Beer of the Week - Nov 29 - Beau's Lug Tread Lagered Ale

750 mL bottle
Price: $ 7.65
5.4% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 2
Made in: Ontario
By: Beau's All Natural Brewing

LCBO Tasting Note: "Golden yellow colour with a thick head; aromas of fragrant hops, citrus and roasted malt with yeasty tones; dryish, medium bodied, fresh, smooth and creamy, with forward hop and grain/cereal flavours; crisp and refreshing on the finish."

Over at The Bar Towel, I always hear lots of great things about this brewery from the beer geeks. As it is located in Vankleek Hill, a town in the Ottawa, their beers are not available in my area. Since I was in Ottawa to fence at the Nationals, I hit an LCBO and there it was.

The bottle itself is something to behold. It is a 750 ml stoneware crock bottle with a swing top stopper. There was no decision on whether to pick this up or not.

Beaus All Natural Brewing is a father and son operation which opened in 2006. Tim, the father, was forced to close down his textile company when clients took their business out of the country and the son, Steve, left a government job to open the brewery.

Lug Tread has become very popular because of the beer and the bottles. The bottles come from Germany and are labeled locally. A problem for the brewery is The Beer Store will give customers their 20 cents for the bottle but will not give the bottle back to the brewery. Steve explained in an article ... "Instead of letting us pick up the bottles, which would cost them nothing, and we'd pay them extra to do, they collect them all, ship them to Toronto and crush them into dust at great expense."

Dumb, eh!

So the brewery decided to find a way to get their bottles back and help the community. So they have hired homeless youths through Operation Go Home to man four depots where customers can go one Saturday a month to drop off their bottles. Beaus donates 40 cents of every bottle returned to the charity and asks customers to also donate their 20 cents. So far, the program has graduated six people into full time jobs elsewhere.

I have to applaud Beau's for setting up such a helpful program that benefits them and the community.

Lug Tread is a lagered ale. Ale usually goes through a short fermentation period where the ale yeast works best at 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit and is out the door in a couple of weeks. Lagering is the process of aging the beer at a lower temperature over a longer period of time.

And how is Beau's Lug Tread?

It pours crisp clear yellow in colour, with a nice head which lasted. The beer is more sour than bitter and the sourness lasts through the finish. It reminded me more of a pilsner than an ale and that is not a bad thing.

I enjoyed this beer and am looking to fill up my glass from the fancy bottle which will go on display on the desk in our backroom as we are too far away to participate in deposit days.

Fencing at the 2009 Nationals

The 2009 National Fencing Championships are being held this weekend over a four day period at Carlton University in Ottawa.

This is the first year that I have qualified in the four years I have been fencing. At 55 years old, I am very proud of this.

46 of us fenced in the men's Sabre event yesterday morning. There would have been 47 but Eric S., whom I fenced with at Beaches Sabre Club, had to bow out due to food poisoning. Lesson ... do not have fish or tarter sauce the night before competition!

It was a tough competition. How tough? In my poole of eight, I had to fence off against the #1 ranked fencer in Canada (who also is an Olympian), the 14th and 15th ranked fencers in the country plus two other top 30 fencers. My goal was to fence a technically sound day, have some effectiveness on defense and not end up last.

Like the Meatloaf song says, "Now don't be sad ... cause two out of three ain't bad", I ended up 46th, which in a tournament of 46, is last. And I'm not at all upset about it.

I came in and did what I wanted to do ... well, I really wanted to do it better and end up higher in the standings but what the heck!?.

My footwork was very good, my distance was excellent and I felt in some kind of control on defense, which is unusual for me.

I fenced well enough that when facing Vincent B., who finished 13th overall on the day, I had him in a 3-3 tie before losing 5-3. Chacho, pictured with me to the right, and I also were locked at three all before he took the last two points for the win.

Chacho's mother was there filming and captured my match against Philippe Beaudry, who is the Olympian. I am looking forward to seeing that tape even though he took me down 5-0. He also won gold on the day.

Next up is the North American Cup (NAC) in Pittsburgh. I am looking forward to this one as I get to play with kids my own age. I have the 40 and over event on Saturday and the 50 to 59 event on Sunday.

Some other shots, to the left is me, Sukveer and Chacho.

Here is Mark P. in action. I used to fence with Mark at my old club and he drops by every now and then to fence at Bladeworks Fencing. He finished the day with the bronze.

Here is Chacho in the first Direct Elimination (DE).

The Woman's Sabre was held afterwards. Here is Kayla (to the right) from Beaches in action. She finished 12th.

Friday Night In Ottawa

This weekend I am fencing in the Nationals in Ottawa. At 55 I am the oldest and the lowest ranked in the field. It should be a blast, though.

