We’re going to take a slight diversion for this month’s craft beer column. Cider would be a seasonally appropriate change from beer, but I feel like it already gets its fair share of attention. I’d rather try to write this month about perry, cider’s lesser known cousin. In many ways it is the stage actor to cider’s movie star; Christopher Plummer to Paul Gross, if you prefer. For more on the pear-accented beer and cider I had a look at this month, head over to Food Bloggers of Canada.
Food Bloggers of Canada
standard Canada’s Craft Beer: Taste testing pumpkin beer for Thanksgiving
Is it time for pumpkin beers already? Absolutely. It’s now officially autumn and that means time for the best-selling seasonal style of craft beer. Even more than IPAs or craft lagers this category is a gateway into well-made beer for those who usually drink wine or spirits, but can get behind a festive push. This month on Food Bloggers of Canada I name my two of my favourite pumpkin beers that are available this year in central Canada.
standard Off the wheaten path
My early 20s were dark days for my taste in beer. Price was king and it was difficult to justify anything better than a bar’s “finest cheapest” offering. But the dreariness started to clear the first time I tried a wheat beer on a muggy summer day. It was probably festooned with a slice of orange (please, don’t do this), but was also brightly flavoured and clearly made the case that some beers are made for sunny patios. You’ll find the rest of this month’s post on the Food Bloggers of Canada site.
standard Holiday Beers
“Oh, a bottle of Yellow Tail sparkling, that’s just what we hoped someone would bring us!” That’s the reaction of exactly zero hosts and hostesses when their holiday party guests present them with yet another generic knock-off champagne. Don’t get me wrong, I think offering a ribbon-wrapped bottle is a perfectly appropriate way to say thank you to someone who has invited you into their home this December. I just wish we would show a little more originality with our selection. Head over to the Food Bloggers of Canada site for the rest of my post on holiday beers.
standard Beyond the Standard Porters
Porters are one of the oldest beer styles – IPAs, abbey tripels, and pilsners are all green by comparison. They are sometimes described as stout’s weaker and less well-known cousin, often associated with London and industrialization, and otherwise fairly difficult to define. In Tasting Beer, Randy Mosher wrote that “studying the history of porter is like staring into the multidimensional universe of theoretical cosmology, with multiple shifting parallel worlds constantly warping and shifting the flow of time.” Its history has also not been a straight line; the style nearly died and was revived in England during the 20th century. It’s […]
standard Brown Ales: A Dark Horse Summer Beer
With their orange slices and added spices, wheat beers get most of the play in the summer beer rotation. Low-proof pale ales and crisp, juicy saisons also do their best to quench hot weather thirst. Brace yourselves for possible controversy: I think brown ales are a dark horse candidate to join this group of the integral beers of summer. You can find the full article, including my two picks, on the Food Bloggers of Canada website.
standard A Walk in the Orchard and Herb Garden
In the world of craft beer, “adjunct beers” is a dirty word. In the glossary to Tasting Beer, Randy Mosher introduces the term as “any fermentable added to barley malt, especially rice, corn, and roasted unmalted wheat, roast barley, sugar, etc.” Usually, it’s used to refer pejoratively to beer that includes rice or corn for economy’s sake or to appeal to lowest-common-denominator palates. So, Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue are adjunct lagers. Head over to the Food Bloggers of Canada site for my full review.
standard Saison Season
Usually, I try to keep the comparisons between beer and wine for desperate situations. They are different drinks with separate histories and unique characteristics. Those subtleties are often forgotten when the two drinks are placed beside each other and besides, beer tends to cast at a disadvantage as the presumptuous upstart. The full post is over on the Food Bloggers of Canada website.
standard Two for the Cellar
The lifespan of a bottle of beer once it is released from captivity (i.e. leaves the store) can be measured in days, if not in hours. That’s by design. By any measure, over 99% of the beer sold in Canada is meant to be consumed immediately. You can find the rest of the post by clicking through to the Food Bloggers of Canada site.
standard A Tale of Two Pale Ales
Those with only a vague impression of craft beer probably think of it as a bitter, boozy version of regular beer. It’s not, but like many generalisations there is a kernel of truth there. Read the rest of the article here…