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On Sunday April 17th I attended a Barley’s Angels Brewster Series talk & tasting with Mill Street Brewpub’s Bridgid Young. The Brewster Series is part of the Barley’s Angels Toronto Chapter’s educational events roster. This series introduces attendees to four female brewers under 30. From Barleysangels.ca:

In this series of four talks, each brewster will share her story and her passion for beer. There will be an introductory beer and tasty appetizers served. The talks will then be followed by a guided tasting of four beers, led the brewster as well as the Barley’s Angels Toronto Chapter organizer, Certified Cicerone™ Mirella Amato.

The three other brewsters featured include:
– Jennifer Robitaille, Magnotta Brewery (February 20th)
– Mary Beth Keefe, Granite Brewery (March 20th)
– Erica Graholm, Steam Whistle Brewery (May 15th)

Barley’s Angels is an off-shoot of the Pink Boots Society®, whose mission is “to inspire, encourage and empower women to become professionals and advance their careers in the Beer Industry, mainly through education.”

Sunday’s women-only event took place at at The Twisted Kilt pub in Davisville. In all, we tasted five beers from Mill Street, alongside some delish nosh courtesy of the Kilt. Mirella and Bridgid guided us through the tastings, encouraging us to imagine what other foods we would pair with the beer. Bridgid used to be a winemaker at Angel’s Gate in Beamsville before she began working with Mill Street. Considering herself an urban farmer, she is an advocate for local, sustainable, artisan food & drink. This is what makes Mill Street such a good fit for her.

Mill Street Brewpub has it all: unique, complex products served in a casual yet upmarket gastropub, wrapped up in fantastic branding that remains consistent on all levels and is compatible with their physical surroundings. Located in Toronto’s Historic Distilley District, Mill Street echoes the past whilst presenting itself as a trail-blazer for the craft beer scene.

THIS JUST IN: Mill Street Brewpub will be offering a new event series that I am SO excited to attend: every second Monday of the month they will feature artisnal Ontario cheeses paired with Mill Street beers. YAY!

Mill Street’s former brewmaster now runs Duggan’s on Victoria Street. I believe this is the spot where Growler’s used to be, years ago. (My first wheat beer was had there. Tasted like bananas.)

Mirella asked our group if we considered Ontario a lager province, or if more people were coming over to the craft movement? The educated palate of the interested consumer is indeed creating a demand for more craft beers, but I believe on the whole, we are a lager province. When I think of taste afficiandos, I think more of wine than beer. However, a lot of craft beers are barrel-aged and flavoured, bringing those wine lovers over to the golden side. These new flavoured, fruity beers are appealing to men and women alike. Bridgid said she’s seen many men in suits sipping tulip glasses of Frambozen at the Brewpub! Bridgid herself enjoys a smoked malt beer, with texture and “soul.”

Did you know that beer was invented before wine? Making it the original beverage of the gods. But Mirella explained that the reason we in North America do not pair our foods with beer the way we do with wine, is because in the past, the only “fancy” restaurants we had this side of the Atlantic were French or Italian – both strong wine-based cuisines. And so, we came to associate good food with wine. Not beer. But with craft beer’s expansion in the minds of the alcoholic beverage consumer, it is gaining ground. Craft beer needs more outreach endeavours to educate consumers.

Some basic notes for pairing beer and food:

– Typically an ale can be paired where a red wine would be, and a lager where a white.
– Pay attention to the colour of your beer. A lighter colour should be paired with a lighter-coloured main. For example, a stout with a steak, versus a lager with chicken.
– Your beer should be equal to or sweeter than the food, or else your beer will taste bitter.
– Beer tasting notes are much more approachable than wine tasting notes, and so should take a lot of the guess-work out of pairing with food. Beer is often described as having hints of chocolate or coffee, as being hoppy or smoky…compared to wine descriptors like “wet stone” or leather. (Unless you want to pair your wine with your shoes or your patio!)

Here are the five beers we tasted, with tasting notes by Bridgid Young, alongside my personal recommendation for food pairing:

Mill St. Ginger Beer 5.0%abv Deep orange liquid with a dense, white creamy head. Very prominent ginger aroma on the nose, with some slightly floral hop character and a strong malty structure. Smooth across the palate. The malt shines near the end, just as the heat of the ginger and the hops completely dry out the finish. Refreshing and well-balanced.

