The downsizing trend of last year’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo seemed to continue in this 25th anniversary year of the event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from Nov. 21 to 24.
However, even though it’s becoming more difficult to find new beverages — especially when it comes to beer — that I haven’t had before, there was enough to keep my palate satisfied and thirst quenched for three days.
I largely focused on one beverage type each day, with Friday dedicated to beer, ciders and coolers, Saturday to wine, and Sunday to spirits and cocktails.
Here are the highlights:
Beer
Indie Ale House Lemonade Stand includes lactose to add body and smooth out the bitterness of the Meyer lemons in this five-per cent alcohol beer to make it surprisingly mellow in bouquet and easy to drink. It’s probably more appropriate as a summertime brew than it is for November, but I’d have no problems drinking this year-round.
Nickel Brook Zap! Sour IPA is made with four malts, Cascade, Centennial and City hops, and California Ale yeast. A fluffy white head sits on top of a cloudy pale gold base. There’s a strong citrus aroma and while the lemony sharpness of a sour beer is evident, there’s still enough hops and a pine finish for IPA fans in this ale that has a 5.5-per cent alcohol content and 28 international bettering units (IBUs).
Muskoka Hazed and Confused was originally part of the brewery’s experimental Moonlight Kettle series, but was so popular that it was introduced more widely. This 6.5-per cent alcohol, hazy gold IPA offers a fruity hop aroma and a very juicy citrus flavour that pleases from start to finish.
Here are the other beers I sampled, listed in order of preference:
Muskoka Shinnicked Stout (with an apparently new recipe)
Nickel Brook Glory and Gold
Balderdash Brewing Sneaky Weasel Lager
New Standard Original Lager
Partake IPA (non-alcoholic beer)
Partake Stout (non-alcoholic beer)
Partake Ale (non-alcoholic beer)
Ciders
Lonetree Dry Cider is a 5.5-per cent alcohol cider made with six different types of apples. It has a low sugar content but still has a degree of well-balanced sweetness to go with a crisp finish.
Muskoka Lakes Cliff Jump Cranberry Craft Cider is an off-dry, pinkish cider made in the Canadian cranberry capital of Bala, Ont. Apples and cranberries are well-blended in this 5.6-per cent alcohol cider that offers a tangy, crisp and refreshing taste experience.
Here are the other ciders I sampled, listed in order of preference:
Duxbury Back 50 Acres Cider Spritzer
Liberty Village Extra Dry Cider
Duxbury Back 50 Acres Scrumpy
Coolers
Crafty Elk Mango and Honey Organic Hard Juice is a 4.5-per cent alcohol vodka beverage from London, Ont. The orange-coloured drink also includes water, cane sugar, carrot concentrate, prickly pear fruit extract, turmeric, goji juice powder, ginger, citric acid and natural flavours. It’s slightly sweet and a lot delicious.
Crafty Elk Cranberry, Blueberry and Acai Organic Hard Juice is made with no preservatives or artificial sweeteners and is very berry-forward. This also mixes very well with the Crafty Elk Mango and Honey Organic Hard Juice.
Founder’s Original Bourbon Sour isn’t particularly sour, but I wasn’t complaining with this well-balanced and quite citrusy five-per cent alcohol beverage made with bourbon, Seville orange bitters, orange and lemon juice, cane sugar and water.
Hey Y’all Southern Style Hard Iced Tea is brewed in Vancouver with black tea. It’s lightly sweetened, non-carbonated and pours dark gold with a five-per cent alcohol content.
Here are the other coolers I sampled, listed in order of preference:
Hey Y’all Georgia Peach Hard Iced Tea
Founder’s Original Tequila Paloma
Blue Lobster Lemon Lime Vodka Soda
Wine
Martin Berdugo Verdejo Rueda is a very fruit-forward, 13-per cent alcohol Spanish wine made with Verdejo grapes. It possesses a rich bouquet with citrus and peach notes and a finish that lingers nicely.
Pierre Sparr Grande Reserve Gewurztraminer is a 13.5-per cent alcohol, dry and semi-sweet wine from France’s Alsace region with a rose petal aroma and flavours of lychee, pineapple and grapefruit.
Famille Cattin Pinot Gris is a 13.5-per cent alcohol, dry and medium sweet wine from Alsace that’s pale straw in appearance and has apricots and honey in its nose.
Ironstone Obsession Symphony is very pale and, while I was warned about its sweetness, it certainly wasn’t cloying. I enjoyed its rich and fruity bouquet, and peach and melon emerged with the strongest flavour profiles in this 12-per cent alcohol wine from California’s Lodi region.
