My sweet Stone City swag

The problem with posing with me for a photo, as
Jay-Dawg found out, is that because I'm older,
the camera automatically reverts to the black-
and-white setting. On the positive side, standing
next to me makes Jay look a helluva lot better...

Frankly, I made a huge tactical error when I returned from my niece's wedding in Halifax with some east coast IPAs for my Beer Store co-worker, Jay-Dawg,

After I landed, I remembered that while my fridge at Donny's Bar and Grill was, in fact, jammed with beer, there were no IPAs in there. There are always IPAs in my fridge. I leave with at least six after most shifts whether or not I'm planning to pop into the LCBO to get even more on the way home.

Not a problem, I thought. I'll stop and grab some on the way home. Except, well, a problem. I had forgotten it was Thanksgiving Monday and all LCBOs and Beer Store were closed. That meant the only IPAs in my entire house were the Nova Scotian ones slated for Jay - a Propeller Double IPA, a Garrison's Imperial IPA and their Hoppy Buoy IPA and a Boxing Rock Brewing The Vicar's Cross Double IPA.

Relating my blunder to Stevil St Evil in New Zealand, he howled, "Jay's not gonna see any of those beers!" Well, of course, that wasn't gonna happen. As I said, I still had many beers in my fridge. Drinking beer slated for a buddy would be a King of Douche-Land move. Still as a precautionary measure, I took a picture of them and texted that picture to Jay with a simple "Look what I brung ya" note. So Jay knew he had beer coming and I simply drank some of the still-very-good-but-not-IPAs beers in my fridge. And I survived...

A quick look inside the scene at Stone City Ales in Kingston.
If you look carefully, you may notice a blurry figure in the
background. Clearly, he has super-speed. I'm not sure he
should be using that power at work, even if it means serving
tables more efficiently. Secret identities must be preserved.

One night wasn't gonna kill me. Two would be pushing it. Three nights would likely cause excruciating convulsions. Four nights and my very soul would perish into the abyss. But not one. One's totally easy. *Inwardly giving myself a high-five for lasting even one night without an IPA, as well as how convincingly I told that outright lie.*

But for coworkers, Jay and I travel in different directions during our off-hours, although our final destinations are ultimately some craft brewery or breweries somewhere. In essence, by bringing each other beers from various trips to Ontario (and even Maritime) breweries, we are each travelling half the distance but individually reaping twice the reward. It's an effective beer-centric system and one that works well for both of us. And when he and his pretty partner-in-crime Cara recently returned from Kingston, I was the happy beneficiary of some of Stone City Ales' finest products.

Now, I have had some previous exposure to Stone City as Rib Eye Jack's wonderful beer technician Kylie has a friend working there and after a visit there last Summer, she brought me back a one-litre (34 ounce) howler of their Grizzled Hipster Double IPA.

As you can see, I didn't have a Stone City Ales' glass that I
could pour their Bad Habit Weissbier into so I made due
with a Stone Hammer one that made me sort of half-right

The Grizzled Hipster was again in the Jay-and-Cara-Care-Package but so too was their Bad Habit Weissbier, their Uncharted IPA and finally their Ships In The Night Oatmeal Stout.

And with that remarkably short lead-in (for me, anyway) it seems it's Beer O'Clock at Donny's Bar and Grill. None of my clocks actually say that so I pay a neighbour to yell it at me. He has a beard and dresses like a lumberjack so I pay him in Pabst Blue Ribbon. (That's another beer I will be examining for its unusual Hipster Cred in the near future but not today.)

Okay, if you've read this before, you know the rules. Around these parts, I start with the lighter beers and move slowly and deliciously towards the heavier ones. Unless I go in a different direction. Like good beer itself, the rules are very fluid in my corner of the world. But that means we're starting with the Bad Habit Weissbier and hey, a good German wheat is a great place to start.

Because this is what a "grizzled hipster" looks like, right?
Actually, that's a pretty cool label on a pretty good Double
IPA. Nice deep rich colour, plenty of power in this punch!

Okay, there was a new twist to this wheat as they brewed it using German Huell Melon hops, a fruitier hop meant for milder styles, such as wheats, saisons and the like. So as expected, lots of banana on the nose - your usual wheat aroma - but the 5.3%, 30 IBU (international bitterness units) summer brew does a funky switch to melon on the tongue. Which melon? Beats me. There's like a million of them, none of which my son will eat. Let's say one of the orange ones and hope I picked the right melon family. I got to enjoy this on a sunny 22C (70F) Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks back and frankly, it disappeared from my patio as rapidly as the temperate weather. A smooth easy-drinker in true German style.

Sailing onward into unfamiliar waters, next up, let's look at that Uncharted IPA. At 6.9% and 69 IBU, this is a straight-up, solid IPA. No bells, no whistles, just some great taste. 

This Oatmeal Stout was simply outstanding, one of the best
I had enjoyed in 2016. It landed on my doorstep with ample
praise from Jay-Dawg, who mentioned it ahead of two top-
notch IPAs. In our beer world, praise cannot come higher .

Both pineapple and pine scents on the nose, you get some nice tropical fruit, orange and even apricot on the tongue. If I was starting to think Kingston was getting a little bit spoiled with this brewery, the next two beers certainly locked in that opinion.

