Looking back over the 150 or so reviews I’ve written for this site – not to mention my 2500+ ratings at RateBeer.com - I’ve given my fair share of positive thoughts on beers that are simple, well-balanced and easy to drink. What I have a problem with are beers that (A) taste of corn or rice or other mass-production adjuncts; (B) claim to be a type of beer that they don’t come even close to representing; or (C) have so little aroma and flavour that they might as well be soda water. And that fact is that most of the beers that fall into these categories tend to be from large breweries.

That said, I try to avoid having preconceived notions when approaching any new beer, regardless of who is responsible for it. But when invited to the Labatt offices for a tasting of a new light beer, as I was last week, it was hard not to feel at least mild trepidation about what was in store.

The beer in question is Alexander Keith’s Light Ale, a brand that’s been available in the Maritimes for 15 years, but which has just debuted in Ontario as a draught-only offering. To promote the launch, Keith’s brewmaster Graham Kendall flew in from Halifax to pull some pints and chat at a low-key media scrum.

At the risk of being redundant, I’ll note that I’m not a drinker of either Keith’s or light beer by nature. So I was a bit shocked to find that more than just tolerating the pint that Kendall served me, I actually finished it and considered having another.

Appearance-wise, there’s not much to differentiate it from other light beers, aside from there being a slightly larger than usual white head sitting on top of the pale gold body. But the difference starts to come through in the aroma – not only because it actually has one, but because it has a subtle and pleasant fruity character typical of a decent golden ale. The body is fuller than a typical mass-produced light beer, again reminding the drinker that this is an ale and not a lager. And the flavour, while mild, is quite pleasant, with fruity esters as suggested by the aroma, along with a wisp of licorice and actual discernible hops in the crisp finish.

Would I buy it for myself if I found it on tap at one of the select bars and restaurants where it’s been rolled out? No, not likely. Even given its level of quality relative to other beers in its style category, I’m simply not a light beer kind of guy. But if I was, Alexander Keith’s Light Ale just might be my new beer of choice.

As the number of Toronto establishments catering to discerning beer drinkers has increased substantially over the past several years, each of them has done their best to come up with concepts to differentiate themselves from the competition. From beer dinners and tasting events to extensive bottle lists and constantly changing draught line-ups, each place has carved out their niche in the scene, with the result being a multitude of top-notch options for the city’s beer lovers.

At Bier Markt – both the original Esplanade location, and the more recently opened spot on King West – they’ve taken a two-pronged approach to keeping things fresh in an effort to keep the crowds coming. On the food front, they present a series of special “Feastivül” menus throughout the year (including a recent fondue-themed menu), and on the beer side, they always have at least one tap line dedicated to an exclusive offering, generally European brews that have rarely, if ever, been available in Canada before.

The newest Feastivül on the Bier Markt calendar kicked off just last week, and it’s themed to pair up with their latest exclusive draught beer, Spaten München Lager from Munich. Dubbed Marchtoberfest, the promotion features an array of German-inspired dishes that are well-matched by Spaten and other German beers available on tap at the Markts.

At a preview lunch last week, Executive Chef Michael Cipollo presented some key dishes from the Marchtoberfest menu. After we arrived to a snack of freshly baked soft pretzels with mustard, the meal proper got underway with a German play on a sharable charcuterie platter featuring savoury Thuringer bratwurst, juicy carved brisket, and unctuous seared pork belly along with beer sauerkraut and warm potato salad. (The bratwurst also appears on a wurst plate for two with several other sausages and accompaniments, and the brisket can be ordered as a grilled sandwich with Emmental, sauerkraut and dressing on rye.)

For the main course, Cipollo served a panko-breaded veal schnitzel that he admitted was smaller than the massive plate-fillers that are common at Oktoberfest, but even the more reasonable portion was well-received by all. I’ll confess that due to the onset of a carb overload, I left the mountain of buttery Yukon Gold mash that the schnitzel was perched atop partly unfinished. But I had no problem finishing the tender veal, the tangy tomato jam topping, or the side of grilled asparagus which was surprisingly vibrant and fresh tasting for an out-of-season veg.

After the delicious but daunting onslaught of meat and potatoes that the app and main presented, dessert was a questionable proposition, but Chef managed to convince us with his unique spin on Apfelkuchen, a traditional German apple cake. Perhaps equally inspired by that classic Canadian snack food, the Timbit, the "Basket Of Apfelkuchen" is a heaping serving of mini-fritters made with Granny Smith apples and rolled in cinnamon sugar. While intended to be shared, each diner at the lunch was given a full serving, along with an offer of a take-home container for the leftovers which most of us took advantage of.

Accompanying all of the courses was Spaten München Lager, a crisp golden beer from one of Germany’s most historic breweries. As explained to the group by beer expert Roger Mittag, Munich’s Spaten brewery – officially known as Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu GmbH – has roots extending back to 1397, although its heyday was in the late 1800s when it was the largest brewery in the city.

Now part of AB InBev, the same massive multi-national that owns Labatt, Spaten produces a number of beers in various traditional German styles, but its biggest claim to fame – aside from being one of the six official breweries of Oktoberfest – is probably the creation of the beer style Helles (German for “light coloured” or “pale”) in 1894. It’s one of several golden lager styles that were born during the latter part of the 19th century in the wake of the massive popularity of the original golden lager, Pilsner, and it’s a style that Spaten continues to brew today as München Lager.

As with all Helles beers, München Lager has some obvious similarities to a proper Pilsner, most notably in the bright golden colour, snow white head, and the malt profile which is quite bread-like along with hints of cereal grain. Where the styles diverge is in the hops: while Pilsners traditionally use Saaz hops which give the beer a spicy and peppery character, München Lager is made with Hallertau hops, a strain that provides a more herbal and grassy quality along with a whisper of lemon zest. Brought together, these elements produce an enjoyable and immensely drinkable lager that was not only a great match for the meal, but is also a fine beer all on its own.