Here are the other wines I sampled, listed in order of preference:
Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay
Simi Sonoma County Chardonnay
J. Lohr Chardonnay
Willm Reserve Riesling
Gentil Hugel
Baron De Ley White
Cannonball Chardonnay
Pelee Island Bella Sparkling Pinot Noir Rose
Vieni Riesling
Grand Cru Kessler Pinot Gris Domaines Schlumberger
Sterling Chardonnay
Josh Rose
Lolo Albarino
Sprucewood Shores Sweet Select Riesling
Vieni Bruce Trail White
Josh Sauvignon Blanc
In Situ Reserva Chardonnay
Josh Chardonnay
Lolo Chardonnay
Tom of Finland FREEstanding White
Beringer Chardonnay
Five Stones Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
Spirits
35 Licor De Pastel De Nata is a 14.5-per cent alcohol Portuguese cream liqueur with a flavour that will remind many of the country’s famous custard tarts. I had it straight up with a dash of cinnamon sprinkled on top and very much enjoyed its sweet flavour that could make it a holiday season favourite.
Vodkow is a unique 40-per cent alcohol vodka from Almonte, Ont. made with lactose, which creates a clean and smooth flavour and a full-bodied mouth feel. It’s made without gluten. I preferred it straight up, as those earlier mentioned characteristics took away some of the ginger spiciness that I enjoy in a Moscow Mule.
Cocktails
The Watermelon Palmer is made with Stolichnaya Vodka, Double Dutch Watermelon Cucumber Tonic and Kiju Organic Lemonade. I’m a sucker for most things with a cucumber aroma and flavour, and this smooth-drinking combo was refreshing and excellent.
Winter Mule is made with Noxx and Dunn Rum, Kiju Organic Cherry Pomegranate Juice, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer and cara cara orange. It was sweeter than a Moscow Mule since the ginger beer plays a slightly lesser role, but I still found it refreshing and enjoyable.
The Cotton Candy Cosmo is made with Stolichnaya Vodka, Kiju Organic Raspberry Lemonade, cotton candy and lime. I’ve never been much of a cotton candy eater, and I was worried that its inclusion in this cocktail would make it sickeningly sweet. But the raspberry lemonade cut that aspect and it was fun to see a drink turn blue when the liquid was poured over the cotton candy of that colour that was stuffed into my glass.
Signal Hill Whisky and Fever-Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ale impressed me with how well the orange and ginger flavours combined with each other.
Refresh is made with Nutrl Vodka, lemon juice, ginger cordial, pear rosewater kombucha and limonene terpene, and garnished with a dehydrated lemon. It was subtly gingery and mildly sweet.
Lemon Mojito is made with Noxx and Dunn Rum, Double Dutch Double Lemon lemonade, mint and key lime simple syrup, mint and lemon. It was semi-sweet and quite tasty.
The Autumn Sour is made with Willibald Gin, lime and cranberry juice and rosemary syrup. The 43-per cent alcohol gin is made in Ayr, Ont. with corn and aged in oak barrels, giving it a distinctive flavour in this sweet cocktail.
Here are the other cocktails I sampled, listed in order of preference:
Margarita made with Tromba Reposado
Crystal Head Vodka and Mott’s Clamato Pickled Bean Caesar
Crystal Head Vodka and Mott’s Clamato Original Caesar
Cool As A Cucumber Margarita made with Tromba Blanco Tequila
Cucumber Basil Smash made with Stolichnaya Vodka
Bombay Sapphire Gin and Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic
Regenerate made with Bearface Whisky
Pink Gin Fizz made with Hyman’s Sloe Gin
This year’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo seemed to have fewer exhibitors than in the past, but there was still more than enough to sample over three evenings at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
I largely focused on one beverage type each night, with Thursday dedicated to beer, Friday to wine and Saturday to spirits and cocktails. Drinking was more of a priority than eating, but I also tried a bit of food to soak up all of the alcohol.
Here are the highlights:
Beer
Muskoka Pair of Wise Guys Weizenbock, part of Muskoka Brewery’s Moonlight Kettle Series, was the clear winner. Germany’s Schneider Weisse Aventinus is one of my favourite beers, and this dark amber brew reminded me of it. The 7.5 per cent alcohol content isn’t evident and there’s a pleasant banana aspect to the flavour.
Goose Island’s Even Weissbiers Get The Blues is billed as a pilsner, though it’s not as crisp as most good pilsners. The 4.5-per cent alcohol beer is brewed with magnum and kolibri hops and has a floral aroma with banana bread notes in the flavour. It has a smooth finish.
While the above two beers stood out from the pack, of the 15 other beers I sampled, I’ll also give honourable mentions to BrewDog Clockwork Tangerine Citrus Session IPA and BrewDog Vagabond Gluten-Free American Pale Ale.
Cider
Don’t Poke The Bear Cider is made in Caledon with seven types of Ontario apples. It’s semi-sweet and refreshing and has an alcohol content of 5.8 per cent. A 500-millilitre can sells for $3.25 and a portion of the proceeds from each one goes to an anti-bullying campaign.
McAuslan Brewing’s McAdam Urban Cider pours pale gold and has a rich apple aroma. It’s primarily made with McIntosh apples and is somewhat dry, with just the right amount of sweetness. With an alcohol content of 4.7 per cent, it’s quite sessionable.
Wine
I much prefer white wines over reds, so that was my focus for the 20 wines I sampled. My favourites are described below.
Baden Gewurtztraminer has a nice floral bouquet and pours pale yellow. It’s slightly sweet and off-dry, with elements of melon in the flavour and a pleasant finish.