The Grizzled Hipster Double IPA was everything I remembered from that howler a year and a half back. I occasionally check out RateBeer for one of two reasons - to find commercial descriptions of beers and to identify colours that are giving me trouble. This time, it was a colour issue. I was going to say "tarnished brass." The consensus by RateBeer users was "deep orange." And this is why the colourblind rely on the eyes of others. Okay, so it pours (allegedly) deep orange with a really nice fruit on the nose. It's medium-bodied and lots of bitter grapefruit on the tongue. But be warned, this 8.5%, 90 IBU bomb has the taste and feel of a single IPA and that can spiral you into the Danger Zone.

Stone City Ales' founder Ron Shore, left, along with
partner Eric Dinelle (and his wife Rebecca) started the
Kingston craft brewery in Summer of 2014 and since
that point have won a handful of award for their brews.

Which brings me to Cara and Jay's final offering - their Ships in the Night Oatmeal Stout. Jay came back raving about this one, which surprised me because he's a big IPA and sour fan. This style is certainly the polar opposite of his favoured sours - a style for which I'm still trying to develop an appreciation. I classify most as "interesting" or "different" so far. But to all the brewers who swore it was gonna be the style to replace IPAs as the new favourite, I offer a succinct three-word rebuttal: "No, they won't."

Okay, instantly, I saw why Jay was buzzing about this beer. This 5.6% glass of black magic had tons of coffee and chocolate on the nose with damn tasty bitter chocolate and toasted oatmeal maltiness on the tongue. This was, frankly, one of the best stouts I've enjoyed in 2016 and believe me, there have been many. A velvety, rich bomb-blast in a tall glass. Simply outstanding.

This talented young man, Jason da Silva, is the
head brewer for Stone City Ales but has a real
local connection for me. Once upon a time, he
was the Eastern Ontario sales rep for my much
beloved Nickel Brook Brewing right here in
Burlington. He is pumping out some really
dynamite and award-winning beers these days.

So how about a quick look at this fledgling but already-strong brewery right about now? Sure, I'm game! When founder Ron Shore lost his job in the healthcare industry (on just three days' notice, to boot) back in 2013, he decided it was time to throw the dice. Knowing the burgeoning popularity of craft beer in Ontario, he saw that Kingston had a void to be filled. With the strong base of potential patrons, such as a steady stream of downtown business people, as well as students from both Queen's University and St. Lawrence College, the market was there, ripe for the picking.

Partnering up with husband-and-wife team, Eric and Rebecca Dinelle, they created a solid business plan and in July 2014, they opened their brewery's door to an immediate thirsty and appreciative crowd of suds-sippers. The addition of head brewer Jason da Silva at the beginning paid off in instant and unforeseen measure. Da Silva, who had worked at Ottawa's Clock Tower Brewpub, was also a former Eastern Ontario sale rep for Burlington's Nickel Brook Brewing, who then plied his trade as a brewer for Ottawa's Beyond The Pale Brewing. When da Silva started creating beers for Stone city, it didn't take long to reap the benefits as just nine months later, the brewery struck silver for their Green Goddess Imperial IPA and bronze for their Uncharted IPA in the West Coast IPA category in the 2015 Ontario Brewing Awards. Uncharted then took gold in the same category in the 2016 OBAs. Clearly, this is a brewery with a strong foothold and on its way up in the increasingly-populated Ontario craft beer landscape. These guys are one to watch carefully.

While Alec Baldwin nailed Donald Trump's bombastic
nature beautifully in the pre-election Saturday Night
Live skits, a lot of people missed how Kate McKinnon
captured Hillary Clinton's less-than-warm-and-fuzzy
and often-times cold and calculating persona perfectly. 

Now before I sign off, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that today is Thanksgiving Day for my American readers, the beginning of a four-day weekend for them. Just as it is in Canada, Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather under one roof to enjoy good food, watch sports and then, once stuffed to the gills, argue bitterly. I suspect the aftermath of the American election will spill over many dinner tables tonight in the USA. Harsh political divisions will be instant, vocal and acrimonious, I suspect. But it doesn't have to be that way. You see, I think it's simply a matter of knowing how to speak to the other side.

Okay, if you're a liberal, dealing with a relative who voted for Donald Trump, you just need to employ some of his phrases into the conversation. Say things like, "This stuffing is so great, it's gonna bomb the shit out of your colon!" Or perhaps, "This meal is gonna be so good! Everyone will be talking about how great it is! Let's make Thanksgiving great again!"

Of all the celebrities that said they'd move
to Canada if Trump won, the only one we
are willing to take is Samuel L Jackson
because he alone can take a cold country
and make it even cooler. Come on up!!!

But if you're a conservative dealing with a Hillary Clinton supporter, it may take a little more finesse. Look at the dinner table and note you are impressed with "how inclusive
and diverse the food is. Every food group is equally represented, regardless of taste and colour!" See? It's just a matter of know the other side's lingo to make Thanksgiving dinner relatively (see what I did there?) happy and peaceful.

And when watching football today, be sure to talk up this Electoral College in whatever conference it plays. I've been hearing a lot of chatter about this school so they must have a really good football program! Like, YUGE!

