I like beer. I like barbecue. I really like them together. So when I found out that NOW was a sponsor of the second annual Hart House Craft Beer Festival and Summer BBQ, well, you couldn’t keep me away.
The trade-off? I had to take notes for this piece, which isn’t easy when one is trying to juggle plates of truly amazing pork products and a little sippy cup of beer that the nice people keep refilling. But dammit, I’m a professional.
Here’s what I’ve been able to decode from my notebook:
- All of the evening’s pork products were supplied by Niagara Food Specialties, and served by people who could tell you the provenance of the porchetta they were feeding you. “If it’s pig, it’s ours,” explained the friendly Niagara rep as he handed me my third or fourth slice of delicate, intensely flavoured prosciutto (wrapped around a sturdy breadstick) and pointed me towards the massive barbecue pit, where enthusiastic squad of grillers turned out exquisite little sausage and porchetta sandwiches.
- The side dishes – including artisanal poutine, rice and beans, jerk chicken wings and an excellent heirloom-potato salad – were all provided by Hart House’s in-house chefs, who also came up with a surprisingly good vegetarian option of mock chicken strips prepared with the same jerk marinade used for those wings.
- You know how the Toronto Festival of Beer started off as a convivial celebration of craft brewing and gradually turned into a loud, stupid showcase for big corporations eager to introduce the latest Bud variant to drunken frat guys? Yeah, well, that’s why I stopped going. Also, watching someone vomit a gutload of Mott’s Red Eye right in front of you is a total buzzkill. Give me a smaller venue, a higher ticket price and a group of people who actually bother to taste what they’re drinking any day of the week.
Which brings us to the beer.
- Nice Drops I’d Previously Encountered: Black Oak‘s bouncy Summer Saison Hockley Valley‘s deep, rich stout Great Lakes Brewery‘s sprightly Orange Peel Ale Wellington‘s ever-ready pair of Arkell Best Bitter and County Dark Ale. And the fine folks at Steam Whistle continue to rock the pilsner that unique popcorn aftertaste satisfies something very primal inside of me.
- Screw Bud Lime Mill Street’s Lemon Tea ale is the perfect marriage of a light summer beer and bright citrus tang. So new that it hasn’t even been added to the Mill Street website, you’ll have a hard time finding it anywhere but the Distillery District let’s hope they decide to make a lot more of it next summer.
- Grand River’s Russian Gun Imperial Stout: I have only just met you, and I love you. You’re a great big coffee-and-chocolate-flavoured pillow into which I would happily plunge at the end of a busy day. (Warning: Pillow is 9% alcohol by volume do not attempt to operate heavy machinery after use. Come to think of it, don’t even try walking your dog.) The brewery’s Mill Race Mild was quite good as well.
- Finally, Lug Tread, a “lagered ale” from Beau’s All-Natural Brewing Company, was the revelation of the night. I’d never heard of this Ottawa-area brewery before, but they do magnificent work, and I’d be delighted to see Lug Tread and Beau’s darker seasonal Festiv-Ale turn up at local craft-beer meccas like Volo, the Victory Cafe and Smokeless Joe. Could someone get on that? Just give me a couple of days to get my strength back, and I’ll be ready.
