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