And finally onto the touchy subject of American celebrities who swore they'd move up here if Trump won. The truth is we don't really want most of them, especially that shrieking harpie, Miley Cyrus. She's all yours. Sorry, gang. That said, I saw Samuel L Jackson say the same thing and man, we will gladly take him! That bad-ass mother-lover (it's his catch-phrase - did I say that right?) is always welcome up here! He can crash on my couch. One more thing, America. This morning, I found James Franco rummaging through my recycling bins. Did he do that down there, too? But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

The Magical Mystery Craft Beer Tour

That Tiffers Beer Bus looks a little tipsy, just as I suspect we will be on
November 26 when the inaugural We Take You To Beer bus tour kicks
off at Rib Eye Jack's Ale house before heading to Great Lake Brewing,
the Indie Alehouse and finally, Steam Whistle where we'll be getting a
full brewery tour. It's a lot of beery fun jammed into one day on wheels!

I suspect readers of this space may recognize the name Tiffany, the social media maven and beloved-by-all server at Rib Eye Jack's Ale House in Burlington.

If not, perhaps the name Tiffers is more familiar to you? Yes? Okay, regardless (because there is no such word as irregardless, people) here's a pretty big question. How does a devout Jameson Irish Whiskey drinker end up organizing a beer bus tour? I mean, Tiffany is the first to admit she knows jack-squat about beer, despite working at the very restaurant with the best craft beer selection in the city.

Well, like all good superheroes, it seems that Tiffany lives a double-life. On one hand, she is a key cog in the Rib Eye Jack's wheel. But given her background in public relations and event promotion, she is an valued asset in the area business Concept Solutions.

Tiffany holds up a Side Launch Pale Ale at Rib Eye
Jack's Ale House even though she would be the first
to admit, she hasn't the faintest idea how good it is.
Hint: very good. But Tiff know what beer drinkers
like and that is to be chauffeured to new breweries.

And what does the business, owned by Deirdra Watson, specialize in? Public relations and event management. In dated TV terminology, I believe we have a love connection or more accurately, a great business connection.

So when it came time to organize an event for Concept Solutions, Tiffany decided it was high time to take her two businesses, meld their unique specialties into one and came up with the "We Take You To Beer" bus trip, slated for November 26 from 11 am to 5 pm. The event, which costs $80, will start at Rib Eye Jack's where craft beer lovers will enjoy a pint before jetting down the QEW to Great Lakes Brewing in Etobicoke, the Indie Alehouse in west Toronto's Junction neighbourhood (my old stomping grounds) and finally landing at perennial favourite, Steam Whistle Brewing nestled between the SkyDome and Lake Ontario, where the entire group will be getting a full brewery tour.

I checked quickly with my Beer Writing Buddy, Drunk Polkaroo, to see how that pricing fared as he has gone on a couple of similar craft beer brewery bus trips in the past and he said the price was usually in the $90-$100 range. So there you go. Once again, in TV vernacular, The Price Is Right.

Come on into Great Lake Brewery, folks. My name
is Don and I'll be your host. No, not really. I'll just
be a happy patron like everyone else and probably
wearing this same Nickel Brook t-shirt, hopefully
washed by then, because I'm a shop-locally dude.

So how did Tiffany decided on a craft brewery bus trip? I'll let her explain. "The craft beer market is exploding at an insane rate. Knowing this, many craft beer lovers I have spoken to... have never gone to a brewery or toured (one.)" She added that there are literally dozens of similar tours for wine lovers but precious few for beer drinkers. "Having the relationship I do with Rib Eye Jack's (and its patrons) and the love of having a bus do all he driving, I thought this would be an amazing adventure for all craft beer lovers." She added the proximity of dozens of great breweries in the Toronto area made this a no-brainer.

Rather than go with a full-coach bus, she opted instead for a mini-coach with a 30-person capacity. For starters, it's easier for breweries to accommodate a group that size. And though she may not realize it yet, it's easier for her as the organizer. My Beer Bro Stevil St Evil has been on a number of full-coach brewery tours in New Zealand and says that keeping a group of 50-60 beer-swilling drinkers in line, much less together as a group "is like trying to corral feral cats. It's funny... but damn near impossible." 

So how did she end up picking these three breweries in particular?

The Indie Alehouse is an excellent choice as the middle
stop on the bus tour for a few reasons. It has incredibly
friendly and knowledgeable staff (as do they all) and a
huge restaurant-bar component as part of the brewery.

Turns out GLB was a gimme. "Great Lakes Brewey is always a favourite at Rib Eye Jack's. Sometimes guests don't even care what it is on tap because as soon as they see the (GLB) handle, they are sold. Craft beer lovers are known to be very particular with their tastes but when it's Great Lakes, that seems to be all it takes." Very true as I am one of those patrons. If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, GLB is likely to be among your Top-Three Favourite Brewers, if not number one. Since GLB doesn't do brewery tours, "we can be expected to be greeted by their amazing staff and taken on a 'tasting tour.' We will be educated on their beers and the process (involved in brewing them)."

The pit-stop at the Indie Alehouse will simply be relaxing time, she added. "This is free time. The brewery doesn't offer tours. They just know we are coming (as part of the tour.) This is the time to wander, learn and sample a variety of different brews."

For the brewery-tour-minded in the crowd, the last stop, Steam Whistle, will be the real highlight of the day. I've been on this tour and it's fun, informative and frankly, the folks there just love to rock it out. I've been to many great parties there.

If you live anywhere in the GTA and even beyond, you know
what this is. The Tower at Steam Whistle is a landmark that
tells you some serious fun is about to begin for beer-lovers.
It will be the final stop on the We Take You To Beer Bus
Tour on November 26. And believe me, it's a great final act

When the group lands at Steam Whistle, Tiffany noted, "We will be greeted with samples and then split into two groups of 15 to be taken on the amazing tour they offer. (You'll come out of the tour) completely amazed, impressed and knowing far more than you did before entering." 