The Marchtoberfest Feastivül continues at both Bier Markt locations until April 11th. The public release of Spaten München Lager has been delayed slightly due to LCBO red tape, but it should be on tap in the next week or so, and will remain available through to the Bier Markt Oktoberfest celebrations in the fall.

Founded in 1984 by Koch and two partners, Boston Beer Company has been one of the biggest success stories of the modern craft brewing era. Starting as a tiny company that contracted out production to a brewery in Pittsburgh, it's grown to become not only the largest craft brewery in the country, but the largest American-owned brewery period thanks to the foreign mergers/takeovers of Miller, Coors and Anheuser-Busch. I can only imagine what a generation of beer drinkers raised on pale and flavourless macro-lagers thought of their flagship lager when it was first launched ("Colour? Aroma? FLAVOUR?? What the hell is THIS?!?"), but the Sam Adams brand is now such a ubiquitous part of American beer culture that even Family Guy has paid tribute to it.

Despite its domestic success, Boston Lager has never had much of a profile in Ontario even though it's been available here for many years. A good part of the blame for this lies with Sleeman, the distributor of the Sam Adams brands in Canada for close to a decade, a time during which they seemed to do little to promote the beers. Boston Lager was - and still is - available at the LCBO (LCBO 307330 - $13.60/6x355 mL), but it was rarely available on draught, and the only other Sam Adams beer they brought to market here was the seasonal Summer Ale.

Last week, however, a big change was revealed at a media event at The Drake Hotel, where Jim Koch made an appearance along with Moosehead Breweries president Andrew Oland to announce that Moosehead was taking over representation of Sam Adams in Canada via their Premium Beer Company subsidiary. One of the initial goals of this new partnership is to raise awareness of Boston Lager by getting it on tap in more bars and restaurants, something that should definitely get more attention for the brand, especially if it's served in the distinctive glass pictured above.

Bottles will also remain available, and poured vigourously from one of them, the beer has a rich caramel-amber colour with a large, frothy head that holds on for a while. The aroma is pleasantly fresh and floral thanks to the use of two types of Noble hops, varieties commonly used in classic central European lager styles like Pilseners and Märzen. The flavour has a great malt/hop balance, with notes of bread and light caramel from the malt providing a nice introduction, followed by firm and lingering notes of citrus, pine and pepper from the hops. The body is fuller than a typical lager, coming closer to a pale ale in mouthfeel, but is still light enough to be refreshing.

Put simply, Samuel Adams Boston Lager is a classic beer that has retained its uniqueness and level of quality even as Boston Beer Company has grown from a kitchen table operation to a multi-million dollar corporation. And setting my not-so-high opinion of Moosehead's own brands aside, I really do think that they'll be a better fit than Sleeman to get this beer and others in the Sam Adams portfolio the exposure they deserve in Ontario and the rest of Canada. A few years later than deserved, perhaps, but hey, better late then never.

One example that has gained considerable notice amongst the beer geek brigade in the last year or two is a style that combines the dark colour and roasty flavours of a Stout or Porter with the generous hops and higher alcohol of an India Pale Ale. Different monikers have been used by different breweries to describe their take on this unique combination, but the one that seems to have caught on the most is the somewhat oxymoronic Black IPA.

Like many new developments in craft beer, the Black IPA trend appears to have started along the west coast of the US, most notably in the San Diego area, where the renowned Stone Brewery created a dark, rich and hoppy brew for their limited edition 11th Anniversary Ale in 2007, and then brought it back as a regular offering under the name Sublimely Self Righteous Ale. But those who dig deeper will find similar experiments from other breweries that were around much earlier, such as Black Toque India Dark Ale, created by Phillips Brewing in 2004. And frankly, some of the original Imperial Stouts brewed in England centuries ago probably had a high enough hop content to be considered early precursors of this supposedly new style.

Up until quite recently, Black IPAs were known in Toronto more by reputation than by actual consumption around here. Black Toque has been available occasionally via private orders, but no other examples were imported or brewed locally. That changed last year, though, when Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie - known for their Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale - released Netherworld, a beer that they described as an "India Pale Porter". After a test run at Volo's Cask Days event in the fall, it's been popping up on tap at a few places around town, and had an official launch of sorts a few weeks ago at Cowbell, where the whole Flying Monkeys line-up was paired with a series of dishes made with chef Mark Cutrara's housemade sausages.

My initial impression of Netherworld, based on a taste at Cask Days, was that it was a beer that held some promise, but it felt somewhat unfinished as well, sort of like a dish with all the right ingredients that's slightly undercooked. At the Cowbell dinner, however, I found it much improved. The "Porter" part of the name is reflected in the appearance - dark ruby-brown with a mocha-tan head - and the initial flavour of well-roasted malt with a touch of molasses and a hint of smoke. The IPA influence is obvious in the aroma and the latter part of the flavour, where the hops come through strong with lots of pine resin and a bit of citrus peel. The only let-down - and it's a small one - is the body, which could use a bit more heft to match the big flavours. Otherwise, it's a winner.

Aside from a few test runs of bottles available only at the brewery, Flying Monkeys Netherworld is currently a draught-only beer, and has been featured at a few places around town including Volo, C'est What and Hank's.

Beer, of course, is no exception to this. In Vancouver and Whistler this month, official brewery sponsor Molson-Coors has exclusive pouring rights at all official Olympic venues, even those that usually offer a better variety including local craft brews. This is unfortunate not only because attendees at the events will find their beer choices limited to the bland line-up of Canadian, Export, Coors Light and (sometimes) Rickards Red, but also because the Olympics are taking place right in the heart of one of Canada's most exciting and active regions for craft brewing.

That's not to say that small breweries are completely absent from the current goings-on in BC. Some breweries have been marketing their brands in ways that evoke the Olympics without explicitly mentioning the games, with an especially cheeky example being the medal-wearing water rodents on the label of Three Beavers Imperial Red Ale from Howe Sound Brewing in Squamish. And the various pavilions that have been set up by governments and tourism boards fall outside of the Olympic sponsorship noose, allowing them to offer their own regional food and drink - including beer.

