Bear Runner Blonde, New Ontario Brewing Co., North Bay, Ontario 4.5% ABV The last event I went to before COVID hit was the first Beerhurst-at-Deerhurst Craft Beer Festival in Huntsville, Ontario. I was there covering an ‘Out and About’ segment for Muskoka Life/Metroland Media taking pictures and talking to people about their favourite beers at…
Category: Learning
Tampopo, Ramen, Beer, & the Amateur
This is just something I had to get down and takes a bit of jumping, so please bear with me. So I’ve been sick the past…christ, three weeks or so with a respiratory infection that just won’t go away. It felt like it was clearing up last week, but then it promptly came back. Anyways,…
Not Like I’m Bitter or Anything – What “Hoppy” Really Means
“I don’t like hoppy beers” It’s something I get told by a lot of folks who are new to better beer and I get what they’re saying, but often have to point out that what they REALLY mean is “I don’t like bitter beers”. And you know what? That’s completely valid. I’ve often been pretty…
A Compass in the Sea of Choice
So the past month or so has actually been a pretty informative one for me, and, because I’m trying not to just let those thoughts out into bursts on my twitter account, I thought I’d put a few things out on here as well. And while I’ve been talking about this stuff casually for the…
Sound & Fury, Signifying Nothing – The Downward Spiral of Online Beer Discourse
I’m feeling so burned out. And I don’t really think I’m alone in feeling that way. It seems that in the past year or so there’s been a significant poisoning of the well in the days of productivity and advancement. And after a bit of introspection and discussions with fellow hollowed-eyed burnout friends, a good…
Pretty Good Year
I’m currently at my family’s cottage in beautiful Muskoka, sipping on some coffee, watching the beautiful day out there, and starting to come to terms with the fact that I’m no longer in that beautiful state between Christmas and New Year’s Eve where time doesn’t matter and all that exists is sleep, media, and chocolate….
Beer for Ears: The World of Craft Beer ASMR
***PLEASE READ WITH EARPHONES ON AND VOLUME TURNED UP*** Well, of course there’s ASMR of it. That’s something I never thought I would say on this site, even though I should have expected it. But here we are. So, a bit of context before we continue with what turned out to be a pretty fascinating…
TRUTHSEEKER ALERT: NEW LEGENDARY MUSKOKA ODDITY SIGHTING!!!!
Up here in Ontario there was some excitement on my part when I found out that Muskoka Brewery’s Legendary Oddity, formally the Spring Oddity, a Belgian Ale made with Heather Tips, Juniper Berries, Sweet Orange Peel, and Candi Sugar has not only come back to the brewery’s lineup, but also evolved from their giant 750ml…
The Divination Six Pack – Beer & The Tarot
One of the things I’m often asked to do when trying beers is to assign a particular profile to whatever it is I’m drinking. This works as a descriptor of when/where to try a beer, but like with all things that involve taste and smell, it’s entirely subjective. To me a hotdog is best enjoyed…
Beer Blogging, Being a Woman In Beer, & Having Fun: What I Should Have Said At Queens of Craft
A couple of weeks ago I was at a round table discussion in Guelph put on by Wellington Brewery called Queens of Craft, with proceeds of the event going to Women in Crisis Guelph. Basically it was a lot of Ontario’s most respected women in the beer industry and me talking about a subject…
The Thirsty Wench 