I’ll be honest, this post is a long time coming. Truthfully, I’ve had the most problem just STARTING the damn thing. Any writer knows that the kick-off point in a piece of writing is one of the worst and I’ve been stuck with that for a couple of weeks while also getting used to having some sort of a life outside of work and beer (video games, they’re going to be big). Over the course of being stuck I promised myself that under no circumstances will I just start this post with a “it’s been hard for me to start this” paragraph. And heeeeeere we freakin’ are.

Anyways.

Beer and food pairing. Let’s talk about this.

This is a subject that I really love learning more about and which I honestly am still at the beginning stages of understanding. While there is no single right way to look at this, I’ll try my best to explain how I see this and give a few examples.

To start out with some base knowledge, here’s a clip from Disney’s Ratatouille in which the main character Remy brings up the visualization of flavour.

If you can’t watch the clip at work or hate Disney for some twisted reason, the point of it is that there are an almost infinite number of flavour combinations out there, both simple and complex, that can make one unified flavour that is something completely different and amazing. Although the above clip was talking about food, I believe this thought crosses over to pairing as well. Take a selected beer and a selected dish and combine them to create an experience, something that combines the two elements to create one. And that’s pretty much how I see pairing.

From there you can go in to the trial and error stage, which can be fun but comes with the risk of just not working out in your meal (but hey, an excuse to order another beer is a good one). And while there are no rigid rules like wine (I remember the “red with red, white with white” rule being hit over my head when I was younger), there are some good tips people have found that you can choose to follow or ignore. Here’s a few that I’ve picked up from my own experiences or from the advice of others:

-       A hoppy IPA can bring out the heat in a good, spicy curry and a crisp and cold pilsner can tone it down.

-       A stout with heavy chocolate notes can pair well with vanilla ice cream, raspberries, or even trifle.

-       A nice IPA can bring out spiced lamb in wonderful ways.

-       Hard Cider and Pork. Yep. It works just as well as porkchops and applesauce.

-       A pilsner can cut down on the greasiness of bacon while successfully keeping the smoked taste. A stout with heavy coffee notes can make a good breakfast.

-       A light saison brings an added sweetness to seafood like lobster, scallops or shrimp.

And even then, it’s just personal opinion and taste. As the song goes, “what might be right for you, might not be right for some”. But pairing a food with beer is really a fun rabbit hole to go down due to the limitless possibilities of pairings. Cookies? Go forth and discover. Pizza? Whatever works. Braised Herbed Rabbit with Mustard Sauce? Best of luck. Sausage? WHAT KIND?

There are many ways to learn more on pairings and improve your palate. For books ‘Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink’ by Randy Mosher has a really great section on the subject. There is of course the above mentioned trial and error option, where you figure things out for yourself (I personally like trying to figure out the best beer to go with a burger while taking the condiments in to consideration). A handy tip is to be sure to read the description on the bottles of certain beers as the brewmaster may have some pairing suggestions that they feel best compliments their beer. And also, depending where you are, there are always classes and events going on, put on by a brewery, importer, restaurant or some combination of the three.

A recent examples of a pairing event: A while back I went to the first in a series of quarterly beer pairing dinners at Bier Markt here in Toronto (King St. West location). Operations Manager Daniel Schmidt and Chef Kris Tatemichi brought forth a total of six courses along with beers to accompany each one. Although that sounds intimidating as hell, the servings sizes weren’t monstrous and each pairing was allowed to have their moment. As each course was being served to us, Daniel would talk a little bit about the beer that was being paired with the dish and why it was selected and Chef Kris would talk about the dish. While there were some small problems to be associated with a first time event (The section for the dinner wasn’t separated from the local crowd who came in, making for a noisy night) and some of the pairings missed the mark for me personally, the good outweighed the bad with inspired pairings such as housemade apple and pork sausage paired with Poperings Hommelbier (a beer that on first taste almost resembles tree bark but combined with the sausage to create a smooth, earthy and delicious combination that I remember still), Picked Ontario Mushrooms and Schnieder Weisse Tap 7 (when combined made for a very creamy, rich dish) and Bier Beignets with pastry creme and Sinha reduction with Unibroue’s La Maudite Strong Amber-Red (which made for an elegant and creamy taste that wrapped up the event nicely). I left the night feeling like I had gotten an education and a few new base blocks of understanding in my own pairing explorations and experiments.