At Ontario House, for example, five of the six available beers are from four of the province's small and medium sized breweries: Steam Whistle, Mill Street, Beau's and Great Lakes. And while the first three sent their regular brands for folks to quaff, the guys at Great Lakes decided to mark the occasion with a brand new brew with a sporting connection that has managed to avoid the wrath of the IOC and VANOC. Named Crazy Canuck Pale Ale and featuring a pair of skis and a tuque in its logo, the brew is a subtle tribute to Dave Irwin, Dave Murray, Steve Podborski and Ken Read, the four Canadian skiers who became known as "The Crazy Canucks" due to their rough & tumble approach to the sport in Alpine Ski World Cup competitions in the 1970s and 1980s.

Or at least it's called Crazy Canuck Pale Ale when being served at Ontario House, and on draught around Toronto. In the recently released bottles, however, the "Crazy" has been dropped from the name, perhaps to appease the same watchdogs at the LCBO who have previously banned Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Delirium Tremens.

Anyway - crazy or not, it's still a fine beer which fittingly has some similarities to the hop-forward pale ales that are popular on the west coast. Pouring a bright and clear golden-copper with a large white head, it doesn't offer much in the way of aroma at first, but once the head recedes it opens up a bit, revealing nice notes of grapefruit, honey, biscuit and mild toffee. The flavour profile is similar, with the citrus peel hops well balanced by sweet and toffeeish malt in the front, while the grapefruit bitterness builds pleasantly in the long finish.

There's also a mild buttery quality to the beer which suggests the presence of diacetyl, a chemical compound produced during fermentation that can be pleasant in small doses, but is considered to be a brewing flaw if it comes on too strong. Those especially sensitive to such flavours may find it harder to forgive, but to my palate, the slight hints that I could detect in the bottle I tried were a nice compliment to the other flavours.

Great Lakes Canuck Pale Ale is available for a limited time at select LCBO outlets (LCBO 175109 - $4.95/650 mL) and at the Great Lakes brewery store, as well as on draught at a few of the better beer bars around town. It may not be an official Olympic beer, but it's a great choice to toast Team Canada as they strive to take the gold, silver and bronze. Or if you're a jaded and cranky non-sports fan like myself, you can just ignore the Olympics entirely and drink the damn beer.

In today's world, however, brands are often more important to consumers than people, so an owner naming a brewery (or any other company) after themselves is a rare exception. And when it does happen, one can't help but wonder whether the eponymous owner has a big ego, a lot of guts, or some combination of the two.

Not knowing Michael Duggan personally, I can't say where he might sit on the ego-vs-guts spectrum. But I do know that when it comes to local brewmasters who have the skill and background to be viable as their own brand, he's definitely near the top of the list.

To many craft beer drinkers, Duggan's main claim to fame was his position as co-founder and inaugural brewmaster at Mill Street Brewery, which has become one of the biggest success stories in Toronto's modern brewing scene. But he's had plenty of stints in other breweries both local and distant over the past two decades, both before the creation of Mill Street, and in the time since he left the brewery due to disagreements over what direction it should take.

His main post-Mill Street gig has been at Cool Brewery in Etobicoke where he has overseen the production of the brewery's mainstream lager brands, but has also taken advantage of the Cool facility's spare capacity to create some of his own self-named brews which he began releasing in limited amounts last year. Soon after that, he took over the former Denison's brewpub on Victoria Street, and just before Christmas he opened a brewery and restaurant where his name hangs over the door, and all of the beers are numbered rather than named.

His flagship beer, and one that is still brewed at the Cool facility to meet the high demand, is Michael Duggan Number 9 IPA. The beer was an instant hit when it debuted last spring for Volo's Cask IPA Challenge, a tasting competition that it went on to win, and it can be found on tap at a few places around town besides the brewpub itself. It's also the first one of Duggan's beers to be available in bottles for convenient at-home enjoyment.

Poured from one of those bottles, the beer has a dark copper hue, looking quite similar to one of Duggan's earlier creations, Mill Street Tankhouse Ale. The aroma and flavour also have a passing similarity to Tankhouse, as malts reminiscent of toffee and caramel back-up and balance the big notes of grapefruit and pine that are imparted by the generous dose of hops used in the recipe. On the palate, it's moderately full but not cloying - rather, it has a sharp and refreshing character that makes it ridiculously easy to drink, especially for an ale that's slightly stronger (6.2%) than a typical session beer. To my taste, it could perhaps use a bit more hops to hit the bitterness level I hope for from an IPA. But I'm also a big fan of hugely unbalanced hop bombs, so Duggan's erring on the side of balance is probably a good thing, at least for a flagship brand like Number 9.

As noted above, Michael Duggan Number 9 IPA often pops up on tap at several bars and restaurants around town, including Caplansky's, Volo and C'est What. It's also a permanent fixture on the draught list at Duggan's Brewery, of course, and bottles sell for $8.75 per 4-pack at both Duggan's (75 Victoria Street) and the retail store at Cool (164 Evans Avenue, Etobicoke).

As I touched on in my column last week, one of the most frustrating aspects of being a craft beer drinker in Ontario is the haphazard way that the LCBO distributes the products in their seasonal specialty beer promotions. Unlike Vintages releases where the wines usually all show up on the same day as scheduled, the seasonal beers often hit the shelves weeks before or after the official release date, and follow a distribution pattern that is either completely and utterly random, or designed by a malevolent LCBO employee who enjoys toying with the hopes and dreams of beer geeks province-wide.

That's not to say that the wine lovers have it easy. Even though the Vintages releases come every two weeks like clockwork, the more limited items can be difficult to track down. Even some non-Vintages (or in the case of beer, non-seasonal) bottles can be hard to find as stock dwindles, and favourites may be restocked at different times in different locations. The online inventory search at LCBO.com makes it a bit easier to track things down, but the numbers aren't always reliable or up-to-date, and if you don't check it every day (or even multiple times per day), some things can arrive and sell out before you even know about it.