Pairs well with (duh) dark chocolate covered crystallized ginger, oysters, and would be an amazing thirst-quenching summer lager. I want one right now!

Mill St. Pilsner 5.0% abv A golden amber Czech style Pilsner. The nose is very balanced between malt and hop character – bready and biscuity malts balanced by spicy, grassy Saaz hops and a whiff of sulfur. On the palate the malt shows as grain and biscuit, while the hop intensity builds to offer a spicy, almost floral note. Fresh and clean with a dry finish.

Would pair well with a paella or apple-cider pulled pork. It has a rosewater finish, and would also be amazing with steamed crab legs.

Mill St. Helles Bock 7.0% abv A strong German lager with a golden orange colour. The malt character on the nose is very bready, toasty with some caramel notes. There are also aromas of currants, marmalade and heady grapes [concord or muscat]. The palate is medium bodied with sweet caramel malt, honey, grains and flowers and apples. It is a little sweet and dense on the mid palate, and then finishes dry and spicy with a peppery, anise character.

Not everyone at my tasting table agreed with me, but I would pair this beer with breakfast! Scones, clotted cream, and traditional British hunt marmalade. But if I *had* to eat it with lunch or dinner, it would be with applewood smoked cheddar or the always-pairable apple-cider pulled pork. With an apple & celeriac slaw. On an egg brioche. Just sayin.

Mill St. IPA 6.2% abv An English style IPA that pours a rich copper colour. This beer has a serious malt profile, rich and dense with biscuit, caramel, bready, nutty and toasted malt character. English hops offer an earthy complexity with a hunt of spice. True to style, this beer displays a crisp, plaster-like character that shines against the richness of the malt. Medium bodied, balanced and clean, this is a dangerously sessionable beer.

This very complex beer would pair best with a ploughman’s lunch or charcuterie platter, so that with each bite of food, a different flavour in the beer will be highlighted. Spicy chorizo, dark Mayan chocolate, even a salty pretzel would each bring out a different flavour. However, there are so many flavours in his IPA, I am of the mind that I wouldn’t pair it with anything because I would like to keep the beer as the star, not the co-star, of the meal.

Mill St. Frambozen 5.5% abv A raspberry wheat beer that shines a beautful deep red with a thick white head. The nose is fresh, sharp and all about the raspberries. With a nod to the wheat malt, the palate is creamy and dense, with fresh berry flavours and tart malic acidity to balance out the sweetness of the fruit. Refreshing and delicious.

This beer surprised me. I was expecting something like Frulï, but it was thin and hardly sweet at all. What it did taste like, once I got rid of my pre-conceived notions, was lager mixed with fresh raspberries. Would be great with chocolate mousse, strawberry-rhubarb pie, or a spinach/strawberry/goat’s cheese salad. (Yes, beer goes with salad!)

The moral of this story is, if all you know about Mill Street Brewery is their Organic lager, it’s time you expanded your beer-horizons. As most of their beers can only be purchased at the pub, and not in the LCBO or The Beer Store, you will need to head over to the Brewpub to try Mill Street’s full line-up. But believe you me, it’s worth the streetcar ride to the Distillery.

STAY TUNED: Mill Street will be opening their next Brewpub in Ottawa this summer.

For more information on Barley’s Angels or Mirella Amato, visit www.barleysangels.ca or www.beerology.ca.

Cheers,

x

I’m tired of writing poems
about the weather
trying to tell you
about the robins
on the lawn yesterday
around suppertime
or the wind
warm for once

Even if it is
the second day of Spring
I never believe you when you say
the forecast calls for sun
not until May at least
when these winds die down
and the ground under the robins
is less muddy

~ c.p.grisold

I know I have been rather sh*t at blogging lately, and I also know this does not suffice, but I present to you on this sunny Spring Saturday a Weekly Digest of some charming events and occurences around the city of Toronto in which I partook:

Tuesday April 5th
I attended a Cape Breton Ceilidh at Roy Thompson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Barra MacNeils. Drank a Guinness in my seat (the sacrelig!), clapped along to some fiddles, held back the tears when they played a piece from Titanic, sang along to the sing-along (These Irish eyes are smiling…), LOVED the BM’s rendition of “Darling Be Home Soon” (one of my fav songs), and generally had a toe-tapping good time with the old folks and my friend MH.