Indeed, Steam Whistle is an anomaly in the Ontario craft beer circles as they brew only their one Czech-style Pilsner and yet remain hugely popular with drinkers. People line up to go there for fun and hey, being across the street from the SkyDome doesn't hurt. I remember once heading there before a Blue Jays game with a group of four. We were having so much fun that we skipped the game, kept partying and watched it on their big screen. One of the guys walked across the street, sold our tickets for face value and we drank for free all afternoon. Best ball game ever as the atmosphere at Steam Whistle is second to none.

The box lunch for the day will be provided by the talented kitchen staff ar Rib Eye Jack's and Tiffany noted bus adventurers will be gifted with swag from Creative Solutions and merchandiser Brand Blvd. She said there are tickets left but keep in mind once they hit 30 people, it's done. But there will be more on the horizon, she promises. "I would love to do this every three to four months if this one takes off."

Tickets are available at this link: We Take You To Beer Bus Tour! or from Tiffany any time at Rib Eye Jack's. I advance-scouted both GLB and the Indie Alehouse on a recent trip into Toronto and these are both great stops. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. I'll be back real soon with the beers coworker Jay-Dawg brought me from Stone City Ales in Kingston. Until next time, I remain...

David's Star Turn & Daddy's Beer Tour

David reads the small chalkboard on the counter at Toronto's
Indie Alehouse. He helped Daddy pick out his beer with one
condition. They had to end with the letter I-P-A. Hey, no
problem as we walked out with three of them. Great work!

My son, David, got a pretty cool opportunity a couple weeks back when a Toronto casting company contacted his Mom about the possibility of him having his picture taken for a print media campaign.

Now David's happy persona was available on tape to the casting agency because he has auditioned for a couple of things in the past, notably a cereal ad that celebrated diversity, showing images like a gay couple having breakfast, a family with a special needs child enjoying the product and so on. (My pitch for a cave-family with a pet dinosaur went unheeded. Brilliance is never recognized until long after its time.)

David's Mom was busy preparing for a trip to Germany so she didn't have time to travel to the photo shoot. Asking my boss, Allison, if she could fix it so I had that Wednesday off did involve some major shuffling of shifts on her end but she made it happen which was very much appreciated by both me and my boy.

When I got the itinerary for the day, I saw that David's photo shoot was slated for 3:45 pm, likely the last of the day. I smelled opportunity.

Great Lake Brewing had a huge pumpkin and hay
bale scene set up out front of their Queen Elizabeth
Boulevard Brewery in Etobicoke. My boy got pretty
happy about the scenery as it reminded him more
of Halloween than beer. Granted, he doesn't drink.

And for me, opportunity is pronounced "brewery stops." Of course, it was David's big day, not mine, so I asked if he wanted to go into Toronto early and check out some breweries with Daddy since we had all day. He was extremely game as he loves a good road trip, as well as visiting these places and talking to new people. So as I was taught by Beer Bro Stevil St Evil, "Use Google and chart your course first, Beer Captain!"

And I did, pulling up a map of craft breweries in Toronto's west end near the studio and drawing up a rudimentary tour. Our stops would include Great Lakes Brewing in Etobicoke, the Indie Alehouse in the Junction area of Toronto and Junction Craft Brewing in the same neighbourhood. I made sure the last two were less than 10 minutes away from the studio, if we had to cut our little brewery jaunt short. Not an issue. We landed in all three places and were still an hour early. That actually worked out well as he had to be fitted for clothes, get his hair and make-up done before the shoot... you know, all the stuff that stars must endure. So he was more than ready to go and happily waiting when the young lady having her photo-shoot ahead of him was just finishing up. For once, being early was a good thing. But the studio was the last start so let's take a look at the first three before we come back to it at the end.

As this was just a handful of days before Halloween, the taps
at Great Lake Brewing were covered with faux cobwebs and
caution tape was plastered through the place. The only thing
I was in danger of was buying some really good craft beer...

You know, considering Great Lakes Brewing is literally 25 minutes down the road from Donny's Bar and Grill, I'm stunned I've never been there. But then again, I'm at the seasoned age where none of the stupid things I have done or smart things I haven't done really surprise me anymore.

Going into their retail shop, I was impressed with both the huge patio out front, the fridge with product inside and the taps at the ready. Seeing their outstanding Karma Citra IPA in the fridge, I told David I would be buying some of that but asked him to pick me another. He surveyed the lot, which included their Pompous Ass Pale Ale, Devil's Pale Ale 666 before pointing to their Canuck Pale Ale. "I like that one because it has a lumberjack," he noted of the label created by artist Garnett Gerry and GLB graphic designer Fabian Skidmore. He doesn't even drink beer but picked the exact one I wanted. Excuse me while I go weep fatherly tears of pride.

So we collected our swag and off we went to the Indie Alehouse in the Junction about 15 minutes away.

My boy poses with Indie Alehouse worker Jason
who was quite interested in David's upcoming
photo adventure. The two of them chatted away
and when I set up this picture, Jason made sure
my boy was wearing an Indie Alehouse ballcap.