For anyone who can relate to the problems above, there's now an answer to at least some of your problems, in the form of a brand new website called Drinkvine. And it took an especially frustrated and tech-savvy LCBO customer to make it happen.

Drinkvine was created by Ralph Holm, a beer lover in Almonte - a small town near Ottawa - who often found himself missing out on new brews due to the limited quantities and spotty distribution in his area. So, being a resourceful fella with some technical know-how, he put together a program that could email him any time a particular beer (or any other product) appeared in the online stock numbers for nearby LCBO stores. As he notes in the discussion thread on BarTowel.com where he recently announced the site, "It worked great. Many times I knew that stock was in before it had hit the floor. I became the first person to know instead of the last."

After a few months of using the program himself, he reckoned that a lot of other people would also appreciate the service, and he started work on the website that was unveiled last week at drinkvine.com. Both the concept and interface are remarkably simple: you register your email address and password, set up lists of "my drinks" (via a simple search function) and "my locations" (based on postal code), and add any or all of the items on your "my drinks" list to a watchlist. Then, any time stock appears for one of your watchlist items in one of your locations, you'll get an email.

In addition, you can bring up a page on the site for any product in the database - whether it's on your "my drinks" list or not - and instantly see the 10 closest LCBO outlets (based on your registered postal code) that have it in stock. Conversely, there's a page for every LCBO location in the province, each displaying a small Google map and a list of any products from "my drinks" that are currently available according to inventory. In both cases, the number of units in stock is noted, making it easy to find which store has dozens of bottles available versus those that only have a couple.

Like any new website, there are still a few kinks to be worked out. And while it provides a more flexible and logical interface to the LCBO's online inventory information, the fact remains that said information is often incorrect for a number of reasons, most notably because it's not real time and is only refreshed every day or two. But those small issues aside, Drinkvine is still a remarkably useful resource, and one that any serious boozehound in Ontario will find immediately indispensable.

Of course, if you've ever been to beerbistro, you'll know that $25 is far from the highest price to be found on their bottle list. The folks there scour the globe for rare and classic beers, many of which are unavailable elsewhere in Toronto, or sometimes even Canada or North America, and paying a premium for such treats is expected. Similarly, the shelves of specialty beer stores in Buffalo and other American cities are stocked with a number of rare and limited beers with prices of $15, $20 or more.

One place where beer drinkers don't usually have to worry about their budget, however, is the LCBO. The buying power of the massive agency combined with the generally conservative choices of beer that's carried has meant that a bottle - even a 650 ml "bomber" style one - breaking the $10 mark has been a rare sight indeed. So when word started to circulate last fall that the LCBO would be bringing in a beer costing almost $20 for a 330 ml bottle, there was a great deal of speculation (including some from yours truly) that it would be a tough sell in a market where retail beer shoppers simply aren't used to such hefty price tags.

Oh, how wrong we were.

The beer in question is Harviestoun Ola Dubh 40, a beer that has some initial similarities to the popular Innis & Gunn brand in that it comes from Scotland, and is aged in whisky casks before bottling. But it's also quite different from I&G in several important ways: the base beer, a stronger version of their Old Engine Oil, is dark and rich, bordering on being an Imperial Stout; the quantity is much more limited; and most notably, unlike the mystery surrounding what casks are used for aging most of the I&G brands, the full series of Ola Dubh beers are aged exclusively in Highland Park casks, with the appended number (12, 16, 18, 30 or 40) indicating the age of the whisky that came out of the casks before the beer went in.

My only previous experience with Ola Dubh (a name which means "Black Oil", by the way) was during a Rare Beer Festival last January at Cole's, a renowned beer bar in Buffalo, where I sampled the 12, 18 and 30 year editions. However, it was so late in what was an infamously drunken evening that I didn't appreciate them nearly as much as I should have. So I was happy to hear that the LCBO would be taking the risk on such a pricey product as the Ola Dubh 40 (LCBO 143610 - $18.40/330 mL), as well as the more wallet-friendly Ola Dubh 12 (LCBO 107672 - $5.45/330 mL), but I really didn't think that enough other people would feel the same way to make it a success.

The LCBO played it smart, though, and treated it like one of the rare wines or spirits that they bring in for Vintages. Only 30 cases of 12 bottles each were ordered, and the plan was to ration them amongst a handful of key stores in major centres where they'd be more likely to find a market. An early review in the Toronto Star got some buzz going, as did some discussion on the Bar Towel, and a lot of people were excited about getting their hands on a bottle or two.

But then things went a bit pear-shaped when a distribution glitch meant that 20 of the 30 cases got sent to the Summerhill LCBO, where they sold out in a matter of hours. The remaining 10 cases got out to a few more stores where they didn't last much longer (it was only through the kindness of a particular LCBO employee and a bit of subterfuge that I was able to acquire the bottle being reviewed here), and while the wider distribution and larger numbers of the Ola Dubh 12 meant that it had a slightly longer shelf life, the reflected glow of its rarer and dearer sibling meant that it had all but disappeared by end of the holidays.

So was it worth the hype, the hassle, and most importantly, the price? Yes to all three, at least as far as I'm concerned. Pouring a jet black with a thin and creamy mocha head, it immediately gives off a robust and complex aroma that contains everything from charred malt and cocoa to coffee and oak, with swirling wisps of vanilla and anise, some hints of dark fruit, and sharp notes of wood and peat and smoke from its time in the barrel. The flavour is a virtual replica of the aroma, with all of the same elements coming out at various points, although with a bit more subtlety than suggested by the aroma. (As a point of comparison, while the Ola Dubh 12 has a mellower and less complex aroma than the 40, they have somewhat similar flavour profiles.) Quite simply, it's one of the best beers the LCBO has ever stocked, and it's a shame that more people weren't able to get their hands on it when it was here.

Or rather, it would've been a shame, except that the powers-that-be at the LCBO were so impressed by the sudden sell-out that they ordered a further 100 cases almost immediately, and they should be arriving sometime in February. So consider this a warning to keep an eye on the shelves and online inventory, and hope that there's not quite the same level of feeding frenzy when the restock arrives, as this is a brew that every lover of good beer deserves to try at least once, hefty price tag or not.

