Urpiner Ležiak Svetlý

Due to the unique (or in less politically correct terms, fucked up) nature of alcohol legislation in Ontario, there are several different ways for beer to enter the marketplace. There are two retail chains – the government-owned LCBO, and the Molson & Labatt owned Beer Store – but getting on the shelves of the former requires approval by the powers-that-be, while listings at the latter are quite expensive.

Because of the time, money and/or red tape involved in getting beers into the province’s retail market, much of the beer imported into Ontario, especially from smaller breweries, is sold straight to bars, restaurants and individuals by import agents via the LCBO’s Private Order and Consignment programs. The result of this is a larger selection of beers being available than store stock suggests, but beer hunters often have to be intrepid to track them down, especially the lesser known beers that are brought in for specific ethnic communities, and that end up at bars and restaurants that aren’t necessarily known for having varied beer selections.

It helps, of course, when the importers do some outreach to try and spread the word about their goods. An example of this is an email I received a few weeks ago from James Tubaro of Oxford Imports, an agency that usually deals with wine, but that recently started carrying Urpiner Ležiak Svetlý, a pilsner from Slovakia’s Banskobystricky Brewery. He dropped off a few bottles for me soon after, and while drinking the final one tonight, I thought I should share some thoughts on it.

My main thought is that it’s a pretty nice beer, comparable to many of the European pilsners that are easily available at the LCBO. It has a beautiful golden colour and a snow white head, and an aroma that’s a touch too sweet for the style, but with a nice bready character and a herbal hop edge. The flavour is very pleasant – fresh bread, some toasted grain, a hint of honey, and very nice, lingering herbal hops in the finish. Again, it’s a bit on the sweet side for a pils, but still a nice little brew.

Tubaro tells me that he’s submitted the beer to the LCBO for retail consideration, so perhaps it will some day join Golden Pheasant on the shelves to make a grand total of two Slovakian beers easily available to Ontario drinkers. For now, though, he’s got it in a number of bars and restaurants around Toronto. So be alert, beer hunters.

(PS: For those who are curious, the “12%” on the label isn’t the alcohol percentage. It represents 12° on the Plato scale, a measurement that I don’t completely understand, but which seems to be commonly used by Eastern European breweries. As far as ABV does, it’s a perfectly reasonable 5%.)

Repurposed Content: The Busy Blogger’s Best Friend

Since being prominently mentioned on two of the world’s most popular beer blogs has drawn in literally hundreds of visits in the last couple of days, I was thinking it might be a good idea to get some new stuff posted to try and impress my new readers. But as usual, I’m too busy to sit down and write something new that would actually be worth reading (although that reminds me that I really should get the second part of my Montreal/Mondial trip report written before it’s completely irrelevant).

However – I do have a stockpile of material written for the last few issues of TAPS Magazine that I figured I could “reprint” – or to use some entertainment industry lingo, “repurpose” – in order to keep things from getting too stale.

Here, then, are my contributions to “Tasting Notes”, a beer review feature that started running in the mag as of the Fall 2008 issue. In a format that was shamelessly nicked from All About Beer, each beer is reviewed by two different writers, although we only do two beers each rather than the four covered in AAB’s “Beer Talk“, and the focus is exclusively on Canadian beers. My counterpart for these reviews has been Stephen Beaumont, and it’s been interesting to see which beers we agree on and which we don’t.

From the Fall 2008 issue:

Propeller IPA
Propeller Brewing Company, Halifax, NS
This treat from the east pours a deep golden-orange with a large snow-white head that shrinks to a thin layer, which congenially sticks around to the bottom of the glass. The aroma is pleasantly fruity, with strong notes of sweetened citrus (grapefruit & orange) and pineapple, and an undertone of caramel malt. Moderately full bodied, with a good level of carbonation. The sweet fruit notes come through off the top of the flavour, followed by the anticipated bitterness from the generous but not overpowering hops, finishing with lingering notes of grapefruit and a hint of spruce. That other so-called IPA might call itself “The Pride of Nova Scotia”, but this is a beer that Bluenosers can really be proud of.

