Enjoy a different taste of Canada

MELISSA SCHULTZ

Whether cracking open a bottle for yourself or being poured one from a tap at a bar or a restaurant, a nice tall cold beer is the perfect end to some people’s day and for others, the perfect start to a vacation.

Toronto breweries share their passion for unique styles and memorable flavours

We may not be able to name them all, or even realize the difference between them, but microbreweries exist all throughout the city and even in the backyards of some suburbs.

By definition, a microbrewery is a brewer that produces less than 15,000 barrels per year and is usually focused on a niche market.

In 2009 Statistics Canada said beer was the most popular beverage, with 2.3 billion litres being sold by beer stores and other agencies. Apart from the numbers, the world of microbreweries is about much more than just the bottom line, or having the title for the wittiest catch phrase.

Take for example Ron Keefe, proprietor of Granite Brewery and Restaurants. His brother first opened a brewery in Halifax and after years of learning the ropes, they decided it was time to expand to Toronto.

“Smaller breweries can try lots of different things on smaller basis,” Keefe says. “We can literally make a few hundred litres of something if we want to.”

Microbreweries offer a variety of flavours and that “at-home” feel the generic heavy hitters, like Molson and

Labatt, do not even try to match. “It’s the microbreweries that are doing all the extreme beer and the experimenting,” says Andrea Chiodo, creative director of Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery. “They’re the craftsmen of the beer world.”

The once ‘stuffy and snobbish’ Robert Simpson brand changed to The Flying Monkeys in 2009 along with the business plan. It followed the unbeaten path and now claim to appeal to four out of 100 craft beer drinkers.

Flying Monkeys is known for its out of the ordinary specialty beers like And Your Little Yappy Dog Too Peach, Heartless Tin Man Tangerine, and even 38 Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake.

There is nothing wrong with a clean lager, but most of the big brands have a very homogeneous flavour. Sometimes people want something different for their pallet, explained Chiodo.

There is a passion within the microbrew industry that just does not seem to come out, no matter how many golf days, girls in bikinis or secret mansions the other guys have.

“Once you start making it…[you start] understanding the beauty and magic,” says Keefe. “I live it seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

The passion does not end with the brewers themselves.

“There is a whole culture built around the microbrew product… we’re in it because of the beer,” Chiodo says.

“Our consumers are enthusiasts, connoisseurs and home brewers themselves. That’s where the appreciation comes from.”

Sibil Taylor, communications director for Steam Whistle Brewing says, “There is a respect to the tradition of brewing – bringing back old recipes, and the purity and style of brewing.”

She thinks a combination of the Olympics and the state of the economy reminds people of what it means to be proud of Canada and buying locally is important.

“You could see a trend of buying local alcohol and a conscientiousness of what people are buying” after the Olympics, says Taylor.

When it comes to the green initiative, Steam Whistle has been involved since the day its doors opened.

Examples of its green practices include: delivering biodegradable cups with their kegs at outdoor events; their trademark painted green bottle can be washed and re-filled more than 40 times; and they are Bullfrog powered, using a company that delivers power from renewable energy sources.

The beauty of beer is that there is not just one type of personality that indulges in it. Anyone can be interested, and many are.

Keefe teaches a beer course twice a year at Toronto’s George Brown College and says both men and women enroll in the course.

“Last time I taught it, over 50 per cent of the class was women,” he said.
Katherine Tomlinson, a four year employee of the Beer Store says, “I find that there are a lot of younger people who are more willing to veer away from their usual choices and try something new.”

The Ontario Crafts Brewers is a group of 25 Ontario brewers who are committed to excellence. They agree to use the same practices and work together for government lobbying to try to get tax breaks they cannot afford like the larger brewers.

“It’s like you’re competitive with your siblings,” Chiodo says. “You still stick up for each other and promote buying locally.”

With so many microbreweries creating different styles and flavours, it is an opportunity to open one’s mind (and palette) to the endless possibility that has become the world of beer.

“We’re not about to kick out the Molson, Labatt and Sleeman,” Keefe says, “but we’re becoming more of a force.”

Tags: beer, brewery, Canadian, News