No problems finding it at all as I followed my roughly-drawn map. Parking along Dundas Street West in Toronto, however, was a different issue so I opted for a side street and parked not exactly legally. But hey now, here was a really good set-up. Next to their retail shop was a huge dining and bar area - I mean, really big - so this place must see tons of foot traffic, especially on the weekend. This is good news as Tiffers, aka Tiffany from Rib Eye Jacks, is organizing a "We Take You To Beer" Bus Tour at the end of the month and GLB is Stop #1 while Indie Alehouse is Stop #2. It finishes with a full brewery tour at Steam Whistle (lots of fun and super-informative - I've done it before) but I'm glad Indie Alehouse has this kind of space as our halfway stop. More on this bus trip to come.

But it was at Indie Alehouse that we met Jason, who would be helping us on this fine day. After Jason introduced himself, David cheerfully piped up, "I'm David and this is my father, Don. We're in Toronto because I'm getting my picture taken today!" Jason perked up and asked why. So I explained the photo session to him and he then looked at David and boldly told him, "They'll pick your pictures for sure! You're a pretty good-looking guy!" When David beamed and responded, "I sure am!", Jason looked over at me and laughed, "You gotta love that confidence!" To paraphrase my lad, I sure do!

So then, it was beer buying time. They had a little chalkboard in a stand on the counter so I make it easy for my boy. "Show Daddy every beer that ends with I, P and A." He looked at the board and start pointing. "Hmmm, that's this one... and this one... and this one."

The final stop on the Father And Son Beer
Tour was Junction Craft Brewing where I
picked up four beauties. This one was the
most real of the three as you have to walk
past more than a few fermenting vats to get
 to the retail counter. It really doesn't come
much more authentic than that, does it?

There's a little Parenting 101 right there. It's about guiding your kids in the direction you want them to go. And that's how I walked out of the Indie Alehouse with a Love Triangle IPA, a Couchsurfer IPA and an Instigator IPA. One stop, three IPAs, it doesn't get more efficiently-tasty than that. We'll get to all this beer in a minute but first, let's go to the final stop, Junction Craft Brewing.

Where Indie Alehouse was on a nice strip of Dundas Street West with an unique combo of antique places, nice deli's, book shops and some fine dining, Junction Craft Brewing was tucked away on a backstreet five minutes east amidst a sea of industrial factories, complete with an abundance of spray-painted graffiti as outer decor. This would not be a "chic boutique" little stretch of Toronto land. Gritty would be underselling it. That said, as always, I was suitably dressed for the location as the only thing I know about Armani is that it's not short for either army or manicure.

Since it was a long stretch of attached factories, we accidentally walked through the wrong door and were in some sort of distilled alcohol distribution centre. It was nice but again, wrong place. So as per instruction, we went one over, climbed the metal staircase and landed inside Junction Craft Brewing. But when I opened the door and saw nothing but fermentation vats and liquid-covered floors, I said to a nearby worker, "We've come in the wrong way, haven't we? I wanted your retail." No, she assured me, gesturing toward the retail counter just past all the vats. "It's right over there." Well, alrighty then... let's play.

Okay, from the Indie Alehouse, we have, from left, their
Love Triangle IPA, their Instigator IPA and finally, their
Couchsurfer IPA. All three were really good but in the
end, the one with the lowest ABV was the one that made
me go, "Whoa!" That said, three dynamite beers here. 

I grabbed David's hand because I didn't want him slipping on the floor just before his big photo-shoot. But at the same time, I noticed he was looking around in wide-eyed marvel. He was not used to this at all as it wasn't just the cool shiny machinery he's seen in our previous brewery visits. Oh, they were there but this also had troughs of spent barley malt, grated drains on the floor funneling liquid and it smelled accordingly. Yeah, this was the exposed raw guts of a brewery and David was totally fascinated. It was pretty cool that these guys basically usher you in through inner-workings to get to the retail counter. I've never seen that before and I have been to a lot of breweries. I loved it. It was like those old MTV: Unplugged shows but, you know, a craft brewery. Raw and bare, baby. After buying my beer, I walked David over to the trough of used-up malt and told him, "You know what they do with all this old grain at Nickel Brook? A farmer comes in, takes it all for free and feeds it to his pigs in the country."

There's not much more I can tell you about this
Karma Citra IPA that I haven't already said. It's
simply one of Ontario's best IPAs. But I wanna
show off the cool inverted tulip glass I bought at
GLB during our visit. A glass of tasty right there!

The lady there (whose name I missed) told him that Junction Craft did precisely the same with theirs. This new connection between a brewery and what would eventually become tasty bacon was not lost on my boy.

Okay, time to talk beers! Let's start with Great Lakes as it was Stop #1. Well, I don't know what more I could tell you about Karma Citra that I haven't already said in this space. One of Ontario's juiciest single-hop IPAs, it's a limited run that will sell out quickly so get your ass over to either the brewery or an LCBO and grab it now. For my money, Canuck Pale Ale deserves all the praise it gets and then some. It's one of those great beers that always been there and sometimes we forget about it. My coworker Jay-Dawg and I were talking about that recently. He noted that sometimes when he hits the LCBO, if he doesn't see any new stuff he's interested in, he'll grab a few knowns, including Canuck. "I always forget how good of a beer it is until I try it again," he noted. Pale ales were Jay's cross-over into the world of craft beer and hey, it's good to revisit the ones from the beginning of the journey. Much like him, I enjoyed the reminder of how good this brew is.

I love a good red ale and I love a good wheat. So how do the
styles combined taste? Pretty damn good. One of four beers
bought at Junction Craft Brewing, this had tons of flavour.