For craft beer drinkers in Toronto, it's hard to imagine a time when Black Oak Brewery wasn't around. Their two main brands – Pale Ale and Nut Brown Ale – are ubiquitous favourites for many; their seasonal and one-off beers are always highly anticipated; and the smiling mugs of president Ken Woods (centre), brewmaster Adrian Popowycz (right), and associate brewer Paul Dickey regularly pop up at beer events and bars all over the city.

Amazingly, though, it's been just over a decade since the first bottles and kegs came off the line at the original Black Oak facility in Oakville (which was vacated in 2008 for a move to a larger space in Etobicoke). And with the aforementioned popularity of their seasonal beers such as Nutcracker Porter, Summer Saison and Oaktoberfest, it only made sense that their 10th anniversary last November would be marked with a new limited edition brew.

Plans for the beer were first revealed in October on the discussion forum of local beer geek website The Bar Towel, where Woods shed light on very little aside from the name – Ten Bitter Years – and that it was a strong ale with 8% alcohol. The style, he explained, was simply "a 10th Anniversary beer".

Being an Internet message board, much baseless speculation and useless debate followed, along with plenty of anxious anticipation for what was expected (or at least hoped) to be another enjoyable Black Oak brew. And when kegs and casks started to appear around town a month or so later, those expectations weren't just met, they were handily exceeded, with more than a few hardcore hopheads declaring it to be one of the best beers to ever be brewed in Ontario.

Take heed of the reference to "hardcore hopheads", though, as the "Bitter" part of the Ten Bitter Years name is there for good reason. This becomes obvious almost immediately after the slightly hazy golden-amber liquid is poured and placed down, as huge aromas of grapefruit and orange peel spring forth from the glass, along with hints of pine and tropical fruit. All of these come through powerfully in the flavour as well, with grapefruit in particular taking the lead position. A suggestion of balance is provided by some fleeting notes of caramel, but honestly, with this beer, it's all about the hops.

To be fair, Ten Bitter Years won't please every beer drinker out there, or even every craft beer drinker. Humans are hardwired to not like bitter flavours, and personally, it took me a long time to develop the love I now have for aggressively hopped beers. But for those who find that their mouths water at the mention of Stone, Avery, Three Floyds and other American breweries that are known for creating some serious hop monsters, Black Oak Ten Bitter Years is a welcome addition to the tap handles of Toronto bars, even if it's only for a limited time.

Due to issues with the bottling line at Black Oak, Ten Bitter Years is currently available only on draught (in both keg and cask-conditioned form), and on an irregular basis as they are planning on releasing it a bit at a time throughout the anniversary year. Rhino, Volo and C'est What are three of the handful of bars that will have it available from time to time – to avoid disappointment, we suggest calling ahead to see if/when it will next be available.

Speaking of avoiding disappointment - only 10 tickets remain for the Brewmaster's Dinner with renowned beer and food pairing expert Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery, taking place this coming Thursday, January 21st at Rhino (1249 Queen Street West). The dinner is being presented by the Canadian Amateur Brewers Association (CABA), and will feature four food courses (including wild boar prosciutto, game sausage, roast caribou and more) and five Brooklyn beers (including the rare Brooklyn Wild 1, which is their Local 1 Belgian-style ale aged in bourbon barrels with Brettanomyces yeast). I've attended two previous dinners hosted by Oliver, and he's an extremely engaging and interesting speaker, so this dinner will be well worth attending for that reason alone. Tickets are $75 for CABA members, $85 for non-members, and can be purchased via the CABA website.

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While stout, originally known as "stout porter",  has remained popular throughout the couple of centuries since it was first brewed - thanks mainly to the product a certain Irish brewery that needs no introduction - the original porter style came very close to extinction. But like several British beer styles, it was revived in the 1970s and 1980s via the combined efforts of the UK beer advocacy group CAMRA, and the first modern wave of North American craft brewers.

(A more detailed history of porter can be found in this post on my blog, originally written for my "Beer Styles 101" column in TAPS Magazine.)

Nowadays, it's hard to find a microbrewery or brewpub that doesn't make a porter. Although just because it says "porter" on the bottle or tap handle, one can't always be sure exactly what the beer itself will be like - some could be mistaken for mild brown ales, others for full-on stouts. And then there are coffee porters, Baltic porters, smoked porters, and a multitude of other variations and mutations. Frankly, it can all get a little confusing.

When it comes to just a straight up porter, though, the criteria for a good one (for me, at least) is pretty simple: I want an ale that's dark but not black, full bodied but not sticky, malty but not too sweet, and with hops providing balance but not a lot of obvious bitterness. The benchmark example of this combination of elements is Fuller's London Porter, brewed in the namesake city where the style was born, and given that Amsterdam's newest seasonal beer Dry Dock Porter has been described as a London-style porter, it's presumably intended to be similar.

They've got the appearance down pat, as it has a dark ruby-brown hue with a generous tan head. The aroma is also pretty solid, with lots of roasted malt, hints of cocoa and coffee, and even a mild smokiness. The body is on the lighter side for the style, but still in the ballpark, and while the flavour doesn't have quite the same finesse as the Fuller's, it's still enjoyable, with a fair bit of coffee and chicory sitting alongside the roasted malt, backed up by a moderately dry finish.

As I've noted before, Amsterdam brewmaster Jamie Mistry has been doing some great things since he joined the brewery in 2008, especially in the area of seasonal and one-off beers. His Dry Dock Porter, while not a world-beater, is still a very decent effort, and hopefully it'll turn out to be more than a single-batch brew. For now, it's available only in the Amsterdam retail outlet at 21 Bathurst Street where it's selling for $11.95 a sixer, alongside another winter seasonal - Twisted Kilt Scotch Ale - and the rest of the Amsterdam line-up.

