Summer is (almost) here and that means we can unwrap our BBQs from their wintery cloak. And it also means it is time for Vue Weekly’s BBQ issue. All grilling all the time. I was asked to write a piece for the [...]]]>

Courtesy Vue Weekly (because I really like this photo for some reason)

Summer is (almost) here and that means we can unwrap our BBQs from their wintery cloak. And it also means it is time for Vue Weekly’s BBQ issue. All grilling all the time. I was asked to write a piece for the issue (which you can read here). I could have done the classic beer and grilled food pairing. Or talked about beer marinades and the like. But all that felt overdone. So I went a different direction.

I decided to think about the PROCESS of barbequing. Standing in front of the grill, the sun beating down on your (in my case, thinning) head. That is the essence of summer for me. Not even so much the eating of the grilled food as the opportunity to cook it. Nothing like being on your deck and tending your favourite grilled dish (sausage, burgers, chicken, tofu, whatever). There is a particular existential satisfaction to be in front of the BBQ on a sunny day, when all your stresses and worries shrivel from the heat from the grill and the glowing intensity of the sun. A truly wonderful experience.

What beer goes best with that rare moment?

A number of beer could totally work – and I mention a few in the piece, including Charlie Flint, Yukon Gold and Yellowhead. All are solid candidates for that grilling moment. However, my first choice would be Harviestoun’s Bitter and Twisted. I truly enjoy this blonde ale – soft, light and accented by a sharp citrus and hop bite.

But (apparently I am being particularly difficult this week) that is not what I wrote about in this piece (as I reviewed it last year). Instead I extolled the virtues of Moor Somerland Gold. Also a truly deserving, but lesser known, beer. They call it a Golden Ale, but it could fit the Blonde Ale bill (really that is a really thin dividing line). Soft and refreshing, it offers a grainy malt sweetness and a touch of lemon to add a quenching dimension.

I can’t wait to get back to my grill and tip back either of these beer, as they do perfectly accent that particular moment.

First [...]]]> It feels like there has been a bit of a new beer lull in the last few weeks. After the initial rush of spring seasonals, things got all quiet on the prairie for a bit there. Well, in one day, I got word of three different beer hitting the streets in the coming days.

First up is Alley Kat’s latest Big Bottle Series release. Saison d’Etre is, as you might guess, a saison – the tart, challenging-to-brew Belgian summer beer with pepper and citrus character. A few years back they tried a saison, simply called Summer Ale, that was a very pleasant summery beer but a bit disappointing as a saison. I suspect, in large part because it is part of the Big Bottle, that this will be a little more loyal to the style. There is almost nothing better than a well made saison, so here’s hoping.

Next is Half Pints, who just announced that for the second straight year they are releasing Queer Beer, a project in conjunction with Winnipeg’s Pride Festival. It is a limited release, available only in Winnipeg, put out in conjunction with the annual celebration of sexual diversity and tolerance. It is a pale lager with organic raspberry juice added. I suspect it will not be Half Pint’s most out-there beer, but it will certainly be its most “out” beer.

And to complete our new release troika, Yukon Brewing is shipping southward its latest A.D.D. Series beer, Double Trouble Imperial IPA, which is fairly self-explanatory. Based on the Ice Fog IPA, they have tripled the hopping but also increased the maltiness of the beer to maintain that patented Yukon quaffability. So, expect a more balanced version of this assertive style.

So, the drought (as short as it was) is broken. New beer to try in the coming days. Get ‘em while they’re cold!

But I just watched, in quick succession, new ads for Coors Light [...]]]> Beer companies have, since at least the invention of beer, tried to link their beer to fun, exciting, cool times. This is old hat. Beer (or at least corporate beer) has always been sold on the basis of lifestyle fantasy rather than flavour.