Wednesday April 6th
Went to the Brewer’s Plate with J and ME. Unfortunately I did not have as great a time as I expected. The venue (Wychwood Barns) was too small, the room layout was not practical (rounds in the centre where everyone was walking from station to station, so if you sat down you felt in the way, and if you stood you felt in the way), the food was paired with beers but the people pouring hardly ever explained the tasting notes (it was just too busy I think), lots of line-ups, and the STRANGEST performance art that I just didn’t quite understand the premise of. However, that being said, I did meet some great people, local brewers and beer afficiandos. I just was hoping for an environment that was a tad more civilised and not an expensive indoor Beer Fest (not knocking Toronto’s Festival of Beer – I bought my tickets to the August 2011 event last December).

Friday April 8th
Afterwork drinks at Brassaii on King West with ME. I had a “Not Your Average Joe” (Hendrick’s and cucumber), and ME had a “Bad Moon Rising” (with fresh berry puree). Then we had Plymouth London Gin and tonics (ME with lime, me with lemon). Plymouth London Gin is my fav gin for G&Ts. It’s so smooth. Hendrick’s is my altime fav gin, but I will only mix it in delicate circumstances by experienced hands; otherwise will have it with water. After Brassaii, I headed to Elixir Organic Spa for a body treatment that was part of a Groupon deal. LOVE GROUPON. It decides my social life for me. This deal included a chocolate body wrap, massage, and anti-aging facial. I really shouldn’t have drank gin before the treatment, because the detoxifying effects kicked in shortly after I left and I felt AWFUL. Told ME I was never drinking again. And this time I meant it.

Saturday April 9th
Obviously did not mean what I said the day prior, because went for brunch with ME at Bloor Street Diner, and had a delightful table red (La Vieille Ferme) and a pint of Stella Légère (much better tasting than regular Stella). I also had moules-frites in a coconut-curry sauce. So good! Then we wandered over to the Village for a bit. Tonight I am off to De Luca Fine Art | Gallery for the opening reception of Juno Yuon’s “Made in Montreal: En considérant le monde différents” exhibit. The trans-avant-garde artist’s work is on display at De Luca until April 30th.

Tomorrow’s plans include a walk in High Park with the rents and the wiener dog, then consulting with a client about sponsorship for their upcoming art events. And, of course, finishing Sunday night off with Bob’s Burgers and a bubble bath.

TTFN
x

Last Saturday I attended iYellow Wine Club’s Star-Studded Wine Tour of Niagara. The premise was to experience celebrity labels in the Niagara region, including the estates of Mike Weir, Dan Aykroyd, Steven-and-Chris, and Wayne Gretzky.

Our tour group met at the Starbucks in Liberty Village, around 9:30am, where we were signed in by Angela Aiello (the founder of iYellow, a take on the pronunciation her name). Enough time to grab a much-needed Earl Grey, we then boarded the coach, Gardiner-bound. It was quite a civilised ride: sun sparkles on the lake, fun music playing over the speakers, my copy of The Globe and Mail telling me all I need to know about what’s wrong with Toronto. The bus was full of a mix of people: middle-aged ladies, twentysomething boys & girls, singles and couples, friends and siblings. Ange and her organizers were fun and laid-back, bringing a casual approach to wine that is not usually there. iYellow’s mandate is to help you increase your wine confidence, and to learn about viticulture and viniculture in a fun way. Growing up in the Niagara region blessed Ange with many more years’ experience in the industry that her age would belie. And this experience, coupled with her passion for all things oenological, prevents you from being completely jealous when you find out all the amazing things her career enables her to do (such as go to Italy with Inniskillin Winery co-founder Donaldo Ziraldo).

Oh, and to also take people like me on their first wine tour of Niagara (embarrassing as it is to admit, being the self-professed gourmand that I am).

