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(Image: The Beer Store)
The Ontario beer chain owned by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman’s is completely revamping four GTA locations—College and Bathurst, Parliament and Winchester, Danforth and Greenwood and Hopedale Mall in Oakville—as part of a pilot program to test a new, more modern appeal.
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(Image: Megan Leahy)
Montauk is the latest addition to the stretch of Dundas West east of Trinity Bellwoods park, joining Bent, L’Ouvrier and Campagnolo (plus, impending arrival Queen Margherita Pizza). After a thorough overhaul by the owner Dustin Keating, who added exposed reclaimed piping, hefty reclaimed wood tables and industrial light fixtures to the space, the room is more polished than nearby dives like The Press Club and Magpie. Cocktails are created by guest bartenders who stop by on a weekly basis to mix their own concoctions, there are four beers on tap and the wine list is exclusively Ontario. Montauk doesn’t have an in-house kitchen: so housemade beef jerky is the only snack standing in the way of a tipsy trip to the McDonalds next door. 765 Dundas St. W., 647-352-4810, barmontauk.com, @Montaukbar
Name: The Beer Hall
Neighbourhood: Distillery District
Contact Info: 21 Tank House Lane, 416-681-0338, millstreetbrewery.com, @MillStBrewPubTO
Owners: Mill St. Brewery
Chef: Elizabeth Rivasplata (Frank, Top Chef Canada)
Head Brewer: Joel Manning
The Food: Gourmet versions of classic pub fare, like a hot charcuterie pork board ($32) and mini-lamb and lavender sausage sliders ($16). Mill St. beer is an ingredient in almost all the items on the menu.
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(Image: Dave Gillespie)
In 2010, Ferran Adrià, the experimental Spanish chef who invented food foam and fielded a million requests for reservations every year at his restaurant El Builli, wanted a beer to match his hyper-complex dishes. So he partnered with Damm, the Spanish equivalent of Molson, to design one with the smoothness of a lager and the fruity, food-friendly aromas of a wine. Patria on King West is the only place in Toronto to try it. The servers present it like a precious vintage, pouring it into sauvignon blanc glasses and storing it in a tableside ice bucket. The soft bubbles taste vaguely of orange blossom and anise—flavours that go perfectly with the salt and citrus hits of Iberian food. Adrià knows his pairings. $17. 478 King St. W., 416-367-0505.
Buddy Guy plays Massey Hall on Saturday (Image: Paul Natkin)
In this edition of the Weekender, Stomp, the Toronto Bridal Show and three more things to do in Toronto.
MUSIC Read the rest of this entry »
Stomp
These eight percussionists, who create rhythms out of mundane objects—brooms, tires, trash cans and lids, matchboxes, hubcaps, Zippos—still sound explosively innovative after 22 years. Rush seats for their five-day Toronto run are being released first-come, first-serve at the box office on the day of each show. $25-99. April 16-21. Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W. mirvish.com/shows/stomp
Last year’s IPA Challenge scorecard (Image: Adam McDowell)
Bar Volo’s annual IPA Challenge is sort of like March Madness, except that it takes place in May and involves hoppy craft beers instead of U.S. college basketball teams. On May 4 and 5, 32 rare cask-conditioned India pale ales from 32 different Ontario and Quebec breweries will compete in a head-to-head, bracket-style tournament, with the name of each revealed only after it’s eliminated.
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Six years in and the earnest annual charity beerfest started by Jamie Kennedy, Slow Food Toronto, Local Food Plus and Green Enterprise Toronto to push sustainable food and drink in the city has become oddly almost trendy. There are artisanal beers from small-batch breweries, dishes made from regional ingredients, top Toronto chefs doing the cooking and a conspicuous locavore ethos (with proceeds going to charity). But the trend quotient ends there: the classy event on April 17 costs $125 per ticket, the attire is essentially suit-and-tie and the purpose is to raise dollars for the cause. This year, the roster counts chefs Chris McDonald (Cava), Lora Kirk (Ruby Watchco) and Brad Long (Café Belong), and the long list of local brewers includes microbreweries like Amsterdam and Steam Whistle serving suds alongside smaller shops like Beau’s and Nickelbrook. Find out more at brewersplatetoronto.org.
