Spring done sprung for Toronto Beer Fest

My man from Nickel Brook saw a lot of action at the March 29 Toronto
Beer Festival Spring Session. Their line was well-represented, indeed...

The day started with me and co-worker Saga heading into Toronto on the GO Train to crash the Toronto Festival of Beer's Spring Session at the Evergreen Brick Works on March 29. The day ended with me and Saga getting busted by the GO Train "police." I'll be honest - I wasn't even aware such an august body of railway ticket enforcement even existed. Live and learn, eh? Bought tickets on the way. Forgot about tickets on the return ride because of... well, beer. We both got off with a written warning... so we are "in the system" Uh oh... back off, you're reading about a couple of bad-asses here. Plus it was worth it just to see Saga's Oscar-worthy performance as The Guy With Five Layers Of Clothing On And I Know My Ticket's In A Pocket Somewhere. Classic.

Just another day in our lives where top-notch craft beer is involved. Starts innocently enough, ends up with a wee bit of trouble and 18 tons of fun in between the beginning and end. I'd totally blame Saga but who's gonna buy that? At any beer event, I'm basically everyone's "Get Out Of Jail Free" card... Spouses of my buddies say the name "Redmond" with the same vehemence and disdain that Jerry Seinfeld used to say "Newman."

The outstanding Central City Brewing's Red
Racer IPA is coming to the LCBO soon in
473ml cans. Previously it was available in
355ml cans only for $2.55. The price for the
new tallboys? $2.50. Yes, it makes no sense
but it works to my advantage so all good...

The Evergreen Brick Works is an interesting place. It's covered in one huge warehouse spot but not covered in an adjoining structure of equal size where roofing beams are up... but oddly, not attached to anything resembling, well, a roof. The beams are just kinda... there. Being beams. And covered or not, it's all open air so no concerns about the beer getting warm, especially on a day that started chilly and got really cold really fast. It was created in 1889 as a brick factory and was for years. Now it's some sort of conservation or educational property and I'll be damned if that's not true. Learned about a ton of new beers. What can I say? Education comes in many forms.

Normally, at this point, I would name all the brewers there but this was huge... bigger than both the Summer and Winter Craft Beer Festivals at Steam Whistle's Roundhouse. Easily two dozen different brewers, both big and small. As big as Alexander Keiths and Brick Brewing and as small as Highlander Brewing Company out of South River, a tiny cottage community 50 kilometres south of North Bay and a town that I know all too well.

Naturally - poor Saga - our first stop was the Flying Monkeys booth because I suspected they'd have their new Imperial IPA, Shoulders of Giants, on hand and as always, the highly-revered (in this corner) Barrie brewery didn't disappoint me as it was among their 10 beers on hand (top tap numbers at the Spring Fest, followed closely by my home-boys and neighbourhood brewery, Nickel Brook with nine.)

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery was, as always, one of the
belles of the ball, attracting large crowds that day...

At 10% and 100 IBU (international bitterness units), this IIPA packs the expected whallop with tropical fruit and grapefruit on the nose, fruity, a little caramel and punchy as hell on the tongue. This is, in my opinion, the best IIPA around right now - just dynamite. The server told me that it'd be out in 750ml bottles before the end of April so if you're looking for an IIPA that will Chuck Norris roundhouse kick your tastebuds, keep an eye open. I went back for it three more times.

While IPA-intolerant Saga tried their Italian Job Pale Ale (he gave it the thumbs up although he leans more towards porters and stouts), I switched it up for Round 2 with the Monkeys' Sonic Elegance Belgium Double IPA. At 9.4% and 83 IBU, it is only a step down from Shoulders power-wise but where this was different is that the alcohol was much more noticeable while it was nicely masked in the IIPA. Much maltier than its counterpart, Sonic was resiny and alcohol on the nose and well, very much the same on the tongue. It was solid enough as a one-off but when you're going for high ABV, you might need to mask the alcohol a little better than this. Also I suspect it might have suffered slightly in my estimation as I had it directly after Shoulders, which is a phenomenal beer. (Are you sensing I might be a bit keen to see it in the stores? Well, then, congratulations on your empathy powers because I thought I hid that pretty well.)

Steam Whistle's The Lowest Boardroom, shown
here, won the Battle of the Brewery Bands, edging
out  Beau's Audio, Great Lakes' Die Tenacious Earth
and  Mill  Street's Tennessee Voodoo Coup  

Okay, time to switch it up. There would be more IPAs in my afternoon but you can only worship at the same altar for so long. My hometown boys, Nickel Brook Brewery, have a couple of brews I haven't tried and I sensed the opportunity was rife. Mostly because I had a crap-ton of beer chips burning a hole in my pockets. So test-driving their Maple Porter was long overdue. Oddly, I got coffee on the nose, normal for a porter... but no maple? However, the tongue does not lie. The maple came through in the flavour and I am thrilled to say, it was nicely muted and not at all overpowering. Maple is a dodgy game for beer - you can't go too big or it is incredibly distracting with its sweetness. This was just right. Nice job, homeys... hometownies? Whatever.

