Friday, August 12, 2011

Toronto Beer Festival - the beer

Our first two beers of the day.

So, after reading my last post about how I disliked the half naked ladies at the Toronto Beer Festival, you're probably thinking, "yeah, yeah, OK, but what we really care about is the beer!"

Sorry I haven't done that post - but I'm doing it now, so hold onto your hats.

As I said before, we stopped at the Great Lakes Brewery CASKapalooza first.

Up first for Jeff was the cask-conditioned Curry, Please. It was opaque yellow in colour and had a slightly spicy hop smell. "Inoffensive, but kind of bland. Not much hops or malt," he wrote in our notes (yes, we took notes - how else are we going to remember all this? BTW - the "notes" section in the back of the little guide book they give you, pfft, beer lover, please - clearly not enough room!).

Now, we haven't mentioned this before, but when we're trying multiple beers, we give them lightening bolts - much like how a movie reviewer gives a flick a certain number of stars. Only difference is, our lightening bolts don't have any upper limit.

So for Curry, Please - Jeff gave that two lightening bolts. (Jeff edit: I was hoping this would taste like curry - it would be crazy but I was disappointed that it didn't.)



I had the cask-conditioned Morning Glory Breakfast Stout. It was good. It was dark and just plain tasty. Four lightening bolts.

Jeff moved on the Canuckle Head on cask. He said it had nice, big bubbles on the head, tonnes of citrus on the nose, some malt and "a little citrus and lots of bitter on taste." Four lightening bolts.

(Four lightening bolts would set our upper standard on this particular day.)

Cask-conditioned Peach Pepper was up next for Jeff. A hazy yellowish colour, this wheat beer came as advertised - he could taste the peach and the pepper. He noted there was pepper on the nose (although it was "clouded by the smell of wacky tabacky," aka weed). Three lightening bolts.

I next went for the Mild Brown - cask. I liked it, but there wasn't much to it. Three lightening bolts.

Blonde Jager Bomb was the next one for Jeff and he was not a fan. He called it "a little medicinal. One lightening bolt.

I went up and asked for a Miami Weisse on cask, took one sip and declared it not for me. Jeff took a sip and informed me it wasn't what I had asked for (it was likely an IPA, not a weisse) - but he was a fan. There was "crazy citrus and bitter" and Jeff gave whatever that beer was four lightening bolts. (Jeff edit: I looked up Miami Weisse later on BeerAdvocate. Apparently Miami Weiss is supposed to have huge citrus and bitterness not typcially associated with a weisse. I do miss the clove and spice normally associated with a weisse.)

Jeff's last one at CASKapalooza was the cask beer Bright Star. He said it was roasty, and tasted of chocolate and strong coffee. Four lightening bolts.

At this point, the smell of pot and the dancing girls were starting to get on our nerves, so we moved on. I was pleased to see Niagara College there with their brew school. They had two offerings - a Campus Ale and a Campus Lager. Both Jeff and I chose the ale.

Perhaps not a surprise - there wasn't much to this beer. It's exactly what you'd expect new brewers to make. Jeff called the ale "approachable" although did wonder if it was served too cold. He said it had a decent bitter finish and wasn't a bad offering. As for me, it was OK. It didn't blow me away, but it was good. Jeff gave it two-and-a-half lightening bolts, I gave it one-and-a-half.



Right next to the college was Church-Key Brewing. I immediately went for the cranberry maple wheat and was so glad I did. This beer smelled and tasted like dessert. One was good - not sure I could drink it all night - but it was tasty, different and yet, was still beer! It would end up being the only other beer (besides the cask stout) that I'd give four lightening bolts to at the festival. So good.

Jeff got The Great Gatsbeer (Biere de Garde), and made a note, "Parmesan cheese." He said it was sour and sweet and "like no other beer I've ever had." he noted he'd never had that style of beer before. Like me and my dessert beer, Jeff said he wouldn't drink this one all night, but he liked it and guessed it would be good with food. Three-and-a-half lightening bolts.

He then had the West Coast Pale Ale. He said there was some citrus on the nose, caramel malt, and a "bitterness, but not the tonnes of citrus associated with west coast" beers. Two-and-a-half lightening bolts.

Then it was the Holy Smoke. It was "not as sasuagy" as Jeff remembered, but more smokey like a campfire.

"If you like peaty scotch, this beer is for you," Jeff said, giving it three lightening bolts.

For me, it was OK, but I wouldn't order a full pint - I could never finish it. But it was nice to try. Two lightening bolts.

We moved another stall down to Magnotta where Jeff had the Wunder Weisse. This filtered beer had some banana and close, but it was middle of the road. "Not bad - not great," he wrote, giving it two lightening bolts.

Then we wandered to the area of the festival called The Local (I hate this name, though. Why is the "the" there?). Along with all the local beers, this year there was a special booth for mash ups.

First up, we had to try the hometown brew - Wellington and F&M had created the Guelph Special Bitter. Jeff said it had a huge hop nose as well as lots of citrus. He also wrote, "Kate will be disappointed." I was - it wasn't the beer for me. But Jeff gave it five lightening bolts - his highest of the day.

He then tried Beau's and Black Oak's mash-up, which he said was only "meh." I'm not sure the beer had a name - their sign was just two coasters from each brewery - but I believe this was the raspberry beer. Jeff said the beer didn't play up to either's strength. Two-and-a-half lightening bolts.

