PEI's Gahan Brewery Opens Bottling & Production Facility

Charlottetown's only brewery, the Gahan House Brewery, has officially opened a bottling and production facility on Walker drive, not far from the Gahan House on Sydney Street, according to the article in today's The Guardian.

According to the article, Sir John A's Honey Wheat and Island Red will continue to be bottled (they're currently being bottled and sold through ten PEI Liquor Commission stores), but on a larger scale, enough to cover stores across the island. Kegs will also be available for sale at the new brewery location. With the increase in volume, Kevin Murphy, the President of Gahan Brewery, states in the article that they are now in a better position to begin exporting their beer to other provinces, including Ontario.

The Gahan House (brewpub) will continue with operations as normal.

The Countdown's On - Last Minute Gift Ideas: Beer Education

Seven shopping days left. That’s it. I’ve already listed some of my suggestions for the beer lover in your life, books, but let’s take a look at some hands-on educational opportunities that will be a huge hit for the craft beer drinker on Christmas Day.

Granite – Be A Brewer For The Day
Reading about beer is one thing, experiencing the daily rigours of brewing beer on a commercial scale is another, and Toronto’s Granite Brewery provides you with that opportunity.

Ron Keefe, the brewer/owner of the Granite has been offering citizens the chance to ‘be a brewer for the day’ at the Mt. Pleasant and Eglinton brewery for some time now, doing everything from working the mash to pitching the yeast. For $150 you can join Keefe in the brewhouse for the day, learning about his English style ales, the intricacies of cask conditioned ales, getting a better perspective of the ingredients used in brewing, along with having some lunch and some samples of the Granite’s line-up. You’ll also receive a certificate of completion at the end of the brew day.

Visit www.granitebrewery.ca/announce.html for more information or call the brewery at 416-322-0723.

Serious Beer
Vancouver’s Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts offers a comprehensive eight-week beer program with the next course running from January 13 to March 17. For $475 students will be educated on beer styles from various brewing countries, the history of beer, brewing techniques, the role ingredients play in beer, and taught how to properly taste. The admission fee also includes a text book, the cost of tasting, and a certificate upon successful completion of the course.

The deadline for registration is January 6th.
Call (604) 734-4488 to register.
www.picachef.com/Beer_classes.html

Beer Appreciation
A couple of years ago, when I moved back to Ontario from Halifax, I enrolled in a Beer Appreciation course at George Brown College in Toronto to meet some new people, taste some beer, and to learn a little more about the brewing process. Ron Keefe was the instructor then and still is today offering students a great teacher with many years of experience. The cost of the six-week course is $339, which includes a text book, tastings, discussions on the brewing process, the history of beer, ingredients, and a site visit to the Granite’s brewhouse. This course is a great way to introduce your friends to craft beer.

The next course begins on January 11 and takes place every Monday evening.
Call (416) 415-5000 ext. 2517
www.coned.georgebrown.ca/

Better With Beer
Bill White knows beer. He spent 30 years as a brewmaster with Labatt and led the Oland Specialty Program. He also set up the Labatt Beer Institutes that can be found in different provinces throughout the country. These institutes feature a classroom and a bar and Labatt employees, trained by White, would lead education seminars on all their products. Fast forward to today. White no longer has any ties to his former employee and has a heart for craft beers. He runs his own business, Better With Beer, where he hosts beer tasting parties, hosts beer dinners, and provides educational talks to bar and restaurant staff. If you want to throw a beer dinner in the future, give White a call at 905.949.2312 or send him an email at betterwithbeer1@yahoo.ca to see if he's available. No website.

Beerology
Mirella Amato teaches people about beer for a living and she loves it. She loves talking about the history of beer, discussing the styles, helping you experience craft beer the way its deserved to be experienced, showing you how to serve, and she puts everything together for her comprehensive beer tasting sessions. Shoot her an email at tastings@beerology.ca or head to her detailed website for more information.

Thirst for Knowledge
After spending numerous years in the sales business with Labatt, Roger Mittag set off to education Ontario citizens with his Thirst for Knowledge beer programs. He recently created the Prud’homme™ Beer Certification three level program. Level 1 - Beer Enthusiast (for anyone interested in learning more about beer: $249+gst)), Level 2 - Beer Specialist (for individuals in the hospitality industry: $499+gst), Level 3 - Beer Expert (for those who want to educate others in beer related program fields: $799+gst). Head over to thristforknowledge.ca for more information on Mittag's courses.

