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Beer Festivals

31st Annual Festival Of Craft Breweries

Friday/Saturday September 21/22, 2018 Winners: Median Score of 8 Left Field Prospect Simcoe DDH IPA KW Montmorency Cherry Cider Granite Hopping Mad Stone City Alive and Well Southern Hemisphere IPA Honourable Mentions: Median Score of 7 Left Field Prospect Simcoe DDH IPA KW Montmorency Cherry Cider Granite Hopping Mad Stone City Alive and Well Southern Hemisphere IPA Side Launch Session Seven IPA Elora Guava Lodestar Shacklands Three Berry Sour Collective Arts Low Impact APA Rainhard Rage And Love Blackberry & Meyer Lemon Sour Big Rig Alpha Bomb IPA cask Great Lakes/TBW Toronto Island Time Mango/Strawberry Farmhouse Amsterdam Oatmeal Stout w/Vanilla …

An Introduction To Whisky

Scotch Whisky Flavour Variations

Water. The water used in most distilleries is soft. It is common wisdom that the best water sources are those that rise from granite over peat. The flavour the source water picks up from its journey is concentrated by the distillation process. Peat. The amount and character of peat used in the kilning process has a pronounced effect on the flavour of the whisky. Stills. The shape of the pot still , the angle of the lyne arm that leads to the condensing unit, as well as the degree of heat applied affect the flavours that are captured in the …

An Introduction To Whisky

Regional Characteristics Of Single Malts

Lowlands. Whisky from the Lowlands region tend to be lighter, softer, and less peated. Highlands. The Highlands are where the bulk of single malt whisky is produced. As it encompasses a very large area, the whisky produced in this area is stylistically very broad. Generally Highland whiskies are known for their depth and complexity. Islay. The most distinctive single malts are produced on this island. These malt whiskies tend to be well peated with a smoky characteristic. Some phenolic, medicinal, or sea overtones are typical.

An Introduction To Whisky

Enjoying Single Malt Whisky

With idiosyncratic character and a lingering finish, Single Malt Whisky is made to be sipped. Although smothering your single malt with ice or soda water is not recommended, don’t be afraid to add a little cool water to the whisky. Drink it at a strength that allows you to appreciate subtleties in the flavour. Spring water is ideal as it has a more neutral flavour than tap water.

An Introduction To Beer

Beer: The Basics

Beer is a fermented beverage principally made from four ingredients; water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. Each one of these ingredients will impart its own flavour characteristics to the finished product, one which is almost as old as civilization itself. One Egyptian recipe called for bread to be left out in the rain and then allowed to ferment. The result was a soggy but mysteriously invigorating concoction. Some aboriginals in South America still make a brew called chicha. It is made of corn that is chewed by the tribal women, spat into a bowl, and allowed to ferment for a …

An Introduction To Cask Ale

Definition of “Cask Ale”

Cask ale is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Traditionally cask ale is also cask-conditioned, undergoing a secondary fermentation in the cask. This contrasts with “keg beer” which is generally filtered and carbonated. Cask-conditioned beers are also referred to as “real ales”. It is common in Canada to find cask dispensed brews that are racked off from a larger batch of beer that is destined for filtering and packaging. These racked cask beers do not undergo secondary fermentation but will often have additional hops or other ingredients added to infuse additional flavours.

An Introduction To Beer

Rhine heights go… what?

You may have heard of the “Bavarian Purity Law,” also known as “Reinheitsgebot.” This German law, dated 1516 and still enforced today, stipulates that only barley malt, hops, and water may be used in the making of beer. It is one of the earliest, and longest running, examples of consumer protection legislation. Inventive brewers, like inventive cooks, have often experimented with the addition of other ingredients in their search for the perfect brew. These additional ingredients are called adjuncts and are any source of carbohydrates other than malted grains. Many brewers, in their search for the perfect bottom line and …

An Introduction To Cask Ale

Beer Delivery Systems

It took until until the 17th century for bottled beer to become commonplace. Up until that time most beer was consumed by pouring it directly out of a cask. Along with advances in science in the later 19th century such as pasteurization and mechanical refrigeration the inevitable march towards tightly controlled, factory produced, mass made and marketed beer had begun. Filtering, pasteurizing, adding controlled amounts of carbon dioxide, and packaging in bottles eliminated the natural variability of cask beer, and the extra care that was needed to properly dispense it. Modern keg beer is identical to bottled beer except that …

An Introduction To Cask Ale

Cask Dispensing

There are two ways of dispensing a cask beer: Gravity or pouring the beer directly out of the cask and pulling the beer out of the cask using a piston called a beer engine or hand pump (patented, 1785). The Old English word “draught” meant, “to pull,” like the draught horses that used to deliver beer casks back in the day and later pulling a pint from the cask. Etymologically speaking, keg beer is not draught as it is pushed to the tap faucet. A gravity dispensed cask beer is set on its side in a rack that is gently …

An Introduction To Beer

Macro vs. Micro

What is the big deal about a “microbrew,” isn’t beer all pretty much the same? Microbreweries (the little guys, however you want to define them) almost universally use craft brewing techniques. This is the traditional method of making beer in single batches. Each recipe is produced to maximize the desirable characteristics of one beer. On the other hand, macrobrewers (the globally present brand makers) almost always use high gravity brewing to produce their products. Although it may sound like work for NASA, the gravity that is referred to here is just another word for alcohol. In this process beer is …