Holy Smoke: Another void filled in Ontario beer

Things are happening quickly in Ontario beer. Things are accelerating. Each month--each week even--my year-of-Ontario-beer challenge is turning from "I have to drink Ontario beer for a whole year??" into "I get to drink Ontario beer for a whole year!!"

There's much on the horizon that I'm interested in, much happening this week even, but that's for a different post. 

This post is meant to tout another hole filled in our scene: Church-Key's Holy Smoke has hit the lcbo. Until now, we've been very underserved in the Scotch Ale department (A dark, sweet ale) AND in the Smoke beer department (think charcoal BBQ.... mmmm.....). Holy Smoke is a sort of hybrid of the two-A scotch ale using peat smoked malts.

I know a lot of people who don't like smoke beer, but I like it a lot. Be warned, though: this 6.2% ale is NOT a session beer. There's a lot going on and it can tire out the palate, so I recommend splitting the 650 ml bottle with a friend. Unless you're the kind of person who can pound back scotch all night long, then be my guest. 

Count this ridiculously handsome beer blogger happy to see this addition at the lcbo. Give it a chance.

Prayers answered... Storm's a brewin'... (Amsterdam Tempest)

So far, this whole "I'll only drink Ontario craft beer for a whole year" thing has been pretty tasty. I've spent a lot of time on the Gardiner, driving to Great Lakes (for some Deliverance, Ernie Wit and Saison du Pump-all awesome) and to Black Oak (for some 10 Bitter Years and some Oaktoberfest-also real good).

And I think that's what life will be like this year. After all, the good stuff you usually have to get from brewery itself.

So I was overjoyed to hear that Amsterdam Tempest, an imperial stout I've been dying to try for ages but haven't been able to get my hands on, is being released next Monday, October 22. And not only that, it'll be in the lcbo (in limited quantities). From what I've heard, it's the best imperial stout in Ontario, and seems to be right down my mouth puckering 100 IBU alley.

I was so happy to hear the news that I cracked into the dwindling supply of imperial stouts that remain in my cellar. If I can get my hands on a few of these bad boys, my ontario craft winter won't be so barren after all.

Foiled! supplies dwindling, send help...

In a fit of panic last night-yes, I realize it was day one-I drank one of my 4 bourbon barrel aged Great Lakes Porters. A tactical mistake? Perhaps. But I was feeling celebratory.

This morning, I awoke wondering what would happen if nothing new that's awesome and dark and special occasion-y comes out for awhile. What will I do? Supplies are dwindling.


Beer cellar contents (Ontario):

-3 Great Lakes 25th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Porters
-1 Great Lakes 25th Anniversary Robust porter
-2 Great Lakes 25th Anniversary Belgian Saisons


eep!

But, in the midst of my morning panic, an angel in the form of a drinkvine.com email: Your local lcbo has 24 Russian Gun Imperial Stouts in stock. wait, what?? already? This will be perfect, I thought! A perfect way to start building my Ontario-only beer cellar! So your intrepid reporter hightailed it over to his local 'bo, where his intrepid beer guy looked confused, checked the back, checked the invoice... There was no Russian Gun. Not for a while. It was all a mistake. A horrible invoicing mistake.

Anyway, I ended up buying some Amsterdam Boneshaker IPA and some Flying Monkeys Cascadian Dark Ale, both of which are very good Ontario beers I highly recommend. Unfortunately, they're not cellar beers. That cellar is where my challenge for the next year will lie.

Here we go: It has begun...

The "yes" pile

ok - here we go. It's begun. Yesterday, I pledged to only drink Ontario beer for the next year. Today, I start taking action.

My fridge contains the following hencetoforth contraband:

-1 Green Flash IPA.
-2 cans of Red Racer.

I will drink them first. And that's when it will really begin.

