It was free Wednesday at the ROM yesterday so we went for the first time in ages. In fact, I think the last time we went was when the Crystal first opened to the public but there were not yet any exhibits in it. Now, of course, it's fully kitted out and holds, inter alia, the South Asian and Middle Eastern collections. I have to say I was ( Read more... )

Volo had a line up of strong ales, imperial stouts and barley wines last night, all served in 300ml pours. We started with the Jonny Boy DIPA on cask. Two versions were available; one dry hopped with Centennial hops and one with Amarillo. Both were pouring cloudy but seemed otherwise in good shape. The Centennial version was a bit less bitter ( Read more... )

Bar Volo has a very impressive list of strong ales, barley wines and imperial stouts on tap lined up for the holidays. Many continue the emerging local practice of giving beers somewhat whimsical names. I think my favourite so far is Dieu du Ciel's Lendemain de Veille.

lemur_catta and I stopped by Volo last night for $5 pint night. There were some excellent beers on offer. Catch them if you can ( Read more... )

Last week was Toronto Beer Week. I only made it out to two events; the $4 pint night at Volo on Monday and the Cask Beer Festival at C'est What on Saturday.

The main point of the Volo event was the final of the Ontario Cask IPA challenge. The finalists were Great Lakes My Bitter Wife and Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic. I preferred the latter ( Read more... )

Bracketing a rather frantic day of conference calls yesterday were two contrasting but fun events ( Read more... )

Back from the C'est What Spring Event. 27 beers tasted. The standard was generally very good with only one real dog; Trafalgar Oak Aged Rye. The three stand outs of the night were Durham Hop Addict; a perennial west coast IPA style favourite that is especially god in the cask version, Grand River Russian Gun Imperial Stout; a deep and complex 9 ( Read more... )

Last night was the C'est What small brewery showcase where they have thirty beers on tap and have them available as 3oz tasters for $1. We got there early because it always gets insanely crowded (which it did). We tasted twenty beers. The overall standard was very good with most beers being good to very good examples of their style. They hand ( Read more... )

It's the annual celebration of bad folk singers and fireworks and even the odd dude in kilt and baseball cap with bagpipes (WTF??). lemur_catta and I are not very good at Nationalism so we wen out for lunch instead. Today's choice was the Beer Bistro which we keep avoiding because it's a it pricey for a lunch/brunch spot. It's worth the money. The food is ( Read more... )

It is bright and sunny today. It is also decidedly chilly. Thus my plot to sit on a sunny patio, eat brunch and drink beer was thwarted. Instead I descended to the Stygian depths of C'est What, ate brunch and drank beer. The plus side is that the beer at C'est What is markedly superior to the patio competition. Indeed, even if the Olympian ( Read more... )