Spring is here, beer is in the air

Hops hops hops goes the rabbit

So, it's spring. And with it comes optimism and short shorts.

This post will concern itself with the former.

I'm an optimistic guy to begin with. In fact, this whole blog is built around highlighting things I like (rather than slagging any things I don't). But my optimism is at a high this spring, because I really do get the sense that Ontario's craft beer scene is blossoming. There's so much going on that I'm psyched about that I can't mention it all in one post. But just to name a few:

Great Lakes in Toronto is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and, to celebrate, they're releasing 4 new beers to the LCBO. The first, to be released pretty soon, will be a Robust Porter (Porter is a brown/black English ale - not sure what the "robust" means.") The folks at Great Lakes know how to brew good beer, and they know how to brew funky beer (good funky, like "cool," not bad funky, like "sweat socks," though that's sometimes desirable.) so this series will for sure be worth a shot.

Black Oak in Etobicoke (which rhymes if you mispronounce Etobicoke) is cooking up another batch of their rare Imperial India Pale Ale (so, a pale ale (hops) + India (more hops) + Imperial (even more hops)) called 10 Bitter Years. Most excitingly, there are whispers that it will be at the lcbo.

Muskoka Brewery in Bracebridge is releasing their Spring Oddity, a new Spring seasonal that they describe as a "dry hopped strong ale with unique flavours a plenty." I've heard rumblings of juniper berries, though that's unconfirmed. It will be available pretty soon. Will be worth a try, for sure, if their other seasonals - Harvest Ale and Winter Beard - are anything to go by.

It's a great time to be a craft beer lover in Ontario. I'll do my best to report back on these beers, when and if I find them-if I like them. And I'm optimistic I will.

Let me know what you think of them too (tweet me @PierreLachaine).