*It should be noted that all the above people, with the exception of the Vancouver Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, are all friends and with the exception of Keefe, all are contributors to TAPS magazine, of which I'm apart of.

If you know of any other courses offered in other parts of Canada that I'm not aware of, I'd love to hear from you.

Would Santa Even Drink Labatt 0.5%?

I read an article in the Toronto Sun yesterday about some controversy relating to an advertisement that Labatt is using at select Mac's Convenience Stores, and I can't help but agree with Labatt's on this one.

The controversy has to do with Labatt's de-alcoholized beer and a quote on the ad, Leave one out for Santa. He's driving. The Sun reports that some consumers aren't happy with the ad as it promotes the wrong message about drinking and driving. The article quotes Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University, who has takes a strong stance on the ad. "They're positioning that you can have a beer and you're still safe to drive, but they can't control how many of those 0.5pc beers people consume. "They thought being this lower alcohol would get them off the hook, but I don't think it does. This is a silly ad and if they've got a decent product, it should be powerful enough." How many would you have to drink to drive under the influence? Anyone know?

Labatt's responded by saying it's a simple message about not drinking and driving. "It's reminding people, especially during this holiday season, when people are going out to celebrate, not to drink and drive.... Some of the posters direct people to makingaplan.ca, which is a website to plan ahead and reinforcing people not to drink and drive," said Catherine Pringle, corporate affairs manager of Labatt Breweries. I agree. I actually think the ad is quite clever (taste of beer aside).

But what about the children. My god, the children. What will they think when they see the ad? They can't buy the stuff. Dad probably ain't drinking the stuff, and if it ended up with the milk and cookies for some reason pity the fool who'll put it down the gullet.

The most surprising thing about this is not that people are upset, but that MADD Canada doesn't have a problem with it. Doesn't MADD have a problem with anything associated to any alcohol? Even 0.5%?

**Pic from the Toronto Sun**

Two East Coast Black Beauty's Released

My buddy Andrew Cooper of Propeller Brewing Co. forwarded me a press release today regarding the launch of their annual seasonal, Revolution, their Russian Imperial Stout.

I reviewed the Revolution back in March of 2008 and just re-reading my post has me looking forward to the newest batch. I plan on doing a vertical with the 8% RIS sometime this winter as I have bottles dating back to 2007.

The beer was released today and will be available at the brewery and at select private retail stores in Halifax.





Another Halifax brewery released their winter seasonal last week as Garrison brought back a tweaked version of their annual Grand Baltic Porter, the beer that scored 94/100 last year at the World Beer Championships.

Some friends were over on the weekend and we polished off two year old bottles and left me with none; however, a box arrived the other day from Garrison and I was thrilled to see the Porter inside.

Available at the brewery and at select private retail stores in Halifax.

Two great beers for the cold months of winters fury. Don't miss out.

The Countdown's On - Last Minute Beer Related Gift Ideas: Books

The Winter issue of TAPS will be out next week and for those of you who support the only Canadian beer publication who'll find a last minute gift guide that center's around, well, beer, and beer related items. The list is a pretty good one. I helped put it together, but with less than 10 shopping days left, I figured I'd do another here on the blog, spread out over the next week.

There's no shortage of ideas for the beer lover in your family. Cases of beer under the tree decorated with colourful ribbons - beer books about styles, history, and education - beer memorabilia items like glassware, clothing, accessories and more - brewery tours - homebrewing supplies - educational seminars; as I said, there is no shortage of ideas.

Today let's take a look at books for the beer lover.

Cheers! An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada
Nicholas Pashley, the author of Notes on a Beermat: Drinking and Why Its Necessary, recently had a new book published by HarperCollins: Cheers! An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada. The book is available from coast-to-coast in fine bookstores (and some not so fine bookstores, as Pashley would say) and, like Notes on a Beermat, Cheers! is a delightful read that will have you reading well into the night. The book retails for $19.95 and can be ordered from HarperCollins website.







Brewed in Canada & The Canadian Book of Beer
Do you have a friend in mind that has some curiousity about your love for beer? Know someone who has expressed interest in learning more about the history of the brewing industry in Canada? Any true Canadian beer lover will have heard about the book Brewed in Canada by William Allen Sneath. The book takes a great look into everything that beer has touched in Canada. Yes it lacks an index, but don't let that stop you from ordering it from Amazon.