Pelee Island Lola Gewurtztraminer is semi-sweet with a rich mouth feel. It was my favourite of the four wines I sampled from the winery.
Thierry Delaunay 2017 Sauvignon Blanc from Loire, France is an extra dry, pale gold-coloured wine with a complex citrus aroma and a fresh and fruity flavour. It has an alcohol content of 12.5 per cent.
The 2016 Clarendelle White from Bordeaux, France is a blend of 70 per cent sauvignon blanc, 25 per cent semillon and five per cent muscadelle grapes. It’s very pale in colour but rich in its fruity aroma and flavour. It has an alcohol content of 12.5 per cent.
Cornerstone Strawberry Festival is in your face as soon as you see the rich red liquid pouring out of the bottle. It has a very big strawberry aroma and flavour, and there was even a strawberry seed in the glass I sampled. It may be too sweet for some people, but I liked it. I also liked Cornerstone Estate Peach, which is even sweeter, but not sugary. Both of these fruit wines from Beamsville, Ont. have an alcohol content of 12 per cent and sell for $16.
Don’t Poke The Bear Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc presents a nice blend. It’s mellow and medium-bodied and sells for $14.95.
Coolers
Muskoka Gin and Tonic Docker is a very pale straw-coloured cooler with a very fresh cucumber aroma and flavour profile. It’s very easy drinking with a four-per cent alcohol content and has no added sugar, so a 500-millilitre can has 160 calories.
Spirits
The most interesting spirit I had was Von Schoultz Vodka from King’s Lock Craft Distillery, which is made with garlic. It’s bold and very evident in both the aroma and flavour. I also enjoyed King’s Lock’s Smugglers Gold Rum, which had a nice vanilla element to smooth it.
Murphy’s Law Apple Pie Moonshine, made with apple cider, is delicious on its own served over ice. It’s also excellent mixed with cranberry juice. The Elmira, Ont. distillery makes other moonshines as well, and I enjoyed its White Lightin’ mixed with grape juice and its root beer mixed with A&W root beer.
Kavi is a cold-brewed, coffee-blended Canadian whisky that sells for $29.95 a bottle. It includes vanilla from Madagascar and that’s the flavour you get up front before the coffee kicks in. I enjoyed its smoothness when I drank it straight over ice and particularly liked it mixed with egg nog. It has an alcohol content of 36.2 per cent.
Rheault Distillery’s 24-per cent alcohol Sinful Cherry liqueur is very good on its own and excellent when mixed with San Pellegrino Clementina.
Cocktails
The Don Julio Grapefruit Ginger Margarita made with Don Julio Blanco Tequila, grapefruit syrup, lime juice, ginger beer and Inferno Bitters was spicy and excellent.
The Tanqueray Ten and Tea made with Tanqueray No. Ten Gin, green tea simple syrup, lemon juice and soda water was light, fruity, refreshing and very good.
Mojitos Lounge served me a blueberry and raspberry tropical mojito that was divine. It’s a fruit and rum explosion in a glass.
A chocolate martini made with E.T. 51 Premium Vodka and McGuinness Creme de Cacao, and served in a chocolate-rimmed glass, was lovely.
A whisky sour made with two ounces of Collingwood Whisky, a half ounce of simple syrup and a half ounce of lemon juice, and served at the Good In Every Grain booth, was good.
Food
The pulled pork parfait from Pig Out layered creamy garlic mashed potatoes, pulled pork and barbecue sauce and was topped with crispy onions. It was delicious.
JP’s Barbeque served me pulled pork, beef brisket, salmon and egg rolls with three sauces. I was pleased.
The Fancy Franks Frankie Goes to Buffalo hot dog featured a panko-fried wiener, chicken bacon, blue cheese dressing, carrots, celery and Buffalo wing sauce. It might seem like an odd combination, but it’s great.
You’d think that I’d eat a lot at an event called the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, but that hasn’t always been the case. I attend more for the wine, beer, ciders and spirits. The food, for me, is almost an afterthought.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought that there were more food exhibitors and more of a focus on food at this year’s event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre than in recent years. So I paid a bit more attention to sampling edibles, while still getting my drink on, from Friday to Sunday.
I’ve walked by Entice Culinary Lounge on Toronto’s Queen Street West dozens of times without ever going in. But proprietor Ali K graciously offered me three of the things it offers in the restaurant that it also had available at its Gourmet Food & Wine Expo booth. The ravioli, Korean beef ribs and unique bread pudding in hot chocolate were all delicious.
Two companies were peddling jerky: Krave and Lorissa’s Kitchen. They each had four varieties available and, while I enjoyed them all, Krave Chili Lime Beef Jerky was my favourite, as it had the most bite of all of them.
That bite also gave the edge to Campbell’s Thai Tomato Coconut Soup, though I'd also have no problem serving its tomato basil and golden butternut squash flavours, which I also sampled.
Cool isn’t the word I’d apply to most of Cool Runnings’ sauces, but I tried almost all of them and most bring a satisfying amount of heat. Damien’s only had two sauces, one hotter than the other, but both were terrific. They would have gone well with the parmesan turkey meatballs I sampled.
