Victory Cafe

Victory Cafe, 581 Markham Street, Toronto (http://victorycafe.ca/)

I really wanted to get together to catch up with Bier Goddess Hilary after being away on vacation. We planned to meet at around 4 pm at Ronnie's Local 69 in Kensington Market. An unfortunate sequence of events ended up with meeting Hilary much later at a haunt closer to her house called Victory Cafe in the Annex. I'd never been there before but BG Hilary assured us that it would have some good offerings.

Beautiful Bier Goddess Hilary on a lovely Sunday evening in July.

It was cool but the summer is so short in Toronto, we sat out on the large patio anyways. The first pint I had was the Galt Knife Old Style Lager. It was sweet up front but it changed to a hoppy, dry finish. It was clear, amber in colour and had only a little head.


Some of Victory's offerings are listed here but you should always inquire about any guest taps.

I had the cod feature entree for dinner with stewed chickpeas. As my second pint, I had the Black Oak Saison. It was very good - some spice and malt flavours, refreshing and extremely satisfying. Coincidentally, just this past Friday, Cafe Volo hosted a tasting of Black Oak Saison on tap, cask conditioned and bottled. Tasting it now, I was very sorry I didn't make the effort of going. I understand that both Adrian (Head Brewer) and Ken (President)were at Volo for the tasting. I had the pleasure of meeting Adrian before (see posting on March 24, 2007). Well done Adrian! I've been spreading the word about your saison to all my friends.


This car was parked just a little down the street from Victory.

Grilling with Beer Event

Lucy Saunders, author of "Grilling With Beer", Stephen Beaumont, beer writer and co-owner of Beer Bistro and Brian Morin, Beer Bistro Executive Chef, collaborated to host this event on July 10, 2007.




Sometimes timing is everything. The stars must have all been alined to conspire a truely memorable event. This special 5 course meal was offered only for one day which just happened to be my birthday. What could be nicer than being spoiled to a decandent, carefulled planned meal paired with American craft beers savored with friends?

We started with the welcome beer, Lost Abbey's Avent Garde Ale (San Marcos, CA, 7%alc.) An amber biere de garde with a bready body highlighted by spicy coriander and orange notes. I found that it was saison-like, somewhat Duvel-ish, sweet up front but it had a dry finish. It would have been better if it had been served a bit colder.


First Course: Trio of beer bacon-wrapped shrimp with smoked jalapeno pale ale bbq sauce, grilled gravlax, cucumber stout pancake, white beer vinaigrette and grilled cherry beer-cured duck with chipotle peach sauce. This first course was paired with Brooklyn Local 1: The new Belgian-inspired blonde from Brooklyn Brewery. (Brooklyn, NY, 9% alc.) A delicious start. Every bit satisfying and covering a wide spectrum of flavours. My favorite was the shrimp.


Second Course: Grilled porter ginger scallops bitter greens, mango, pink grapefruit lambic vinaigrette. It was paired with Anchor Summer Beer: A slightly sweet wheat beer with hints of honey & citrus. (San Francisco, CA, 4.2% alc.) The only thing wrong with dish was there wasn't enough. The greens were not sharp tasting because the tart dressing and sweet scallops balanced this dish.


Third Course: Smoked chicken & chanterelles grilled beer onions, pear tomatoes, thyme & goat cheese on herbed walnut flatbread. It was paired with Sierra Nevada Porter: medium bodied with notes of coffee and chocolate. (Chico, CA, 5.6% alc.) This course in really contrasted from the previous two with it's earthy flavours and heavier body. The porter accentuated the walnut flatbread and smokiness of the chicken.


Fourth Course: Slow-smoked pork back ribs Waupoos cider marinated, jalapeno cheddar biscuits, smashed potatoes & rauchbier bbq beans. It was paired with Lost Abbey Red Barn: spiced with ginger, orange, pepper & grains of paradise. (San Marcos, CA, 6.7% alc.) The ribs were so tender I hardly had to chew; the texture of the smashed potatoes really enhanced their flavour; the beans were smokey, saucey and made excellent use of the rauchbier they were cooked in.


Fifth Course: Strawberry raspberry shortcake, berry beer sorbet, icecream. Dessert was paired with Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout: bittersweet and soothing. (Brooklyn, NY, 10.1% alc.) Fresh, lightness in the mouth yet extreemly deep in flavours. The palate was saturated with berries and velvetly smoothness of the stout.

No more...not even a tiny waiffer.

Great Divide, Denver, CO

Great Divide Brewing Company (2201 Arapahoe Street,Denver, CO 80205 telephone:(303) 296-9460 ext. 26) www.greatdivide.com

Part two of the last full day of my vacation was a trip to Great Divide. I was a bit tired and loosing my happy buzz from Avery. I was struggling in the late afternoon to muster up enough energy to enjoy one more brewery tour. My motivator was the memory of tasting the Oak Aged Yeti at the Montreal Beer Festival. It had left a lasting impression.

The taps in the tasting room.

Proudly displaying their awards.

The Tour:



Yazoo was recommended by the guys at the brewery. We walked half a block up the street to a small take out place that specializes in dry rub barbeque. We'd had a lot of delicious, slow-cooked meats and barbeque on this trip. The diet begins tomorrow. It was a totally unassuming place. A plain counter in a tiny building with no airconditioning. The food was not my favorite bbq of the trip but it was also bbq of very different style than I had had so far so it was worth trying.