At 5.2% and 35 IBUs (international bitterness units), there's grapefruit on the nose with a taste of pine and citrus on the tongue. It's ABV safe, it's damn tasty and it's your all-purpose, watching-hockey beer.

The three IPAs from Indie Alehouse were all solid performers so good choices there, David. At 6.5% and roughly 80 IBUs, the Instigator IPA had some big grapefruit on the nose with bitter orange peel on the tongue. This is the one that's really popular among the Indie patrons. The Love Triangle IPA weighed in at 6% and about 70 IBUs and had some nice pine on the tongue with fresh citrus on the nose. Again, another solid candidate but let's look at the Couchsurfer IPA. Okay, at just 5%, you expect this to be a malty British-style IPA. It most definitely was not as it kicks it full west-coast style. Herb and mango on the nose and while it had a thinner body, it still held a full-bodied taste. Because I expected the least from this one, it actually blew me away.

When I posted this on Instagram, beer lovers were all
commenting on its beautiful colour for a Galaxy Hop beer.
I hadn't really noticed but instantly worried that I might
have gimmicked it too much, using the filters. There are
some things colourblind people should avoid. Like filters.

Not for being the best of the bunch. No, for exceeding my expectations by a large margin.

Now onto the gang at Junction Craft Brewing where I really mixed my choices up. This was kid in a candy shop time. Let's start with their Olympia Looping Red Wheat because while I have enjoyed many Summer wheats and darker Dunkel Weisses in the Winter, I've never had a red one. That's pretty apropos for the colourful Autumn landscape, I'd say. As you can see, it's a beautiful deep red pour. At 5% and 18 IBUs, the nose is banana with a brief whiff of bubblegum. Some tangy, dry, apple and fruit on the tongue. As it's the only red wheat I've ever had, it's easy to declare this one the winner!

Their Hop Burst Galaxy was a damn good one for a session ale. Using just Galaxy hops (they also made an Amarillo hop one I wish was there as it is my favourite), this clocks in at just 3.5% but has a staggering 58 IBUs. I have never seen a combination of low ABV to high IBU quite like that in my time.

Junction Craft's Engineer IPA is the pretty example of why
you need a whole beer, not just a small Beer Fest sample, to
properly talk about it. At first, it's nothing but malts but
slowly, about halfway through, the hops start to surface...

Very light-bodied as sessioners tend to be but lots of citrus on the nose and some light orange and lemon on the tongue. Just an excellent job with this one, gang!

Their Engineer's IPA is a bit of a sneak attack. On first sip (and several afterwards) all you get is malts. I mean, you do get citrus on the nose but it's caramel maltiness on the tongue. Then the 6.2%, 59 IBU beer starts to slide in a different direction about halfway through. Suddenly, the more you have, the more the hoppy grapefruit comes to the forefront. If you're expected a hop bomb, this ain't it. But it is one beautifully balanced beer.

And finally, let's look at their Bahnhofzoo Berliner Weisse, a sour offering from the Junction crew. (The Bahnhof Zoo is an actual tourist attraction in Berlin.) This is the first non-fruit-infused Berliner Weisse I've had in quite some time. At just 3.5% and 5 IBUs, this is a nice light sour that won't offend any sensibilities.

David stands happily in front of the fermentation vats
at Junction Craft Brewing. Yeah, it was definitely an
eye-opener to walk into a brewery and be right in the
middle of the brewing area. But then again, it's not
an area that we usually see. So new adventure for us!!

Pouring with a thin head and looking like a pale lager, it's tarty citrus on the nose with more of the same on the tongue. Meant to be a Summer drink, I had mine on an warm Autumn day so close enough.

And that's a wrap from the beers on this Toronto road trip but a couple more cute moments from the photo-shoot and beyond. At one point, David was posing on the kitchen set and photographer Mark called me over because David wanted to talk to me. Turns out he was posing with a plate full of fruit and he wanted me to take a picture of him "eating healthy" to show his Mom. The crew sent him back to Daddy's with that fruit, some chicken wings and vegetarian lasagna, all of which he loved.

On the way home, David decided that this photo-shoot was destined to make him famous. Once he was a star, he told me he was moving to Hollywood where he would have four girlfriends - Emma Watson, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. He didn't have his fourth picked yet so I asked if I could use that extra spot and get Halle Berry as my girlfriend. He thought about it for a few seconds and then said flatly, "I don't think so, Daddy." Damn, that was my only real shot at Halle, using David as a lure. Oh well. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

"You gotta call this one Blog 3..."

While my coworker Marie is best identified as our
Beer Store's official foodie, she has also learned a ton
about craft beers in the last two years. So here she is
handling my Q... which just sounds so very wrong...
That's okay. Her man, Ernie, was sitting right there
and said he couldn't believe how well she was working
my Q! Uhh, I'm just making this even worse, aren't I?

"I've already thought of a perfect title for this one," said my co-worker Marie as she presented me with a big old pile of beer from Block 3 Brewing, located in tiny St. Jacobs. "You gotta call it 'Blog 3'!!" Hmmmm, is that copyright infringement or am I skirting around the edge of those laws? Meh, too late now. It's out there.

Okay, let me set the stage here first. After some of her extensive travels this past Summer, Marie and her boy-toy Ernie had just handed me the brewery's Beauty and the Belgian Amber Ale, Cathedral Belgian IPA, Do You Want To Dance Single Hop Citra IPA and their Fickle Mistress (aren't they all? Uhh, so I hear...) Dry-Hopped Sour Ale.

