I made my annual pilgrimage to Toronto’s Festival of Beer and took advantage of its Thursday opening evening, which is less crowded and hectic than the sessions over the following three days and made it easier to speak with the brewery representatives.
My first stop was the Society of Beer Drinking Ladies tent, which had several interesting collaborative brews to choose from, including: London Brewing Co-Op Bramble & Bine, a 4.9-per-cent alcohol raspberry-kumquat saison, where the fruit element hits you first before the spice and yeast aspects creep in on the finish; and Amsterdam Sassy Beach Pale Ale, an unfiltered ale with the colour of sand and flavours of pineapple, mango and papaya.
There was a spotlight on Victoria, B.C.’s Phillips Brewing & Malting Co., which was set up nearby. I’ve tried the cans they have in Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores and wasn’t overly impressed, but sampled two that aren’t available in the province. The easy-drinking Solaris White Peach Ale was nothing special. The Electric Unicorn White IPA — which mixes Mosaic and Citra hops with wheat — was pleasant and slightly better.
I made my way over to the large beehive-shaped Funk Town tent, which featured its own DJ and focused on beers made with dank hops and wild yeasts. Unfortunately, during my visit, it didn’t feature brewery reps to talk about the various available sours or water to rinse out glasses. It was a good idea executed badly and I took a pass.
TekSavvy presented New Brews, an area dedicated to 12 newer breweries. Unfortunately, I’d previously had everything that Saulter Street Brewery had on tap and the styles offered by the other breweries weren’t among my favourites. The one exception, and the only brewery I had the wares from at the tent, was OverHop Brewing Co., which representative Tatiana Fulton told me is moving from Toronto to Montreal this week.
As you’d guess by the name, hops rule at this brewery, which originated in Brazil before entering Canada. I started with the Hazy New England IPA, a 50 IBU, 6.5-per cent, somewhat hazy ale with a rich mouth feel and clean finish. I then took a step up in strength and bitterness with the citrusy 90 IBU, nine-per cent OneLove Imperial IPA, which was smoother and easier to drink than expected.
Cowbell Brewing Co. always makes interesting beers in its Renegade Series and has friendly folks to chat with, so it made a natural next stop.
The 6.5-per cent, 30 IBU, very pale, unfiltered Mango Milkshake IPA was mildly sour and not as rich as I was hoping for. The lime zest was definitely evident in the refreshing, four-per-cent, 12 IBU Paradise Lime Wit, which was a slight step up. I was nonplussed by the 11-per-cent Cinnamon and Cardamon Belgian Tripel.
But it was Cowbell’s 6.5-per cent, 30 IBU Belgian Spiced Tripel Nitro that captured my heart and was my favourite beer of the evening. It poured a cloudy dark gold with a rich tan head. It was very rich, slightly sweet and completely delicious. Once last call neared and I had to spend my remaining beer tokens in a hurry, I made a beeline for Cowbell and downed a couple more to satiate my thirst and end the session on a guaranteed high note.
I wasn’t previously familiar with Prince Eddy’s Brewing Company, but was impressed with the Picton, Ont. brewery’s Citra IPA. The five-per-cent ale poured a light, cloudy gold and had a strong citrus bouquet, well-balanced flavour and easy finish.
I always spend time at the Flying Monkeys booth during this festival, and I wasn’t disappointed by what was on tap this year.
Its Pina Colada had a lovely aroma, as you might expect from a coconut and pineapple milkshake IPA made with tropical hops. The 6.3-per-cent, 55 IBU ale’s flavour veered more towards the coconut. This was a strong contender for my second favourite beer of the fest, but may have been edged out by the same brewery’s Cherry Pie Dessert Ale. The graham cracker malt balanced out the sweet cherries very nicely. It may not be for everyone, but it was for me.
Big Rig Brewery’s output has been hit and miss for me over the years, but its Walla Walla Big Bang Mango Milkshake IPA was definitely a hit. The unfiltered, cloudy orange, 6.6-per-cent, 80 IBU ale had a pleasing citrus and mango aroma, a slight tartness and a rich and satisfying mouth feel.