But I just watched, in quick succession, new ads for Coors Light Ice-T and for Michelob Ultra. The former had a party scene, and the latter a montage of fun, outdoorsy, sporty young people. Nothing too out of the ordinary – except for the beer themselves. Ice-T, of course is Coors Light infused with lemon and tea “flavour”, while Ultra is AB-Inbev’s latest low-carb, low-calorie beer that, in the US comes in a variety of fruity flavours (including lime, pomegranate and dragon fruit!). For the moment only the regular is available in Canada – but how long do you think that will last?

I would have expected ads for these beer to be aimed more at women, but they are clearly designed to attract the attention of both genders. What is more, the tone and imagery in the ads makes an obvious pitch toward active, health-conscious, young consumers. Okay, still not unheard of. At this point, my brain is whirring. And then it dawns on me. What is weird about the ads is that, in a way that I don’t remember seeing before, you could almost miss that this is beer. They highlight the non-beer aspects of the product – the refreshing iced tea flavour, and the low-calorie, won’t interfere with your mountain climbing experience elements.

I am old enough to remember the launch of light beer (or as the Americans inexplicably spell it – lite beer). Their goal then was to convince you it tasted like beer but was less fattening. And ads for the latest craze beer usually offer some sense of how the “innovation” affects taste or mouthfeel. Usually in a goofy, not particularly accurate manner, but still.

These ads, at least to my eye, reach a new level of simultaneously linking a particular lifestyle to the beer while also severing the product from its beer-y essence. It is subtle enough to go unnoticed unless you start thinking more carefully about it. The quiet distancing from what beer is. In a way it makes sense as both of these beers have a very muted beeriness, but I wonder if it is the next stage in the evolution of macro beer advertising.

As they continue to lose market share – at both ends of the segment – they feel the need to make their product both taste like a non-beer beverage, but also to sell it more like a cooler or wine. To such a point it becomes indistinguishable from those products. I wonder if they have figured out that people who actually like the taste of beer aren’t coming back to them, as that part of the beer world has opened up into a vast playground of different flavours and aromas. Meaning if they are going to get their shareholders’ dividends back up, they have to give those mountain hiking, California party-going 20-somethings a reason to pick up a six pack, rather than some flavoured rum, a cider or sparkling rose.

And being the big corporate giants that they are, they think ads are the pathway to their stomachs. Well, good luck to them on that front. I’ll take the flavour side of the market, myself, as that is where the growth is.

One of the advantages of being on the opposite coast from my normal residence is that I can find some beer not available in the west. This includes local seasonals and and small regionals. One example is Le Trou De Diable, a small brewpub/craft brewer from Shawinigan, Quebec.  We actually have [...]]]>

A Shawinigan Handshake...

One of the advantages of being on the opposite coast from my normal residence is that I can find some beer not available in the west. This includes local seasonals and and small regionals. One example is Le Trou De Diable, a small brewpub/craft brewer from Shawinigan, Quebec.  We actually have had their Buteuse in the province, but most of their offerings have not made their way out to the prairies.

Recently one of their specialty beer gained some national notoriety for its name, Shawinigan Handshake. The beer, as the label makes obvious, makes fun of the infamous 1996 incident where then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien choked a protester. Not a great moment for Monsieur Chretien and it suggested a particular lack of respect for Canadian citizens on his part.

LTDD thought it might be fun to satirize that event with a beer named for it. Chretien, of course, is a long time resident of Shawinigan. Many feel the beer name and label are in bad taste, while others chuckle at its clever twist on the event (on the label, Chretien is choking the devil). I will sidestep that particular controversy, and instead offer my take on the beer itself.

I am told it is brewed as a Weizenbock. At 7% alcohol it seems to be in the right alcohol zone. It pours a  hazy dark gold with a medium white head, not as big as Iwould have thought. The aroma is clove, and banana ester but also some sharp pepper, smoke and other phenols. Some soft wheat in the background, but the smell is dominated by the esters.

...And the Event It Is Based On

First approach of the flavour is soft and sugary sweet. Following that is some banana bread like character and a touch of clover honey. The middle starts to dry out and sharpen, as the esters take over the flavour. I pick up a mixture of clove, nutmeg, pepper and an earthy mustiness. The beer finishes quite dry, tart and with a bit of surprising hop linger.

