Regular readers of TasteTO will hopefully have noticed that we strive to have our content be as original and non-repetitive as possible. And with the number of restaurants, shops, chefs, events, products and more available to Torontonians, it’s generally been easy for us to stick with this philosophy.
Sometimes, of course, there’s a need for us to be a bit redundant. Annual events are often worth covering every year, and notable changes in menu or staff at a restaurant can make a second review worthwhile.
When it comes to beer reviews, however, one would think that there are surely enough different beers out there to make it unnecessary to have a repeat anytime soon. And one would be right, as there will always be plenty of new beers to come in this column. But a particular recent release of a previously-reviewed beer in a new format is so notable (to my mind, at least) that I thought a second appearance was in order.
The beer is Denison’s Weissbier, a much-lauded German-style wheat beer that was first brewed by brewmaster Michael Hancock 20 years ago at Denison’s Brewpub on Victoria Street. When the brewery and its associated restaurants closed in 2003, Hancock obtained the rights to the Denison’s name, and soon brought the brand back as a draught beer that he initially brewed using the equipment and facilities at Mill Street before moving to Black Oak and, most recently, Cool Brewery in Etobicoke.
Back in February 2007, Denison’s Weissbier was one of the first beers I reviewed for this site based on the version being brewed at Black Oak. Here’s what I had to say about it then:
[A]n absolutely perfect rendition of the style, with the classic banana and clove combo in the aroma, wonderful fruit and yeast in the flavour, and an amazingly crisp and lingering finish that keeps you coming back for more. Like any good weissbier, it's a great warm weather refresher, but it also has enough flavour and body to be enjoyable at any time.
It’s an appraisal that I stick by almost three years later, for both the still delicious draught version, and the recently launched canned version that’s available at select LCBO outlets (LCBO 132480 - $2.60/473 mL).
A take-home version of his Weissbier is something that Hancock has wanted to do for years now, but as he explains on his website, there have been a number of factors that have stopped it from happening before now. Supply issues always got in the way during his time brewing at Mill Street and Black Oak, where he could barely keep up with the demand for draught product alone, and once he was at the larger Cool plant, the logistics and cost of using his preferred format of 500 ml bottles made it too difficult to consider.
But with the recent explosion of craft brewers using cans – an unfairly maligned format that is actually superior to bottles in many regards – Hancock finally found a solution, and Denison’s Weissbier is now being transported from Cool to the Amsterdam Brewery for canning, and then shipped out for retail sale.
It hasn’t been a completely smooth transition, as an early batch reacted poorly to being canned and wasn’t in great condition once people started buying it. Ever the perfectionist, Hancock had the cans pulled from the shelves and dumped, and the latest batch, which meets his exacting standards, is now almost indistinguishable from the draught version.
That’s not to say that I’ll be turning my back on the draught Weissbier anytime soon. It still remains one of my favourite local pints, and there are more than a few places in town where it’s always the best option on tap. But as beer writer and noted Denison’s fan Nick Pashley wrote recently in a thread on The Bar Towel beer forum: “Note to Toronto publicans: this does not mean that I'll be staying home any time soon. Just nice to know that when I get snowed in I have another option.”
Can’t really argue with that.