Dernière Volonté
Dieu du Ciel!, Montreal, QC
With the gothic looking label and a name that translates to “Last Will”, you might expect this beer to be an Imperial Stout or some other dark, demonic ale. Instead, this dry-hopped Belgian ale has a slightly hazy golden-orange colour with a large white head that leaves some beautiful lacing as it recedes. The aroma is fantastic, big and fruity (peach, apricot, pineapple) and slightly spicy, with a building floral & tea-like hop character. The body is full and a bit creamy. The flavour starts like a standard but solid Belgian golden ale – yeast, fruit and a bit of spice – but then the hops kick in and take it to the next level with lingering notes of orange zest.

From the Winter 2008/09 issue:

Wild Rose Cherry Porter
Wild Rose Brewery, Calgary, AB
To make a worthy cherry porter, brewers have to tread a fine line. Too much cherry flavour can create a beer version of a sickly sweet Black Forest cake, and not enough can cause the cherry notes to be pretty much lost. Wild Rose Cherry Porter manages to strike a balance between those two extremes, with excellent results. Poured from the hefty 1 L swing-top bottle, it reveals a deep ruby-brown colour with a tan head that leaves nice lacing on the glass. The aroma has inviting smoky roasted malt off the top, with hints of charred espresso beans and cherry juice. The body is soft and moderately full, and the flavour balances dark malt, coffee and cocoa notes with tart cherry and a hint of wood smoke. Goes great with chocolate desserts, and the mild boozy warmth in the finish makes it equally satisfying on its own.

Yukon Lead Dog Ale
Yukon Brewing, Whitehorse, YK
As a dog lover with an especially strong affinity for huskies, the label alone was enough to hook me on this beer. Luckily, the stuff on the inside of the bottle is pretty good as well. Mahogany-brown in colour with a large mocha head, it has a complex and appealing aroma of dry cocoa, dark malt, treacle and anise. The flavour follows with the same notes as the aroma off the top, combined with some dried dark fruit, followed by a hint of smoke and a nicely layered hoppiness that builds in the finish. They call it an English Strong Ale, but to me it brings to mind a robust and warming Porter. Whatever you choose to call it, it’s a fantastic winter treat.

From the Spring 2009 issue:

La Messagère Rousse
Les Bières de la Nouvelle-France, Saint-Alexis-des-Monts, QC
Given the increasing number of gluten-free food products available for those who suffer from celiac disease, it’s a bit surprising that Nouvelle-France is the only brewery in Canada brewing gluten-free beer, using rice and buckwheat instead of barley malt. Their first, the original La Messagère, is an extremely light golden ale with little aroma or flavour, so I was hoping for more from their new Rousse. It certainly looks better than its sibling, with a nice bright copper colour and a thin cap of white foam. With the aroma, however, things start to go downhill: a faint whiff of caramel is overpowered by surprisingly prominent alcohol notes and a slightly medicinal edge. The flavour is similarly medicinal and herbal, vaguely reminiscent of Brio soda, with a quick and sharp hit of tart citrus combined with cherry cough syrup in the finish. It’s laudable for the brewery to be catering to a portion of the population who wouldn’t be able to drink beer otherwise, but personally, this beverage just reminds me that there’s a good reason why most beer is made with barley.

Nickel Brook Cuvée ‘08
Better Bitters Brewing, Burlington, ON
Normally, a single bottle is all it takes for me to put together a review for this feature, but I’m glad I was given three bottles of this beer to sample, as it took me that many to really wrap my head around it. The first bottle of this turbid mahogany ale struck me as being a bit unbalanced and one-dimensional, with not much beer coming through the strong woodiness imparted by the oak aging. But bottles two and three enjoyed over the next couple of nights revealed much more complexity, with notes of caramel, exotic herbs, sour cherry, a well-integrated spiciness, and a tannic quality from the oak that is just on the pleasant side of being astringent. Not something for everyday drinking, but a real sleeper that deserves return visits and careful consideration.

How Much Is Too Much?

Earlier this evening, I visited beerbistro, and I purchased and drank the beer in the photograph that accompanies this post. It was Cantillon Zwanze 2008, a limited edition lambic from the renowned Belgian brewery that was made with rhubarb.

Like every other Cantillon beer I’ve had, it was excellent, full of tart and funky goodness, with an interesting hint of rhubarb in the finish. A perfect beer to enjoy on a warm early summer evening.