Following the example of restaurants like Glory Hole Doughnuts and The Real Jerk, Kensington Brewing Company is asking Toronto beer lovers to help fund the construction of its new Augusta Avenue bar and retail shop. Instead of using Indiegogo or Kickstarter, however, Kensington has adopted a model they call “Community Supported Beer.” The allusion to Community Supported Agriculture is more than just lip service, since each level of support—ranging from Keg Washer at $50 to Brew Master at $1,200—actually involves the advance purchase of beer (the lower tiers even receive gift cards worth more than the contribution). Kensington owner Brock Shepherd told The Grid that he needs $500,000 to open his new brewery, and that he’s hoping $50,000–$100,000 of that will come from the CSB—which means he’ll probably need to entice at least a couple hundred people to sign up. [Kensington Brewing Company]
Brock Shepherd, owner of Kensington Brewing Company, announced today that his small craft brewery will finally be getting its own space in the Market. Shepherd previously had the company’s beers brewed under contract in Etobicoke and then Guelph, and operated KBCo out of Burger Bar, which he sold in December. In addition to dispensing the brand’s flagship brews and one-offs, the new bar, at 299 Augusta Avenue, will also serve a few dishes made by Kensington Market vendors and house a bottle and growler shop. Shepherd has engaged former Mill St. brewer Dave Lee as his head brewer, and plans to launch the bar by the end of the year. [KBCo]
Mill St. Brewery is launching a new venue in the Distillery District this April which is dubbed The Beer Hall. The bar and restaurant will serve a rotating selection of Mill St. beers, as well as bierschnaps, a traditional Bavarian liquor that will be distilled on-site from beer piped over from the brewpub next door. Former Frank sous-chef (and Top Chef Canada contestant) Elizabeth Rivasplata has been pegged as executive chef, and her menu, still in development, will be designed primarily for sharing—and, of course, pairing with Mill St.’s beers.
Putting back a bottle of Bellwoods Brewery’s Witchshark Imperial India Pale Ale is a heady experience. Since the buzzing Ossington brewpub launched last year, the city’s growing class of beer geeks have flocked there for the changing raft of inventive craft brews, and the powerful, hoppy Witchshark is one of the most fervently sought-after creations. With nine per cent alcohol and 80-plus international bitterness units (Molson Canadian has closer to 20), the first sip is a shock to the palate. The second sip settles on the tongue to reveal citrus and pine flavours, and by the third, the beer’s malty caramel and peppery notes take over. Soon a pleasant, boozy haze descends, interrupted only by a mounting desire to hasten back to the brewery’s new bottle shop to pick up another round. $8.
Bellwoods Brewery, 124 Ossington Ave., 416-535-4586, bellwoodsbrewery.com, @bellwoodsbeer
The LCBO’s releases of seasonal craft beers have traditionally been the best chance to pick up unique and interesting brews that usually require a trip to the U.S. to procure. But with the growth of the Ontario market for craft beers, the provincial liquor monopoly has started to buy better beers year-round. Below, ten exciting new bottles that are showing up on LCBO shelves now.
Chimay Grande Réserve Read the rest of this entry »
$10 | 750 mL | 9%
While Chimay’s Premiere and White Cap have long been mainstays on LCBO shelves, this strong dark ale is the most sought-after brew from the Belgian Trappist monastery. Look for notes of dried figs and raisins, a peppery spice and toasted bread. The fine balance of hoppy bitterness and malty sweetness hides this beer’s nine per cent alcohol well. Coming soon to the general listings.
The fermenting tanks at Bellwoods Brewery (Image: Gizelle Lau)
Shortly after it opened last spring, Bellwoods Brewery started hosting pop-up bottle and growler sales in the adjacent storefront—and each time they did, there was a lineup down Ossington. Today, Bellwoods joins a host of other local brewers—The Beer Academy, Junction Craft Brewing, Mill St. and Amsterdam among them—to offer an alternative to a trip to the LCBO or Beer Store (yes, this is allowed). The brewery’s retail shop is now open seven days a week, from noon until 11 p.m., except on Sunday, when liquor licensing laws force them to close at 6 p.m. 650 ml bottles will sell for $4.75–$8 (current selections include their Muggleweisse, Petal Head and Blitzen), and growlers will go for $14, plus deposit.
Bellwood Brewery, 126 Ossington Ave., bellwoodsbrewery.com
A wine rack at a Portland, Oregon grocery store (Image: Rebecca Wilson)
On New Year’s Eve, the Ministry of Finance announced that, at long last, grocery stores will be able to sell liquor—but not in the freewheeling, wine-shelf-in-every-Metro manner that many Ontario drinkers wanted. Instead, the LCBO will be setting up about 10 “LCBO Express” locations across the province over the next 12 to 18 months. The shops will be staffed by LCBO employees and sell products from the normal LCBO roster. The liquor monopoly also has plans for five “VQA Destination Boutiques” inside existing LCBO locations that will focus on an expanded selection of Ontario VQA wines. It’s not clear, however, whether the Toronto area will see any such stores. A ministry spokesperson told The Dish that the LCBO Express and VQA Destination Boutiques would only be appearing in “areas with growing demand but a somewhat under-serviced market.” Under-serviced is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, but with over 70 LCBO locations in Toronto—plus dozens of Beer Stores, Wine Racks and other grandfathered winery stores—we’re not holding our breath.
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