If you want to start your friend off with lighter reading, check out Steve Cameron's new book, The Canadian Book of Beer. The book was launched in the summer and is a smaller, easier read than Sneath's book. It just scratches the surface, yet provides enough information to get your buddy on their way. I like to think of it as a Cole's notes version of Brewed in Canada.



Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink
Randy Mosher is a widely celebrated beer writer out of Chicago who penned Radical Brewing, a book that's very popular among both aspiring homebrewers and the most seasoned basement brewer. This year Mosher penned another book that deserves a spot in your beer library: Tasting Beer. Mosher touches on everything in this book; styles, tasting vocabulary, throwing a tasting party, includes diagrams of the senses, provides a history of our favourite beverage and breaks down beer styles by country of origin. A great gift for any beer drinker.

The beerbistro Cookbook
Stephen Beaumont is Canada's most recognized beer writer. He's written five books all on the subject, six if you include his latest - The beerbistro Cookbook, who he wrote with beerbistro owner/chef Brian Morin. This is a book you must own. You'll love it. Your girlfriend/wife/partner will love it. The book features recipes straight from the beerbistro kitchen, which if your not aware, is one of the most recognized kitchens in the beer bar industry the world over. Beaumont offers pairing ideas, provides notes on hosting a beer dinner, and gives pouring and presentation tips. Where can you get it? Here on Amazon, or straight from beerbistro itself.



Hops 'n' Glory
The popular author of highly acclaimed beer books Man Walks Into a Pub and Three Sheets to the Wind, is back with possibly his best work yet. Pete Brown takes readers on an epic adventure from Burton-on-Trent to the heat of India while protecting a special cask conditioned India Pale Ale, doing his best to recreate the voyage the beer is famous for. Brown mentioned the following on his own blog yesterday: "Hops and Glory has sold out. Macmillan have sold 4550 copies, and there are no more left." Fear not Canadians, you can still find copies, although minimal, through Chapters/Indigo.

WinterCity Celebration of Beer Dinner - beerbistro Feb. 9th

From beerbistro newsletter:

WinterCity Celebration of Beer Dinner - February 9th, 2010 featuring beers that are considered the leading innovators of their style

This unique culinary event showcases and celebrates the diversity of beer as a beverage, as an ingredient and an accompaniment to fine food.

Seven courses highlighting the Toronto Culinary landscape, are paired with seven beers, including the original pilsner, Pilsner Urquell and other brought in exclusively for this event. Enjoy creative fresh market beer cuisine such as an elk and dried blueberry hot dog with caramelized onions and creme fraiche.

Please check our website for a detailed description of each course closer to the event date.

6-7pm: Beer Hour
7pm: Dinner - $125 per person including taxes. Call 416.861.9872 for tickets to the event.

Interview with Chief Beer Officer Scott Kerkmans

**The following interview appeared in the Summer '09 issue of TAPS: Canada's Beer Magazine.**

Imagine waking up every morning knowing that your whole day would be devoted to marketing the beauty of the beer industry; getting dressed and heading off to the next destination to educate enthusiastic people on all the qualities of beer; traveling the world to develop and set up beer menus and hosting beer dinners in restaurants both large and small. Doesn't that sound like your dream job? Well, 29 year old Scott Kerkmans is living that dream, and he is loving every minute of it.

Back in 2006, the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel chain (Starwood Hotels and Resorts) began a worldwide search to name a Chief Beer Officer to lead a new project they were embarking on - the Best Brews Program. Kerkmans had to beat out over 7, 800 other applicants from 31 countries to be crowned the first ever, Four Points by Sheraton Chief Beer Officer, and he's been on cloud nine ever since.

He was in Toronto recently, attending a number of conferences, and we managed to meet up to discuss his highly coveted job over a couple of pints of course.


Congratulations on your 2nd anniversary as Four Points by Sheraton's Chief Beer Officer (CBO). What have the last couple of years been like?
Incredibly fun and incredibly successful. The Best Brews Program receives great customer feedback, which makes us really happy to hear. It's always rewarding to hear customers compliment the program, and to hear that we are helping change the taste buds of people throughout the world.

What does a CBO do?
I manage our Best Brews Program at all our participating locations. I mostly train our staff on how to handle beer, serve beer, and how to respect beer. I also spend quite a bit of time on test marketing our program with various products, whether it is a food and beer pairing or just gauging what's hot in the industry. I tend to do my fair share of beer dinners, which are always fun. And I do a lot of promotion for Four Points as well.