I always have a jar of Matt & Steve’s Extreme Beans in my fridge, and now I know I also like their similarly flavoured asparagus and olive products — and I don’t even eat olives.
Casa Manila has treated me right at past Gourmet Food & Wine Expos, and did so again this year, as I closed both Friday and Sunday sessions at its booth. On night one a spring roll, tangy boneless chicken adobo and tomato garlic beef stew hit the spot. And on Sunday I was left satiated and satisfied with grilled chicken skewers, salad, rice and more chicken adobo. I accompanied both meals with a delicious calamansi mojito.
Speaking of cocktails, I had several of them on Sunday.
The worst was first. Social Lite comes in a can and has a full ginger and lime aroma, but those elements are much less pronounced in the flavour. It’s certainly light, with just 80 calories and a four-per cent alcohol content, but it’s much too watery and lacks the kick that both lime and ginger can provide.
Things improved considerably after that, starting with a simple Bombay Sapphire Gin and Fever-Tree Tonic. You can’t go wrong with those two ingredients.
Great Britain’s dry and non-citrusy Boodles Gin was the primary alcoholic ingredient in my next three cocktails, which were mixed and served by a lovely young woman from Invite Catering.
The Boodles Smash was made with 45.2-per cent alcohol content Boodles Gin, QCumber Water, Belvoir Elderflower Water, cucumber, lime and basil. It’s as cool as a cucumber and would make a great summer refresher.
The Boodles Mule was made with Boodles Gin, Kiju Apple Juice, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer and a slice of lime, and then shaken and served over ice with an apple slice. The ginger beer comes through loud and clear in the nose and flavour, but the apple adds a distinctive touch and mellows things out a bit.
The Boodles Blossom was made with Boodles Gin, Kiju Mango Passionfruit Juice, Kiju Lemonade, iced tea and fresh raspberries that were shaken and served over ice with a bruised mint leaf. The raspberries and iced tea provided the strongest flavours in this easy-drinking translucent pink cocktail.
Jeremy Parsons mixed my next two drinks with 1800 Tequila.
The Winter Sun Margarita was made with 1800 Tequila, Kiju Cranberry, Pomegranate and Blueberry Juice, Kiju Mango Orange Juice foam, and a lime slice, shaken and served neat. While I’m a traditionalist when it comes to margaritas and prefer the original lime juice-based version, this was a fun alternative.
I preferred 1800 Punch, which was made with 1800 Tequila, Kiju Pomegranate Cherry Juice, Fever-Tree Ginger Beer and an orange slice that was shaken and served over ice. It’s surprisingly mellow, considering the tequila and ginger beer combination, but it’s beautiful.
Circa Lemon Ginger was made with Ciroc Ultra-Premium Vodka, lemonade and ginger beer, and then garnished with mint and lemon. The ginger beer cuts through and makes this sparkle.
The Moksha Indian Bistro booth was out of its chicken when I arrived shortly before closing time on Sunday, but the Niagara Falls restaurant more than made up for my disappointment with that with its cocktails, including the excellent Moksha Ginger Sour made with Jagermeister and ginger. I also tried a concoction made with rum and tamarind. It made me smile.
I discovered Tito’s Vodka in Austin, Texas several years ago and have drank it on occasion ever since. At the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, I was given a souvenir Tito’s glass for a drink that mixed the vodka with cranberry juice and lemonade. I wasn’t disappointed.
“White Line Fever” is one of my favourite Motorhead songs, but I was overcome with white wine fever at Toronto’s Metro Toronto Convention Centre over the weekend. After focusing on beers on Friday, trying a variety of white wines was at the top of my agenda on Saturday and Sunday at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo.
There were a few booths specializing in New Zealand wines, and a high percentage of them were Sauvignon Blancs. The bright and fruity yet dry style is made in different parts of New Zealand’s Marlborough wine-growing region, some areas of which produce a more grassy flavour. I’m more of a fruit-forward guy and preferred those.
My favourites were Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2016 and Villa Maria Private Bin Lightly Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc. I’d rank Babich Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc, Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Stoneleigh Latitude Sauvignon Blanc, Nobilo Icon Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Nobilo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and the Maori-made Te Pa slightly behind them but still worthy of recommendation.
Joiy, which just arrived from New Zealand in boxes containing four 250-millilitre bottles, was a pleasant surprise: a sparkling and aromatic wine made with no added sugar, concentrates or flavours that would work well for the holiday season.
I was also very fond of the extra dry White Cliff Sauvignon Blanc 2015 from New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay region on the north island.
I spent time at a few California booths and, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, what impressed me most was the Fetzer Gewurztraminer from Monterrey. The style is fairly uncommon for California and this one was sweeter than what I generally prefer in a wine, but its bold floral aroma, rich full-bodied fruit flavour (with a hint of pineapple) and oily finish won me over.
The organic Fonterra Chardonnay from further north toward the Oregon border had pleasant green apple, pear and citrus flavours and tied for second on my list of favourite California wines from the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo along with the gentler and earthier Chloe Chardonnay.