This nicely complemented the Block 3 King Street Saison I had already purchased, as well as the Block 3 Danger Zone Imperial Farmhouse IPA she had earlier gifted to me. Not to mention the Block 3 1-Up Imperial IPA gifted to me from beer writing buddy Drunk Polkaroo.

Now you have to understand, at any given point, the fridge at Donny's Bar and Grill has a top shelf and door shelf literally jammed with dozens of beer from an equal amount of brewers. It was a craft beer shit-show in there. Much to my delight.

The boys in the Block 3 hood. Brewery founders are, from left, Derek
Lebert, Phil Hipkiss, Graham Spence and Bryan Maher. When they
opened in September 2013, all four were 30 years old and under. Of
the quartet, shown here in a Waterloo Region Record photo, only
Maher had any brewing experience, having worked for Wellington
Brewing for three years. The other three founders were accountants.

But at one point this Summer, there was so much Block 3 product in there that I couldn't look in any direction without spotting one. If you had to hashtag that serious situation, I suppose you could either go with #craftbeerdilemma or #shutupwhiner. Both work. And much like myself, not one of those Block 3 beers lifted a finger to clean my fridge.

So lemme get this straight. Rocket scientists can send a rover to Mars and send a space probe to Jupiter. But they've never thought of inventing a self-cleaning fridge? What's up with that, NASA rocket scientists?

Before I continue, a quick lesson in Roman Mythology. Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods, their equivalent of, say, the Greek's Zeus. Back when astronomers first discovered the four largest of Jupiter's moons, they named them after his mistresses, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. So NASA sends this probe up and names it Juno. Who's she? Jupiter's wife. So NASA is sending Jupiter's wife to check up on Jupiter, who been flying solo with all these extra-martial babe moons in his orbit? That's a dick move, NASA!

When Marie and her boy-toy Ernie returned from Block 3, they brought
me, from left, a Beauty and the Belgian Amber Ale, a Cathedral Belgian
IPA, a Fickle Mistress Dry Hopped Sour and a Do You Want To Dance
Single Hop Citra IPA. Holy crap, I made out like a frikkin' bandit here!

Anyway, I thought long and hard about how I was going to get all of these Block 3 beers out of my fridge to make room for other breweries' product. Several minutes of furrowed brow thinking went into this tragic dilemma before I finally came up with a solution. "I must drink these beers to create space for more!" I yelped out loud to no one in particular since I'm flying solo here at Donny's Bar and Grill at the present. While that'll probably change at some point, in the meantime, I'm stuck here doing whatever I want whenever I want. The worst part is the frequent napping and lack of a chore list. It's brutal.

I swiped this picture and given the funky
angle, I'm gonna assume it was taken by
my video buddy, Hago Vanayan. But I'll
tell you this, King Street is a great saison!

A quick check on a nearby wall tells me it's Beer O'Clock here at Donny's Bar and Grill. There's no clock on that wall. I just wrote Beer O'Clock there in indelible magic marker because I couldn't find a delible marker. Without a chore list readily available, I like to leave myself post-it notes but without the actual post-notes. In a completely unrelated note, does anyone have any spare paint they're not using?

Okay, we're gonna start with the milder ones and slowly shift towards the funky and hoppier stuff. That means their King Street Saison is on deck. Well, when the label promises you're gonna get "citrus, coriander, peppercorn and bubble-gum" in the taste, that sounds a whole lot more like a German wheat than a saison. And guess what? It was. On top of what they already promised (minus the bubble-gum), there was also banana on the nose and orange on the tongue with this 4.6% beer. Is this a wheat? Is this a saison? It doesn't really matter because it was damn tasty either way. Turns out they did, in fact, use a wheat malt (as well as Munich II and Pilsner malts) so mystery solved. So, yup, it's a saison loaded with a wheaty goodness.

In fact, Belgian-style seems to be such a reoccurring theme at the brewery, you often wonder if they're located in St Jacob's or Brussels. Case in point, their Beauty and the Belgian Amber Ale, which, as the name clearly announces, goes straight for the spicier Belgian yeast in the brewing process. So how does it all play out in the glass?

Just because a number of their beers have that
Belgian spiciness, it doesn't mean they can't do a
straight-up, west coast, single hop IPA. Their Do
You Want To Dance? is an outstanding Citra hop
IPA. So that's not Molson M in that glass. You can
tell by the colour... and taste... and that it's good.

Well, again, these guys have a strong handle on the style with this 6.3% ale giving it light fruit and distinct spiciness on the nose and breadiness, caramel and a touch more fruit (I noticed grapes and grapefruit) on the tongue. This is a solid Belgian ale. Monks would happily serve this. However, I should note is that while St Jacobs has a huge Mennonite community, actual monks are sadly under-represented in their population-at-large. However, Marie is quick to point out that the Mennonites basically kill it with great food at the town's hugely-popular Farmers' Market so at least you don't have to worry about all those monks lining up early to get all the good cheese and sausages.

Knowing that I have been dipping my toes into the sour beers well, Marie brought me back their Fickle Mistress, a dry-hopped sour. Obviously, these days, most brewers are trying their hands at sours - the big style of 2016. Hell, since most of their regular line production is done at the brewery they share with Collective Arts in Hamilton, our locals, Nickel Brook are cranking tons of sours and "funky beers" that are mostly using Brettanomyces (crazy yeasts) and have come to called the Burlington brewery, the Funk Labs.

