With over 300 beers to choose from, Bières Du Monde is not lacking any product. When I arrived for the tasting I was greeted by the Owner, Ryan Bellerive and was offered a small taster to start out with since I was a bit early (I have learned that it’s always best to be early.) Walking around the store before the tasting started, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. Where do I start? Quiz me on Ontario Craft and I can do fairly well but when it comes to Quebec beer… I’m completely in the dark. I was fortunate to meet up with April (A fellow angel, who I have found has similar tastes to myself) who showed me around and told me about ones she had tried.

When everyone had arrived it was explained we would be tasting six products in total, some being ranked the best in the world.

1. MacTavish in Memoriam – Le Trou Du Diable (American Pale Ale)
Pours overall a clear golden. Dense foam, but left minimal lacing. Aromas of citrus with a light hop. The overall taste was quite nice; hop was light, floral notes and slightly fruity (I personally picked up the taste of grapefruit.)

2. Chaman – Dieu du Ciel (Imperial Pale Ale)
Pours an amber colour. Creamy off-white head, which had excellent lacing. Aromas of tea and lemon came to mind. I really enjoyed this beer, it was probably one of my favourites of the evening. I picked up the taste of black tea, nothing overly fruity if anything a bit of orange that would obviously coincide with the tea/herbal taste. Now I can say it didn’t satisfy my hop craving, but I was still happy.

3. Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus – Charlevoix (Belgian Strong Ale)
Pours like champagne, slightly cloudy, bubbly with light foam. Aromas of floral and the obvious Belgian yeast. Taste was sweet, predominate was the Belgian yeast. Most people know I like my bitterness so this is obviously not going to be my personal favourite but I did find it better as it warmed.

4. Porter Baltique – Les Trois Mousquetaires (Baltic Porter)
Pours very dark with thick creamy head. Aromas of roasted coffee and caramel. Reminded me of a deep cherry port my Grandma makes. Heavy coffee taste, caramel, left a smokey after taste. Hands down my new favourite porter, and I’m generally not a fan of them. It was definatly smooth, easy drinking.

5. Le Sang D’Encre – Le Trou Du Diable(Irish Stout)
Pours dark, head disappears quickly and is fairly thin. The beer had a wonderful aroma and I was actually fairly excited to try it. Vanilla and spices, I was ready for a great taste to follow. I have to say I was disappointed, there was nothing to it for me. I kept thinking it had something to do with my palette but I found it to be too light, with one taste that didn’t really follow with anything.

6. Péché Mortel – Dieu du Ciel (Imperial Stout)
Another one of my favourites. Pours dark, slight light hue with limited head. This stout just screamed coffee, from the aroma to the taste. Which makes senses seeing as Dieu du Ciel uses fair trade coffee during the brewing process. If anyone knows me they’ll know I’m a huge coffee fan. We paired this with a chocolate brownie and I was in heaven. A beautiful beer, definitely one to be savored.

Overall I was generally happy with my experience, even if I didn’t necessarily like everything i tried. You can’t like everything, right? I’ll definitely be back to Bières Du Monde soon to stock up on some goodies. I recommend everyone to make the trip there.

Bières Du Monde

Stanley Park Brewery’s newest seasonal beer, Stanley Park Wit

Stanley Park Brewery is proud to present its newest seasonal release, Stanley Park Wit – a true Belgian style Witbier, specially created for local drinkers in British Columbia to enjoy outside this summer with friends or paired with seasonal foods. Stanley Park Wit is a completely natural brew, full of refreshing flavour and an aroma that is distinct, bright, and lightly spiced. With notes of fruit and just a hint of clove, it is everything you would expect from Stanley Park Brewery, and at 5.0% ABV and 16 IBU, it is both approachable and sessionable.

“The hops are what set this finely crafted, Belgian style Witbier apart from a typical German Wiess or Weizen,” says Andy Murison, Vice President of Marketing for Mark Anthony Brands. “We use a precise and deliberate blend that proves a carefully crafted hop profile is not only reserved for IPA’s.”

Stanley Park Wit takes 21 days to brew, and we are proud to give it an extra week to ensure a distinctive and refreshing, residual flavour profile. Wit pairs nicely with drunken mussels and frites, juicy prawn dishes, or contrasting white fish entrees. Enjoy it fresh on a patio, or give it a try with a slice of seasonal fruit!

Find Stanley Park Wit in Cold Beer and Wine Stores in BC now, and on tap at carefully selected restaurants and bars.

Kichesippi Anniversary Party

Last Sunday couldn’t have been a better day to head out to Kichesippi to celebrate their 3 year anniversary. With the snow finally gone it seemed like a great way to kick off the summer-ish weather. I’ve worked with Kichesippi through the restaurant and couldn’t have been happier to go out to show my support when Phil, my old rep contacted me. The night before the anniversary party I attended the Barley’s Angels event in Casselman and had talked to some of the girls about going and was happy to hear that many of them had planned to attend.

I showed up Sunday shortly after noon and first met up with Phil, he offered me a beer (I started off with simple, Kichesippi Natural Blonde) and we talked about the obvious closure of my restaurant, what’s going on with the brewery, and all about Harvey and Vern’s Olde Fashioned Soda.

