tank 10.

But when I went back the second time, I saw this big dude stocking the shelves off a pully-cart and checked out his name-tag. Sure enough, I was face-to-face with Ryan. So we instantly started talking beer, first engaging in the age-old LCBO-Beer Store game of "Beers You Guys Stock That We Wish We Had." For Ryan, it was simple. "You guys carry Sawdust City's Ol' Woody Alt and Gateway Kolsch. I wish we had those." Staring with lust at his store's Sawdust City Lone Pine IPA and Golden Beach Pale Ale, I told him we would gladly do a straight-up swap! Two of my and Jay's favourite beers. Pointing out his favourite beers (a healthy number of them), it was clear Ryan loves his pale ales and in fact, the only style he confessed he hasn't had much practice with yet was stouts. That I totally get. Once you dive into craft beers, stouts are always the last style to fall as it's a dark, forbidding threshold to the newcomer. It took me a while too but after I had my first Nickel Brook Bolshevik Bastard Imperial Stout, not only was I instantly sold, I also wondered why it had taken me so long.

It's back! Coming out at the same time as Octopus
Wants To Fight IPA, GLB also released their popular
Robohop Imperial IPA.  All grapefruit on the nose,
this 8.5% monster claws its way down your throat
with some bitter pine and citrus notes. What can I
say? It's better than the movie and I loved that movie!

While there, I noticed that his co-worker had slapped his Matt's Pick on another favourite on mine, Collective Art's Ransack The Universe Hemispheric IPA. "Oh yeah," laughed Ryan. "It was my pick but then we didn't have it for a couple of weeks and when it came back, Matt slapped his name on it." He asked where my Beer Store was located and when I told him Rebecca and Third Line in Oakville, he instantly noted, "Oh, you work at Hopedale. I know that area pretty well." There you go - straight from the "It's a small world but you still can't swim to China" file. But I knew I had a beer in my car that Ryan has never tried - Smuttynose Brewing's (Hampton, New Hampshire) Finestkind IPA, The reason is simply this: not only have I never seen it at an LCBO, my Beer Store is the only place I've ever found it. Not sure how we lucked out. But after I walked out with a handful of Octopus, as well as a couple of GLB Robohop Imperial IPAs and a couple of Driftwood Brewing (Victoria, BC) Fat Tug IPAs, I came wandering back into the store with a Finestkind IPA. A gift for Ryan. You see, no matter where you work, craft beer lovers are one big happy (hoppy?) family. "Got a little Beer Store/LCBO love going on there?" quipped Jay. Sure, they sell booze; we sell booze. They deal with (sometimes surly) customers; so do we. To me, we're one big tribe and it's all about helping others find great new tastes.

You know, I talk about #shoplocal in this column
all the time but Great Lakes just did that on a huge
scale, buying new fermenting vats from a local
Etobicoke manufacturer. At (guessing) $25,000 to
$35,000 a pop, that is one helluva local investment.
THAT'S how you show community comes first!!!

And speaking of great new tastes, I think it's Beer O'Clock at Donny's Bar and Grill so let's put our drinking hats on, shall we?

Okay, both the Beer Store and LCBO stock the Double Trouble Brewing beer on their shelves. The tiny Toronto outfit, contract-brewed out of Guelph's Wellington Brewing. has two products that they regularly swap out - their French Press Vanilla Stout and their Revenge of the Ginger IPA. In Winter and Spring, we have the Vanilla Stout. When Summer rolls around, they sub in their Ginger IPA for its six-month haul. Now here's a safer stout that would be a good launching pad for LCBO Ryan. When I went on the Toronto Craft Beer Cruise two summers ago, the Vanilla Stout had just been launched by the fledgling brewery and was a huge hit on the boat. In fact, I believe it was the only sell-out of the cruise. At just 4.8%, it's hardly a paint-peeler but it has some really great qualities in its darkness. Very reminiscent to me of Mill Street Brewing's Vanilla Porter, the French Press portion of its name alludes to the coffee malts used while the vanilla speaks for itself. With both coffee and vanilla in there, I'm not sure if this is a morning alarm or a tasty dessert but like peanut butter and chocolate, they blend beautifully. Wafts of vanilla hit your nose once it's poured with both coffee and cocoa blanketing your tongue. A great effort!

