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.
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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 LCBO launches Craft Beer Zone at Summerhill store
Beer is coming to grocery stores in Ontario — at some point — and the LCBO is obviously doing whatever it can to shore up its head start when things become more competitive. The Ontario Minister of Finance, Charles Sousa, was at the Summerhill LCBO today to open the store’s new craft beer section that includes the government-owned retailer’s first growler-filling station. It may be happening slowly and much more timidly than I’d like, but change is afoot for how beer is sold in Ontario. You can read more about one of these changes — growlers at the Summerhill LCBO […]
standard Beau’s Kissmeyer Pale Ale
Many craft brewers started brewing at home or had a great marketing idea they used to find a niche in the beer market. A small, exceptionally well-trained group left a career with a macrobrewery to open their own operation. After 16 years at Carlsberg in Denmark, master brewer Anders Kissmeyer joined this last group when he founded his own Copenhagen brewery, Nørrebro Bryghus in 2003. Read the full article here…
standard Ontario Craft Beer Road Trip
A distinctive feature of any craft beer is that the personal touch of its brewer tends to be quite obvious. In the past few years, more and more Ontarians have joined the club of brewers, adding their own signature to the local beer scene. In Toronto, beer drinkers have an exciting number of opportunities to taste the interesting new lagers, porters and ales being produced outside the city, but there’s not nearly enough retail space for those of us looking to purchase more than a pint or two at a restaurant. That’s a compelling reason, I think, to pack the […]