I like Angry Orchard Cider so, when I saw it was offering a rose cider, I had to try it. It was slightly sweet, went down well and was enjoyable.
I sampled a few other beers, but I think the less said about Barnstormer Watermelon Ale, Midway India Session Ale and Junction Ghost Train IPA the better.
Toronto’s Festival of Beer always features a variety of musical acts, but The English Beat, Squeeze and Sloan are the only acts I can think of off the top of my head that I’ve actually focused on over the past 24 years.
The Thursday lineup this year on the OLG Bandshell Stage was comprised of The Darcys, The Rural Alberta Advantage and Broken Social Scene. I’ve seen all of them before and don’t count myself as a fan of any of them, but they provided an inoffensive background soundtrack to the real matter at hand: drinking new beers.
Toronto’s Festival of Beer offered 416 different brews last year, and it’s doing the same again this round.
This year’s fest runs from July 26 to 29 at Bandshell Park at Exhibition Place and will be offering a downtown Toronto area code’s worth of local, national and international drink choices.
In addition to the normal assortment of dozens of brewery kiosks, a spotlight will be placed on Victoria, B.C.’s Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.
Thirteen breweries will try to show off their prowess with dank hops and wild yeasts in the Funk Town section.
There will be a spotlight on “Women in Beer” featuring 10 breweries and Society of Beer Drinking Ladies collaboration brews from Cowbell Brewing Co., Henderson Brewing Co., Little Beasts Brewing Co., People’s Pint Brewing Co. and London Brewing Co-Operative.
TekSavvy will present New Brews — an area dedicated to 12 newer breweries, including Tobermory Brewing Co., Power House Brewing Co., Skeleton Park Brewery and GoodLot Farmstead Brewing Co.
You’ll likely need a base for all of that beer, and you won’t be limited for food choices as La Palma, Campagnolo, Fidel Gastro's, Tiny Tom Donuts, Queen Margherita Pizza, Smoke's Poutinerie, South St. Burger, Jerk Brothers, Ted's World Famous BBQ, Ted's Beer Dogs, Heirloom Toronto, ONO Poké Bar, Melt Grilled Cheese, Ontario Corn Roasters, Oyster Boy, Hot Bunzz Street Cuizine and Brando's Fried Chicken will all be selling their wares.
Perhaps you’d like some music to accompany your drinking and eating?
I’ll be attending on opening night, as it’s usually a little less crowded and draws more discerning drinkers and fewer yahoos just out to quaff big brewery beers and wear silly hats. It will also include performances by Broken Social Scene, The Rural Alberta Advantage and The Darcys.
Hip-hop artist Ludacris will perform on Friday, cover song maestros Dwayne Gretzky will play on Saturday and you can try and recapture the ‘90s with Canadian alt.rock bands I Mother Earth and Finger Eleven on Sunday.
Toronto’s Festival of Beer celebrated a milestone birthday for Canada with its Canada 150 Pavilion, which is where I spent much of my time on July 29.
Four shipping containers converted into bars served 48 beers from across the country, several of which I had never had and was interested in. While none of them blew my mind, a lot of them were satisfyingly solid and enjoyable.
My favourite was the Killer Cucumber Ale from Vancouver’s Steamworks Brewing Co. It’s dry-hopped with cucumbers in the conditioning vessel, resulting in a lovely aroma and flavour accented by the long green vegetable. It pours medium gold with little head and seems more like a lager than an ale. The 4.7-per cent alcohol beer is light, refreshing and finishes easy.
New England Style Pale Ale from Lacombe, Alta.’s Blindman Brewing lives up to its name. It only rates a 35 IBU on the bitterness scale, but has a mildly hoppy aroma and very rich flavour with a nice finish that makes this cloudy gold, 5.5-per cent beer a nice summer ale.