Again, these boys just love their Belgian style, this time
cranking out their Cathedral Belgian IPA.  Using their
farmhouse yeast gives this that Belgian touch but past that
it's west coast style all the way. A punchy and tasty pour.

Again, it is a style I am still trying to understand but with which, I am happily experimenting. The Fickle Mistress, to me, is remarkably similar to many I have had thus far, including a couple of lambics and Nickel Brook's Raspberry Uber. I did quite like it but to me, the 5.5% Fickle tastes a lot like sour raspberry pop. Again, I will continue to experiment but might never believe this is the next big style, the one that will knock IPAs off the throne. Because the IPA is mighty and will rule Westeros for all time. Thus it has been written by George RR Martin himself. That said, I'm not a brewer so let them play around with different styles and have some fun. Think of breweries like gigantic game rooms. They wanna play with all the toys. I would, too. Because I'm a child and I don't mean, at heart. I mean, mentally.

Which brings us to the IPAs Marie retrieved for me. (All in the Westeros throne room stands, delivering thunderous applause.) First on deck is the Cathedral Belgian IPA.

This pair came from Marie on the left and my Beer
Writing Bro Drunk Polkaroo on the right. Both IPAs
were outstanding in their different ways and also
positively reviewed in this space. And, hey, free beer!

When Beau's All Natural Brewing delivered their Farm Table IPA to our Beer Store this past Summer, coworker Jay Dawg and myself were thrilled. (Sales-wise, Beau's Lug Tread Lagered Ale is almost on par with our two biggest craft sellers - Steam Whistle Pilsner and Mill Street Organic Lager.) Once again, with Cathedral (as well as Farm Table), it's all in the yeast.

With the Cathedral, there was a light note of spice in the aroma, as well as grapefruit while on the tongue, it was west coast fun. Some citrus and more grapefruit on the tongue, this 6.2% IPA is listed as having just 25 IBUs (international bitterness units) which is staggeringly hard to believe. It tasted much hoppier than that low IBU would imply. IPAs usually start at about 55 IBUs. I'm not sure how they pulled this one off. Hell, I'm not sure David Copperfield could have.

Which brings us to the star of the show - the Do You Want To Dance Single Hop Citra IPA (or as the label maker erroneously named it "singe hop.")

Believe it or not, I had to deal with these
Marie-delivered Block 3 offerings today
because she and her boy-toy Ernie are back
on the road, heading to Windsor with stops
at craft beer breweries the entire way. As
you can see, from this photo texted to me
last night, more goodies are coming to me.

Breweries are really nailing these single hop beers these day, though decidedly less so with the singe-hopped ones.

Again, I was staggered to see this 6.5% beer had just 40 IBUs until I checked the malts used: UK Pale, Abbey, CaraRed and finally... Wheat. Ahhh, there you go. Once again, the wheat infusion gives this a certain Belgian Wit note. However, what the hell, it works! This is some serious Mad Scientist tinkering going on in their fermentation vat. So on the nose, again, we get some grassiness and pine while on the tongue, it's nicely citrus with a touch of lager-like graininess. I like what these guys are doing in their brewery, which is far more experimental than many craft lovers realize.

Marie and Ernie report back that the atmosphere in the brewery is friendly and fun, not to mention that they are usually served by one of the four owners (Derek Lebert, Phil Hipkiss, Graham Spence and Bryan Maher) themselves. "They're all really friendly, helping out with free samples and just happy to talk about their brewery," Marie noted. By my count, the pair have visited Block 3 about four or five times in the last three years and they always stay long enough to get a paddle of goodies and enjoy the fun.

When Nickel Brook's Funk Labs Head Brewer Patrick
turned 30 on Monday, owner John Romano (centre) and
helper Megan, right, were on hand with birthday cake.
No word on the yeast used in that cake but frankly, let's
not rule our some form of Brettanomyces as his Funk
Lab really likes that style. Hey, all cake is good cake...

But I had to report on these beers now because the two drove to Windsor this weekend for a weekend of shenanigans at Caesars Windsor and I supplied Marie with a map from the Ontario Beverage Network that shows all the breweries along or near Highway 401 between here and Windsor. So more Marie beers coming my way.

That's it for today but lots more coming up. My son David and I drove into Toronto for a photo shoot last Wednesday and there were stops at Great Lakes Brewing, the Indie Alehouse and Junction Craft Brewing along the way. Not to mention some Yankee Doodle Dandies dropped off at Donny's Bar and Grill recently by Beer Bro Glenn and some delicious Stone City Ales' brews, courtesy of Jay-Dawg and the lovely Cara. I really have to yet my nose to the grindstone here because, well, beer drinking is involved and that demands a certain level of dedication on my end. But finally, one more note. Because she lives in the same neighbourhood as our Beer Store (right behind it, actually), Marie seems to know 90% of our clientele by name. Ironically, the same number seem to know my first name and in a bizarre turn, it seems like all of them are known as "Hey you!" on my end. I'm so good with names. And hey, with Halloween over, that's the end of pumpkin ales. Now I won't drink them but many do so I have to make some acknowledgment to them. That's where my Beer Writing Buddy Drunk Polkaroo comes in as he ranked them a couple of weeks back. The fact that two Nickel Brook beers top the list makes it even more appealing to link to: Polk Rates The Pumpkin Beers!  But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...