I enjoyed Italy’s Ruffino Prosecco, an extra dry and very bubbly sparkling wine with peach and apple aroma and flavour profiles.
Calmel & Joseph Villa Blanche Chardonnay 2015 was the only French wine I had, and the extra dry medium-bodied wine with apple, peach, melon and citrus elements didn’t disappoint.
I didn’t get around to trying as many Rieslings as I normally would at this year’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, and only one from where the style is best known: Germany. The light and easy Funf Riesling lived up to its fun name with its peach and apricot bouquet, citrus flavour and clean finish.
Closer to home, I became a fan of the bold, refreshing and off-dry Rosewood Sussreserve Riesling from Beamsville, Ont. The Rosewood Legacy apple and honey mead was interesting, but a bit too sweet for me.
Port Dover, Ont. is the home of two cheekily named brands, Frisky Beaver and Smoke & Gamble. Frisky Beaver Sparkling was off dry but wit some sweetness and would be my first choice over Frisky Beaver Frisky White Riesling, Smoke & Gamble Chardonnay and the only rose I tried over the weekend, Frisky Beaver Blushing Beaver.
The other Ontario wine I sampled was Fielding Estate Winery’s Long Weekend Pinot Grigio Chardonnay, an enjoyable casual wine with a robustly fruity aroma and flavour.
Perhaps the least favourite wines I sampled were from Greece: Santorini Assyrtiko; and a Sauvignon Blanc called 2014 Thalia White.
And finally, thank you to the lovely couple from Cambridge, Ont. who gave me three sampling tickets as they celebrated their anniversary on Saturday. And also to my New Zealand wine-drinking buddies Natasha and Louise, who gave me four tickets but then didn’t show up at The Cadillac Lounge afterward like they said they would.
Toronto’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo seemed smaller this year, but there were still a couple dozen beers and ciders that I hadn’t tried before (as well as a few cocktails and wines) that were available to sample on Friday night.
Four beers stood out from the rest.
Smuttynose Brewing Finest Kind IPA from New Hampshire is made in a LEED Gold-certified brewery, but it’s not just its facility that’s impressive. The 6.9-per cent alcohol ale pours a slightly cloudy gold with little head and a pleasant hop aroma. It stands at a 75 IBU on the bitterness scale but, despite this, the taste is crisp, clean and well-balanced and isn’t excessively bitter. It has an excellent and surprisingly easy finish.
Beau’s Collabrewnaut Espresso Pilsner was perhaps the most unique beer I tried. I’ve had espresso porters and stouts before but had never tried it in a pilsner. It works wonderfully. It’s very finely filtered so the coffee bean darkness doesn’t infuse the five per cent beer, but the flavour certainly does.
Beau’s Polaris Pale Ale was made for the Polaris Music Prize gala and, since I didn’t attend this year, the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo presented my first opportunity to try this five-per cent alcohol beer that’s brewed with spruce tips. It’s rich gold, pours with little head and has a 32 IBU. There’s not a lot of spruce in the nose but it comes through in the flavour. The spiciness of the spruce gives it a bit of bite almost like ginger, making Polaris a bit reminiscent of a ginger beer.
I didn’t expect a lot from Moosehead Radler, but I was happily surprised by it. It’s a pale and slightly cloudy gold and, at four per cent, has a bit more of an alcoholic kick than many radlers. I’m on medication where I’m not supposed to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice, so I couldn’t have many of these for that reason, but they’re certainly refreshing enough that I’d like to on a hot summer day.
There were three other beers just a notch below these.
Railway City Express India Session Lager is a dry-hopped, 4.8-per cent, 18 IBU beer made with Galaxy, Mosaic and Cascade hops at the St. Thomas, Ont. brewery. It’s light gold with a beautiful hop and pine aroma and a well-balanced flavour.
Railway City Double Dead Elephant Imperial IPA is a 7.5-per cent alcohol beer that’s dark gold and pours with a big white head. It has a gentler aroma and flavour than I expected, as the high alcohol content and bitterness expressed in its 90 IBU rating aren’t overpowering. It finishes very nicely.
I’m a wimp when it comes to sour Berliner Weisse beers, but Nickel Brook Raspberry Uber may be my favourite of the style since it’s not overly sour and isn’t that much different from some raspberry-flavoured beers I’ve had.
There were three beers I’d put in the next tier.
Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager from the United Kingdom just arrived in Ontario and the 4.7-per cent alcohol beer has more body than a lot of lagers. It’s gold, has a small head and is made with two types of malt and four different hops. It’s an easy-drinking, refreshing beer with a smooth finish and is best suited for summer.
Nickel Brook Equilibrium ESB is a 5.5-per cent, 43 IBU beer that pours dark gold with a small head. You can taste the complex blend of hops and malts, but it’s hoppier than many extra special bitter beers I’ve had — which is a plus for my palate.
Nickel Brook Cucumber Lime Gose is cloudy gold and had no head. The cucumber is wonderfully evident in the aroma and, while you can detect the lime as well, it comes through more in the flavour and gives the beer a slightly sour taste. I don’t drink a lot of goses because they tend to be too sour for me, but that’s not the case with this one.