The other beers I sampled from the Canada 150 Pavilion, in the order of how much I enjoyed them, were:
- Garrison Brewing Co.’s Juicy IPA, a well-crafted ale from Halifax;
- Brasserie Dunham’s Le Quence Du Soif, a collaborative brett IPA made in conjunction with Port Moody, B.C.’s Twin Sails Brewing;
- Brasserie Dunham’s Saison Rustique, a Belgian farmhouse saison from the Dunham, Que. brewery;
- Boxing Rock Brewing Co.’s Vicars Cross, an eight-per cent ale from Shelburne, N.S.;
- Les Trois Mousquetaires Saison Brett, a farmhouse saison from Brossard, Que.;
- and Blood Brothers Brewing’s Paradise Lost White Lies, a golden sour ale brewed with sauvignon blanc grape juice by the Toronto brewery.
I made my way around to several other tents to try new-to-me beers from other Canadian breweries. The one I enjoyed most from those was Rainhard Brewing Co.’s Jaywalker Vermont Style Session IPA. It’s pleasantly hoppy with an IBU of 35, and with an alcohol content of just 3.8 per cent it's a good option for all-day drinking.
My second favourite was Sawdust City Brewing Co.’s Death & Taxes Raspberry Radler, a 4.3-per cent beer that’s somewhat reminiscent of KLB Raspberry Wheat Ale. The raspberry comes through in a big way to your nose and on your tongue.
The third beer that I quite liked was Flying Monkeys’ 12 Minutes to Destiny Hibiscus Pale Lager. It’s a rich red colour with a strong hibiscus aroma and offers a nice combination of tart and sweet. And with an alcohol content of just 4.1 per cent, it’s a nice, light summer refresher.
Other beers I tried, again ranked in order of preference, were:
- Hop City Brewing Co.’s Payday Saison, an easy-drinking 6.2-per cent, 40 IBU saison from the Brampton, Ont. brewery;
- Beau’s Full Time IPA, a 6.7-per cent, 60 IBU west coast-style ale;
- Sawdust City’s B.A. Johnston’s Finest Malt Liquor, a straight-up, eight-per cent beer that was better than I expected from the Gravenhurst, Ont. brewery;
- Brock St. Brewing Co.’s West Coast IPA, a 5.1-per cent beer that has more hop in its aroma than in its flavour, but could be a decent introduction for those just getting into west coast IPAs who aren’t yet ready to get too adventurous;
- and Great Lakes Brewery’s Watermelon Ale, a 4.5-per cent beer from the Etobicoke, Ont. brewery that didn’t offer as much of the fruit as I was hoping for.
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| Sloan |
Beer and Sloan have always mixed well for me, and seeing the Toronto via Halifax power pop band from the stage while drinking quality craft beer made the combination even better. I timed finishing all of my beer tokens with the conclusion of the group’s set, which left me upbeat and ready to hear more music — which I did when I crossed Lakeshore Boulevard to Echo Beach to continue the festivities by watching the Dropkick Murphys and Rancid.
Fittingly, for Toronto’s largest and longest running celebration of beer, there will be 416 brews available to sample at this year’s Toronto’s Festival of Beer.
The late wrestling legend Andre the Giant was a prodigious drinker, but even he would be hard-pressed to quaff an amount of beer equal to Toronto’s area code at the July 28 to 30 event at Bandshell Park at Exhibition Place. Quality over quantity is what I’m most interested in, however, and there should be lots of that to go around.
“We want to give our patrons a chance to discover a whole new world of the tasty golden beverage and I'm confident we've accomplished that,” said Les Murray, the president of Beerlicious and Intelivents, which is responsible for presenting Toronto’s Festival of Beer in conjunction with the Beer Store.
Ontario House will feature 17 breweries while the New Brews Tent will showcase five breweries that are participating in the event for the first time.
While I’ll no doubt drop in on those sites, for the past few years I’ve spent the majority of my time at the World of Beer Pavilion. That will likely be the case again, as this year it will be named the Canada 150 Pavilion in honour of our country’s landmark birthday.
The 20,000-square-foot area will feature 48 brands from breweries from across the country — from Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. from Victoria in the west to Nine Locks Brewing Co. and Spindrift Brewing Co. from Dartmouth in the east. It will feature winners from both the Canadian Brewing Awards and Ontario Brewing Awards along with collaboration brews. Food will be prepared by Matty’s Seafood and Barcue.