The next porter I tried was a surprise in many ways... Highlander Brew Company's Blacksmith Smoked Porter. Surprise #1: "So where are you guys located?" South River, a place I been many times because my buddy, Bill, owns a cottage on the town's Eagle Lake - a cottage that has played the role of victim to many a Boys Weekend. Now granted, our Boys Weekends are filled with prayer circles, hymn singing and scripture reading... so it's all very spiritual. Well, that's what we tell our significant others, anyway. So far, not one has bought it. What can I say about our significant others over the years? They may be with idiots... but they are not idiots themselves. (Okay, okay... Poker, booze, beer, cigars and a lot of trash-talkin'. What did you expect?)

Okay, these young ladies got Flying Monkeys' stickers
that said "Beerologist" on them. On the Flying Monkeys'
sticker I got? "I see drunk people." Somehow appropriate.
I saw a lot of drunk twins, too. Tons of them by the end...

Surprise #2: That's another nice porter. You do get a small sense of smokiness on the nose but mostly some dark fruit. The smokiness does, in fact, present itself on the tongue along with coffee. That's a solid porter and to my buddy Bill, they told me they're right on Eagle Lake... not near it... on it. Side-trip in the boat this summer! Uh oh, beers in the boat... whoa, that's never happened before! (Is anyone buying any of this??? Yeah... didn't think so...)

Okay, back to the IPAs and it was time to visit the Toronto Craft Beer Queen Mel's favourite brewery, Beau's All Natural Brewing, whose Beaver River I.P.Eh? was a cool mix of the milder British IPA-style that also added some American west coast hoppiness. Mostly citrus so we can assume heavy on the Cascade hop. At 5.6% and 52 IBU, this is a session IPA I can get onboard with - floral scent, piney and grapefruit finish. Not overpowering but I need a few IPAs that aren't. This fits the bill nicely.

Well, as you may have noticed, I tend to praise IPAs a lot - no, seriously, I do... ask anyone who's read more than one of these - but well, I kinda ran into one of which I wasn't a huge fan. I had Ottawa's Big Rig Brewery's IPA and well, wasn't all that keen on it. That happens on occasion.

The view from the stage, courtesy of Steam Whistle's
band, The Lowest Boardroom. You can't miss me. I'm in
the back there. Right side. Way back. That's me! Totally.

The fact is at 6.2% and 70 IBU (not entirely low), this doesn't pack the punch I like and tasted - to me, anyway - much more mild than the sessionable Beaver River. I was not a fan at all. Also, it tasted... well, bland. I'm afraid I can't describe it better than that. That said, no one goes home without a door prize. Big Rig also makes a Double Chocolate Milk Stout that Saga sampled. I had a sip. That seemed pretty damn good so I'll watch for it.

Okay, all in all, an awesome afternoon with my bro, Saga (it always is - he is the most amusing court jester I know). We decided it was time to leave when I looked at this huge dude with beer completely down the front of his coat and noted oh-so-cleverly and very loudly, "Dude, your beer has some jacket on it!"

Next time at bat, we have a few. The Brewery Ommegang's Hennipen Saison and Young's Double Chocolate Stout that I have been promising. Also, I'm taking shot #2 at a Black IPA, this time Nickel Brook's Malevolent Black IPA. First time I had a black IPA, I was not bowled over. Thought it was a great porter but not an IPA at all. Let's see how this turns out.

If you see these two men, please do not call the
Police. They are basically harmless. "Basically"
But the GO Train Ticket Police may disagree...

Also I have a German black lager and a few Czech lagers in the fridge all calling my name, not to mention a mixed four-pack of Stone Hammer's best. Also a look of some of the winners of the recent Ontario Brewing Awards. Some surprises... but many well-deserved, as well. Okay, shout-outs... well, Beer Musketeers Stevil St Evil and Cat have been suspiciously silent on the blog circuit as of late. I'm not suggesting foul play... but I've watched a lot of Dexter so well, part of me is worried. If it wasn't for the fact I talk to them every day, I'd be super worried.

Beer Musketeer Glenn, on the other hand, is yappier than a chihuahua. And he has had some, well, interesting (and very entertaining) blogs as of late. He is on vacation with his lad, Jake, in Florida and well, his initial foray was... I dunno what to say about this... other than to call it: Boggy, Muddy Culverts See A Big Resurgence In The Florida Tourist Industry. But gawd bless him, he bounced back the next day, seeing Captain America 2 (in America, no less) with his boy and trying out some excellent IPAs in this offering: Okay, I Scraped The Mud Off...

Well, guys and dolls, what can I tell ya? That's it, that's all and I am outta here!!!! Until next time, I remain...