There were seven beers I’d rate a step down from those.
Wellington Kickin’ Back is a dark gold, dry-hopped session ale with a somewhat floral bouquet. At 48 IBU, it may be the Guelph, Ont. brewery’s most hop-forward beer. The 4.8-per cent alcohol ale is dry on the first sip and stays that way through the finish.
Smuttynose Brewing Robust Porter is very dark brown with a tiny head. The 6.6-per cent alcohol beer isn’t as robust as a stout but it has the dark chocolate bitterness of some of them. I preferred the initial introduction over the finish.
Badger Fursty Ferret is from the United Kingdom, where it’s apparently the top-selling craft-bottled ale. It’s a light golden brown and has a bouquet of malt and orange. Raisin comes through with the malt in the flavour, which is nicely balanced and not too heavily malted. I don’t often drink English pale ales, but I appreciate this one.
Median Brewing Dark Ale is a 5.2-per cent alcohol beer from a Windsor, Ont. brewery that opened early last month. The aroma is stronger than the taste, which is initially sharp but then quickly mellows.
Whitewater Midnight Stout is a 4.5-per cent alcohol oatmeal stout that pours black with a medium tan head. It’s coffee and dark chocolate flavour is pleasant, but I would have preferred more body as I found it a bit thin for a stout.
Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner is a light gold beer that’s certainly decent but doesn’t stand out. It’s a crisp but easy drinking pilsner.
Propeller IPA from Halifax has just been introduced to Ontario in a can. The 6.5-per cent alcohol, 68 IBU ale is a slightly cloudy gold and has a fruity and full-bodied bouquet. It’s not bitter at first but it has a bit of bite in its finish.
Luckily I have no reason to drink gluten-free beer, as most of them I’ve had aren’t very good. There’s nothing offensive about Bard’s Gluten Free from Utica, N.Y., but it’s very dull in its aroma and flavour profiles and has little to offer. It was my least favourite beer of the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo.
I was quite happy with the three ciders I sampled.
Brickworks Cherry Cider will arrive in the LCBO in early December. I prefer it over the company’s two apple ciders and one peach cider. It has a dry apple cider base augmented with cherries, with all ingredients grown within 300 kilometres of Toronto. It has a five per cent alcohol content and isn’t nearly as sweet as many cherry ciders. Although it’s a seasonal product, I could enjoy it year-round.
Double Trouble Grow A Pear Cider is a pale, 5.5-per cent alcohol perry made in Stoney Creek, Ont. It’s made with water, sugar and pears from Winona, Ont., in the heart of the Niagara wine region. It was a bit sweeter than expected, but I thought it was excellent.
Pommies Perry is a light straw-coloured, semi-sweet and medium dry pear cider with a five per cent alcohol content. It’s crisp, but not overly so, and is very pleasant. Its pears come from around Meaford, Ont.
I’m generally not a fan of barley wines and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to have another Midian Brewing Barley Wine, it was certainly decent. The eight-per cent alcohol brew from this new brewery is a cloudy, dark amber. While you can detect the high alcohol content in the aroma, it’s not overwhelming. It’s full bodied, fruity and gentler than most other barley wines I’ve tried.
I discovered Tito’s Vodka in Austin, Texas several years ago and have drank it on occasion ever since. This time I was given a souvenir Tito’s glass for a drink that mixed the vodka with cranberry juice and lemonade. I wasn’t disappointed.
Les Quarterons Cremant de Loire is a dry and creamy sparkling wine with a slight lemon aroma that’s made with chenin, chardonnay and cabernet franc grapes. The 12-per cent alcohol wine is aged between 18 and 24 months by Amirault in France.
Rodrigues Blueberry Wine from Whitbourne, Nfld. is all natural with no sulphites that rates a two on the sweetness scale and has a 10-per cent alcohol content. I’ve had better blueberry wines.
It was suggested that I also try mixing the Les Quarterons Cremant de Loire with the Rodrigues Blueberry Wine. I did, but preferred them both on their own.
I admit that I attend the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo more for the booze than the food, but I’ve enjoyed the Filipino food from Casa Manila in the past and stopped by its booth again. This time I had a small but delicious meal of a spring roll, tangy boneless chicken adobo and tomato garlic beef stew. I accompanied it with a lovely calamansi mojito. If you haven’t had calamansi juice before, I definitely recommend it. It has a mix of orange and lime flavours that’s great on its own or, as I found, in a rum cocktail.
The Krave Chili Lime Beef Jerky I sampled was excellent. The sweet chipotle flavour was also nice, but not as good.
Less than a decade ago, when I used to go to beer events or Ontario beer retail outlets, it was difficult to find a beer that I hadn't already tried. Now, with the explosion of small breweries everywhere, it's very difficult to keep up with all of the new brews that are becoming available.
So while there were several beers that I'd previously sampled available at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo on Saturday evening, and 18 more I added to that list at the event on Thursday, I was still able to make some new discoveries during my second visit this year to Toronto's biggest annual food and drink event.