My fridge also contains:

-Black Oak 10 Bitter Years, a very nice ONTARIO double IPA available at the brewery only. Luckily, it's a stone's throw from Great Lakes Brewing - when I swing by one, I'll swing by the other. This will be very handy for me over the next year. I will make that trip more than once, for sure. You see, neither 10 BY or Great Lakes REAL rare gems are available at the lcbo, so you have to swing by the breweries. PLUS: you get it extra fresh.

-1 can of Great Lakes Brewing Crazy Canuck. Thinking, next time I swing by the brewery, I'll buy the freshest can of this I can find, and do a side by side with this can that's been sitting here for awhile.

I also need to start thinking about stockpiling good stuff for winter: Imperial stouts, triples, quads, belgian strong ales, etc. We don't make much of this stuff in Ontario, and when we do, it's usually at the brewery store and it sells out real quick. I need to be smart about this.

For example, last saturday, Bellwoods had a high gravity bottle sale. I didn't go. Now I regret that decision. Also: last week, Amsterdam sold some bottles of Barrel Aged Tempest (an Imperial Stout) and a Golden Ale at the brewery store - they sold out in 22 minutes.

I'm going to need to be vigilant, and strike when the opportunities arise. Fingers crossed for more Tempest soon.

When the opportunities arise, I will strike. Like a cat. Like a beautiful cat.

For the next year, I will drink only Ontario beer

Goodbye, my sweet precious. Goodbye.

It's with a heavy heart, and a sense of foreboding, that I drink this Hibernus, and that I write this blog post. My keys are wet with the tears of trappist monks. Goodbye my sweet Belgians, goodbye...

It all started earlier this week, amid furor over IPAs and their freshness. Folks were complaining (as beer folks are wont to do) about some out of province beer at the lcbo. Saying it was past its due, that it had lost its lustre. The hops weren't fresh. I bought it and I thought it was ok. Tasted really like most IPAs we get around here. To be honest, I didn't really put much thought into it. Another beer checked off the "to try" list. 3/5. Neither offensive nor inoffensive. And that was that. Or so I thought.

But then something else happened. Great Lakes Brewery released their Bourbon Barrel Aged 25th Anniversary Porter - a beer I've wanted to get my grubby little paws on for home use for ages (ok, it hasn't been around for ages, but you get my drift). They put out a few at the brewery store, and I hightailed it over to get while the getting was good. I bought some, but they also had an IPA called My Bitter Wife. They tend to do fantastic IPAs, so I bought some of those too, seeing as I was all the way across the Gardiner.

That night, I cracked open My Bitter Wife. It was a revelation. It put most other IPAs I've had to shame, mainly because the citrusy hop flavours were so juicy-so vibrant-so fresh. And I started to think about it-Could it be that those other IPAs, those IPAs I buy at the lcbo that have been sitting around for months USED to taste like this? Could I be tasting a hollow shell of what those IPAs used to taste like. Because, seriously, this was in such a different league of flavour it wasn't even close. I don't know the answer because I haven't had most of them fresh. But I do know that the difference between the My Bitter Wife I had and many of the other IPAs I buy can be likened to eating local fruit in season and eating fruit imported out of season. The vibrancy, the juiciness, the freshness. Have you had blueberries from loblaws in the middle of winter? bland. rubbery. but you eat them because they're there. You don't complain.

I don't want that. I want fresh. This brings me to my point.

I've [gulp] been looking for a focus for this blog for awhile, and I think I've found it. I've [gulp] decided to make a vow:

For the next year, I will only drink Ontario beer.*

This will be tricky (read: really really hard)-we don't really do belgian styles. Most of the really good stuff is only available at brewery stores. But I want to give this a go. Think of it sort of like a 100 mile diet for beer. I want to support local. I want to drink fresh beer. And I want to chronicle it all for you, my loyal reader. I want to find out if Ontario beer can sustain me. Is there enough variety, enough flavour? Only one way to find out.

Wish me luck. MUCH more to come.

*This vow excludes beer that is already in my cellar (not much). I'll be drinking that until it [gulp] runs out. Then I'm in trouble. Also: I will drink beer from outside of Ontario if it is free, because it is a sin to turn down free beer, everybody knows that.