From the Innis and Gunn Connoisseur's Oak Collection 2013.
Saturday, 23 November 2013
November 18, 2013
281/929) Home: Bourbon Stout by Innis and Gunn of Scotland: **1/2; 7.4%; matured 50 days over bourbon infused oak; sweet bourbon stands out in the nose; sweet vanilla notes, spiced oak and warming alcohol; another sipper for a cold evening;
From the Innis and Gunn Connoisseur's Oak Collection 2013.
From the Innis and Gunn Connoisseur's Oak Collection 2013.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
November 17, 2013
279/927) Home: Pale Ale by Okanagan Spring of British Columbia: *1/2; malty, bready nose; a standard old school malty ale;
280/928) Home: Black Butte Porter by Deschutes Brewery of Oregon, U.S.A.: *1/2; 5.2%; the label reads, "Crafted for explorers"; nose features malt, alcohol, chocolate; very malty with roasty coffee flavours; people rave about this but I found the maltiness over-shadowed what I like best about porters;
280/928) Home: Black Butte Porter by Deschutes Brewery of Oregon, U.S.A.: *1/2; 5.2%; the label reads, "Crafted for explorers"; nose features malt, alcohol, chocolate; very malty with roasty coffee flavours; people rave about this but I found the maltiness over-shadowed what I like best about porters;
November 16, 2013
278/926) Home: Winter Ale by Okanagan Spring of British Columbia: **; pours dark brown; malty, grainy nose; malty taste with vanilla notes; reminds me of the Granville Island Lion's Winter Ale with those vanilla notes, as opposed to their Winter Ale which is more chocolatey;
November 15, 2013
More details have become available.
Brian's last shift will be Friday the 22nd. I expect there will be tears. I may well be Exhibit A.
I have come up with a cunning plan to avert fisticuffs. My idea is that at last call, Brian should pour a pitcher and the server looking after the floor will pour glasses from it for those in attendance to whom the idea of drinking the last beer Brian poured at Tracks is important. That may be a smaller group than I think but, then again, I'll bet it isn't.
Brian's going away party will be on the 30th. Whatever we do for him will be inadequate but it is important to try.
Brian's last shift will be Friday the 22nd. I expect there will be tears. I may well be Exhibit A.
I have come up with a cunning plan to avert fisticuffs. My idea is that at last call, Brian should pour a pitcher and the server looking after the floor will pour glasses from it for those in attendance to whom the idea of drinking the last beer Brian poured at Tracks is important. That may be a smaller group than I think but, then again, I'll bet it isn't.
Brian's going away party will be on the 30th. Whatever we do for him will be inadequate but it is important to try.
November 13, 2013
277/925) Home: i-Stout by 8 Wired Brewing of New Zealand: **1/2; 10%; created by a Danish brewer based in Marlborough, New Zealand; a Russian Imperial Stout; raisin, licorice, dates in nose; tastes of black coffee with notes alcohol, dried fruit;
I had no idea Apple was in the brewing game.
Yes, I did work on that one for a while.
But enough levity. As I was leaving Tracks (Wednesday is cheap beer night) Brian met me at the doorway and informed me that he would be giving his notice at the end of the shift. As I have said before, Brian is the finest of his kind - the very best bartender fortune could favour anyone to meet.
We could see it coming. In spring he moved an hour north of us and now with winter approaching he has purchased a fish and chips operation about a half hour away from his new residence. His first shift at Tracks Brewpub was March 25, 1986. I work with people who were not born then. He has worked in the kitchen and he was even brewmaster for a time.
He will be missed but I have thought about myself enough. We all wish Brian the very best in his new venture.
I had no idea Apple was in the brewing game.
Yes, I did work on that one for a while.
But enough levity. As I was leaving Tracks (Wednesday is cheap beer night) Brian met me at the doorway and informed me that he would be giving his notice at the end of the shift. As I have said before, Brian is the finest of his kind - the very best bartender fortune could favour anyone to meet.
We could see it coming. In spring he moved an hour north of us and now with winter approaching he has purchased a fish and chips operation about a half hour away from his new residence. His first shift at Tracks Brewpub was March 25, 1986. I work with people who were not born then. He has worked in the kitchen and he was even brewmaster for a time.
He will be missed but I have thought about myself enough. We all wish Brian the very best in his new venture.
November 11, 2013
275/923) Home: Porter by Six Pints Specialty Beet Company of Ontario: **; 4.9%; as I mentioned earlier it's the first beer they brewed so it's odd that I haven't tried this one earlier; light coffeeish nose; sweet milk chocolate and coffee notes;
276/924) 1516 Bavarian Lager by Okanagan Spring of British Columbia: *; pours very pale; bready nose; somewhat bland with a very muted touch of Euro-hops; a lawn mower beer, little else; not unpleasant, just uninteresting;
276/924) 1516 Bavarian Lager by Okanagan Spring of British Columbia: *; pours very pale; bready nose; somewhat bland with a very muted touch of Euro-hops; a lawn mower beer, little else; not unpleasant, just uninteresting;
November 10, 2013
This month we will have a dual entry in the joints I miss feature. Amsterdam and its sister pub Rotterdam were part of the first wave of Toronto's craft beer scene. Amsterdam was located on John Street in what is currently known as the Entertainment District. At the time, which is to say prior to the opening of the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre), the area featured little more than warehouses.
I'm not exaggerating to state that at the time, Nut Brown Ale was the flagship beer of Toronto's microbrewing scene. I had a lot of amusement there largely because my job at the time gave me days off during the week and there's a fun, conspiratorial air in a pub in the afternoon. People imagined that I really ought not to have been there either and that we were enjoying sharing a secret.
Amsterdam was to become Al Fresco's, still a brewpub. These days it is a Jack Astor's. I cannot attest but I suspect I cannot drink a nut brown ale there.
Rotterdam was the sister brewpub and after Amsterdam closed it housed the main brewery and bottling plant. They had in excess of three hundred beers on their bottles menu. We engaged a barmaid in conversation one day and she confessed that at any time they were out of as many as one hundred choices. She also surprised us, informing us that the two litre beer going for $120.00 was rather popular. She said a half dozen guys would come in and drop a twenty dollar bill to be able to say that they had drank from a one hundred and twenty dollar bottle of beer. You could get a good burger there back in the day.
Today the location is a Bier Markt. I have never been to any of their spots, not being one for waiting in line to drink beer.
I'm not exaggerating to state that at the time, Nut Brown Ale was the flagship beer of Toronto's microbrewing scene. I had a lot of amusement there largely because my job at the time gave me days off during the week and there's a fun, conspiratorial air in a pub in the afternoon. People imagined that I really ought not to have been there either and that we were enjoying sharing a secret.
Amsterdam was to become Al Fresco's, still a brewpub. These days it is a Jack Astor's. I cannot attest but I suspect I cannot drink a nut brown ale there.
Rotterdam was the sister brewpub and after Amsterdam closed it housed the main brewery and bottling plant. They had in excess of three hundred beers on their bottles menu. We engaged a barmaid in conversation one day and she confessed that at any time they were out of as many as one hundred choices. She also surprised us, informing us that the two litre beer going for $120.00 was rather popular. She said a half dozen guys would come in and drop a twenty dollar bill to be able to say that they had drank from a one hundred and twenty dollar bottle of beer. You could get a good burger there back in the day.
Today the location is a Bier Markt. I have never been to any of their spots, not being one for waiting in line to drink beer.
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