The Bar Towel

I know some people disagree with me on this, but recently I spent some time in various outlets in San Francisco and Sonoma Valley trying different beers or just checking what was on the menu. I've done the same in New York City numerous times at top beer bars and in numerous other large cities. I don't find the range of their draft beers essentially different from what we now have in Toronto if you get around to the various places we have. There are countless APAs in the U.S. bars, fewer here, but the taste range is IMO very similar amongst them. There are wheat beers, we have Belgian and German styles including fruited ones, often at one bar (e.g. Mill Street's recently). We have porters and stouts of different strengths, plus flavoured ones (coffee, whisky barrel), and in fact often more than I've found in some U.S. bars where it can be hard to find a good domestic one. We do the pumpkin thing, we do sour beers now (I've had some interesting ones at Volo), we do black IPA, we have barley wines, we have strong APAs: I really don't see based again on recent trips to various beer-aware States that it is much different now in Toronto. Of course, the bottled range is far larger in CA and various outlets in New York State, say, than here, but then too, a lot of the beers are in the same style and I for one am past the point of "ticking"; if a beer is in the same style as one I've tried, I don't feel I've missed anything by not trying it.

The beer scene is maturing in Toronto in a meaningful way.

Gary

if a beer is in the same style as one I've tried, I don't feel I've missed anything by not trying it.

not sure if you actually mean that. Central City is not the same beer as Smashbomb. I would definitely say it's worth exploring the variation within a style. It's not just about 'ticking'.

Of course, I want to try what I can, and I don't say any two beers taste the same; but from a stylistic standpoint, I think we're there.

I should add that we have English-style pale ales and brown ales which, again in my experience, can be hard to find in U.S. bars.

Gary

matt7215 wrote:
why?

Time and space limitations, ease of access to quality ingredients.

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:

matt7215 wrote:
why?

Time and space limitations, ease of access to quality ingredients.

Time - well its up to you how much time you have to dedicate to homebrewing, a few hours a weekend is all it takes.

Space - do you have a stove? do you have a closet?

Ingredients - http://www.homebrew-supplies.ca/

MasterChiefP wrote:

StevenThrasher wrote:

iguenard wrote: BTW, if LCBO sucks so bad, why is SAQ starting to copy the one-off beer release format?

Rochefort 10 in september, I'll let you know exactly when after I stock up.

Sentence two validates the first part of sentence one.

When is the last time Rochefort 10 was at the LCBO in any format either one-off or general listing?

Maybe I'll head over to Quebec instead of down to Buffalo (or try to grab some from Peter at Esprit).

Just for the record I did a private order of Rochefort 10 and Achel Extra through Peter, which he sent to me through the LCBO two months ago. If you want Rochefort 10 in Ontario it is available, although more expensive than a regular release.

It's good to know he responds to SOME people. I guess I'm just not worthy of buying his beer? Pretty annoying after his whole "Anyone who wants to order from us will be guaranteed a response within 48 hours" rant. Rochefort 10 and Achel Extra were the beers I was interested in, as well.

matt7215 wrote:

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:

matt7215 wrote:
why?

Time and space limitations, ease of access to quality ingredients.

Time - well its up to you how much time you have to dedicate to homebrewing, a few hours a weekend is all it takes.

Space - do you have a stove? do you have a closet?

Ingredients - http://www.homebrew-supplies.ca/

A few hours a weekend can be tough to spare. Yes I have a stove and a closet, however I know how this home brewing thing can get out of hand and it's not uncommon to have batch after batch after batch lying around fermenting or waiting to be consumed. I wouldn't be comfortable ordering supplies online. I'd want to see in person what was I getting, much as the same way I want to see my steak before I buy it. And Brampton is a bit of a hike. There's also the matter of the time and trials required to actually become skilled at brewing.

That being said though, none of those issues will preclude me from homebrewing (hopefully) in the near future but it's still not a feasible option for everyone.

Belgian wrote:Me five, though for years I've tried to dial back the caterwauling tone of it, we've trained JesseM and other newcomers to do that for us LOL.

Wow 4 years on here and I'm still a new comer? Damn, that's harsh Belgian .

JesseM wrote:

Belgian wrote:Me five, though for years I've tried to dial back the caterwauling tone of it, we've trained JesseM and other newcomers to do that for us LOL.

Wow 4 years on here and I'm still a new comer? Damn, that's harsh Belgian .

No I forgot how long, just saying let the younger kids make the noise. Pass on the tradition.

Coming back to this one after a year and a bit. I think we made a lot of progress in 2012. All 4 things I "asked" for in this thread from our Ontario brewers showed up.

A few Double or Strong IPA's in local bars, with Twice as Mad Tom in the LCBO
Beau's NightMarzen in the LCBO
Barrel aged Tempest available at Amsterdam, and the dangerously delicious Stalin's Choice on Cask Days
Great Lakes 25th Saison in the LCBO, while Bellwoods bottled a few of their saisons for sale at the brewery

And that's not mentioning some awesome collaboration brews from our locals, Several interesting beers spawned by Project X, A great new brewery in Bellwoods, A delicious Rye PA from Cameron's, Milos rising from the grave, several new beer destinations in Toronto, etc. and it's been a pretty good year. Hell, my local Jack Astors of all places was pouring Mad Tom for a time.

sprague11 wrote:And that's not mentioning some awesome collaboration brews from our locals, Several interesting beers spawned by Project X, A great new brewery in Bellwoods, A delicious Rye PA from Cameron's, Milos rising from the grave, several new beer destinations in Toronto, etc. and it's been a pretty good year. Hell, my local Jack Astors of all places was pouring Mad Tom for a time.

Funk Night!

OK, I had a horse or two in that race, but, seriously, Funk Night was crazy good, with everything from low alcohol beers (the Berliners), collabs, beautiful saisons (Boxer had a stupid good nose), and some big, barrel aged Belgians.

Props to the Moranas for being facilitators of so much of the recent awesome in Toronto's beer scene.

Jason

sprague11 wrote:Coming back to this one after a year and a bit. I think we made a lot of progress in 2012.

Yeah...namely, I'm not nearly as much of a dick on the internets...

Holy Crap! I'll apologize one more time to Greg, Cass, and most of all cratez for my boneheaded part in this thread...

But, yeah, it's been a pretty great ride in this province...

This thread is still going. Cool.

I still feel sorta the same. I'm not as much as a beer geek that I used to be.
Don't get me wrong, I still drink and love the beer, I still go to the bar, I still try to turn people on to craft beer. I am just not fanatical like I used to be.