Toronto Beer Week continued ...

In continuation to my last post, I was lucky enough to attend a few more events.

'The Indie Alehouse' brewery launch at 'The Burger Bar' (my new local bar!)  where they showcased their Instigator Pale Ale: west coast style IPA and their Leadership Qualities: Breakfast Porter both which were a stellar start to this new brewery and a sign of great things to come.

Next up was the 'Toronto Beer Week Pub Crawl' where I joined the group of revellers at 'The Victory Cafe' for a quick pint of Spearhead Hawaiian Pale Ale before moving on the brand new premises of 'Smokeless Joes' - what a treat it was. The boys over at Joes opened their doors a few days early specifically to accommodate us.  With a great tap line up and a great new space, things are looking very bright.

The new Smokeless Joes

Finally it was over to Bar Volo for the 3rd annual Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel! Tap take over where there was no less than 12 taps and 7 Dieu Du Ciel! products available. Volo was packed to the rafters and had a special licence to open to 0400hrs and although I was in slumberland by midnight, I heard it was packed until closing.

Although this year I didn't attend as many events as last year I still had an absolute blast. The Toronto beer scene has exploded in my 3.5 years in Canada, I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Some of my choices during the DDC tap take over

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.