The wanderer returns to a nice surprise!

After almost five years in Toronto, the family and I have decided to return to Ireland. It was a tough decision but the right one for us. So it's farewell to Canada and hello to Ireland.

Now - onto the beer scene. Upon leaving Ireland in 2007 it was a pretty dismal scene, there were but a few (yet dedicated) pubs flying the craft beer flag, The Bull and Castle, The Porterhouse, The Abbot's Ale House and Messrs Maguire off the top of my head are the only pubs doing anything noteworthy (apologies if I'm leaving anyone out) and there were a handful of really good off licenses in Dublin. I struggled to get to 200 ratings on Ratebeer.

All the time I was away I kept involved in Beoir so I was aware of some of the changes happening. Upon my return I am astounded at the sheer volume of changes that have happened, it's just gone from strength to strength! I'm splitting my time at the moment between Dublin and Galway and will be working in Dublin as of next week returning to Galway at weekends. Here in Galway we have great pubs such as The Oslo, The Salthouse, The Cottage and The Scholars Rest leading the charge (all sister pubs which have other sister pubs in Dublin which I'll mention later) with amazingly 'Tig Neachtain's' having their own stout and wheat beer being made for them by Galway Hooker (warning, horrible flash site)  and my-oh-my the Bonaparte's Stout is phenomenal.

Dublin is now becoming a craft beer haven with old pubs but new comers to the craft beer scene really raising the bar, Farringtons in Temple Bar being an absolute craft beer must visit in Dublin ( I had bourbon barrel aged Leann Follain on cask there and it was sublime). Sister to the Galway pubs mentioned earlier is Against the grain, The black sheep and The brew dock making that chain a practical monopoly in Ireland on craft beer pubs. All offer a huge range of Irish brews on tap as well as international and local bottles and cask when available.

It's great to see these places staffed with people who are genuinely interested and passionate about craft beer and who are all making a conscious effort to change the face of the Irish pub and beer scene.

Needless to say, I'm happy to be back.

Now for the gratuitous Ireland pics..

Selection available at a little restaurant in Galway

O'Connor's Famous pub - Salthill

Cask at Bull & Castle

Volo Cask Days 2009

I can't believe it's that time of year again. Volo Cask Days marks my almost 2 year anniversary in Canada. Volo has become the number one beer bar in Toronto, in fact I'd almost hazard to say, Ontario over the past few years. Owner Ralph Morana, his wife, sons and their staff put an almost religious like commitment into ensuring that the yearly Cask Days event runs like a well oiled machine.

This year saw a change of the usual events and had a 'Cask Week' running up to the main event with a number of different casks available in traditional UK styles. This was an excellent opportunity to enjoy some fine cask goodness in the relaxed atmosphere of pre cask days in Volo. I attended on Monday with my good friend Harry (@hogtownharry on Twitter) and on Tuesday with my other good pal Paul (@paulbazinet). On these days I gave the following brews a try:

F&M Stonehammer Porter
Mike Duggans #6 ESB
MacLeans Battle X ESB
Magnotta Festa Best Bitter
Ste. Andre Brass Monkey Ordinary Bitter

The real cask challenge for me was to be on the Friday, I had tickets to both sessions and had my eye on the prize i.e. try as many of the interesting brews as possible!

Friday came along and I'm delighted to report I managed to try 22 other brews, I'll have to go through my notes to check which ones, but this is what was available:


ONTARIO EAST
Scotch Irish Brewing Company - Black Plain Strawberry Porter
Heritage Brewing Company - Hop Fresh 2009
Beau 's All Natural Brewing - Tommy Gun Pale (Caba Caba Hey) / Night Märzen Aged in Wood Cask
County Cider* - Waupoos Cider
Barley Days - Harvest Gold Pale Ale
Church Key - Purple Loosestrife Mead / Oaked Islay V Scotch Ale
Publican House* - McHenry Red Ale

ONTARIO NORTH EAST
Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery - 2009 Harvest Ale
Hockley Valley - Peanut Butter and Jam Ale
Flying Monkey* - Netherworld India Pale Porter
King - Dry Hopped/Unflitered Pilsner
Black Creek* - Traditional Pumpkin Ale
Magnotta - Festa Best Bitter (Dry hopped mid Atlantic Pale Ale)

ONTARIO NORTH WEST
Thornbury Village* - Peeler Cider
Battleaxe Brewery* - Old Angus Old Ale
F&M Brewery - Nightmare On Ale Street
Wellington - Iron Duke Strong Ale
Grand River - Highballer Pumpkin Ale

ONTARIO SOUTH WEST
Railway City - Dead Elephant Ale
Stratford - Empire Strikes Black
Niagara’s Best - Portage Pale Ale
TAPS Brewing Company* - Rosberg's Porter (Dry Hopped)
Nickel Brook - Wooden Nickel IPA
Trafalgar - Pickled Corpse
Cameron's - Vanilla Dark Ale