Although that was a good exception, I give you a warning about pairing events: They can be a little unbalanced at times, sometimes focusing more on the food or more on the beer depending on who is putting the event on. Too many times have I been to a pairing where the beer selection was an afterthought and it just fell short. By all means check them out, but be aware that it’s possible it may miss the mark for you.

In the end, the important thing is to have fun with it and go with what works for you. As long as you like it, there is no “wrong” pairing. Just keep on combining and figuring it out and you’ll be fine.

I have a raised bed in the backyard which currently has some beet, onion and radish seeds in it. Later to come will be cucumbers (that I intend to pickle) and Hungarian Black Hot Peppers, which I intend to put in dishes and watch loved ones scream in despair when I feed it to them. But those need a little more time yet.

I’m also growing some Cascade Hops, which is the point of this post.

I missed out on purchasing the rhizomes (an underground stem that shoots out roots, basically) last year, but this year I managed to preorder them from Toronto Brewing a few months ago and my little darling arrived yesterday.

I always knew I’d plant it in the front yard, where the hop vines could grow and wrap themselves around my porch frame, which I think will look beautiful and smell wonderful. For those that know me well in regards to beery stuff, it’ll come as no surprise that I chose Cascade Hops, which have a beautiful light citrusy character to them that drives me wild.

My yard is one of those “Weeds everywhere no matter what” places, so this required some digging in my selected place followed by a method of mulching that’s worked for me in the past. Basically getting some newspaper, layering it on the bottom of the hole, soaking it with water and putting a good layer of soil over it. This prevents any weeds from growing and what weeds do get through can easily be picked out. I used basic gardening soil along with a nutrient mix from Urban Harvest that slowly releases all the good things that make for healthy growing.

Apparently there is some debate on exactly how to plant the rhizome. Hops Direct’s youtube series says to plant it vertically, while the book “The Homebrewer’s Garden” by Joe and Dennis Fisher and several other forums and guides say to plant it horizontally, roots down and white “nibs” up, about 2 inches in the soil. I chose the latter method.

In the end it KIND OF looks like I buried an animal in the front yard, but it’s done and the key is to keep the soil moist but not soaking wet and make sure it gets at least six hours of sunlight, apparently. After it sprouts and the vine reaches to about a foot I’ll need to set up a small trellis leading up to my porch frame. Then I’ll have to regularly make sure the little guys get some water.

I’ll be letting you folks know the progress of it, of course. But for now…we wait.

Sorry for the lack of updates on here, folks. My dayjob office moved house so packing up/throwing out nearly 20 years worth of stuff along with helping the boss with the transition of working solo has been taking up…well, ALL of my freakin’ time. Well, that and looking for new work.

So just settling in to things here and focusing on some long neglected freelance work along with some things I haven’t had time for (gardening, paying bills, getting more than two hours sleep etc..you know, the FRIVOLOUS things) and brand new Thirsty Wench posts will be dropping soon. I have lots of stuff to talk about, including beer pairing dinners/lunches, my trip to Regina, growing hops and small batch homebrewing!

Don’t worry, my darlings. I haven’t forgotten about you.

For now here is Patton Oswalt’s submission for what Star Wars Episode VII should be.

I got nominated to be in the running for Saveur Magazine’s Best Food Blog Awards in the Wine & Beer category and the editors picked me as one of the six finalists. From NOW until MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY APRIL 19TH (this Friday), the site is open for public voting. The winner gets a free trip to Las Vegas to attend the awards show.