The years since have seen the development of a distinctly North American beer culture – or to be more accurate, an American beer culture, as the most notable growth and experimentation has taken place south of the border. Fuelled by a combination of adventurousness, competitiveness and cockiness, brewers throughout the US have not only revived and redefined every previously existing beer style imaginable, they’ve also created completely new ones.

Back across the pond, this trend hasn’t gone unnoticed, and a small but growing number of upstart breweries taking a similarly adventurous approach to their craft have appeared in Europe in the last few years. Scandinavia has been especially fertile ground for this new guard, while in Belgium, brewers like De Struise are fusing elements of both Old and New World brewing traditions to create their unique offerings.

One of the most attention-grabbing of these new school breweries has been BrewDog, established in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 2006 by James Watt and Martin Dickie. In the less than three years since their first beer rolled off the production line in April 2007, BrewDog has become the largest independently owned brewery in Scotland, and a good part of that growth can undoubtedly be credited to their penchant for stirring up controversy.

In the last year alone, they’ve had two run-ins with the Portman Group, a UK drinks industry watchdog. The first was over the drug connotations of Speedball, the name originally used for a strong ale that’s since been renamed Dogma, and the second was over an 18.2% imperial stout called Tokyo* that Portman claims “does not promote a positive message of safe and responsible drinking”. Being savvy businessmen, the BrewDog boys milked these for all they were worth, and got a lot of press as a result. They also thumbed their noses at Portman and other naysayers with two new beers: a low-alcohol (1.1%) but extremely hoppy ale called Nanny State; and the bizarrely named Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a barrel-aged Imperial stout that they pushed to 32% using a form of freeze distillation, making it the strongest beer in the world (and one that I was lucky enough to try a couple of weeks ago).

Of course, when a company depends on controversy and gimmicks to get their name known, there’s always a strong chance that their product is sub-par, but when it comes to BrewDog, this doesn’t seem to be the case. While I haven’t come anywhere close to trying all of their beers, I’ve had the opportunity to sample a few, and they’ve all been excellent. And one of my favourites, Punk IPA, is available now at the LCBO as part of their Winter Warmers release (LCBO 149773 - $2.60/330 mL).

I must admit that I was skeptical when I first poured it, as the colour is a very light golden-yellow, looking more like Keith’s (so-called) IPA than a true version of the style. But then the aroma set me right with luscious notes of citrus and tropical fruit, and an underpinning of caramel malt. The body is soft, almost cask-like, and the flavour starts moderately sweet, developing an earthy quality before moving into a punchy hop bitterness with notes of grapefruit and pine.

The influence of American craft brewing on this beer in undeniable, as the heavily hopped finish with flavours of citrus and pine is a hallmark of US-style IPAs. But the lighter body and more subtle palate are evidence that it has a strong connection to UK brewing traditions as well. Most importantly, and regardless of where its roots may lie, Punk IPA is simply a great tasting beer that this aging former punk enjoyed a whole hell of a lot.

This latter was a gag gift of sorts, with mom – uh, I mean Santa – bringing him some “real” presents as well. But it’s quite possible to give some serious beer or beer-related presents for Christmas, especially with the oodles of options that are available nowadays. So for those trying frantically to find a gift for the beer lover in your life, here are a few tips that will hopefully help out.

For the locavore:

If your friend is the sort who shops at farmers markets and lives by the 100-mile diet whenever possible, local beer is the way to go. And it’s hard to get more local than Steam Whistle, the brewery in the historic Roundhouse building just south of the CN Tower that’s known for their popular namesake pilsner. While a plain ol’ six-pack might be appreciated by some, a more stylish option is the Steam Whistle Gift Pack (LCBO 11692 - $29.95) containing a retro-style wall mount bottle opener along with two bottles of their crisp golden lager.

For a bit more variety, try the Mill Street Seasonal Sampler (LCBO 159277 - $12.75/6x341 mL), a sixer featuring a bottle each of Mill Street’s five regular brews (Organic Lager, Stock Ale, Tankhouse, Belgian Wit and Coffee Porter) along with Helles Bock, a strong German-style lager that’s normally available only at their brewpub in the Distillery District. Speaking of which, the brewpub has a retail outlet attached where a variety of Mill Street swag is available, including glassware, t-shirts, hats, as well as bottles and growlers (1.9 L jugs) of their various brands.

If their definition of local extends to include all of Ontario, the latest Ontario Craft Brewers Discovery Pack (LCBO 137067 - $14.95/6x473 mL) would be a good choice. As noted in my review a couple of weeks ago, this six-pack of cans includes brews from Trafalgar, Muskoka, Nickel Brook, Great Lakes, Wellington and Neustadt, giving a good sample of what the province’s craft breweries have to offer. If you’re more of a DIYer, you can also put together your own gift basket from the many Ontario beers available at the LCBO in single cans or bottles, including Denison’s Weissbier (LCBO 132480 - $2.60/473 mL), Amsterdam Nut Brown (LCBO 142331 - $2.50/473 mL), Hockley Stout (LCBO 68262 - $2.65/473 mL) and Scotch-Irish Black Irish Plain Porter (LCBO 32540 - $2.10/341 mL).

For the food lover:

For those who appreciate both good beer and great food, a celebratory dinner at beerbistro (18 King Street East) would undoubtedly be appreciated. Chef Brian Morin and his team are ranked amongst the best in North America when it comes to matching beer and food, as well as using beer as an ingredient in many dishes. And if you’re feeling especially generous, you can always splurge on a bottle or two from the special cellar list, which features some of the rarest – and priciest – beers in town.

For something slightly less expensive, consider a night out at Volo (587 Yonge Street), The Monk’s Table (1276 Yonge Street) or The Queen & Beaver (35 Elm Street). Or if cheap and casual is more their speed, try C’est What (67 Front Street East), The Rebel House (1068 Yonge Street) or Smokeless Joe (125 John Street).