During the hour-long ride around the shore of Lake Ontario into wine country, Ange gave us some “Wine 101” lessons over the PA, such as, for those of you who weren’t aware, the VQA label on your bottle of wine means that it was made 100% from Ontario grapes. Most “Canadian” wine is actually a blend of International grapes with Canadian, because our growing climate does not allow for farmers/winemakers to keep up with our consumption demands. Until Paul Bosc (who founded Château des Charmes in 1978) figured out how to grow French grapes here, all wines made in Ontario came from concord grapes. Yes, the Welch’s kind. Makes for great juice, but great wine not so much.

In the LBCO, these International-Canadian Blends were actually labelled as Canadian, misleading the buyer. Today, you may have noticed, the shelves are now divided into Canadian and International-Canadian. Buying a blended wine is not necessarily a bad thing. The mass sales of these wines have subsidized the industry, and allowed boutique vineyards to develop (all vineyards pay a market share fee, depending on their size).

Another reason why wineries use international grapes is because a good crop season demands 100 full days of sun… something we can’t guarantee with our weather system. Ontario falls into the “cool” climate category (the other being “warm”), which makes us great for growing some wines, but not so great at others.

Wines we are known for:

– Riesling
– Sauvignon Blanc
– Chardonnay
– Pinot Noir
– Cabernet Franc

And, of course, la pièce de résistance, Icewine.

Our icewine is considered the best in the world; even though it was actually Germans who invented it. However, Germany can’t guarantee the needed growing temperatures like Ontario can. Icewine requires three days of -8 degrees before it is harvested – at night, and by hand. With the ratio of one drop of juice for every grape picked, icewine production is about 1/6th as efficient as other wines. Hence the hefty price tag. A good compromise for those with icewine cravings, without the icewine savings, would be late harvest vidal.

Niagara’s terroir is also beneficial for wine production because of the effects of the lake and the escarpment – the latter providing limestone deposits that enrich the soil and subsequently the wine with a rich mineral flavour and bouquet. Without Lake Ontario the region would be too cold to grow grapes; the lake captures warm air through the summer, holding onto it like a reservoir, and then releases it in the winter along the Niagara shoreline (where the majority of vineyards are situated). Many vineyards have invested in windmills positioned throughout the growing area (with a $30,000 price tag per unit) that circulate the warm air rising out of the soil, back down onto the grapes. Thirty thousand dollars per windmill may seem like quite an investment, but when it takes on average seven years to get good fruit out of a new vineyard, a grower is not going to let a pesky thing like the weather stop those harvests from continuing to produce.

Another advantage Ontario vineyards have is that the Niaraga-on-the-Lake region is quite flat, which enables growers to machine-pick their grapes – as opposed to the vineyards in France, for example. (Vineland region, constrastly, is hilly and subsequently has to be hand-picked.)

A lot of the grapevines grown in Niagara are actually grafted with vines from France. This is how the Californian wine industry got started too – a tidbit of info that I enjoy using in defence of New World Wines against those from Old World fans that claim we can’t compete. When I read Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine, I learnt also that there was a bug that wiped out a lot of the French vines back in the days of yore and the way they fixed this problem was to graft their vines onto Californian vines, so technically the Old and New Worlds are so intertwined, the only real difference, it could be argued, is terroir and oak.

Most wines are aged in either French or American oak – French passing on a more subtle flavouring than its outre-mer cousin that imparts an immediate, strong bouquet and palate. These barrels are often “toasted,” the process whereby the barrel walls are charred. Sometimes the top and bottom are also toasted, which is where the phrase “toasted head” comes from. Toasting is another way of augmenting the flavour, imparting a mellow oak character to both red and white wines. Some whites are aged in stainless steel vats; although the majority of reds are aged in oak, there are some aged in stainless, such as the wines from Ontario label Naked Grape.

All wine actually starts out white when first pressed into juice from any type of grape. The colour comes from contact with the grape skins; a rosé having much less contact than a merlot.

During our “Wine 101” lessons, Ange asked us all what our favourite wines were. I was surprised by the number of tour participants that did not have a favourite varietal; quite a few of them admitted to being new to wine as a whole. Most people can tell you if they prefer red to white, but newbies often have a hard time expressing why. Ange offers a simple solution to winetasting, that she calls her “5 S’s”:

Step One: Sight
Look at the wine for colour and clarity.