If you’d like to vote for me, I would really appreciate it. Just go here and look for the familiar picture (as well as, er, the words THE THIRSTY WENCH)! Won’t lie, it does require registering an account so’s not to duplicate votes, but I assure you it is quick, painless and you won’t even be sent anything if you don’t want to.

To be honest, I’m feeling a bit numb about this. I think for the first few hours I searched around to see if this was some kind of scam but, well, it’s legit. THEN I decided to check to see if they got the right person and, well, they do. My view counts have been going up like crazy and it’s weird to be recognized in this way and…yeah. Jeez. I’m still pretty numb and kind of sucking at expressing gratitude to you folks right now. Lord knows how I’ll be if I’ll win this thing. I think I’ll only be able to talk in garbled high pitched screams while my arms are up in the air.

So once more with feeling, HERE IS THE LINK WHERE YOU CAN VOTE FOR ME. I would very much appreciate it if you do.

ADDED BONUS FOR CANADIANS AND THOSE WHO SYMPATHIZE WITH THE CANADIAN REVOLUTION: I’m the only Canadian on there. Let’s show a little Canuck beer representation, eh?

ADDED BONUS FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE ACTION MOVIES: A dream of mine is to get in way over my head and end things with a showdown in the Nevada desert. Winning this will get me one step closer to that dream.

ADDED BONUS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BORED: This kills like, a good 30 seconds. Much more if you want to vote in all the other categories. You’re welcome.

ADDED BONUS FOR SENTIENT COMPUTERS: 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01100100 01111001 00101100 00100000 01101101 01100001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 01110011 00101110 00100000 01000001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110000 01110101 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01010110 01100101 01100111 01100001 01110011 00101110

When I was a kid and went to the grocery store with my dad to help (which I think at that time was trying to charm him in to buying a box of Count Chocula), we would always get a few bottles of Ginger Beer. It was non-alcoholic of course, and the name of our favourite brand escapes me. It came in little stubby bottles and I think there was a sea captain or a pirate on the logo. We would always have it with a spicy dish, or sometimes even with my mom’s famous Crackers Chicken, where the fiery burn of the ginger would go perfectly with the slight hint of squeezed lemon from the chicken. My dad and I would have a sort of contest to see how much of the ginger beer we could drink in one go before the burn would finally get to us and we would cough with tears in our eyes. I always lost. Well, come on I was like, FIVE.

Anyone who knows me in person knows that while I really love beers with such graceful and subtle tasting notes, I also love an assault on my senses. A beer that makes your eyes bulge and leaves you whimpering for some water. A somewhat recent example was in October at Cask Days where one of my favourite beers there was “Call of Brewty Black Chipotle Schwarzbier” by Black Oak. Basically, the brewer, Alan Brown, just dumped a crap load of smoked Chipotle in to about 40 litres of beer. The end result was something that cleared the senses, dissolved any phlegm or foodstuff in your throat and made you gasp for breath. I really enjoyed it and after my initial half pint I went back for a full one.

Okay, so there’s some context for this.

With all that said, I’ve found it quite difficult to find an alcoholic Ginger Beer that I love. Which really sucks, since spring is sorta-kinda here and the nice warmth of the ginger in a beer can really match the season well. I can’t even find something that meets me halfway and provides a mild, ginger-forward burn. Crabbie’s? Might as well be soda pop. Wychwood’s Ginger Beard? A sugary disappointment. I’m sure there are good ones out there in the world, but being in Ontario with fun little laws about that stuff, I can’t really get access to it.

Annoyed by the lack of great ginger beers available to me, I did what almost every person in their 20s in North America does when they have a minor gripe: I complained on twitter.

I was genuinely surprised that Ginger Beers weren’t a thing in the province let alone the city of Toronto but, always eager to be corrected or proved wrong, I asked if anyone had any leads. It was then that the folks at Liberty Village Brewing Co. responded.

