Craft beer not your usual two-four case of suds

Tag : Dry Yeast
Dan Kislenko
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 12, 2008)
You're heading out on vacation, and the thought of a cold beer whenyou arrive is a tempting one. So let's talk suds today.
Actually, that vacation stuff is just an excuse. Truth is, I'vebeen tasting quite a few beers recently, and wanted to share somethoughts.
For the record, I am in no way a beer snob. In some quarters, it isstill fashionable to put down the Blues and MGDs of the world. Ilike frosty cold North American commercial beer.
Having said that, most of the beers we'll discuss are indeedintended for the niche market.
First up: You walk into this bar and order a DeuS, and when you askfor the tab it arrives as $52. That's no mistake. Chester's BeersOf The World, on King Street across from Gore Park, is the onlyplace in this part of Ontario that offers this specialty Belgianbrew, which they obtain privately.
You may know that they take beer seriously in Belgium, and this isthe granddaddy of serious beers.
The production process is similar to Champagne, except that DeuSgoes through three fermentations and two long periods of aging. Itclocks in at a very wine-like 11.5 per cent alcohol, more thandouble that of standard beer, and comes in a 750 mL bottle (thathappens to jog memories of Dom Perignon) with a real cork. DeuS isintended to be drunk very cold (actually colder than Champagne),and sipped (not quaffed) from a tall flute.
The beauty of this beer is that the high alcohol is not noticeable.In the glass, DeuS is amber gold and shows tiny, rapidly moving andlingering bubbles that form a dense head. It has a sweet,peach-like quality, a smell that comes across as brioche dough andcloves. In the mouth it is smooth and refreshing, yet there isunmistakable body behind that, with impressions of yeast, orangepeel, lemon and baking bread.
If you're looking for a luxury beer, this is the place.
How do you do a comparative tasting of 20 different beers when theyarrive at the office? You go to a patio and make a party of it. OneSaturday last month, I assembled a group of friends who happen tobe into beer and we tasted through a large group of products fromthe Ontario Craft Brewers.
That's an association of 29 small brewers across the provincededicated to making top-quality beer along traditional Europeanlines, and not afraid to dabble in some unusual concepts -- hencean ale infused with orange peel from Great Lakes brewery).
The tasting panel included myself, four other guys and one woman(the other women preferred white wine), and while all have beenexposed to beers in Europe and elsewhere and have prettyadventurous tastes, none is a beer snob.
I divided the beers into flights of lagers and ales (the differenceis in how the yeast works in the beer-making process, but generallylagers are more crisp and lighter than ales), so we tasted likeagainst like. When the dust settled, the overall winner was OldCredit Amber Ale, made in Mississauga, with three first place andthree second-place votes. It is sweet but balanced, with a sense ofdry maple syrup and Halloween chewy candies.
A close second was Brick J.R. Brickman Pilsner out of Waterloo,with three firsts and two seconds. It has loads of fruit notes suchas oranges and peaches, and buttered toast.
The challenge is finding craft beers. You can visit the breweriesand taste and buy there, but that involves travel, in some casesconsiderable travel. A limited selection is available at LCBOstores, and a somewhat better selection through Beer Stores, thoughit's hit and miss.
Or you can pick up the OCB Discovery Pack from the LCBO, with sixdifferent bottles ($11.95, code 53181). Five bottles are the normal341-mL size and one is 222 mL. Three were in the tasting Iconducted; but Wellington Special Pale Ale, Walkerville Amber Lagerand Mill Street Organic Lager were not. One beer is the BrickmanPilsner.
Here are my notes on the other two:
GREAT LAKES RED LEAF SMOOTH RED LAGER. Dark brown with a touch ofbitterness, tasting of toast, muesli and molasses.
LAKES OF MUSKOKA CREAM ALE. Impression of bitter hops andmushrooms, with the alcohol, though only a normal 5 per cent, quiteprominent.
One OCB member is local: Better Bitters on Drury Lane inBurlington. It recently launched a new line called Nickel Brookbeers (nickelbrook.com), and we tasted their Green Apple Pilsner.It is pleasant, with a sweet impression and distinctive tart smelland taste of Granny Smith apple skins. Delightful served ice coldon a hot day.
If you are travelling and want to stop at a craft brewery,information including locator maps, beer lists and recommended LCBOand Beer Store outlets is the OCB website: ontariocraftbrewers.com.
OCB will have a strong presence at the Toronto Festival of Beer,Aug. 7 to 10 at Old Fort York. For details, go to beerlicious.ca.
There was one more, separate flight in that beer tasting.
You've no doubt seen the advertising for the new Stella ArtoisLight (or Legere as they call it). It's a 4 per cent alcoholversion of the normal 5.2 per cent famous Belgian brew, availablein Beer Stores.
We tasted the two side by side, and split evenly over which weliked best.
The regular Stella is hoppy, quite masculine, with a biscuit feelto it. The Legere has more of a North American feel, with a lightertexture and sweet finish.
dkislenko@thespec.com
905-526-3450