For the whisky aficionado:

Considering that they start with the same raw ingredients – i.e. water and malted barley – it makes sense that a lot of beer fans are also appreciators of whisky. So why not bring their two favourites together in one package, and pick up the Innis & Gunn Connoisseur’s Collection (LCBO 131789 - $14.95/3x330 mL). This gift pack contains bottles of three distinct oak-aged brews from the Scottish brewery, including Limited Edition Rum Cask, Limited Edition IPA, and Innis & Gunn Original, along with a lovely branded glass.

The year-round success of Innis & Gunn Original has inspired the LCBO to look for other barrel-aged beers to stock, and two from Scotland’s Harviestoun Brewery are available now in limited quantities as part of the Winter Warmers beer promotion. Part of the series called Ola Dubh (Black Oil), the beers are a collaboration between Harviestoun and distillery Highland Park, and feature an Imperial Stout based on Harviestoun’s Old Engine Oil strong ale, matured in casks that previously held Highland Park whisky of various ages. The LCBO has brought in the 12 Year Old (LCBO 107672 - $5.45/330 mL) and the 40 Year Old (LCBO 143610 - $18.40/330 mL), with the latter being both the most expensive and the most limited beer ever stocked by the agency, with only 360 bottles imported for the entire system.

For the Belgophile:

It’s no secret that some of the best beers in the world come from Belgium, with those from the half-dozen Trappist monastery breweries in the country being the most revered. The largest of the six is Chimay, and while their Red and White are available here year-round, it’s rare to get the dark and fruity Blue, so the Chimay Gift Pack (LCBO 560383 - $14.95/3x330 mL) with a bottle of each and a glass is a nice treat.

While not Trappist monasteries, the monks at Affligem and Maredsous both produce beers in a similar style, making the Affligem Mixed Pack (LCBO 682906 - $15.95/4x330 mL) and Maredsous Gift Box (LCBO 925818 - $15.95/3x330 mL), each containing three Abbey-style ales and a branded glass, very worthwhile purchases. And for something that the recipient might be inclined to share, try the Duvel Gift Pack (LCBO 395848 - $10.95/750 mL), which features a 750 ml bottle of the legendary golden ale along with a striking glass.

For the reader:

While I haven’t yet had a chance to read either of them myself, the numerous glowing reviews for Cheers!: An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada by Nicholas Pashley and Hops and Glory: One Man's Search for the Beer That Built the British Empire by Pete Brown, as well as my enjoyment of previous books by both authors, mean that I can recommend both of them without hesitation. If I had to choose one, I’d be inclined to go with Cheers!, if only because Mr. Pashley lives in Toronto, and if the recipient happens to bring the book along to his or her favourite local pub to read while enjoying a pint, the odds are high that the author himself might be on hand.

And as a regular contributor, I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest a gift subscription to TAPS Magazine, Canada’s only national publication devoted exclusively to beer. Aside from overlong and rambling articles on beer styles by yours truly, the quarterly magazine features coverage of the beer and brewing scene from coast to coast, including brewery profiles, beer reviews, news on events and new beer releases, and a whole lot more. I may be a bit biased, but I really think that it’s an indispensable resource for anyone interested in craft beer in Canada.

Hopefully, this admittedly incomplete list of ideas will be helpful for those last minute gift runs. And don’t forget that while it may be better to give than to receive, there’s nothing wrong with the old “one for you, one for me” rule, so feel free to double up on any of the above and give yourself a bit of Christmas joy as well.

Nowadays, though, it's hard to find a small brewery in the province that doesn't offer a couple of limited run beers, whether they be one-offs created for festivals and other beer events, or seasonal beers brewed for release at a specific time of year. From Oktoberfest lagers to summer saisons, spring bocks to barley wines, there are now beers for every season and occasion being made all over Ontario, many of them rivaling the best that the rest of the world has to offer.

One brewery that's been a bit slower than some to start with the seasonals is F&M Brewery from Guelph. It not for lack of interest or expertise, as F&M's enthusiastic and animated brewmaster George Eagleson is the sort who would be more than happy to work on a multitude of different beers. But limited capacity at the brewery means that they are generally working at a full clip just to keep up with demand for their three core Stonehammer brands - Pilsner, Dark Ale, and the surprisingly good Premium Light - and contract brands like the Harvest Ale they brew for the Woolwich Arrow pub.

In the last couple of years, however, Eagleson has managed to start squeezing some new beers into his brewing schedule, starting with George's Double Red, a delicious strong amber ale that he whipped up for the 2008 edition of Volo Cask Days. A few more experiments have been revealed since then, usually at special events and small beer festivals at venues like Volo and the Victory Cafe.

One of the most memorable of this one-offs was the Oatmeal Coffee Stout that Eagleson brewed last winter. Appearing in January at his semi-private "Georgeapalooza" birthday bash at the Cloak & Dagger and a few other select bars and restaurants, the entire draught-only batch was gone within a month or so, leaving behind a lot of praise and hopes for a future revival. Less than a year later, those hopes have come to fruition, as the beer is back and available in larger quantities than before.

I had my first taste of the new batch this past weekend at the Victory, where it was one of the beers being served at the busy CASK! Social, a semi-regular gathering for aficionados of cask-conditioned ale. I only managed to get in a pint before the thirsty hordes drank the cask dry, but thankfully Eagleson and  F&M marketing rep Bill MacTavish were on hand and able to hook me up with a few bottles, a new format for this new edition.

Whether poured from a cask, keg or bottle, the brew has a deep almost-black colour with a finger or two of creamy, dark tan head. Both aroma and flavour hold a lot of coffee, which meshes well with the dark roasted malt. There are also hints of cocoa and licorice, and a pleasant soft roundness is lent to the palate by the oatmeal that's included in the recipe. One minor complaint is that the body might be considered a touch thin for the style, but it's so good otherwise, I'm willing to overlook that. And as the Transfair Canada logo on the label indicates, it uses fair trade coffee from the Planet Bean roastery in Guelph. meaning it's both tasty and ethical.