Fifteen other food vendors will be on site and the Grilling Tent will showcase different chefs demonstrating their skills in making food with beer each day.
If you want some rhythm and booze, there will be lots of music to accompany all of that drinking and eating. New York hip-hop duo Method Man and Redman will end Friday night’s proceedings, while Toronto via Halifax power pop band Sloan will headline on Saturday and Great Big Sea member Alan Doyle will do likewise with his band The Beautiful Gypsies on Sunday.
Writing this has worked up my thirst. I think it’s time for a beer.
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| Johan Spendrup |
I was having dinner and a couple of beers at the Richmond House Hotel in Fort Augustus, Scotland earlier this month when a Swedish family sat down at the table beside me. We got chatting and the father told me he was heavily involved with home brewing and he talked about trends in Swedish beer.
It made me realize that aside from Carlsberg, which I primarily associate with Denmark, and Pistonhead Kustom Lager, a run of the mill brand which got a marketing push in Canada a few years ago, I didn't know much about Swedish beer.
That changed on Friday when I met Johan Spendrup, the chief executive officer and brewmaster of Gotlands Bryggeri (and the brother of the man responsible for Pistonead), at Toronto's Festival of Beer. This year's fest put Sweden in the spotlight and featured 28 brands from six Swedish breweries.
While overly refreshed patrons were walking by and asking for Ikea beer, Spendrup generously took time to pour me each of his beers he had available at the fest from Sweden's first craft brewery and to explain about each one, while also telling me more about the Swedish brewing industry.
The first one I had was Wisby Hopfenweise, a 5.6-per cent alcohol beer made with 60 per cent wheat malt, light caramel malt and Bavarian malt as well as Chinook, Magnum and Centennial hops. It's fermented in open tubs. It poured dark gold and had a lovely aroma with a hint of banana. It comes in at 30 IBU and has a slightly bitter taste with a hint of acidity.
Next up was Sitting Bulldog IPA, an American IPA that was amber in colour and poured with a rich white head. The 6.4-per cent beer uses only American hops (Centennial, Chinook and Amarillo) and crystal and light caramel malts from an island off the coast of Sweden. It was a little more malt-heavy than I like my IPAs.
Great White Bulldog Wheat IPA is an American pale wheat ale made with 55 per cent wheat malt and hops from four continents. The 7.2-per cent beer pours golden orange with a medium, foamy white head. The taste is complex and somewhat fruity with citrus elements, and it's a bit heavier than most wheat beers.
I was aware that IPAs have taken off in Sweden from my conversation in Scotland, but I was surprised to see how many sour and gose beers there were at the festival. I'm not much of a fan of either style, so I stuck more to what I know and like when trying some of the other Swedish beers.
Omnipollo Leon Belgian Pale Ale poured orangey gold and is made with Amarillo and Simcoe hops and champagne yeast. The 6.5-per cent beer is mildly fruity, slightly acidic and has a decently dry finish. It's quite refreshing.
Omnipollo Mazarin Pale Ale is cloudy orange with a nice white head and has a hint of melon in its bouquet. It's made with Columbus, Amarillo, Chinook, Citra and Simcoe Hops. The 5.6-per cent beer registers 48 on the IBU scale but it tastes more bitter than that.
Omnipollo Viktor IPA is a hazy, pale gold that poured with a big white head. The 7.5-per cent beer has a lovely aroma with touches of fruit and brett, and the brett is quite evident to taste. It's quite bitter and has a crisp finish.
Omnipollo Olympus Mons Imperial IPA is made with Mosaic, Simcoe and Columbia hops. It has an eight-per cent alcohol content, and that comes through a bit too much in the flavour. It's OK but I had hoped for more.
Omnipollo Nebuchadnezzar Imperial IPA is dark gold and had a small white head. It has an 8.5-per cent alcohol content. While the aroma and flavour are complex, I didn't particularly enjoy it.
Dugges All The Way Session IPA poured gold with a thick white head. It's made with barley malt and Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus and Citra hops. The 4.2-per cent beer has a nice floral bouquet with a hint of pineapple, and there's a bit of pine in the flavour before finishing dry.