Step Two: Swirl
Aerate the wine, and allow oxygen to release its aroma. Also, pay attention to the “legs” of the wine: a.k.a. the way it runs down the side of the glass after you swirl. The slower the run, the higher the sugar content (on average).

Step Three: Smell
Take short repetitious sniffs as opposed to deep inhales, or you may suffer “nasal fatigue”! Try to recognize some scents such as citrus fruit, berries, or spice. These elements are not actually in the wine, but the fermenting process allows the product to take on similar characteristics.

Step Four: Sip
With your first sip, take in some air through your pursed lips and then use the wine as a mouthwash to cleanse your palate, getting rid of any flavours you may already have on your tongue. Never judge a wine on its first sip!

Step Five: Savour
Think about the wine you are drinking; it’s not water, and not meant to be glugged down. Savour it, and consider how you feel about it. Would you drink it again? Buy it? Recommend it to your friends? Pair it with a special meal?

Ange’s philosophy is you don’t have to know everything about wine, you just have to know what you like.

A Star-Studded Wine Tour of Niagara continues in Part Two…

On Tuesday March 22nd, 2011, Roy Thomson Hall hosted OVATION: Celebrating Classical Music at the JUNO Awards. Presented by Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian, the evening honoured Canada’s contribution to the classical genre with performances by some of this nation’s best, including Anton Keurti who won the very first JUNO for classical music in 1977 and who is also an Officer of the Order of Canada. Other guests included soprano Measha Brueggergosman, violinist Lara St. John, cellist Winona Zelenka, and the Gryphon Trio.

You’d think, with a line-up like that, Roy Thomson Hall would have been sold out. Especially considering the turn-out that the TSO receives for non-Canadians such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma (although the Toronto Music Garden was designed by him). I expected a celebration of Canadian classical music to draw a much larger crowd. In fact, in all my years of attending symphonies at RTH, I have never seen it so sparsely populated. (Even the line-ups for drinks at intermission were short. Gasp.)

But in a way, the small crowd only added to the experience.

Upon entrance to the hall, the stage was set with only two pianos and sporadic chairs. The empty seats around the rear of the stage, and along the sides, increased the feel of vacancy and decreased the distraction of capacity. Sat in the centre of row “A,” my view was of the stage alone. Usually seated in the mezzanine or balcony, I enjoy taking in the crowd, the orchestra in its entirety, the event as experience. But last night, I felt almost as if I had snuck into a private dress rehearsal. It was vulnerable, candid, self-deprecating; it was Canadian.

Immediately, cellist Winona Zelenka commenced the sorrowful “Prelude” from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 in D; its ethereal strings echoing out into the void of space.

Peter Oundjian took the stage upon Winona’s completion, introducing the event and the next performers, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. For a Baroque lover (if it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it!), nothing could lighten the mood more than an uplifting Vivaldi. And to top it off, the selection, Concerto for Two Violins in A Major, Op. 3, No. 5, Allegro – Largo, was taken from Tafelmusik’s recent “Galileo Project”! An incredible interplay of music and images from the Hubble Space Telescope. “The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres” is also a performance that Tafelmusik has taken around the globe. Using historical instruments, “Tafelmusik was a time-machine […] sweeping the audience out of its seats and back to that magic period between 1650 and 1750” (The Royal Gazette, Bermuda, January 1999). Never failing to provide a feast of song, the Orchestra transported me last night, as it did its audience in 1999, back to the heart of the 17th century. If only I could don a lavish gown, be drunk off jugs of wine and full of swan, venison, and wild boar… dancing ’til dawn to the strumming Baroque guitar.

Sigh.

But returning to the 21st century, and the celebration of Canadian music, Peter Oundjian reminded us that more JUNOs have been handed out for classical music than any other genre. We have an outstanding pool of talent in Canada, including R. Murray Schafer, who composed the Duo for Violin and Piano; the “Third Movement: With Great Vigour and Intensity” of which was performed by St. John’s musicians Duo Concertante.

Mr. Oundjian joked about Schafer’s inclination to quip, especially when naming his pieces. And his Third Movement was no exception. The struggle between piano and violin was SO vigorous and SO intense it transcended mortal conflict and became a testiment of freewill versus determinism; order versus chaos; reason versus the absurd.