Harvey and Vern’s Olde Fashioned Sodas are all natural and are produced with real sugar cane. All the products are also produced right within the Kichesippi Brewery. As of right now they have only launched two products; Ginger Beer & Cream Soda. Out of both I preferred the Ginger Beer, but I’m not a huge fan of Cream Soda in general. Both sodas don’t contain any artificial colouring, the colouring in the Ginger Beer is solely due to the natural colour from the ginger and ginseng. Harvey and Vern’s Olde Fashioned Sodas will be available sometime May 2013.

With throwing a great party one must have great food, Kichesippi did a great job with picking two great vendors. Unfortunately I didn’t try either of the vendors mainly due to dietary reasons, but I admired the fellow angels gourmet eats.Streat Gourmet provided the best looking sandwiches Ive seen and for dessertPascale’s Ice Cream was serving up delicious looking beer oriented treats.

Throughout the afternoon I hung around with the fellow angels and discussed the growth of Kichesippi and all of their products. After finishing my first beer, I switched it up to Heller High Water (a Bavarian Lager.) and continued to enjoy the good company. As angels we generally have a challenge of ‘pinning’ the owner or brewmaster with a Barley’s Angels pin. April (a fellow Angel) and I stepped up to challenge and ended up getting both Paul (Co-Owner of Kichesippi) and Phil (One of their Reps) to wear the pin.

At the end of it all it was a good afternoon and I can say Kichesippi can really put on a great party. Congratulations to Kichesippi on 3 years! Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with in the future!

- The Beer Gypsy

Cannery Brewing based in British Columbia has released another round of their limited production Wildfire IPA. The Wildfire IPA originally brewed as a tribute to the brave forest fire fighting brigades of Canada, especially those that have lost valuable members over the course of the year. Part of the proceeds this year will even be donated to the  Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation (www.cfff.ca).

After the Wildfire was first introduced it quickly sparked the interest of Canadian beer lovers and has forced Cannery to produce occasional limited releases of the beer to fulfill the demand. Keep an eye for this tribute IPA now as the 2013 limited release draws closer to an end. For more information check out the brewery’s website.

Maverick & Gose

The Amsterdam Brewery and Great Lakes Brewery, two of Toronto’s Oldest independently owned and operated craft breweries, are set to release their award winning collaboration beer later this month. Maverick & Gose is a Leipziger Gose Beer that has been aged in Ontario Chardonnay barrels for four months prior to packaging. A rare German beer of medieval origin, this 2012 Canadian Brewing Awards Silver Medalist beer is brewed with a mostly malted wheat base, pink Himalayan salt, and spices. Notes of lemon, herbs and a slight saltiness make this collaboration truly unique to Ontario. What is even more unique about this beer is that it is the first all-Ontario collaboration to be released in the LCBO. Brewers Iain Mcoustra of Amsterdam and Mike Lackey of Great Lakes developed the recipe for Maverick & Gose in early 2012.
“We came up with the idea whilst playing shirtless, greased up beach volleyball, you know, like in the movie Top Gun, and we thought it would be fitting to collab on this one of a kind beer,” says Lackey. “I’m super pumped to be part of the first Canadian craft beer collaboration that will grace the shelves at the LCBO. It was a pleasure creating this beer with Iain and the Amsterdam crew.”
Maverick & Gose is available for sale in 500mL bottles from select LCBOs starting the week of April 29, 2013 ($6.95) and the Amsterdam Brewery Retail Store (45 Esandar Dr., 416-504-6882).

Cool Beer Mini Keg

Cool Brewery is set to launch a unique self tapping mini keg for the take home market. Cool’s 3.1 litre mini keg will pour an equivalent of nine regular bottles of beer and is equipped with an easy to carry handle.
“Cool brewery is the first to market a unique 3.1 litre mini keg” said Andrew Costa, Marketing Manager for Cool Brewery.  “We discovered there was market demand for a mini keg if the keg cost less than twenty dollars and if they can fit easily in the fridge at home.”
The mini keg will pour Cool’s award winning Craft Lager which will be available at all self serve Beer Stores and select LCBO outlets in southern Ontario.  Cool designed their website www.coolbeer.com to help beer drinkers locate LCBO and Beer stores carrying Cool beers and to offer home delivery service.
“There are 5 litre take home kegs in the market but beer drinkers complain they take too long to chill, didn’t fit in the fridge and the beer style is too European, too heavy,” said Costa.  “Our Cool mini keg addresses all these issues and our Cool Craft Lager is not only award winning but easy to drink, refreshing and affordable,” said Costa

For more information visit www.coolbeer.com

RUSSIAN RIVER BREWING Co. TO BE HONOURED BY CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR NOREEN EVANS

Vinne and Natalie Cilurzo, owners of Russian River Brewing Company will be presented with a joint legislative resolution. The resolution will be presented by Senator Noreen Evans and will recognize the brewery’s outstanding community and customer service, exemplary business ethics, and craftsmanship that have provided enormous economic benefits through jobs and sales.