You've mentioned the Best Brews Program? Can you describe it?
The first Best Brews Program started out of the Four Points by Sheraton Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) location. The general manager was passionate about beer, so passionate that he had over 100 varieties in stock to choose from. Four Points noticed how successful this model was and decided to start rolling it out to other locations. By 2006, it was gaining so much exposure and was building so fast, that Four Points had to hire someone to overlook the entire operation. We have since taken it international.

What the program is though, to get back to your question, is our idea of having at least 4 draught options with half of them being local or regional selections and 12 bottle choices with half of those being local or regional. In other words, not all of the options are local, just half. The other half of the beer selections are quality national or international craft beers.

How many Four Points are currently participating in the Best Brews Program?
There are 23 countries participating in the Best Brews Program with 136 locations worldwide. There are 90 locations in North America alone, and Canada is well represented with 19, which we are working at expanding.

What does your day-to-day schedule look like?
I don't really have a typical day, or week for that matter. I get to travel around to our different properties to speak with the staff about serving techniques, provide educational material to managers, tour various breweries to hopefully create a healthy working relationship, and promote our Best Brews Program at trade shows, festivals and select beer events. I am also a certified beer judge and I like to judge the odd competition. Everyday is a great day full of new experiences.

Tell us how you did it? How did you beat out over 7,800 other applicants to obtain the position?
Well, I think I had four factors working for me. One, I was a professional brewer for a number of years prior. Two, I sold beer through a distributor, which provided me with a good working knowledge of how beer gets sold in America. Three, I was the first employee hired by DRAFT Magazine to write about beer; and four, I was/am so passionate about the industry. I think I used all four experiences during the hiring process. To get the job I decided to submit a short video explaining why I wanted the job and why I would be great at representing the Four Points initiative. That video caught the attention of the Four Point's executives and the rest as they say, is history. It might have also helped that I took them a bottle of my homebrewed beer and a bottle of Mead. (Laughter)

Didn't know Four Points by Sheraton was a place to go for a craft beer. What changes have you brought to the hotel since you've started?
Introducing customers to local and regional craft beer for one. It is so rewarding when you hear the stories of travelers who get to try a new beer for the first time in one of our hotels. The Best Brews Program isn't really concerned with sales (even though they have been great!); we are more concerned with customer satisfaction. There is a curiousity surrounding beer now, just as the wine industry experienced years ago, and putting our program in place to ensure people can get to satisfy that curiousity is awesome.

When working with staff members, do you see more people already exhibiting some degree of beer knowledge?
Primarily you'll see a lot of novices that get easily excited about the beer industry, but who don't possess any real knowledge of styles, or knowledge of brands outside the national brewers. It can be a real eye opener for them when I share information about the brewing industry, especially when discussing the craft market. Most new servers, or managers for that matter, are unaware of what is out there, but they embrace it once they have some education behind them. That is a very rewarding part of my role.

I can imagine that you've traveled a lot, visiting some great brewing nations. Which country would you say is on the rise in terms of beer selection and quality?
To tell you the honest truth, Canada has impressed me lately. As an American we can't get that many Canadian beers in our hands unless we travel to a Canadian city. But when you do get here (to Canada) there are a lot of unique beers starting to be produced. Canadian breweries, from what I've experienced, tend to stick to style guidelines more than we do in the US, and they do a damn fine job of it. However, I'm tasting more and more 'new' stuff here, and I'm liking it. I've also noticed how cheap the great imports are in the liquor stores. It must be nice walking into a LCBO and getting a bottle of Orval for under $4. I really believe that the Canadian beer scene is on the rise, in terms of craft produced beer.

Where are you from?
I was born and raised in New Mexico and that is where I started home brewing. I have moved around the US quite a bit, to Salt Lake at one point. Man, do they have some weird drinking laws. I currently call Denver home now.

How did you get into the beer industry?
Like so many others - home brewing. When I was about 20 years old, my brother bought himself a home brewing kit. After trying to make a couple of high alcohol brews that turned out terrible he gave up. On my 21st birthday he gave me the kit and I started brewing right away. I dedicated more attention to the art then my brother, and before I knew it I was making a living brewing beer for a brewpub in Albuquerque. I worked my way up to head brewer before heading off to brew in Alaska. Then it was off to Phoenix to sell beer, and finally to DRAFT to work as their Beer Director.