Oh, and it cost me $25 (+ tax and tip) for a 375 ml bottle, which I believe is the most I’ve ever spent on a single serving of beer.

I’m sure there are a lot of people – including many craft beer drinkers – who will think me crazy for dropping so much on a single beer. Hell, for the money I spent on the Zwanze, I could’ve had three pints of something or other at beerbistro, or even more at someplace a little more down market.

So, why did I buy it? Well, a friend mentioned on a private chat forum today that he’d tried it, and since I love Cantillon beers and really like rhubarb, I decided to treat myself and splurge a little. (The fact that I came into a bit of extra money this week kinda helped me make my decision as well…)

And, was it worth it? Tonight, yes, it was. I thoroughly enjoyed the 45 minutes or so I spent drinking the beer, and given it’s scarcity, I felt the price was justified. Beerbistro is probably the only place in Canada, and perhaps in all of North America, to have Zwanze in stock. When I think what a wine of similar quality and rarity would cost in a restaurant, $25 almost seems like a bargain.

I’m curious to know what other people think, though. Is $25 (or more) ever a justifiable price for a bottle of beer, no matter how rare it might be? Does the “just imagine what a comparable wine would cost!” argument hold any weight, or is it a just a way for suckers to justify things to themselves when they drop too much money on a beer? And like the subject line above says, how much is too much when to comes to the price of beer?

Any thoughts?

(PS: While I was sorely tempted, I didn’t steal the glass. While I’m not a regular at beerbistro, I’m there often enough and know enough of the staff that it would’ve made my next visit a bit awkward. Plus, stealing is bad, ‘mkay? But man, that’s a cool glass, isn’t it?)

Montreal: Mondial de la Bière 2009

As my 5 or 6 regular readers will know, I’m not exactly known for brevity or timeliness when it comes to posts on this blog. A perfect example of this is my report on my trip to NYC a couple of years ago, a bloated series of six meandering posts, the last of which wasn’t posted until a month after I got home. So for this report on my trip to Montreal for Mondial de la Bière, I promised myself that I’d be both punctual and somewhat brief.

Well, it’s a bit over a week since I got home, so I’m not doing so great on the “punctual” part. So let’s see how I can do on the “somewhat brief” part…

This year was actually my second Mondial experience, although the first one that was planned. My previous visit took place way back in 2000 when I was in Montreal for the first edition of the MUTEK electronic music festival and stumbled across that year’s Mondial when looking for something to do one afternoon. The festival was in a different location back then, and much smaller as well, but it was still a landmark moment in my craft beer education as I discovered a good number of beers that I’d never heard of before.

I’d been hoping to make it back for another Mondial ever since, but this was the first year that I was able to make it work. Plans were made with some of my local beer pals months ago, and bright and early on Wednesday morning, five of us met up at Union Station to catch the train to Montreal. After arriving mid-afternoon and checking in at our sort-of-but-not-quite-a-hotel, Les Appartements Touristiques du Centre-Ville, we hit the festival for our first session.

From the moment we got there, it was obvious that we were in for an enjoyable few days. The venue, Windsor Station (pictured above in a photo by my friend Alan), is a near-perfect place to hold this sort of event, with a large and airy inside concourse that opens to an equally spacious courtyard. And after dealing with the overbearing security and ridiculous regulations at the swill-soaked frat party that Toronto’s Festival of Beer has become, it was a joy to attend a large-scale beer event that was so laid back. There were no bag or body searches at the door (seriously, folks – they do this at the Toronto festival!); outside food and drink wasn’t confiscated (they do this as well!); and the free admission meant that people could come and go as they pleased and buy as many or as few tasting tickets as they wanted, which in turn made it less likely for attendees to over-indulge. Sure, there some folks who went a bit past their limit, and the sound of a glass being drunkenly dropped echoed through the hall occasionally. But in general, it was remarkably civilized experience.

As you’d expect, a good percentage of the booths were occupied by Quebec breweries and brewpubs, from the large ones like Unibroue, McAuslan and RJ, to some that even we hardcore beer geeks knew little or nothing about. A few importers were also on hand with the beers they represent in Quebec, and two large booths called Le Petit Pub featured a wide assortment of beers from around the world, including some great US product, unique offerings from Italy, Japan and Scandinavia, and thanks to the efforts of Mirella Amato and the Ontario Craft Brewers, a nice selection of brews from Ontario.