I left work spot on 11AM and made great time to Ottawa and was checked into the Travelodge Ottawa East by 3:45. It is an OK hotel, good for a night, but if I was staying for any longer I would prefer somewhere else. I booked through Hotwire, so got a good rate. If I was paying more, I would be upset.

For supper, I went across the lane to the Broadway Bar and Grill. It is a nice little pub with a friendly bartender. I was hoping for something local on tap knowing there are three good microbreweries in the area but was disappointed as they only had the big brewery beers. I had a couple of Keith's Reds which were cold and nice.

I decided a pizza would go down nice and, yes, that was a good decision as you can see by the picture. Pepperoni, mushroom and bacon cover with a nice layer of mozzarella. Very good and, as I was starved, very filling. Even had enough for later or even breakfast.

I met a fellow at the bar named Roy who is moving to Ottawa but has to stay in the hotel for five days with his wife waiting for closing. We talked about fencing and golf. He had always wanted to try fencing and but his schedule always conflicted with start-up classes. Now that he is moving to Ottawa for good, he says he wants to give it a go and liked what I had to say about sabre. As he is in his forties, maybe I will be meeting him on the piste in the future.

After I went back to the room, I changed and went for a swim. I was so looking forward to a hot tub but, as you can see, it sadly is no more. It is boarded where it used to reside. The heated salt water pool was very nice, though.

So here I am ... feed, relaxed and watching an old Chinese Jackie Chan movie, "Rumble in the Bronx". I always liked his old stuff, before he came to the States. The outtakes at the end are always the best.

As it will be an early morning tomorrow, I am off to bed by ten. After all, the Nationals await me.

A Happy Mistake at the Bier Markt

Tonight is kind of my Friday night as I am off tomorrow at 11AM heading to Ottawa to fence in the Nationals.

I stopped off at the Bier Markt on King. I was going to start with my usual there, a Dommelsch Pilsner but, OH NO ... they are out and will no longer be carrying it. Too bad. It is a very enjoyable pilsner. I do recover well, though, and instead had a Palm Ale, which I've had before. I like to start with something familiar while I search for something new and unique.

I am currently reading Beer (Eyewitness Companions) which was put together by famed Michael Jackson AKA The Beer Hunter. I went from book to beer menu, then beer menu to book before arriving at a decision.

St Christoffel Blonde. Both book and menu called it a pilsner with the book describing it as "Golden-amber and cloudy: sulfery-hoppy nose; the very bitter (almost salty) palate becomes drier and assertively hoppy in the finish."

The bottle came and look at that! It wasn't something new and wonderful. I have had it before as The Beer of the Week! Well, it turns out that I liked it then and loved it now. It was cloudy and yellowish with what seemed like layers of flavour. I found it more sour than bitter and thoroughly loved it. I think that as it calls itself a "Double Hopped" that the first time I was expecting an IPA style of bitterness. No, instead this was a nice refreshing beer more sour than bitter.

Did I say I enjoyed it?

Well, I did. It was a happy mistake.

Beer of the Week - Nov 22 - Deuchars IPA

Price: $ 2.60
Beer, Ale,
4.4% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 3
Made in: Scotland, United Kingdom
By: Caledonian Brewing Co. Ltd.

LCBO Tasting Note
Medium amber colour, lacy mousse; aromas of toasted grains, dried herbs, classic IPA nose; dry, crisp, yet creamy, and herbal; long, refreshing and bitter finish.

This week I picked up an IPA from Scotland made by Caledonian Brewing called Deuchars IPA, located in Edinburgh.

How do you pronounce their name? From their website they explain ... "If you're from outside Scotland, the pronunciation of Deuchars IPA may not come naturally, naturally. So to help you out, the advertising slogan 'You're due a Deuchars' has been developed."

The brewery was built in 1869. At that time, there were over 40 breweries in Edinburgh. In 1919, the brewery changed hands becoming Vaux Breweries. The brewery decided it wanted to move to Sunderland but a management takeover resulted in the brewery remaining open to brew cask conditioned beers. So the brewery remained in the same old Victorian building (pictured right), using the last direct fired copper coppers in the UK (pictured down to the right) and is the last brewery of the 40 remaining in Edinburgh.

"There's nothing quite like watching the only direct-fired open coppers at work. The Victorian design still effective today as the hand beaten inner dome concentrates the heat and develops a constant churn and roll."

Deuchars IPA is shipped to Sweden, Denmark, France, Canada, the USA and Hong Kong and has won quite a few awards since 2000, the last being Silver in the 2007 Society of Independent Brewers Association (SIBA), National Beer Competition in the Champion Bitters category.

An IPA is a hoppier ale, made to survive the long trek when being shipped from England to India. The extra hops are added as a natural preservative for the ale, and allows the taste to survive the long voyage. Scotland, in my mind anyways, is not know for hoppy beers so this should be interesting!