Dugges Orange Haze IPA is cloudy gold with a light white head and a light fruit aroma. The 6.4-per cent beer is made with barley malt and Columbus, Citra and Cascade hops. There's a hint of fruitiness in the taste but no overt orange element jumped out. There was some bitterness and a crisp, dry finish.
Poppels Bryggeri Session IPA is dark gold/orange and had little head. The 4.2-per cent beer has a fruit and malt aroma and a slightly malty flavour. It's mildly bitter, slightly malty, dry and relatively indistinct.
Poppels Bryggeri Fatserie 006 Single Hop IPA Southern Passion is made exclusively with Southern Passion hops from South Africa. The 6.5-per cent beer is pumpkin orange and has a slightly resinous aroma and finish. Melon and blueberry flavours make for a relatively juicy brew.
Tempel Brygghus Surpene Rhubarb Sour IPA is dark gold and pours with a creamy head. The 5.7-per cent beer has an acidic nose and flavour, and you can taste the rhubarb. This was my least favourite of the Swedish beers I sampled.
While I was in the Swedish section, women were walking around with trays of Aalborg Taffel Akavit, a Danish schnapps with 45 per cent alcohol that has a licorice flavour but isn't as sweet as Ouzo or Sambuca. I didn't need a second shot.
I walked around to see what else would catch my interest and came across a few breweries that were new to me.
Sextant Craft Brewery is from Etobicoke and its Why So Sirius? is a 4.8-per cent summery, light pale ale with elements of mango and citrus. It's dry-hopped and has a crisp finish from its 33 IBU bitterness. It's solid but nothing exceptional, but I like brewmaster Dave Wingfelder and wish him well.
Brock Street Double Vision IPA is an amber beer with a small white head. It's made with New Zealand hops and is fairly bitter. The 7.5-per cent alcohol content is a little too evident.
High Park Brewery's Off the Leash unfiltered IPA is a 6.5-per cent beer made with English and American west coast hops. It's amber and pours with a medium head. It has a citrus-hop aroma and flavour and comes in at 57 on the IBU scale.
I met up with Spendrup the next night at Reposado, a Toronto bar best known for its tequilas and mezcals, but which also has a small selection of craft beers and ciders on tap. I introduced him to two Canadian beers and he bought a round of high-end tequila.
Spendrup also turned out to be a big music fan and had heard of the Horseshoe Tavern, since Triumph had played there in the band's early days, so I took him there since I know all of the staff and owners and could help make him feel more at home. There was more beer and liquor consumed until we reached our limits and went our separate ways for the night. Hopefully our paths will cross again.
Black Oak Brewing Company's 10 Bitter Years made the biggest impression in my 19th year of attending Toronto's Festival of Beer.
The double India pale ale has been voted Canada's best imperial IPA, and with good reason. The eight-per cent alcohol ale is double dry-hopped using three types of hops and presents a very well-balanced quaff. The amber beer offers a robust aroma with hints of pineapple and grapefruit that then give way to the ample, though not overpowering, hops. It has a nice body and a slightly malty finish, and it's no wonder that Black Oak has difficulty keeping the small batch brew (which was originally created to celebrate its 10th anniversary) in stock.
I was impressed enough to stick around and sample Black Oak's Dubbel Entendre, a dark brown Belgian-style ale brewed with Belgian candy sugar. I'm generally not a big fan of this style and, while I could tell that this 7.4-per cent beer was well made, it's too sweet for my palate.
Black Oak was also offering a one-off cask while I was at its booth, a 5.2-per cent brew that uses its nut brown ale as its base and is then topped off with Dr. Pepper. I expected more carbonation from the soft drink, but it was as flat as the vague black cherry flavour that it added. Just one keg was made, and that's enough. It's not very good.
I don't mind Creemore Springs' Kellerbier, so I decided to try the seasonal one offered by King Brewery. The unpasteurised beer was a cloudy gold colour, had a non-distinct aroma and lacks the crispness of most European-style lagers. I found little of note to recommend it and will stick with Creemore's version.