We spent a few hours at the festival each day Wednesday to Friday, and a good number of beers were sampled, with very few of them disappointing us, and a number of them being quite outstanding. Like Stephen Beaumont, I was really impressed by the cask version of Hopfenstark’s Post-Colonial IPA (but then again, I am a bit of a Hopfenstark fanboy). I also quite enjoyed the special festival beer from Brasseurs de Montreal, the very refreshing Blanche au Thé Rouge Rooibos, as well as their equally refreshing Chi Orientale, another Blanche with a sharp hit of ginger.

And as it’s now becoming obvious that my attempts to keep this report to a reasonable length are failing miserably, I’m going to cut things off here for now, and save the rest for Part Two. Oh, the anticipation…!

Riding the Rails

I’m sitting on a train about an hour outside of Montreal on my way to Mondial, clumsily typing away on my new iPhone using the WordPress app. I know I’m about the 57 millionth person to do this sort of thing, but it’s still really fucking cool.

I don’t know if I’ll be doing much live blogging while I’m at the festival, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I’ll probably be doing some Twittering (@beerbeatsbites). For those who are doing the same, use hash tag #mondial2009

Odds & Sods

I think I might’ve mentioned this before, but even if I have, I’ll mention it again: One of the main reasons that I’m such an infrequent blogger is because I have yet to master the habit of writing things in a short and to-the-point manner. I constantly have a few different ideas for posts bouncing around in my head, but can never find the hour or so of spare time that I make myself think I would need to get said posts written.

So with that in mind, here is my attempt to get a few of those things covered quickly and concisely.

1. As per usual, I’ve been writing beer-related posts for Taste T.O. on a regular basis. Here’s what’s gone up there in the last couple of months:
   • A profile of Smokeless Joe, one of Toronto’s first and best beer specialty bars.
   • A round-up of some local beer news & gossip.
   • A few beer reviews including Pietra, Palm, Moosehead Cracked Canoe and Keith’s White.
   • A diary of a busy & beery week in April.
2. I’ve given in to peer pressure and got myself an iPhone. Which means that I will most likely be engaging in some hot live Twitter action at the Mondial de la Bière in Montreal next week. Follow @beerbeatsbites if you think you can handle the excitement.
3. My new deodorant has hops in it. It’s also the most effective deodorant I’ve used in ages, which I’m sure will make my suite-mates in Montreal very happy.
4. The awesome folks at Mill Street delivered one of their new Seasonal Sampler six-packs for me yesterday, and I enjoyed a couple of bottles from it tonight. Ontarians can watch for it to hit LCBO shelves this coming week, and I’ll have a full write-up about the pack over on Taste T.O. soon.
5. Nothing to do with beer (or beats or bites, for that matter), but I watched Milk tonight, and wanted to mention how great it was. Sean Penn was stunningly good, deserving of every award and nomination he got, and even though I knew how it ended, I was still engrossed by it. And given recent events in California, it was especially poignant. If you haven’t seen it, do.

Back with Brockton

More than a month between posts. So what else is new?

As always, I’ve been plenty busy elsewhere, and there will be more on that in another post soon. (No, really!) But in the meantime, I need to post this long overdue review, since the kind folks at Granville Island were nice enough to send me some samples of their latest brew, and other people got their reviews posted a long time ago, making me look like some sort of deadbeat.

So: Granville Island Brockton IPA. It’s a 25th anniversary beer from a BC brewery that, to be perfectly frank, has not impressed me much in the past. Although to be fair, I’ve only tried four of their beers, and have no idea how old they might’ve been by the time they reached me.

This beer, though, I liked quite a bit. It’s got a lovely orange-amber colour with an ample white head, and an inviting aroma that’s a bit floral & a bit citrusy on the hop side of things, and moderately sweet and caramelly on the malt side. Flavour is masterfully balanced, with a solid, not-too-sweet malt backbone, and a zip of citric hops in the finish. All told, it really reminds me more of a UK-style IPA than a North American West Coast one.