The beer presents as a hybrid of a German Weizen and a Belgian Abbey-style. The esters are quite pronounced and, I think, over-run the soft wheat and more subtle weizen esters. In my opinion the beer is over-done, much like M. Chretien’s response to the niggling protester. I would like it to be a bit softer and to allow the more subtle yeast character of clove and banana (which are present but struggle to be noticed) to come through more.

I continue to be intrigued by this beer. The name, alone, offers much to contemplate. And weizenbocks are uncommon in Canada, and that also provides reason to be interested. From my previous experience, LTDD makes some fascinating, creative, quality beer. As a beer Handshake is interesting, I just simply need to think that it shouldn’t bill itself as a weizenbock, which has a particular set of parameters that I am not sure this beer hits. Not a criticism, just an observation.

And, Mr. Chretien, when drinking this beer, try not to grip too hard. You’ll break the glass.

Too sharp for me. I want a little more smoothness out of a Weizen bock. Seems more Belgian than German.

One of the basic divisions in beer is between ale and lager. Ales, of course, are fermented near room temperature with species of yeast that prefers warmer temperatures. Lagers are fermented cooler (9-12 degress Celsius) with yeast evolved to prefer that temperature. This [...]]]>

Lagers used to be cold stored in underground cellars and caverns.

One of the basic divisions in beer is between ale and lager. Ales, of course, are fermented near room temperature with species of yeast that prefers warmer temperatures. Lagers are fermented cooler (9-12 degress Celsius) with yeast evolved to prefer that temperature. This most of us know. We also know that the slower ferment in lagers creates a smoother, cleaner taste, while ale yeasts produce more esters.

But there is another piece to the lager puzzle that doesn’t get as much attention – lagering. “Lager” is German for storage, or warehousing, so to “lager” is to store the beer for a period of time. More specifically to store it at cold temperatures (as close to zero as is practical). Most of the time lagers undergo a 2 week to 6 month period of lagering before being packaged. Historically, that was in deep caverns under the brewery. Today breweries set aside conditioning tanks, or possibly a room, for this process.

The purpose of lagering is to continue the clarification process and to allow certain compounds, like sulphur, dead yeast, protein chains and other less desirable components to drop out of solution. It makes the beer brighter, cleaner and smoother.

For homebrewers and small craft brewers alike, lagering is a fairly intensive process requiring both extra time and extra equipment (especially at the homebrew level). Thus many homebrewers and smaller craft breweries don’t do lagers and stick with ales. Others brew lager-styles but skimp on the lagering periiod (a common homebrewer cut corner). Still others, like myself, make do with a less than perfect lagering period. My set up will only get me to 8-10 degrees Celsius, but I can hold it there for 4-6 weeks fairly easily.

The science behind lagering is clear. But can people really taste a difference? That may be for each person to decide, but I worked it out (for myself) a few years ago. When doing up my annual lager, following the diacetyl rest (a short period when the beer is increased to room temperature to complete consumption of diacetyl chains), I proceeded with my lagering, but pulled a couple of bottles out right away. When the rest of the batch was ready, I tried them alongside the lagered version. For me the taste difference was substantial – even with my less than ideal lagering temperatures. The lagered version was cleaner and seemed less complex (in a good way). I was convinced.

I raise this today because I recently had a bottle of Pilsner from a craft brewery (whom I choose not to name). I know from an interview with them in the past that they don’t lager their pilsner – an issue of capacity and equipment. This is a fair choice and the beer is very good – hence I feel no need to out them.

I enjoy the beer, great hopping regime and a crisp pilsner malt sweetness. But what I noticed was that the beer came across more like a hoppy blonde ale than a pilsner. Hiding in the background was a subtle fruitiness and a bit of sharp yeast notes. Trust me, it was subtle. Had I been drinking this beer cold, fresh from the tap line, I likely wouldn’t have even noticed. But in my glass it was  a bit warmer and some of those complexities started to be released.