What it's not, however, is very widely available. Even with the expanded production, distribution is still primarily limited to beer specialty bars, and like most anticipated seasonals, the kegs and casks don't last long when they're tapped. The bottles may help a bit, but with no LCBO or Beer Store distribution, they'll be mainly limited to bar and restaurant sales, with a small amount available at the F&M retail store in Guelph. So it might take a bit of work and patience to track it down, but it's certainly worth the effort.

The "favourite" part is for as obvious reason: Rogue makes a whole bunch of really great beers. Sadly, we can only get one of them - Dead Guy Ale - in Ontario on a regular basis, with others showing up far too infrequently as part of the LCBOs seasonal beer promotions. But when anything in one of Rogue's distinctive silk-screened bottles appears on the shelves, I always grab at least a couple of bottles, as the odds are high that I'll enjoy it even if it's a beer I've never tried before.

The problem, though - and the reason for my "least favourite" comment - is that even when the name is new to me, sometimes the beer inside the bottle isn't. Because as evidenced by the little 'A' for 'Alias' that appears next to many of the beer names on Rogue's RateBeer page, the brewery is infamous for renaming, rebranding and repackaging their beers on a frustratingly regular basis. Which is fine if you're just doing some casual drinking - after all, as I note above, it's hard to go wrong with a Rogue beer - but when you're on a beer hunting expedition and looking for new stuff, it's pretty annoying when you find out that those bottles of Wild Irish Rogue and Shakespeare Stout that you lugged home are actually the same beer.

Things get even more confusing when Rogue not only renames a beer, but then uses the original name for a different beer entirely. This happened a few years ago when their Yellow Snow Ale, a pale ale infused with juniper, was redubbed Juniper Pale Ale, while a new beer was launched as Yellow Snow IPA. The original Yellow Snow was briefly available at the LCBO at one point, and I found it to be a decent but fairly undistinguished brew. So when I heard that it was coming back for the current LCBO Winter beer promotion (LCBO 698068 - $6.45/650 mL bottle), I didn't pay much attention until a friend tipped me off to the fact that it was a different beer, and from most reports, a very good one.

Pouring a burnished deep orange with a slight haze, and topped with a robust and creamy white head, it certainly looks great in the glass. And the big aromas of citrus peel and pine will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the hop-forward IPAs favoured by brewers and beer drinkers on the US West Coast. So goes the flavour as well, with juicy and mouth-puckering grapefruit notes coming through, right from the aggressive opening to the long and (literally) bitter end.

There is enough fruity sweetness in there to offer at least a hint of balance, but I'd still venture a pretty well educated guess that this might well be the hoppiest beer we've ever seen at the LCBO. It won't be a beer for everyone, but hopheads like yours truly who dig other American IPAs like the Southern Tier and Dogfish Head versions that the LCBO carries year-round will be mighty pleased with Rogue Yellow Snow.

We'll just have to grab what we can now, and hope that if a beer by that name comes back again in a couple of years, it's still the same one.

Two years ago this month, the Ontario Craft Brewers - a trade organization that represents and promotes more than two dozen of the provinces small- and medium-sized breweries - launched a unique initiative in the form of the OCB Discovery Pack, a mixed six-pack featuring beers from a half-dozen member breweries including Brick, Mill Street and Walkerville. While pegged by some critics (including me) as being a bit too heavy on the pale lagers, the package was a sell-out success, and a second package followed in November 2008 that offered a bit more stylistic variety, including darker ales from Black Oak and Cameron's, and the unique Nickel Brook Apple Pilsner.

And now, right on schedule, a third Discovery Pack has just hit the shelves (LCBO 137067 - $14.95/6x473 mL), and this time there's a new twist: the beers are in cans.

This decision makes sense given the LCBO's increasing interest in stocking canned beers, especially for single unit products. And since the six in this package - Trafalgar Paddy's Irish Red, Muskoka Cream Ale, Nickel Brook Organic Lager, Great Lakes Devil's Pale Ale, Wellington County Dark Ale and Neustadt Lager - are available as singles at many LCBO outlets, those who find a beer or two that they really enjoy in the set will be able to easily grab a few more on their next trip to the store. Although anyone who especially likes the can of Nickel Brook Organic Lager that they find in this mixed pack may be surprised if they pick up a single, as they'll discover them to be two quite different beers.

Or at least they'll seem that way, even though technically, they're the same beer. What's different in the way they've been prepared for packaging. While the beer in the loose cans has been filtered before canning, Nickel Brook decided to offer an unfiltered version of the lager in the Discovery Pack. This isn't the first time this has been done in Ontario - just a few months ago, Creemore Springs Kellerbier, a fantastic unfiltered lager, was released in limited quantities. But it's still not very common practice, which is too bad, as it often makes for a better beer.

Of course, "better" is based on personal preference. The suspended yeasts and proteins in unfiltered beers cause them to appear quite hazy, which can turn some people off. But those who get past the appearance will often enjoy the slightly fuller body and more complex flavour of the beer. In the case of the Nickel Brook Organic, a beer that is usually tasty and refreshing but somewhat unexciting, the unfiltered version is so unique that in a side-by-side comparison, many would probably peg it as being an entirely different product. The yeast gives the slight murky copper beer a distinctive bready character, and the finish is tart and even a little funky in a way that reminds me (and others) of some Belgian beers. While it may not be practical for them to do it, I'd be quite happy to see Nickel Brook replace their regular Organic Lager with this unfiltered version, or at least offer it as a semi-regular option outside of the Discovery Pack.

Speaking of the Pack, it should be noted that the five other beers that are included  have their merits as well. Neustadt Lager and Paddy's Irish Red are clean, crisp and tasty lagers; Muskoka Cream is a smooth and well-balanced golden ale; and Wellington County and Great Lakes Devil's are both darker and fuller-flavoured ales. There's still a valid case to be made that a little more variety would be nice; personally, I would've skipped Muskoka Cream Ale since it already appeared in the first edition, and swapped in their Hefe-Weissbier or Dark Ale. But those quibbles aside, it still offers a nice sampling of Ontario's microbrews, and hopefully it'll win a few more converts for the craft beer cause.