Liberty Village Brewing are a new brewery here in Toronto and are named after the beautiful old district of the city where they will also be located soon. With their first batch, 504 Pale Ale, just having been put on kegs early this week after brewing it at Junction Craft Brewing, the beer promises to be an excellent addition to the Toronto beer scene along with several homebrew efforts that will make it out as one-offs or seasonals. Among them a beer made with Gummi Bears, a Gose and…a Black Ginger Beer named “Exodus”.

Intrigued, I met up with Steve Combes from the brewery, who gave me a bottle of Exodus and told me a little bit about it, how it was a tribute to Reggae music and that the opinion of some at the brewery was that the ginger notes were too harsh. I was excited and tried it that night.

And you know…it was really interesting and the closest I’ve come to the flavours that I seek in a good Ginger Beer. The darkness of the beer was a bit of a wild card and very interesting to experience, as was the coffee and slight chocolate notes that came with it and, really, were the star of the show, but right in the back there, almost like a harsh, burning ember keeping a fire alive, or a slumbering old god waiting, was the ginger in all it’s strong and firey glory. Although things may have changed since I last talked with Steve, but apparently this beer may be a one-off they include in their very diverse line and I will definitely be excited to go to their location for a glass.

But I’m not going to let the journey end there. I have an intention to at least try out a recipe of my own for a Ginger Beer (Actually thinking of a Ginger Weiss) and will always be on the lookout for a damn good ginger beer. If you have any suggestions, I don’t care where you live, please post them in the comments section. And if you’re a brewer here in Ontario, don’t make me beg for a one-off (seriously though, I will totally beg).

Alright, I think I’ve talked enough for now. Take care, folks.

The arrival of the brewery comes at a good time, as not only is baseball season starting up here, but there’s also a renewal of interest in the game, since the Toronto Blue Jays went through some changes.

For Toronto folk, they have a launch coming up April 5^th at 3030 (3030 Dundas St. West) at 7:07pm.

On to the review.

Eephus Oatmeal Brown Ale by Left Field Brewery (Toronto, ON) – 5.5%ABV

COLOUR: Dark brown. No head whatsoever.

AROMA: Warm, earthy malt notes.

TASTE: Nice caramel notes with a a slight bitterness all rounded out well with the creaminess of the oatmeal. Carbonation is pretty minimal and I feel like I’m missing out on things a bit there, as it’s tasting a bit flat.

VERDICT: I’d drink this while spending a day in watching a game (bonus if it’s a particularly chilly and rainy day). All in all, it’s a pretty comfortable Brown Ale that is quite enjoyable!

It’s that time of year again where people see a lot of green stuff and guides for a good St. Patrick’s Day are being released by bars, breweries and newsfolk alike.

So I thought I’d throw my hat in to the ring and give you my own St. Patrick’s Day Survival Guide.

1. Stock up on supplies. – It’s only for a weekend, but still. Buy enough food and good beers to last you for that time because you won’t be leaving. Give a last final embrace to any friends and family you cherish, just in case.
2. Board up your windows and lock your doors. – If you don’t, you may find that a keg of crap beer you didn’t buy will be in your house surrounded by shattered glass and you’ll be overrun with university and college students screaming and breaking things and singing Danny Boy even though they aren’t sad because IRELAND.
3. Arm yourself. – A baseball bat is best. I have a battle axe. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
4. Pray or alternatively recite the Litany Against Fear – It’ll all be over soon. Don’t worry. You must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
5. DON’T GET BITTEN.
6. DON’T OPEN THE DOOR. – Ignore the other people who aren’t being Irish for a day trying to get in to your place for safety. You open the door, you put yourself and others in your home at risk. They should have prepared. Like you.
7. Drink a beer because you want to, not because you have to. Really, folks. Nowhere does it say that you have to drink until you vomit on St. Patrick’s Day. If you feel like having a drink, do so. If not, then don’t.

