The Best of Canada? Beer!

I loved Lisa's post last week so much, I begged her to write some more on that lovely country to the north. Since her blog is titled "Drinks Like Fish," I thought perhaps some opinions on the best beer around might be appreciated - from an expert no less. Not only can she expound on Canadian Drinks, she's got hockey credentials as well :) With no further ado....

Lisa the Goalie!

In my first post I pointed out some differences between the US and Canada. One of the differences listed rye whisky. (I wonder how many of you thought I misspelled whiskey? We don’t have that E in ours. Really.) Also a drink called a bloody ceasar. While a rye and ginger is my personal drink of choice, a lot of people think of beer when they think of Canada. Well, that or ice wine I guess.

Ice wine is definitely not my style – but for those who like it like it a lot. The grapes are harvested after they’ve already frozen on the vine. This means the water inside the grape is frozen so that the rest of the grape is concentrated (once you remove the ice that is). It’s one of those things that requires a confluence of factors all working together – a cold enough climate (it needs to freeze), healthy grapes that have lasted long enough in the season to make it to first frost, a lot of people willing to pick frozen grapes on some very chilly morning etc.

Needless to say, there are really only a few places that make the stuff and it tends to be pretty pricey. Canada is once of the major producers of ice wine and most of it right here in Ontario.

So my preference over ice wine? Well local beer. I’d say local whisky but, while it’s getting better (Forty Creek) it’s still not got a candle on our beer.

The worst thing about the condo my husband convinced me to move into? I am in the middle of downtown Toronto and within spitting distance of FOUR 4! Breweries.

Steam Whistle is right in the heart of the city. It only makes one beer. If you believe it’s ads it does one thing very very well. A couple of years ago T and I hosted an octobervest dinner. T made schnitzel; I made a mock-German chocolate cake; and we had a pilsner tasting. Steam Whistle came out near the top of the list; not THE top but near the top. Lovely; mellow; smooth; a great pilsner.

Then there’s Amsterdam. It makes, again, as it advertises “’Dam good beer.” The 416 (our telephone area code) is one of the nicest wheat beers I’ve ever had.

Granite Brewery is a bit north in the city – the other three are all pretty much in the centre of the city – and sells growlers of its beer. I just love that they’re called growlers.

And then came Mill Street Brewery. And a revitalization of the east end of Toronto began. Now it’s the “Distillery Historic District” of Toronto. The beer is good, don’t get me wrong, but not out of the world wonderful. BUT they do definitely win for being in closest walking distance from the condo’s front door.

But then recently I spent a lovely afternoon at my local pub. And they had the most lovely pint of IPA I’ve tasted in a while. Hops & Robbers by Double Trouble Brewing no pun intended but as the baby daughter of a police officer the name definitely appealed.

I know I prefer different beers now than when I was a kid. And I definitely am more open to other tastes than the big factory breweries. What’s your favourite? If I could somehow smuggle it over the border…well I won’t tell!