Which brings me to my main complaint about this beer: the slogan, “Finally, a West Coast IPA”, suggests that Brockton is gonna be a big ol’ hop bomb, but it’s not, and that’s caused disappointment with some of the Raters and Advocates. And as a bit of a hophead myself, I must confess to feeling a little let down with I took my first few sips. But once I accepted it as the solid and sessionable beer that it is, I quickly got over it.

A thumbs up from me for the Brockton IPA, then. And a promise to myself that I’ll try and give some of their other beers another shot.

Danish Beer Dinner at beerbistro

Having now been to several gourmet beer dinners at beerbistro, I know that I should expect to be blown away by them. Chef Brian Morin and his team are true artists when it comes to preparing food and pairing it with beer, and they always team up with some of the world’s best breweries for these multi-course extravaganzas.

Still, I find myself amazed, delighted, and often surprised at every single one of them, and their Danish Beer Dinner this past Thursday night was no exception. With the support of import agents Roland + Russell, the dinner put the spotlight on the beers of Danish breweries Nørrebro Bryghus and Mikkeller, and Nørrebro brewmaster Anders Kissmeyer flew over from Copenhagen to introduce his beers, while beer writer and beerbistro partner Stephen Beaumont did the honours for the Mikkeller beers.

Read on for a full run-down of what was served, along with some dark photos and a few scattered thoughts on the beer, food and pairings.

Nørrebro Påske Bock

If you live in Toronto and like good beer, you’ve likely heard about little shindig happening on Wednesday night this week: In the tradition of previous brewmaster’s dinners like last year’s Dogfish Head event and 2007’s Brooklyn happening, beerbistro along with import agents Roland + Russell are presenting a Danish Beer Dinner, featuring the beers of Mikkeller and Nørrebro Bryghus, and a talk by Nørrebro brewmaster Anders Kissmeyer.

To give me an advance taste of what the event has in store, R+R slipped me a bottle of Nørrebro Påske Bock a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to cracking it open last Friday when I had a couple of friends over for a beer tasting. It was Good Friday, in fact, which was very fitting as the brewery describes this doppelbock  as being “brewed according to the original bock tradition, which used to be the point of origin for Danish Easter brews.”

Here’s the thing, though: While I really like well-made doppelbock s, I also find it hard to say much about them. My tasting notes usually end up being quite short and consisting of some combination of  “dark brown”, “malty”, “roasty”, “dark fruit”, “medium bodied”, “balanced” and “tasty”. Which is pretty much what happened with this one. We all enjoyed it, and agreed that we could easily drink a couple, but didn’t have anything overly descriptive or profound to say about it.

I also imagine that I won’t be saying anything descriptive or profound by the end of tomorrow’s feast, as the 8 courses of food and beer pairings will likely leave me too full and drunk to say much more than a few incoherent grunts and mumbles. Good thing I’ve got Thursday booked off work…

If the dinners mentioned above are any indication, this will be one of Toronto’s top beer events of the year. For those who don’t have tickets yet, there may be a few spots left – call 416.861.9872 to check. You’ll hate yourself for missing it. Seriously.

PS: Forgot to mention how much I love the Nørrebro Bryghus labels. They’ve got that minimal and consistant look that I love. Can’t wait to see a few of them lined up together tomorrow night.

Aw, CRAP!

George shows off some of his CRAP

OK, I’m a bit late with this – Alan, Troy and Stephen have all beat me to it – but I still wanted to give a mention to this great project started up by George Eagleson, the maniac head brewer at F&M Brewery, and his partner Hannah Senitt.

Called CRAP (Craftbrewers Recycled Art Project), it features bags, wallets and a couple of other things made out of malt bags and hoses from the brewery. George handed me a CRAP business card at Volo’s Cask Ale Challenge last Sunday, and even the card fits with their recycling philosophy: it’s cut from a cereal box with the info put on the blank side with a rubber stamp.

George & Hannah’s CRAP is available for ordering at crap.etsy.com (with free delivery by bicycle if you live in Guelph). And Hannah also has her own Etsy shop at bananaknits.etsy.com that’s also worth checking out, especially if you like sock monkeys. (And if you don’t like sock monkeys, there’s something wrong with you…)