That’s all from me. Stay safe out there, folks.

You sitting down? What about you in the back? Okay? Good. Here it goes.

So back in 2011 when I was still trying to get this blog going and was still at the very start of the grand journey of learning about beer, I went to my first Ontario Craft Beer Week event, which was a “meet the brewer for a tutoured tasting” thing with Mill St. Brewery at The Rebel House. Brewmaster Joel Manning and brewer Bridgid Young showed up with samples of their Original Organic Lager and Tankhouse Ale. And since the place wasn’t too busy, they sat down with me and taught me about the ingredients that go in to their beers. Even bringing bags of two types of grain and a bag of hops to show. Joel encouraged me to taste the grain that went in to their Tankhouse Ale and then try the beer. Suddenly I realized the source of the biscuit-like flavours I was tasting. Even with the hops, I learned how to take a handful of the flowers, grind it with my hands and smell the wonderful hints of citrus and sweetness that the hop is known for.

It was my first exposure to the individual ingredients that went in to beer and was nothing short of a revelation on the senses for me and changed the way I looked (and, well, tasted) beer. Now and then when I do a tasting of a beer my mind sometimes goes back to the lessons I learned that day.

So why am I telling this story? Am I too tired? Am I off my meds and just feel like rambling?

Well, yes.

But also to segue in to talking about earlier this week when I went to the launch of Alexander Keith’s Hop Series of beers, which opened with two single-hop beers (that’s a beer that is made with one variety of hop); a Cascade Ale and Hallertauer Ale.

Now, I’ve only tried the Cascade Ale so far and while it’s a pretty decent and comfortable offering (but not to my personal taste) I really need to bring attention to the packaging. The cans themselves talk a bit about the history of the individual hop they’ve used, which I think is a fantastic idea. Also press were given this little pack (seen on the right) that came with two small jars of flower hops. The only labels on the jars were “Hop A” and “Hop B”.

Confusion was cleared by the accompanying card:

And I thought that was such a brilliant way to get people learning about what goes in to beer and encourage a whole appreciation for it. Sometimes when a 2-300 page book or big event seems too intimidating for a beginner in learning or when you just plain don’t know, it takes one person to show up with a jar of flower hops or a bag of malt and say “this is what went in to what you’re drinking”. Like in food, breaking something down to its raw ingredients increases an understanding in it.

So say what you will about the taste of Keith’s, or dismiss them because they’re a big brewery, but I say they did something right here and that this is a pretty cool way to educate people about what’s going in to their drink. And that’s something.

LOOK AT THIS CAKE. Dear lord.

Okay. First, an origin story.

So my friend Danielle M. Friedman, who is Sous Chef at the West & Mill Bistro Bar in Atlanta, Georgia, was pondering dessert ideas one day and I humbly suggested one of my favourites, the Chocolate Stout Cake, but with a frosting that incorporated whiskey in to it as well. Danielle, of course, was inspired and after a time of perfecting came up with two recipes for Chocolate Stout Cake. One with a caramelized white chocolate and whiskey frosting and another one with port and black cherry frosting (pictured above). Both proved to be a smashing success, selling out within two days.

What makes this cake so unique for me is the amount of stout that goes in to it. Most stout cake recipes only use about 1-2 cups, which leaves the stout flavour taking a back seat to the chocolate, but this cake feature 2 bottles of stout and according to Danielle, the flavour of the beer is clearly the star of the show.

Danielle has kindly passed on the recipe for this gorgeous cake along with the port and black cherry icing and I’m posting them below. Try it out and enjoy! I know I intend to try out the recipe and see how it goes at a potluck.

In the meantime, I’m putting West & Mill on my list of places to visit.

For more info on the West & Mill:

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CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKE

2 bottles stout (We use Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout)
1 shot strong espresso
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably *Dutch-process)

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides and line with parchment paper. Butter paper.