It took me a little while to warm up to Stouffville
Brewing's Red Falcon Ale but once I did, I quite
enjoyed it. Certainly a light, smooth amber ale.

Double Trouble isn't the only outfit that swaps out products. About a year ago, we did likewise, sending my buddy, Gordo, up to a north-central Oakville Beer Store while subbing Jay-Dawg into my south-west store. Not long after he departed, I went up to see Gordo's new store and its stock (when it comes to craft, not all Beer Stores have the same products) and of course, to miss if he missed me. When he saw me, he naturally blubbered like a tween at a One Direction concert. It was pretty sad. Tossing him effortlessly into a bin of broken wine bottles, I went to see what beers they had in stock that we didn't. That's when I came across Stouffville Brewing's Red Falcon Ale, a new one to me, also contract-brewed out of Wellington. Grabbing a couple, I gave it a shot at home. At first, quite frankly, I was not a fan. There wasn't much to the smell - rare for an amber ale - and it had an odd tinny mouthfeel. However (and this has happened before), as I continued, I warmed up to it considerably. The caramel tweaks started to nicely show up and by the end, I thought, hey, that's actually not a bad beer. Sometimes, beers, like people (Gordo), can be slow starters. This was one of those.

Landing on Ontario shelves from Terrebonne,
Quebec was the Brasserie Les 2 Frere's Hickson
IPA, a milder IPA offering. Not great, not bad.

The brewery, which rebranded as Falcon Brewing, just released its Laggar Falcon, a pilsner that's running with the slogan "It's pretty falcon good" so in the name of that cleverness alone, I shall seek it out.

Several months later, Gordo excitedly texted me a picture of the Hickson IPA which had landed on his shelves from the Brasserie Les 2 Freres (Two Brothers Brewing) out of Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal. Now Gordo, our resident Molson Canadian drinker, is the first to admit he thinks IPAs "taste like turpentine" but bless his pointy head, he's always on the look-out for me. At 6.2% and just 53 IBUs (international bitterness units), this is obviously a mildly-hopped IPA which is not exactly my speed. with some small citrus on the nose and a lightly peppery finish, this beer neither entranced nor repulsed me. It was a medium offering that frankly could use an Amarillo-Cascade kick to the butt.

Last year's purchase of Mill Street Brewing by giant Labatt may have sent shockwaves through the craft beer community but as a new Toronto Blue Jays season has been started at the SkyDome (you only call it the Rogers Centre if you're young enough that your pants stupidly hang below your ass), there has been a real bonus to the ballpark's beer choices.

Now batting for the Mill Street team is new West Coast
Style IPA, the brewery's first real effort at a hoppy one.
It will be landing at Beer Stores and LCBOs in a month.

You see, Labatt has always controlled the beer selection at the Dome and even ousted the across-the-street Steam Whistle Pilsner two years ago after one season on tap. In fact, the team is named the Toronto Blue Jays as a nod to Labatt's Blue. So basically, if you went to a Jays' game, it was an "enjoy that $12 tallboy of Bud" kind of day. However, with their purchase of Mill Street, now on the Dome's Beer Roster are Mill Street's hugely popular Organic Lager, the tasty 100th Meridian Amber Organic Lager, the even tastier Tankhouse Ale and newcomer West Coast Style IPA (which I haven't had yet.) Jay thinks the West Coast Style IPA will be a Double-A player at best while I am thinking Mill Street will finally hit that IPA home run. We'll know within the month when it lands on our shelves. But throw in the Hockley Dark and Labatt's own Goose Island IPA (a pretty good pale ale) and Honker's Ale (a decent ESB) and hey, we finally have some choices at the Dome. If I'm gonna pony up that kind of cash, I want a beer that I can at least enjoy. I have my fingers crossed for that IPA but even if it's a strike-out, I have my beloved Tankhouse and 100th Meridian in the bullpen. That's like having both Tom Henke and Roberto Osuna warming up. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...