Beer Director for DRAFT Magazine? Interesting. How smooth was the transition from writing about beer to educating people about beer all over the world?
Good question. Well, I think I combined all of my past beer experience into one ball and utilized each skill when it was required. I still do some writing for drink magazines, and I have my own blog; but I think my background has provided me with enough knowledge to ensure confidence in my work with the public.

What has been the highlight of your 2 years in the position?
I don't think I can narrow it down to one. There have been so many. Going to Oktoberfest in 2007 was amazing as was touring our Asia Pacific locations. I was able to judge in the first ever Asia Beer Awards - that was definitely a highlight that I'll always cherish. But I think that the biggest highlight would probably be just getting the job in the first place.

You've touched on the Canadian brewing scene already? Any favourites?
I don't have any one favourite. As I have mentioned, I am impressed with how Canadian breweries brew true to style beers. While the majority may not be big or extremely bold, they are very drinkable and quaffable. I think the beer culture in Canada is extremely vibrant and definitely heading to where the US market is, yet steeped in tradition with pride for the national breweries.

What can Canadians expect when they walk into a Four Points by Sheraton establishment?
They will be able to expect to find beers that they may be familiar with if they're from the area, and could expect to see some that they're not. Canada is great for our program. If someone living in Ontario travels to British Columbia and stays in one of our hotels, they will be able to drink a beer brewed locally (or regionally) that they may not have been able to otherwise. Our program offers travelers who don't have the time to venture out to the breweries, or other pubs, the chance to experiment with quality craft beers.

What a job!
People ask me every single day if they can have my job, or ask if I need an assistant. There is a natural curiousity surrounding beer and it's a topic people can discuss for hours, and for a multi-national hotel chain to realize this, and act upon it, is unbelievable, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

So, do you need an assistant?
Haha. Not yet!

Mill Street Pumps Out Another Seasonal

Mill Street launched yet another seasonal beer the other night down at their brewpub in the Distillery District - Vanilla Porter. Joel Manning, Mill Street's Brewmaster, shared his tasting notes with me and describes the new porter in detail.

"Deep mahogany colour made with pale malt, caramel malt, roasted barley and raw flaked wheat. It has an outrageous amount of pure, organic, Mexican double strength vanilla extract in it to give it a very smooth and rich (but not over-powering) vanilla aroma and palate. The nose is slightly fruity with plum aromas from the yeast and malt and smokey bittersweet chocolate notes from the roast barley. These flavours in combination with the caramel accented vanilla produce a very light aroma reminiscent of sweet pipe tobacco. The Vanilla reappears late in the aftertaste but never becomes cloying. This sounds like something that you would have half a pint of and not want any more, but it is subtly enough flavoured to be a very sessionable beer. We are very proud of this one! "


As I mentioned last month, after attending their Roggenbier launch, Mill Street has a number of other beers they plan to release in the upcoming months.

Mid December - 7.2% Weizenbock which Manning states is the most authentic German brew Mill Street's done to date.

January & February - Manning will release his Imperial Stout in February that will use chocolate from SOMA, their next door neighbour in the Distillery District. The Scotch Ale will be back again this year, as will the Betelguese.

Author Nick Pashley on CBC's Q

Nicholas Pashley, the author of Cheers! An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada and Notes on a Beermat: Drinking and Why Its Necessary, will be on CBC's Q radio show this morning at 10am with host Jian Ghomeshi. Pashley was out in Stouffville with me last night taping an episode for the Pub Radio Show and promised he wouldn't pull any antics similar to what Billy Bob Thornton did with Ghomeshi interviewed him in April. Should be a great interview.

Listen here.

Birthday Wishes to Bar Towel Founder

Bar Towel.com founder, Free Our Beer.org founder, Bar Towel Imports Founder, Bar Towel Radio host, Golden Tap Awards founder and organizer, and local craft beer champion, Cass Enright, a good friend of mine, is celebrating a birthday today.

It's been a busy year for Enright. Bar Towel celebrated a 10th anniversary, he successfully imported a pallet of Garrison product for private order and is working on the second order (while documenting the challenges on his Free Our Beer website), and the Golden Tap Awards were the biggest and best to date. Here's hoping the guy can relax with a beer (or two) tonight. Please join me in wishing Enright a happy birthday!

**Pic - Garrison Brewmaster Daniel Girard, Enright, Garrison Owner Brian Titus

Meet Matt Phillips: Founder of Phillip's Brewing Co.