Providing a rest after that tense performance were the Gryphon Trio, with Beethoven’s “Ghost.” Ludwig just has a way about the piano. A delicacy that is only his. (Although, at times, also an intensity.) In “Ghost,” the apparition’s ivory fingers played through pianist Jamie Parker, softly drifting between Annalee Patipatanakoon’s violin and Roman Borys’ cello, as they brought the Allegro to life. Astor Piazzolla’s Las cuatro estaciones porteño followed.

Concluding the first half of the evening, Lara St. John took the stage, accompanied by Serouj Kradjian on piano. Lara’s latest album Mozart, a collaboration with her brother Scott St. John and The Knights, is nominated for Classical Album of the Year. Performing the world premiere of “Falling” from Russian Evening Suite, composed by Gene Pritsker, the passionate violinist played with eyes wide shut. Her presentation was aggressive at times; then sorrowful. It was pained. Russian. And fell to barely a whisper on both keys and string.

Following intermission, Winona Zelenka again set the mood for the remainder of this intimate celebration, by performing Gaspar Cassadó’s Suite for Solo Cello. The legendary pianist Anton Kuerti took the stage next, with Felix Mendelssohn’s Fantaisie in F-sharp Minor. Any one of the night’s performers could have held their own for the entire event, but none so much as Anton. Alone with his Steinway, playing without sheets, history tickled every guest. And rivalling Anton’s talent was his humility. Thanked by Peter Oundjian for a performance Anton gave years ago in honour of Peter’s late father, Anton replied, “It was your father’s idea.”

Breaking up the intensity, we were privy to a touch of humour in the form of a scuffling stage hand, desperately failing at obscurity as he set up the music stands for the next act. Exiting to a hearty round of applause, the stage hand graciously bowed to the crowd. Again, an intimate and candid experience one normally does not find amongst the symphonic.

Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà, an all-female ensemble, striking in black and red, consisted of strings and one piano (strangely positioned backwards). Performing the Suite from The Hours, both myself and my companion J experienced evocations of scenes far away from Roy Thomson Hall. For me, the strings rolled in like waves, and I thought of the tsunami washing over Japan. Then the piano entered, rebuilding the wet notes.

Perhaps my imaginings were not too far off, considering the next piece by Armenian chamber ensemble, Amici, of Serouj Kradjian’s Elegy for restive souls, was written in honour of the 20th anniversary of the 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia (then part of the Soviet Union). The performance opened with pizzicato (plucking of the violin strings), like ticking of a clock. Then a very sorrowful clarinet joined, and both were randomly attacked by pounding of piano keys. The clarinet gave a playful, fluttering quality to the piece, with an emotional violin, and cello depth balancing between the two. The piano was clearly the event; the straining of the strings, the tragedy; and the woodwind seemed a survival of the spirit and of nature. The clarinettist played on two instruments; the second more muted than the first.

Serouj clearly composes with the same passion as he performs with on piano.

Finishing off the evening was (my favourite!) soprano Measha Brueggergosman, singing “Le temps des Lilas” from Poème de l’amour et de la mer by Ernest Chausson. Stunningly raw, bare-footed, and clad in a ragged-chic gown by Canadian designer Magpie, Measha commanded the stage like only she can. Her expressions are so powerful they stretch her visceral voice from her diaphragm to the depths of every audience member’s core. She is simply amazing. I have seen her perform “Ode to Joy” at the TSO, and Elletra in Mozart’s Idomeneo with Opera Atelier. She is actually returning to OA for their 25th anniversary season to perform in La Clemenza di Tito from April 22nd to May 1st, 2011.

At the end of the event, Peter Oundjian thanked the sponsors and the contributing designers (aside from Magpie, a few other performers – and Peter himself – wore designs from Canadian Rosemarie Umetsu), and then welcomed Measha Brueggergosman and Lara St. John back to the stage for a surprise Mozart encore!

All things considered, while it may have been an intimate applause, OVATION stood tall as it celebrated Canadian classical music during a JUNO Week fuelled by Drakes and Justin Biebers.

B-b-b-bravo!