I was struck that this was likely the result of not lagering. A well-made beer, with quality ingredients and clearly a deft touch. It just lacked that final crispness that, I believe, can only be achieved through at least a couple of weeks of cold aging prior to bottling. It reminded me of the questions upstart homebrewers have about the “necessity” of lagering.

This beer addresses the complexity of answering that question. No, it is not “necessary”. You can make a great tasting lager without a period of cold storage. However, lagering does accomplish something. It will subtly alter and shape the beer and make it more “lager-like” (if I can be obtuse). For homebrewers (and small craft brewers), not lagering is a viable option if equipment or time are an issue. But something, however subtle, will be lost. But we all make compromises at various times – this is just one of them.

This past weekend I flew back out to Halifax to spend some time there for the second straight spring. As such cross-Canada trips often necessitate, I spent some time hanging around an airport waiting for a connection. Over the last [...]]]>

Byward Taps. Looks like a place with decent beer selection -- but it ain't

This past weekend I flew back out to Halifax to spend some time there for the second straight spring. As such cross-Canada trips often necessitate, I spent some time hanging around an airport waiting for a connection. Over the last few years,  I have found myself killing time in most of the country’s major airports. Even if I don’t have time for, or feel like, a beer (and my interest often drops off like a stone when I see the selection), I often pop my head in to see what kind of beer selection the places behind security have.

And answer me this? Why do they, almost to a one, offer only the big boys? One place has Kokanee/Stella/Bud/Bud Light. Another (if you are lucky) will have Canadian/Coors Light/Rickard’s. I swear you can completely forget what city you are in.

Now, I must admit that this is a rhetorical question, as I already know the real answer. Food services in airports are contracted to large catering companies, who control the restaurants behind security. They, naturally, contract to the big boys – likely getting big discounts – and, voila!, no decent beer selection for you. Another factor could be that travelers may be the single hardest consumer group to satisfy – as they come from all walks of life and all regions, meaning the big boys are the safest option. Maybe, but I think the former holds more sway.

I also know there a few exceptions. You can get Granville Island in Vancouver, and some of the less impressive locals (e.g. Boreale) in Montreal. And now Toronto has a Mill Street location (but I haven’t been there yet). But mostly, it is the same old thing. Even in places with rich, vibrant pub cultures and local beer scenes, the airport is something of a dead zone.

I am not telling you anything you don’t know. I just want to raise the question why this state of affairs continues, despite the surge in craft beer in this country. And, more importantly, contemplate what we can do about it.

Unfortunately, I don’t think our usual tools as consumers apply here. You can go into your local pub/liquor store/restaurant and demand a better selection, inform the owner and use your dollars to create economic pressure. But this is different. This is all about big contracts, which invariably involve big corporations. They will be far less susceptible to the complaints of the one customer in 100 who care about this. Doubly sad is that probably 30 or 40 of the remaining 99 might appreciate trying a local beer while waiting for their flight. They just aren’t likely to ask for it. My personal observation (which is far from scientific) is that most people scan the tap handles and pick whatever is closest to their preference . If there was an unfamiliar tap handle from some local brewery, they might ask about it – and maybe even try it.

My take is that if craft beer is finally to crack airports (and the Toronto’s Mill Street Pub is a good step forward), we just have to make the weight of craft beer too much to take. The vibrancy and interest (and therefore money) behind offering a diversity of local, craft-brewed beer needs to be too much for the corporates to resist. I like to point to Whitehorse as an example (although I have never been in their airport). Yukon Brewing is so dominant on tap in that city, that even Boston Pizza – probably one of the biggest bastions of corporate beer ordering – stocks Yukon on tap. They realized they had no choice to keep their customers.

Airports have you captive. No getting around that. But once you step outside their security scanners, you can undermine their monopoly by making it increasingly an island of corporate exclusivity in a sea of craft diversity. That will take a long time, but I don’t know about you, but I am in this for the long haul. I fully expect that, one day, airports in Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Regina and other cities will carry a decent selection of local craft beer in their restaurants. For now it is a dream, but not an unreasonable one.