The Bar Towel

midlife crisis wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:I was also a huge fan of the original F&M brewery of Rich Fortnum and Charles Maclean. Maclean's Pale Ale (affectionately known as "cask Charlie").

Are you saying that the MacLean's we make now is not the same? I've asked Charles (he still brews for us roughly 3 times a month) and he's said the recipe has never changed.

That was not my intention at all; I would have no idea. I wish it was still available, even occasionally, in my neck of the woods so I could try it out! It has been years since I've had one.

Sorry if that came across poorly. When you said "original F&M brewery" I thought you were saying that it's changed, and since I'm pretty sure it hasn't I was wondering if it was a conditioning issue or an issue of serving. I didn't realize you meant that you haven't had it since the change in ownership (although I'm sure you have, since Rich and Charles started F&M in 1995 and sold it only two years later, to the current owners).

But if it's because you haven't had it in a while, I can (kinda) help you out there. I know Castro's Lounge carries it quite a bit, however unfiltered as they are vegan. C'est What? carries it from time to time, plus Mugshot Tavern, Habits and Crooked Star, however it's been a while for the last three I believe.

Thanks I will keep my eyes open. My main haunts would be Volo and Bar Hop, occasionally a few others. I've heard good things about Castro's and Mugshot, for sure, but they are both a fair hike for me. Still, hopefully I'll find it soon. Great to hear that Charles still brews it.

Looks like people have mentioned most of the ones I recall, so I'll just list my favourites from times gone by.

Granite was/is on the list, but I lived in the student ghetto in the 80's and didn't get to the north end of town much. There was also the Spruce Goose, but I don't recall the beer being special.

Brick's Red Baron and Northern lager were the student affordable go-tos

Don Valley's Conners Best Bitter and Stout were my favourites. That stout was good.

Upper Canada's Rebellion was a good special occasion beer as was Niagra's Gritstone and Eisbock

Formosa draft was the lawnmower choice

MacClean's and Creemore were for the quiet pub nights

Denison's was a great place to try new beers while watching douchebag lawyers try to pick up escorts.

Not to be overlooked was Kingston's Hart Brewery. I heard Dragon's Breath is still made at the pub and available, but I haven't been there in years to know.

I also recall a Hogtown Brewery (not the same as the recent start-up), but I don't think I ever sampled their beer.

Hart was in Ottawa. The Dragon's Breath brand was (is still?) licensed to the Kingston Brewing Company brewpub though, yes.

Tapsucker wrote: Don Valley's Conners Best Bitter and Stout were my favourites. That stout was good.

Yes, it was.

Tapsucker wrote: Upper Canada's Rebellion was a good special occasion beer as was Niagra's Gritstone and Eisbock

I liked Gritstone too.

midlife crisis wrote:Hart was in Ottawa. The Dragon's Breath brand was (is still?) licensed to the Kingston Brewing Company brewpub though, yes.

From another thread.

Steve Beaumont wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:I believe, after financial difficulty, the brands were bought by another brewer. Forget which one.

I think the Dragon's Breathe Pale Ale was actually a brand of the Kingston Brewing Co (brewpub) that Hart brewed and bottled under contract.

Yes, and also no. The Dragon's Breath brand was owned by the KBC and licensed to Hart, but the pale ale was a unique Hart creation. At the KBC, DB was the name of their malt-extract cask ale, and might be still. I haven't been to Kingston for years.

Hart ran into difficulties not long after Keith Hart, Lorne brewer son, left to become a chef. The brewery was eventually sold to the owner of Banks in Guyana who sent his daughters over to run it. Ultimately, that didn't work either and it went out of business.

Another shou-out should go to Scotch Irish for their Sgt. Majors IPA, the first real IPA I remember being able to readily get, well before the big hop trend.

What about filtering makes it non-vegan?

S. St. Jeb wrote:I liked Gritstone too.

I drank that when at weekly friends get-togethers at The Pilot back in the day.

squeaky wrote:What about filtering makes it non-vegan?

Not 100% positive, but I'd guess it would be the use of isinglass (made from fish swim bladders).

Cask ale should be the only version that would have a problem in the vegan world. Isinglass finings and gelaton finings which home brewers often use are animal based products.

Many in commercial brewing have switched to liquid silicon dioxide (colloidal silica) which is widely used in both the brewing and wine making world. Commercial products like Biofine should be suitable for a vegan diet. It would be wise to check with your favourite local brewer.

After thinking about it a bit, I suppose it would depend on how hardcore a vegan you are.

The primary filter aid in breweries for decades, if not centuries, has been diatomaceous earth. It is an inert, naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock crushed to a powder.

But....diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. Hmm, I wonder how rigid the rules can get. Algae - plant or animal?

And...according to:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but ... -eat-bugs/

The FDA’s limit on the hops that go into the kettle is 2,500 aphids per 10 grams of hops. Yup, up to 5% of the total weight of the hops can be bug.

But it all comes out in filtration right? Oh yeah, back to our original problem.

Rob Creighton wrote:And...according to:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but ... -eat-bugs/

The FDA’s limit on the hops that go into the kettle is 2,500 aphids per 10 grams of hops. Yup, up to 5% of the total weight of the hops can be bug.

But it all comes out in filtration right? Oh yeah, back to our original problem.

Can't wait to rate the next IPA I drink: "...with the faintest top-note of larval malaise."

I knew there was a reason I don't like the taste of dry-hopped, unfiltered beers