Lake of Bays' River Walker Summer Ale features a blend of ginger and lemon. Its bright gold colour and early aroma and taste initially impressed, but you can taste a bit of the alcohol in the six-per cent ale, which you normally don't want in a summer sipper.
Silversmith Brewing Company was established two years ago, but this was my first experience with the two products it had on hand. I started with its Bavarian Breakfast Wheat and, while I could drink any beer for breakfast if pressed, there seemed to be a creaminess to it even though it's just brewed with water, wheat, malt and hops. I'll attribute that to the secondary in-keg fermentation that adds more depth. It's 5.2 per cent alcohol and okay, but there are a lot of other wheat beers that I'd take over this.
Next up was Silversmith's Black Lager, which comes from a German recipe dating back 700 years. The five-per cent brew starts like a stout and ends like a lager owing to its dark, malty character, but its smoky aroma and flavour didn't make a great impression.
Snowman Brewing Co. makes its Pail Ale on Black Oak's premises, and it's gluten-free status is its key selling point. I may have a few problems, but luckily eating gluten isn't one of them. I couldn't envision having to drink a beer as unappealing as this unfiltered, foresty concoction.
Sawdust City One Bourbon One Scotch One Bier was aged for three months in a bourbon barrel. I got notes of vanilla and cherry from this light brown, German lagered ale. It may have been my second favourite beer of the fest after 10 Bitter Years.
Flying Monkey's Matador Imperial Ale was dark amber and slightly cloudy and poured with a decent head. It's aged in a cedar barrel, and you can pick up a lot of cedar in the taste and aroma. It's both complex and distinct and, while I enjoyed the first few mouthfuls, I liked it less the more I drank.
Old Kentucky Bastard is a 10-per cent Imperial Stout from Nickel Brook Brewery. It pours with a nice head and is chocolatey and slightly sweet, and the high alcohol content doesn't overwhelm the other elements. I approve.
Melville's just recently arrived in Canada, and comes to us courtesy of the same people who brew Innis & Gunn. Its Ginger Beer is made with pure, natural stem ginger, but this 4.1-per cent alcohol lager is surprisingly subtle with the amount of ginger you smell and taste. It's definitely the key ingredient, but doesn't have the bite of some ginger beers. A few of these on a summer day would go down just fine.
Melville's Strawberry Craft Lager uses Jubilee strawberries to give it a striking red colour. The fruit comes through much more in the flavour than in the bouquet. I prefer the ginger beer.
I've seen King Heffy Imperial Hefeweizen on the LCBO shelves on my past few visits, but didn't pull the trigger on purchasing one of the large bottles. I was therefore eager to try a sample of this unfiltered, German-syle wheat beer from British Columbia's Howe Sound Brewing, which had a banana and clove aroma. The 7.7-per cent beer would be best served with a lemon wedge, but there were none available. I still doubt if I'll pick up a bottle at the liquor store.
Elysian Brewing Company's Immortal IPA is a light copper-coloured ale from Seattle that has a lot of hops up front, but not enough to scare non-hop heads away. It has 6.2-per cent alcohol and was one of my favourites of the festival.
Silver City Brewing Co.'s Whoop Ass Double IPA packs an 8.5-per cent alcohol punch, but it was silly that the server wouldn't let me order one for myself and another for my friend and photographer Jeff, who was standing nearby. I had to order one, deliver it to him, and then come back for mine. It's unfiltered and reddish orange, and offers fruit and grass elements to both the nose and tongue, along with a hint of caramel sweetness.
Last call rolled around, so we made haste and headed for the media lounge to enjoy a couple glasses each of Goose Island's Sofie. I'm a fan both of this Chicago brewery and the saison style, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this 6.5-per cent Belgian-style farmhouse ale that's aged in wine barrels with citrus peel. It's cloudy gold in colour, sparkling in its body and blends citrus and vanilla flavours.
Should I start counting down the days to the 20th edition of Toronto's Festival of Beer yet?