Saturday's drinking began with Beau's Patio Saison, a 5.9-per-cent, gold beer topped with a small white head. The Belgian-styled beer has a slightly spicy aroma, a mildly hopped and not too funky flavour, and a pleasant finish.
Beau's Sleepy Time is a very dark ruby-coloured Belgian-styled imperial stout that poured with a large tan head. The relatively high eight-per-cent alcohol content came through a bit in both the nose and taste. It lacked the rich body I was hoping for, which ultimately made it a little disappointing.
Whitewater Brewing Co. is located an hour west of Ottawa and is new to me, so I had to try the two beers it had on offer. Farmer's Daughter Blonde Ale is a five-per-cent beer that rates 22 on the international bittering unit (IBU) scale. It's unfiltered and unpasteurized, giving it a cloudy gold appearance. There's little aroma and nothing special about its taste.
Whitewater's Class V IPA was a step up. The 5.5-per-cent, 72 IBU, cloudy amber beer with a quickly dissipating white head has a floral and mildly fruity aroma. The hops didn't hit as hard as I was expecting, which makes this easy-finishing IPA appropriate for mid-level hop heads.
Cameron's Into The Shade Saison is a gold, 5.2-per-cent beer with a mildly grassy aroma. I like a little more funk and spice in my saisons, but the stone fruit element in the flavour makes it quite approachable. It's not often that you come across an easy-drinking Belgian-styled tripel, but Cameron's Dry-Hopped Tripel definitely qualifies and was probably my favourite beer of the night. It doesn't taste as potent as its 7.5 per cent alcohol content suggests, which means it could sneak up on you because you'll want to keep drinking this slightly cloudy gold beer. Its fruity aroma and flavour are quite enticing.
Nickel Brook Equilibrium Extra Special Bitter is a dark orange/amber beer with 5.5 per cent alcohol content. It's very well-balanced and has a pleasant maltiness blended with a hop-forward profile. I don't drink many ESBs, but this is quite solid.
I'm not into sour beers either, so Nickel Brook Uber Raspberry Sour isn't something that I'll seek out again. But the 3.8-per-cent, dark pink/light red beer has an enjoyable raspberry bouquet and an appropriate level of raspberry tartness. This is one of the better sours I've had.
Lost Craft is a new Toronto brewery founded by Shehan De Silva, and its first beer is the 4.8-per-cent, all-natural, pale gold Revivale Premium Lagered Ale. As I told De Silva, I don't mind a Kolsch-style beer if I'm in Cologne, Germany, but it's not the first thing I reach for at home.
That was the last beer to cross off my list at the expo, so I decided to try a handful of new-to-me ciders and coolers next.
Bomb Premium Cider is from Hamilton and uses apples from Puddicombe Estate Farms. The light gold, 4.5-per-cent cider is a little too sweet for my taste and I don't think I could drink more than a couple of them by choice.
Mike's Hard Lemonade can be a refreshing way to quench your thirst on a hot summer day, and its new Mike's Extra Dry Hard Lemonade is a little less sweet and more dry than the original. At seven per cent, it also has a slightly higher alcohol content but remains easy to drink.
Mike's Hard Ice Tea and Lemonade tastes and smells a lot more like iced tea than lemonade. All of the ingredients in this amber-coloured cooler come from British Columbia. If you like iced tea and alcohol, this five-per-cent drink is for you.
The same can be said for American Vintage Hard Iced Tea, an American-made, cloudy orange-coloured refresher made with cane sugar. You can't taste the five-per-cent alcohol content at all.
Palm Bay Iced Tea blends mango and lemon. The mango is most prevalent in the bouquet and the iced tea comes through in the flavour of this easy-drinking, five-per-cent alcohol cooler.
Palm Bay Dragonfruit and Watermelon is peach-coloured and has a sweet watermelon aroma. It's five per cent, not too sweet and went down very easily.
With my beer snob credibility hanging by a thread after those coolers, I elected to spend the rest of my night trying new liquors.
I've had El Dorado 5-Year-Old Rum before, but there were three other variations available at the show. El Dorado 3-Year-Old Rum is a white rum that tastes like a darker rum with its vanilla and brown sugar notes. It's quite smooth and priced competitively with Bacardi white rum.
El Dorado 8-Year-Old Rum is an amber-coloured Demerera rum that's very tasty and pretty smooth. El Dorado 12-Year-Old Rum is another amber Guyanese Demerara with a nice, spicy aroma. While it's easy to sip, it also has a bite.
Collingwood Blended Canadian Whiskey, a relatively new Ontario product, is 40 per cent and nothing out of the ordinary.
As with El Dorado, I've had Nicaragua's Fleur De Cana rum before, but not the Fleur De Cana 12-Year-Old Rum I sampled on Saturday. It's definitely drinkable, but not great.
Chic Choc Spiced Rum incorporates spices from Quebec's Chic Choc Mountains, including peppery green alder, pine forest spikenard, whiterod berries, lovage root, sweet gale seeds and wild angelica. The 42.5-per-cent amber rum has a spicy bouquet and feels pleasant in your mouth.
