The 2014 installment of the Golden Tap Awards was held tonight at beerbistro on King Street and the awards presentation was hosted by Cass Enright of The Bar Towel. I have bit of a rant coming up. Before we get to that head over to my post from last year to refresh your memories on who won the 2013 awards. The self-description for these awards focuses heavily on their democratic nature. Interesting in theory, but when the ballot box can be linked to from social media it’s really just another encouragement for a dizzying amount of spam. Everyone is acting with honest and […]
standard I Will Promote Any and All Beer Dinners
This post has been sitting as a draft for a while, but an invitation from the always gracious Troy Burtch of Great Lakes has given me the impetus – and accompanying photos – to finally post it. I joined Troy on Monday of the 2014 Toronto Beer wWek at Morgan’s on the Danforth for a meal featuring food by Anne Sorrenti and some of Etobicoke’s finest ales. Lately, I’ve been on a real kick about beer dinners. I wrote a fairly detailed post that covered what I think makes them good or bad for craftbeer.ca and I also posted another fairly thorough story […]
standard Toronto Beer Week Preview
The trouble with week-long programs of beer events is that organizers want to be inclusive and have trouble saying no to borderline events. TBW is better on this front than OCD week in June – partly because they don’t cover the entire province – but the event list has still become somewhat unwieldy. Instead of running through the comprehensive list of probably-better-than-average suggestions, I thought we better to offer a few pics that I think will escape attention. (By the way, if you took the week off work and really do want a-to-z guide, Ben Johnson’s at blogTO is more […]
standard LCBO Beer Guy Interview (Unexpurgated Version)
I really love talking about food and beer. It comes with the territory as a freelance writer who focuses on those topics. For a recent Eater Toronto story, I got to do an interview that was intriguing enough that it went on for a couple hours and I had to chop quite a bit of it to make it down to a reasonable length. Josh Bird (a.k.a The Beer Phantom) who recently left the LCBO was the answering half of the Q & A. While he worked there, Josh was a customer service rep and the “beer guy” at the LCBO […]
standard Books and Brews Panel Event
What: Books and Brews discussion panel with Stephen Beaumont and Jordan St. John, moderated by Mike Warner Where: Sanderson branch of Toronto Public Library, 327 Bathurst St., Toronto When: 18 September, 7 PM – 8 PM Other Details: I will be selling (cash or credit) and signing copies of CCBC Tickets: Free, but register here.
standard Beer and Food for Craftbeer.ca
Last month, I finished up a series of posts for a new craft beer website called craftbeer.ca. This was a particularly fun gig because the site’s founder gave me latitude to write about just about whatever topic I wanted. At least, as long as there was a loose beer-and-food focus. There really is a mountain of beer writing on the Internet right now, but I still think there are several under-explored corners and good beer’s relationship to food is definitely one of them. Below you’ll find a quick guide to the eight posts I wrote for craftbeer.ca. Tips for Cooking […]
standard Premium Beer Experience
September is a crowded month for beer events in Toronto. That’s largely because Toronto Beer Week falls smack in the middle of it. Early next week I will have a preview of the full TBW programme, but today would like to focus on the Premium Beer Experience that kicks off the weeks festivities on September 11. The Berkeley Church on Queen East is an interesting venue for medium-scale beer festivals. Inside and outside spaces mean that it’s possible to elbow your way onto a crowded dance floor or enjoy a few samples in peace on what usually ends up being a crisp, […]
standard Home Ec Big Outdoor Kitchen Party
What: On-stage demonstration as part of Well Preserved’s Home Ec: Big Outdoor Kitchen Party Where: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay West, Toronto When: 14 September, 11 AM – 5 PM (I’m on stage at 4 PM.) Other Details: I will be selling (cash or credit) and signing copies of CCBC Tickets: Free, but register here.