Toronto's Festival of Beer was held for the 18th time on the weekend, and I celebrated my 18th time being in attendance.My friend Jeff and I each purchased our first round of tokens (20 for $20, but I got lots of freebies), and the first brewery booth I came across offering something I hadn't had before was Nickel Brook. A well-balanced and somewhat complex saison with a mildly fruity aroma and flavour got my thumbs up, but I thought the tan-coloured Berliner Weisse might have gone off when I first put my nose above the glass and took my first swallow. It was definitely sour, but the woman who poured it says it was meant to be that way. I'll never order another one.Cheval Blanc, a Belgian white ale from Montreal that's been available in Quebec for 25 years, is now making its way into Ontario -- and that's definitely a good thing. It has a rich colour and lots of bubbles, which act as a fine introduction to a refreshing and slightly fruity taste experience and a brief finish. It's five-per cent alcohol and a great summer beer.We next visited the Niagara College Teaching Brewery, where a young woman gave me a temporary tattoo and the guys at the taps first gave me a bitter -- which was okay, but served a bit too cold, which didn't allow all the hoppiness to come to the fore -- and then a pilsner weisse beer combination that lacked the flavour and character I was hoping for. It just sat there and failed to impress.But there were some tasty treats to be found at the Quebec tent next door, which featured 19 beers from seven of the province's microbreweries courtesy of Keep 6 Imports. (It's also where I met Toronto Star business/beer reporter Josh Rubin. I want his job.) Everything I had here was new to me, but I hope the best of them won't become strangers again.Dunham Black IPA lived up to its name as the 5.7-per cent ale poured into my glass. There was a coffee aroma and definite hoppiness in the bouquet and flavour, which had a sharpness and a pleasantly bitter finish. Dunham's IPA Belge was also excellent. The 6.5-per cent alcohol Belgian IPA was orange/caramel to look at and had citrus elements in its bouquet and flavour. Dunham's cloudy yellow, 6.5-per cent alcohol Pale Ale Americaine was pleasantly hoppy, but not too much so, and had just the right amount of bitterness.Charlevoix Dominus Vobiscum Saison was a six-per cent farmhouse ale with a gold colour and spicy bouquet that extended to the palate, where it was balanced by some nice sweetness. The five-per cent alcohol Charlevoix Dominus Vobiscum Blanche was decent, but I preferred the Cheval Blanc. Charlevoix La Vache Folle Imperial Milk Stout was the only one of its kind I had, and it was quite satisfying, although the nine-per cent alcohol brew seemed too rich to drink in large volumes. There was some sweet chocolate and roasted malt in evidence and it felt creamy in the mouth.Hopfenstark Saison Station 7 (a hazy gold saison made with seven herbs) and Hopfenstark Boson D’Higgs (a Berliner Rauch Saison) were both drinkable but not exceptional. The same can be said for the brewery's Framboise, a wheat beer with raspberries.The straw-coloured, six-per cent alcohol Les Trois Mousqeutaires Hopfenweiss had citrus and banana undertones that made it easy to drink. The brewery's mahogany-coloured Weizenbock wasn't. The wheat interpretation of bock packed a punch with 11 per cent alcohol, but you could taste the booze too much. I prefer strong beers that creep up on you, not knock you over the head.Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! Rosee D’Hibiscus is a wheat beer with a distinctive rose colour derived from the addition of hibiscus flowers during brewing. The 5.9-per cent alcohol beer is mildly acidic, but it's the floral aroma and flavour that gives this beverage its uniqueness.I heard a number of people raving about Les Vergers De La Colline CID Rose, but I didn't share the excitement over the only cider I sampled during this festival. The 6.5-per cent beverage was light pink and slightly bubbly to look at and slightly dry and authentically apple-y to taste.I could hear Salt-n-Pepa singing "Push It" on stage as I walked to the media lounge to see what free food and beer was available. The food was gone and the beer was Labatt 50. It's my default domestic big brewery beer when I'm out seeing bands and Jeff didn't want his, so I quickly downed two mugs and we hit the home stretch for Great Lakes Brewery's CASKapalooza.CASKapalooza features 20 one-off casks brewed specially for the event, but the large majority of them seemed to be repeats from past years and (as I've found since it was launched in 2009) they're rarely exceptional. Closing time was rolling around so we finished off our last few samples and made our exit.See you next year at number 19.