Meet Matt Phillips, the founder/brewer of Victoria's popular Phillip's Brewing Co., named BC's Brewery of the Year three years running.

It hasn't always been easy for Matt Phillips. In 2001 the man put everything on the line to ensure his artisnal brewery survived, doing so without the help of bank loans, instead using numerous credit cards to purchase his equipment. The location of the first brewery was also the place Matt lived, rolling up his bed in the morning and showering at the local gym. Over the years Phillip's has outgrown two locations and continues to grow at a healthy rate. It's an incredible success story, one that shows you can succeed if you put your mind to it. And Canadian beer drinkers, who are able to get their hands on Phillip's beer, are no doubt pleased that Matt stuck to his guns and persevered.

Where is the Phillips Brewery and what beers do you currently produce?
We moved to Downtown Victoria in the spring of 2008 from our former home on the other side of the bridge….it means that we can get coffee (it takes a lot of coffee to make good beer), and gives us space for a tasting room. We do eight beers on a year round basis – IPA, Amnesiac Double IPA, Black Toque India Dark, Blue Buck, Slipstream Cream, Phoenix Gold Lager, Longboat Double Chocolate, Surly Blonde Triple, plus at least one seasonal every month.

Describe the history behind the brewery.
I started the Brewery in the Summer of 2001 – I was unfinanced, and so chose VISA and Mastercard as my patrons of the brewed arts. I got some used gear, built a small bottling machine, and worked and lived in a small warehouse, bottling in the mornings, delivering in the afternoons, and brewing at night. Since then we have assembled a great crew, with a wide variety of backgrounds that are key in bringing out the new beers.

What is your best selling beer?
Our Blue buck is number one – it is a relatively malty pale ale – one that had another name originally, but due to a trademark dispute changed names….

What's new at the brewery?
Well everything is always changing around here, always tweaking equipment, or adding new toys, always working on the next new beer. We love the winter because it allows us to do some seasonals that are a bit beefier – Barley wines, Dopplebocks, and Imperial stouts are in tank right now. Awardwise, we just picked up the northwest brewing awards best BC brewery for the 3rd year running – for us this is a big one, because it is a readers choice award.

Why did you get into the brewing industry and describe your passion for it.
Well I grew up on the East coast at a time when there were craft beers in New England, but none locally. I got pretty excited by these, and so started homebrewing because I couldn’t get them at home. After university I ended up on the west coast, and was fortunate enough to get a job at a brewpub in Canmore – the Grizzly Paw, which allowed me to hang out in the brewhouse a bit, as long as I had some sort of cleaning apparatus in hand. I was hooked – loved the experimentation with flavours, the subtleties, the process, and most importantly having a beer at the end of the day.

What is the best aspect of working in the Canadian craft brewery industry?
Well, it is such a big country, and we don’t have any national brewing events where all brewers congregate, so I feel like I work in the BC craft industry. That said, brewers are brewers, and no matter where you go, the best part of the beer industry is that people are passionate, fun and open with sharing ideas for beer, problems, or (griping about taxes).

Where can someone find your products?
We are just in BC – mostly in Victoria and Vancouver areas, though there are some pockets of craft beer culture all over this province.

Tell us something about Phillip's that not a lot of people know about.
Hmmm…we don’t have a lot of secrets….maybe that the dopplebock we make – the Instigator – is named for the 3rd (and least successful) bottling machine that I built. We called it the instigator because it was the start of all problems in the brewery. I wish we still had it, for memory sake, but I gave it to Ron (our head bottler) with a sledge hammer and a grinder for his birthday, after we bought our first machine.

What advantages do smaller breweries have over the big guys?
Marketing budgets! Actually in a way, I believe this is true. For us our marketing is largely based on the beers that we make. The fact that we can be flexible and innovative with our beers allow us to create a market instead of an image based marketing campaign.

Best time for a pint?
Toss up between a pint after work or a pint with dinner –very different experiences.

What is the highlight of your brewing career?
Well I guess having my own brewery. What could be better as a brewer than having autonomy over the types of beers that you make? There have been a lot of cool milestones along the way, but they all add up to improving our ability to make good beer.

Cold clean lager, big hoppy pale ale, or a nicely roasted stout?
Big hoppy IPA. No question.

Name your favourite non Phillip's produced beer.
Hopworks Urban Brewery IPA

How successful have the seasonals been? And what has been your favourite?
The seasonals have been great. We don’t do big runs of them, because we want to make sure that they sell out, so the economics of them don’t really pan out, but they are the reason for having a brewery in many ways. I think that if we only did one beer all the time we would have a very different staff here. It is in some ways the driving force of the brewery.

