This post comes from The Beer Baron. You can find him on Twitter at @geekcanuck
With an upcoming trip to Montreal to explore the Craft beer
and cider scene in Quebec, I wasn’t quite sure whether or not to visit the London Beer & BBQ Show this
year. Despite enjoying the event in the past, even beer barons have a limit to
their disposable income. In the end, the Clockwatching Tart and I decided to go
because I was excited to try two breweries I’d never tried before, Elora Brewing Co. and Midian Brewing – and I’m certainly
glad we went, because there was more to discover than just those wonderful
breweries.
The very first booth we stopped at was Strathroy Brewing Company’s.
Craft beer folk tend to be wonderfully pleasant, so the fact that the Strathroy
team was engaging, friendly and rightfully proud of their brews came as no surprise.
The surprise to me came in the form of their full line of beers:
Me
being me, I couldn’t resist trying the stout. Even in the humid depths of
summer, good beer is good beer and I’d happily choose a stout over virtually
any other style – and their Smokin’ Cannon Stout was a complex and roasty but
nicely carbonated and relatively low-alcohol (for a stout) start to the day.
The next surprise came from seeing The Collingwood Brewery and their
Fireside Extra Special Bitter (ESB). Collingwood’s Downhill Pale Ale is
available at the LCBO, but the Fireside ESB is only available at the brewery
right now, so it was a nice chance to try a Canadian
Brewing Awards silver-medal winner. As toasty and inviting as a fireside
after a day of skiing, it certainly earned its name and award.
I had no idea what to expect from Midian Brewing from Windsor, Ontario,
which has very recently become a decent little craft beer destination thanks to
Brew Windsor (which has wonderful pizza
to go with its very solid craft beer) and Walkerville Brewery, which has a
lovely location to sit down an sample from an ever-growing selection of craft
beers. As it turned out, Midian’s cask ale was absolutely fantastic. Smooth and
low carbonated as you’d expect from a cask, it was nicely balanced and
wonderfully aromatic from dry hopping – the type of beer that could make for a
great night and inevitable call for a taxi.
The chance to try something from the
so-new-they-aren’t-quite-open-for-business Elora Brewing Co. was half the
reason I went to the show and I’m happy to say that they didn’t disappoint.
Truth be told, I’d probably be smitten with their Lady Friend IPA regardless of
the quality of the beer itself simply because it is a perfect storm of things I
love: craft beer, comic book-style graphic art, good marketing and pro-female
awesomeness. Better still, despite the preponderance of IPAs around this time
of year, it stands out for being better balanced than most and definitely worth
seeking out.
Since my day started with a stout, it’s only fitting to end
with another, this time the Luck & Charm Oatmeal Stout from Maclean’s Ales. While we in Ontario are
lucky to have easy access to the wonderful St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout from
Quebec, it’s pretty awesome to try – and be blown away by – a new Ontario stout
that is wonderfully rich and lush and bittersweet wonderful. I can only hope
that someday it will be just as easy to get Luck & Charm whenever I want
it, but in the meantime, I happen to love visiting Tobermory and now I can add
Maclean’s to Neustadt
Springs Brewing as must-stop places to visit along the way.
Even though I almost missed it, the London Beer & BBQ
Show was certainly worth visiting as it was a pleasant reminder of just how
much the Ontario craft beer scene has grown. If new beers like the Elora
Brewing Lady Friend IPA and Maclean’s Ales Luck & Charm Oatmeal Stout are
any indication, craft beer lovers in Ontario have a lot to look forward to in the
future.
The London Beer & BBQ Show is still on tonight until 10:30pm and tomorrow, Sunday, June 21, 2015 from noon-5pm.
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