ONTARIO (TORONTO)
Mill St. - 08/09 Blend Barley Wine (Dry Hopped)
Granite Brewery - Gin Lane Barley Wine
Duggan's Brewery* - Duggan’s #7 Stout
Denison’s - Dunkel from a Wood Barrel (Not Cask-Conditioned) Session 3A Only
Durham Brewing Company - Black Eye Ale
Amsterdam - Oaked Oktoberfest 2009
Great Lakes - Morning Glory Breakfast Stout
Great Lakes & BarVolo - Matt’s Marathon Mild
Black Oak - Lime Light Pale
Cheshire Valley Brewing* - Ginger-Lime Ale
St. Andre - Freshly Squeezed Barley Juice

GUEST (QUEBEC & ENGLAND)
Brasserie Benelux* - Amato Texas Reserve Brown
Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! - Corne Diable IPA / Péché Mortel / Penombre Black IPA
Brasserie Hopfenstark - Post Colonial IPA
Fullers - London Pride Pale Ale / Extra Special Bitter / India Pale Ale / Red Fox Red Ale

Thanks to Volo's great patience with the 'ticker' we were all given a pint glass to keep as part of the entry fee and were able to buy 1/4, 1/2 and full pints of each brew - perfect for the tickers and the newbies alike.

Surprisingly enough, one of the best beers of the fest for me was the Hockley Valley - Peanut Butter and Jam Ale. Deliciously nutty with actual peanut butter and jam notes. Crazy.

Hopefully over the next coming days I'll have some of the beer reviews ready to post. In the meantime, here's some pretty pictures.

 

 

The Ceili Cottage

An eagerly awaited newcomer to the Toronto pub scene. This truly is as close to a pub in Ireland as you’ll get outside the Emerald Isle. From the 2 million year old bar made from granite from Ireland, to the oyster shells embedded in the concrete on the patio, this truly is a taste of home for me. The owner Patrick McMurray has done a fine job of this place, the food is all made in house (even the sausages!) and they have fresh oysters from Canada and Ireland.

There are 12 taps, 4 Irish and the rest are rotating Ontario brews and a real ale cask. The staff are a fantastic bunch and certainly always friendly and willing to help. There’s different events each evening from live Irish trad music sessions, match making evenings to shuck your own oyster nights. This has become my favourite pub in Toronto by far and is a home away from home, right down to the Irish turf burner that scents the place evoking memories of home. This is a must visit in Toronto.

www.ceilicottage.com

The Perfect day

Picture this...It's a Saturday morning. You're sitting at home. Nothing on the TV. You're bored. A text message arrives noisily on your phone. You read it: 'Pints?'is all it says, you reply 'where, when?' and back you receive 'The local,NOW'..

An excitement starts to build in your stomach, butterflies start to flutter their wings. You jump up, quickly shower, get dressed and out the door.You're walking to the pub. It's cold but you don't mind. It's the thought of the pint that's getting you going. You're walking quickly, purposely. You stop at an ATM, you fumble in your wallet for your card. You try and insert it the wrong way, finally with cold numb fingers you shove it in and greedily finger your PIN. There's a shot of panic after you choose your required sum 'Do I have enough in there' you think.... before you finish your thought, the familiar and relieving rumble of clean, crisp money emulates from the machine. It jumps out of the slot and you cram it into your battered wallet.

You're on your way again. Down the street you go, ever faster, the excitement is starting to make its way to your mouth and a small but noticeable grin appears on your cold, rosy face. The pub looms in the distance. Almost there, you pick up the speed.Not quite jogging, but not quite walking either. You dread meeting someone you know on the street as you don't want to stop for idle chit-chat.

You arrive.You open the door. The warmth and atmosphere of the bar envelopes you. You breath a sigh of relieve. You're home. You look around the bar, there's the usual faces, happy and engrossed in their own conversations.

You're the first of your mates to arrive. The barman nods to you. 'A pint' you say.'I'll drop it over' his reply. You take a seat. Jacket off. He selects a dry, clean glass and pauses before he places it under the tap. You hold your breath, just for a moment. But you do. He pours. The brown liquid flows into the glass, he caresses the glass gently before placing it down to settle. You can see the brown swirls settling into black.

You take out some coins and jingle them nervously in your hand. It's almost ready.He tops it up and passes it to the lounge girl to take to your table. She stops to talk to another punter on the way to your seat. She's laughing with him. You're edgy, almost mentally willing her on her way to you. She arrives. The pint is placed in front of you. You thrust the coins into her hand, not even acknowledging her thanks for allowing her to pocket the small change.

It's now just you and the pint. Nothing else. Time stands still until you wait for the perfect moment to raise the glass.You marvel at it's colour and weight and at the head sitting proudly on top.You put it to your lips. They are dry and eager... and swallow. The black magic rolls down your throat, you can feel all your senses become alive,your face flushes and your heart sings. The laughter from the two men in the corner seems like some strange far away song. Your senses soar. You replace the pint to its place on the table. Condensation runs down the glass and you trace your finger along a cool drop.

The doors open, the lads have arrived, there's hugs and handshakes, laughter and shouts and talk of many more pints to come. You sit back, relax and smile to yourself. Today is going to be a perfect day.