2. In heavy large saucepan over medium heat, bring stout, coffee and butter to a simmer. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. In a large bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and sour cream until well mixed.

4. Add stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat until just combined, taking care the stout mixture is cool enough that it will not cook the eggs. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

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CHERRY PORT ICING

16oz Frozen Black Cherries
2 Cups Port Wine
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1 Pound Unsalted Butter, Softened 
5 Cups Confectioners Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1. I’ve been homebrewing! Although I have dabbled with varying levels of success, I admitted my weak points (primarily recipe formulation) and the wonderful people from Brauhaus, a Toronto homebrewing club made up of some of Toronto’s most talented and creative homebrewers, hooked me up with Richard Sigesmund (whose brew “Boom Gose the Dynamite” was a hit at their last event) as a way to pilot a mentorship program that pairs off experienced homebrewers with noobs like me. After countless e-mails with me asking questions and Richard patiently answering, a recipe that was in my head was formed and a few weeks ago I brewed it. It’s an American Brown Ale with Chamomile and Lemongrass. Hops used were Warrior, Amarillo and Centennial (dry-hopping with Amarillo and Chinook ). I just bottled it over the weekend and it will now be left for a couple of weeks to condition in the bottle. So far though, the colour turned out perfectly and the chamomile flavours came out pretty well. It also seems to be at 5.9% ABV. With a little luck this will be a good beer to have chilled and at room temperature.

I learned so much with this one, so it will get a proper post on it’s own once I try the beer. But I wanted to tell you folks that I’m keeping it up and seriously check out Brauhaus and, if you’re a Toronto homebrewer new or experienced, to consider joining up.

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2. The winter (and indeed the dreaded month of February) was made a little less grey a couple of weeks ago at The Rhino’s First Annual Winter Beer Festival, put on by the good folks at The Rhino Bar & Grill and Mr. Greg Clow of Canadian Beer News. The festival was split in to three different times (A VIP breakfast and first shot of beers to a limited 40 people, a standard version of about 100 people and finally a free event where as many people as possible could come in) and featured special beers by some of Ontario’s most respected breweries.

I had been kindly invited to attend the VIP breakfast and to stay for a few hours and I must say I had an incredible time. The Rhino was a perfect venue to have such a festival at as, unlike many beer events I’ve attended at other places, it wasn’t the size of a closet and in no way was I struggling to move from one area to another. It was a spacous, warm, relaxed environment. A wonderful mix of the beer-loving public and industry players mingled and discussed their favourite drink.

Highlights for me were the Rye Pale Ale by Cameron’s Brewing (my only notes for this were “…Sweet Jesus”), Skinny Dipping With Friends by Sawdust City Brewing (beautifully spiced Stout), Alan Never Left by Black Oak Brewing (wonderfully balanced beer with Jalapeno peppers) and, most unforgettably, Martian Mango Pale Ale, a homebrew by Chris Burek of Mom ‘n Hops.

The event, while not without it’s small issues that normally arise with any event (even a first one such as this) was a total success. It was a relaxed and enjoyable day and I look forward to next year’s!

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3. Myself and several others in Toronto’s beer scene were asked where we go to drink by Ben Johnson from BlogTO for the article “10 bars & pubs where Toronto beer experts go to drink”. If you’re in Toronto check it out! There are some great places listed there!

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4. The wonderful and awesome Fabian Skidmore from The Only Cafe taught me the ways of the cellar a couple of weeks ago. I learned how to clean the taps, how the draft system works, how to tap a cask and how to pour the perfect pint. I learned lots about this and can’t thank Fabian enough.

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And that’s all for now! When I get better expect a couple of reviews and other fun bits of news.

Here’s a teaser pic of what’s to come, the Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus by Sawdust City. Photo by me.

…Yes, it’s the alien from Independence Day. Yes, I do own on. And yes, I do enjoy the hell out of that film. Don’t you dare judge me.