In the middle of the mash-ups, I think on a trip back from the washroom, we stopped at the Spearhead booth. This is where the notes start going downhill. Jeff really likes this beer and wrote: "No plans yet for bottling? Why you glorious bastards?" Then gave the beer five lightening bolts. (Jeff edit: As well, I think I was becoming a little generous with the lightning bolts. Earlier beers may have been judged a little more harshly.)

Back to mash-ups and Jeff had the Devil Shaker - a mix between Great Lakes and Amsterdam. It had tonnes of hops and bitterness, but still had caramel on the front and the nose. Then he wrote, "Feel enamel melting away." I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But he gave it four lightening bolts.

We moved on and discovered Granville Island was at the festival. Jeff grabbed their English Bay Pale Ale and said there was lots of caramel. He also says something about hot sauce and being OK ... I don't think those were related to the beer. Two-and-a-half lightening bolts.

We wandered over to Nickel Brook. As you've likely guessed by now, I stopped taking notes on my beers because I wasn't drinking that many samples. I did have to drive us home from the GO Station once we got back there, so I was attempting to be responsible.

At Nickel Brook, Jeff got the Headstock IPA. He said it had a good amount of citrus aroma, dark amber colour with cream coloured head, good caramel front, and a balanced citrus end. He did have one note for the brewery: "Distribute this outside GTA!" Five lightening bolts.

I do remember having the maple porter - and I remember it was tasty.

He also tried the La Triple from 3 Brewers. He said it had a little banana, and you could taste the alcohol. Three lightening bolts.

And that, folks, is where the notes end. We still made stops at other booths, like Beau's, Mill Street, Flying Monkeys, F&M, Wellington (and tossed a boot, too), as well as others.

While much of the Toronto Beer Festival is run-of-the-mill beers from big brewers, it is nice the craft brewers have a spot to call their own and we could spend all day there enjoying what they have to offer. Despite there being a lot of cubic zirconias of beer, we also found some real gems. And that's what made going worth it.

A few pictures to end us off:


The Sheepdogs

The Trews



Tuesday, August 9, 2011

My problem with the Toronto Beer Festival

Unnecessary in my opinion.
Jeff and I managed to score some free tickets to the Toronto Beer Festival on Sunday and we went.

Having gone two years ago, we were expecting a good time with lots of awesome beer. I knew going in there would be a lot of younger people who really were there looking to get drunk off cheap samples (i.e. the girl who exclaimed to her group of friends that they should go to a particular booth because their half sample was more like 3/4 of a full sample - OMG, you guys!).

There were a lot of girls wearing bikini tops as they walked around drinking, lots of men without their shirts on and their pants falling down (I realize at 32, I am starting to sound like an old man - but I don't care). I get it - it's hot - but really? We all can't wear tank tops or light cotton shirts?

There were, of course, the sexed-up girls standing in front of some booths. This is something that I hate, but I realize it's mostly breweries who really don't have much to offer on the craft beer front - so they have to use sexy ladies to sell their beer to men.

So I was surprised when we arrived at CASKapalooza - the tent for Great Lakes Brewery in Toronto.

Jeff and I made this our very first start for the whole day. We knew Great Lakes would have some new, unique beers to try and we weren't disappointed in the selection.

As we walked into the tent, I can't remember who saw her first, but both Jeff and I noticed a girl walking by wearing a bra and a barely-there skirt (the kind meant to show off panties). She was dressed in bright pink and black and had "stockings" that kind of look like they're fishnets, but way bigger holes.

I just shook my head. We went and got our first beers of the festival - I had the Morning Glory Breakfast Porter, Jeff had the Curry, Please - and stood under the tent and took in the scene. That's when I think Jeff noticed two more girls dancing on a fire truck, and the girl we had seen when we walked in was now dancing on a car.

As we had a few more beers, and I watched random guys walk up to the fire truck and get their photos taken with the girls dancing above them, I became more, well, disgusted that Great Lakes would think they needed girls to bring people to their booth.

So I took to my personal Twitter account.

"So many half naked chicks at @TOBeerFestival - disappointed in @Greatlakesbeer," I wrote.

Then added, "Let the beer speak for iteself @Greatlakesbeer @TOBeerFestival."

Tuesday, Great Lakes tweeted back at me.

"Don't be disappointed. We need the go-go girls & great retro tunes to lead people into #Caskapalooza," they tweeted. "The attention to #craftbeer at #CASKapalooza keeps them there."

Well, Great Lakes, I have to disagree.

Half-naked girls bring the wrong kind of attention to your brewery. It says, "We need hot chicks dancing in barely-there outfits to get you interested in what we have." I expect that kind of behaviour from the likes of Budweiser - not a reputable craft brewer.

Some of the people who go to a beer festival - I would hope - are somewhat interested in trying new beers. That's what's going to attract them to your tent and your vast array of beers - the best selection of the festival, in my opinion.

And, let's be honest: I'm a chick, I'm interested in beer. Half naked women do not interest me in the least and in fact, I won't say I was offended by them, but it certainly left me, as I said in my tweet, very disappointed in Great Lakes (like the way your mom is disappointed in you when you've done something bad and you really would prefer if she was just angry and instead, she just shakes her head and walks away).

I don't know if I need to go back to the Toronto Beer Festival. It was fun a couple of years ago, but being just two years older and not wanting to just get drunk on the Ex grounds, it's not the festival for me. I love the chance to try new and unique beers (a post about what we tried is coming up shortly), but I am not a fan of the atmosphere at the festival (this includes all the pot I could smell everywhere I went).

Ontario needs a beer festival where the focus is on the beer - not on what happens when you have too much of it.