Rum Chata is a blend of Caribbean rum, dairy cream, natural and artificial flavours. The American-made liqueur has an alcohol content of 13.75 per cent and has a pleasant aroma, but I prefer other cream-based liqueurs that aren't as sweet as this one.
I'm a fan of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire is a similar product attempting to capitalize on the former's explosive popularity. Its alcohol content is 35 per cent and a shot of it goes down well.
Last call arrived, and these last few shots helped make my cold and wet walk home a little bit warmer.
It's called the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, but my time spent at Toronto's biggest food and drink event of the year last Thursday evening was spent sampling new beers.
Things began at the Strathroy Brewing Company booth. The brewery opened in June 2014 and I wasn't familiar with it, but president Alex Martin provided me with a good overview of the company and its bottle-conditioned beers.
I first sampled 1815 Lockstock Ale, a four-per-cent alcohol, non-gluten beer with a nice peach-citrus aroma, crisp fruit flavour and dry finish. It looks a bit like champagne in the glass and, perhaps because it uses Australian hops, reminded me of the always enjoyable Cooper's Sparkling Ale.
Even better was 1812 Independence Pale Ale, a dark gold, 5.5-per-cent English pale ale with a Belgian twist that was the brewery's first beer. There were herbal lemon-lime hop notes and peach, banana and clove esters. The Belgian Trappist yeast it uses makes one think of a wheat beer.
The 1815 Smokin' Cannon Stout is a five-per-cent, dry oyster stout with a dark ruby colour and nice tan head. Elements of chocolate and pepper were present.
The final selection was the brewery's first batch of 1815 Freedom Framboise, a 5.5-per-cent, gluten-free fruit beer made with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. It pours a rich dark red and presents a well-balanced, slightly tart flavour, a fruity bouquet and dry finish.
As an added bonus, Stephen Beaumont dropped by while I was at the Strathroy booth. He's one of the world's foremost beer writers and told me about the latest trips he's made around the world in pursuit of his passion and the 10th book that he's in the process of putting together.
Railway City Cranberry Festive Lager is released every December by the St. Thomas, Ont. brewery. It uses Bala, Ont. cranberries and the fruit is subtly evident to the nose and palate. The 5.5-per-cent beer isn't particularly fruity and I can't envision myself drinking many of them in one sitting.
Brew Ginger Ale comes from a Windsor, Ont. brew pub called Brew. This alcoholic ginger beer has a very strong gingerbread aroma and its biscuity maltiness makes it taste more like a gingerbread cookie than the sharper ginger beers I prefer -- most notably Royal Jamaican Ginger Beer.
Amsterdam Testify Brett Pale Ale is a 5.7-per-cent beer that's pale, cloudy gold with a rich, white head and a nice hoppy aroma with elements of citrus and pine. Its use of Brett yeast and Nelson, Sauvin and Mosaic hops makes it quite hop-forward and leads to a very nice finish.
Amsterdam Cruiser is a medium to dark gold, 4.9-per-cent pale ale with a pleasing hoppy aroma and flavour and a dry finish. It rates 40 on the international bittering unit (IBU) scale and is very good.
Mill Street Betelgeuse is an 8.5-per-cent Belgian-styled beer that pours dark gold underneath a small head. The Belgian malts dominate and the high alcohol content isn't immediately evident. I wouldn't drink more than one, but liked its pear and bubblegum finish.
Mill Street Scotch Ale is a dark ruby, almost brown, malt-forward beer that poured with a small head. I'm generally not a fan of Scotch ales, but I prefer this one to most I've had.
Hop City 8th Sin Lager Beer is a black lager that uses eight types of malt and has hints of espresso, cocoa, caramel, dried fruit and smoke. It has five-per-cent alcohol content and rates 25 on the IBU scale.
Hop City Big Mouth Pale Ale is about twice as bitter and uses Cascade hops from the United States and Kent Golding hops from the United Kingdom. It has a pleasing gold colour, a flowery, citrus aroma and a five-per-cent alcohol content.
Oast House Kentucky Hill Bourbon Sour is dark brown and pours with a nice tan head. This 5.4-per-cent beer is somewhat sour and a bit acidic. It's OK, and maybe even good, for the style. It's just not my thing.
Lake of Bays Wild North Midnight Bock Lager is a very dark brown and quite malty 5.5-per cent beer that -- like almost everything I've had from this Ontario cottage country brewery -- is pretty unexceptional.
Beau's Fous Allies is based on the Belgian saison style and is infused with organic mango puree to give it a light orange colour and very pleasing fruit flavour profile. It's 6.1 per cent alcohol, which is a good number to enjoy a few -- but not too many -- of.
Beau's Screamin' Beaver is much more potent, checking in at 9.9 per cent, though it doesn't taste quite that strong. The oak-aged double IPA has a hoppy aroma and flavour and a dark amber colour.
Old Tomorrow Rye Raw is pretty good for a rye beer, another style I don't drink much of. It has a 5.5-per-cent alcohol content.
There's nothing wrong with Guinness Blonde American Lager. It's just another average-tasting, unexceptional beer. Stick to the brewery's world-famous stout. You'll be much happier.