Avery Brewing Company, Boulder, CO

When you're approaching the end of a your vacation, it's always kind of sad. Bier Guide and I wanted to get a lot done on the last full day of our road trip vacation. Our vacation started out with car trouble when we drove from Toronto to Buffalo, NY. The fan has to konk out now? We had to pull over to let the engine cool because every liquid in the car was boiling so violently that the car was rattling. Anyways from Buffalo we caught our flight to Seattle, WA where we picked up a rental car. Ocean, mountains, deserts, a lot of pulled pork, four thousand plus kilometers and 14 days later had brought us to Boulder, CO. We savoured our morning coffee as we planned out the itinerary of the last golden day.


After packing, visits to bike shops (see the next posting) and a quick lunch we headed over to Avery Brewing Company (5763 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, CO 80303 or call toll-free: 1-877-844-5679). Thank goodness that we had looked it up because it would be easy to miss. Tucked away in an industrial area of town, we found a cluster of buildings belonging to Avery. Their tasting room is small but very nicely designed in a European-style with a pour station in the back and plenty of seating to let visitors relax.










Greg Miller was manning the pour station. I defy anyone to find a friendlier, more welcoming embassador of beer. He immediately invited us to start tasting and made us feel at home with his easy going manner. The anticipation of so many legendary beers to try, I asked Greg to give me a tasting course from least hoppy to most hoppy. I wanted my palate to pick up on as much of the flavours as possible.


Peter Archer is a Sales, Marketing and Merchandise rep for Avery. There were quite a few of us in the tasting room interested in a tour so he offered to take us into the brewery itself for a bit of a peek. His jovial charm, Australian accent and casual personality made a great guide for the six of us who eagerly jumped up at his offer.

"Wait a minite. We can't go yet. I see someone without a full pint!! Unacceptable, go back to Greg and get a proper glass of beer or I'm not going to take you," declared Peter. So back I went.

The tour was thorough but to be honest, I had drank too much by then to remember the details.


On the tour with Peter.



























Bier Guide finally decided what to bring home...Avery delivers to Toronto, don't they?

Beer Has the Power to Unite

It's amazing how people who were complete strangers can connect quickly if given the right circumstances. I was at the end of a two week vacation in the United States. We had gone from Seattle, WA to Boulder, CO covering over 2575 miles (that's approximately 4120 kilometers for my metric friends). It's always sad when you know you're on the second last day of holidays. The last day is always spent travelling home so it feels even worse. This trip was going to end with a bang. The morning was spent at bike shops. One shop was called Vecchio's where we met a gentleman who used to race in southern Ontario. He was familiar with courses and riders that only a small group of people would know. Beer Guide, who also used to race was familiar with many of the same places and people. Small world, eh?

After noon, we went to Avery. This was a much anticipated visit as we had already sampled their Maharaja in the past. (See blog entry on May 1, 2007.) Having checked on when their tasting room was open, we knew that it was just a matter of finding them. If anyone plans on visiting, look up their website for a map to their brewery & tasting room. It is not the easiest place to find - located in the rear of an industrial area off the main road. The search was well worth it! We were not alone. Some were there already sampling and chatting around a table. Soon others arrived. I offered to take a picture of a nice bunch of guys as a momento of their visit. You see, it's becomes apparent to me the folks that are really into beer and those who are not. They seemed serious about their beer. I like the serious ones. I think it was Vincent who commented how that was a nice offer but they had their own digital camera. I took their picture and asked if they wanted to send me a copy, I would post it on my blog. To my delight, they did.


From left to right are James, Cibi, Jacob, Matt, and Vincent.

I hope you boys are well and enjoying some Avery beers for me. And if any of you are ever in Toronto, I would be happy to show you around our beer haunts. Cheers!!

Moab, Utah

The desert has always felt like a magical place for me. It's a place of such extreems. Exquisit beauty in one of the harshest environments on earth. Everything that lives there inspires amazement as they seem to survive on almost no water most of the time, under the unrelenting sun, cold to hot temperatures that can vary 40 to 50 degrees Farenheit in one day and has very little in the ways of protection. There are countless colours and shapes that can be seen in the many deserts of the southwest US. I have visited Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Death Valley. This is Arches National Park which is approximately a 15 minute drive to Moab, the closest town.



I was there in early July this year so if you want to do any hiking at all, it's a good idea to start early because by noon the temperature rises to over 100 degrees. It's very dry and the sun is unforgiving. This is the view from Partition Arch.



In the tiny town of Moab is the Moab Brewery. I had the steak salad which was much more than I expected it to be. The steak was so tender that you hardly had to chew it and seasoned ever so lightly. The salad part was made up of mixed greens, roasted red peppers, Spanish onion and topped with a vinigrette.

Like other breweries I've visied blind, the best way to get a quick survery is to get the tasting tray. I took to the Scorpion Pale Ale and the Elephant Hill Hefeweizen. The one thing about finding your favourite in a tasting tray is that I usually don't have enough sobber left in me to order a pint.



For more information please see this link http://www.themoabbrewery.com/microbrews.html