We did a double barreled Scottish ale last year that blew me away – Kentucky bourbon followed by Okanagan Cab Sav barrel. Big flavours, but very smooth and mellow at the same time.

Phillip's Brewing Company
2010 Government Street
Victoria, BC V8T 4P1
www.phillipsbeer.com

Swans Buckerfields Brewery Extra IPA - Victoria, BC

Snow flakes finally fell in Toronto yesterday. After going through the first snow free November in over 100 years Toronto is due to get a bunch of the white stuff (tomorrow it seems).

Around 3pm, while looking out the window from my office space, I suddenly felt like a big bold IPA. Something with a lot of body. Something with a ton of hop, yet nicely balanced with some caramel malt. I got through the rest of my day (barely) and headed home. The door to the beer fridge gets opened and after shifting some bottles here and there I settled on a Swans Buckerfields Extra IPA, a beer I haven't re-visited in over a year.

Swans has been around for quite some time now, opening the doors to the brewpub/brewery in 1989 in Victoria. Andrew Tessier, brewmaster since 2003, produces a number of English style beers that include: pale ale, a stout, brown ale, IPA, Bavarian lager, scotch ale, and raspberry ale, and a number of these beers have gone onto win a number of Canadian Brewing Awards over the years. I have some of those in the fridge as well, but tonight belongs to the boldest of the bunch.

Into the kitchen to grab a pint glass, pop the top, sit back, drink up and relax.

The pale amber hued Extra IPA comes out of the bottle and into the pint glass releasing the aroma of pine needles and mellow citrusy notes. A big billowy layer of foam rests atop the unfiltered 6.8% IPA. Great start. There is some fruity notes on the nose as well that mix in with the aforementioned hops leading into a burst of flavour in the first sip. Bold hops up front, spicy even, before giving way to a slight warming alcohol touch and a mellowing sweetness from the caramel malt that stands up to the hops just enough to create some balance. The mouthfeel is pleasant, finishing dry with lingering bitterness and a warming sensation in the throat. The 650ml bottle is all to myself tonight, and I'm happy to finish it off. This Extra IPA would have matched nicely with a slice of carrot cake or another rich dessert like baklava.

Swans Buckerfields Brewery
506 Pandora Avenue
Victoria, BC V8W 1N6
www.swanshotel.com

The Pub Radio Show - Now Available On Demand

Back in September I co-hosted my first episode of the Pub Radio Show with host Bill Perrie. The Stouffville based radio station gave Perrie his own hour long time slot to invite brewers, brewery representatives, industry insiders, and musical talent into the studio to talk beer. Perrie wanted to create an environment similar to that of a pub, some people sitting around the table having some drinks and chatting, and I think the show's done just that. The taping is done every Wednesday evening and airs on Saturday on 102.7 FM between 4-5pm and repeats on Monday's from 8-9pm.

We've had a number of guests head out to Stouffville to be interviewed and to talk up their product. From John Bowden of Great Lakes to Chris Goddard of Steam Whistle, Perrie likes to mix it up with representation from small craft breweries to large breweries like Molson, which helps create a level playing field that really caters to beer drinkers of all sorts. There have been some really good interviews.

Months after the show went on air, Whistle Radio has just recently put a Pub Show webpage together on their main site that features all the clips that we've completed to date, enabling you to go back and listen from the start. Right now each show is broken up into four parts on the webpage, and doesn't identify the guest, but at least they're available.

This week Perrie and I are going to have representatives from the new Hop City Brewery in studio, along with Nick Pashley who will be there to speak about his new book. It should be another good show. Join the Facebook group today to check out photo's of past guests.

Beer Guests to Date:
Cass Enright - Bar Towel Founder
Jon Graham - Cameron's Brewery
Steve Abrams & Joel Manning - Mill Street
Chris Goddard & Colin Banting - Steam Whistle
John Bowden - Great Lakes Brewery
Tony King - Sleeman's
Lisa Dunbar - Ontario Craft Brewers
Peter Bombaci - Miller Genuine Draft (MolsonCoors)
Roger Mittag - Professor of Beer
Nic Rennie - Innis and Gunn

Brewers, brewery owners, sales reps, suppliers, etc., if you are interested in coming on the show shoot me an email or contact Perrie at bperrie@rogers.com.