So now to give it a try ...

The ale pours a deep amber or light coppery colour. A head does form but disappears with no lacings left on the side of the glass.

I was surprised when I sipped it as it started sweet and then finished with a slight bitterness. It is a pleasant quaffable beer that would go down well on a hot afternoon. It is not one that I would go out of my way to have but if I was at a pub that served it up, I would certainly order a pint.

Fencing at the 2009 Brock Open

Yesterday was the 2009 Brock Open in St Catharines. In past years, it was run as an Open Challenge (OCC) which does not allow "A" fencers or those who are rated as High Performance or who fence internationally. Being an open allows this level of fencers to compete.

Last week I fenced very poorly and had been working out some issues this week at practice. Now to see if there was any improvement ...

My first match I won 5-1 against someone in their first year. My footwork seemed good, not great, but much better than last week. My second match I was up 4-1 and decide to change tactics. That caused him to get 2 points against me, plus I made one of last week's mistakes by jumping at the start instead of making a quick step forward, causing another lost point. I lost that match a heartbreaking 5-4.

I keep notes during a tournament to reinforce what I need to remember. After that bout, I scrawled, "KEEP DOING WHAT WORKS!!!"

My last match of the poole I was up 4-3 but lost again a heartbreaking 5-4. I was 2 wins and 4 losses in the poole, ranked 31 out of 50 fencers. Could have been ranked so much better if I had turned those 2 close losses to wins. I feel I am good enough to have won 4 matches in this group and maybe even 5 out of 6.

Something was still off. Something was not quite right.

My friend, Chacho, had watched my last match in the poole and pointed out something I was doing wrong in my attacks by keeping my hand back.

In my first DE (direct elimination) match, I was down 8-6 at the break. The judge kept indicating that my hand was back on the attack so I went over and asked him about it as I was losing points I should have been getting. He explained that I was holding my arm out but my blade back so was not attacking.

A simple problem to fix, which I did and it turned my day around. My opponent only managed 4 points in the second half with my beating him 15-12. I was now feeling better but was up against Kyle who finished ranked second in the pooles and is ranked 8th in all of Canada. Although I fenced well and scored some good touches, he eliminated me 15-5.

No shame to me losing big to a fencer of this calibre. In fact, I liked the way I fenced against him and the second half of my first DE. My footwork was good again, my bladework was good and, most importantly, I felt in control.

I ended the day 31st in a field of 50 but consider it a successful day. I came into it a fencer with some confidence problems and fundamental issues, and finished the day with my problems worked out, in control and, most importantly, full of confidence.

Good thing too as next Saturday is the Nationals in Ottawa and I will need to be on top of my game.

Fencing at the Newmarket OCC

Sunday was the Newmarket OCC (Open Challenge Circuit) and I was entered into two events ... Senior Men's Sabre (all ages) and Mixed Veterans Sabre (over 40). The vets' sabre was to follow the Seniors but instead the four Vet Poole matches followed right after the eight poole matches for the senior event. It was tiring but with so much fencing ... loads of fun!

I fenced very poorly for most of the senior event and should have done much better. I only won one out of my seven matches, whereas on a normal day I could/should be at least 5-3 or better. My friend, Sara, said I was being much too fancy for my own good and to get back to basics. My coach, Nik, also had a long talk with me on what else I need to correct. I adjusted my game and even though I lost the last two matches, I fought hard and lost close.

I'm glad I made the changes as I fenced much better and more controlled in the Vet event, winning three out four matches. My loss in the poole was against my friend and former clubmate, Bob, losing to him for the first time ever. Unfortunately for me, he was right on his game and crafty to the extreme.

Then it was off to the elimination round for the senior event. I was off for the first half as was down 8-2 at the break. Nik pointed out a couple of areas I could take advantage of and even though I ended up losing fenced extremely well in the second half of the match, coming back to lose 15-11 and ended up 22nd for the tournament.

Next up was the Vets Gold medal match and it was against Bob, a very different Bob than I am used to fencing against. The match was a tough, hard fought one and it was Bob's day. He fenced a very well deserved 10-8 victory, leaving me with the Silver. Sara earned the bronze. The three of us are pictured above. To the right, the medalists from all the three sabre events.

At last night's practice at Bladeworks, it was working on the basics, which I'll work on again Wednesday night. Then hopefully Saturday at the Brock Open in St Catharines, I'll be able to Raise a Little Hell!

For more information on fencing in Ontario, click here.

An improper way to attack. Why am I in the air? Feet should be on the ground!

A proper attack against Bob resulting in a point. Notice my green light on!

I successfully block a head attack from Sarah (called parry quinte).

Beer of the Week - Nov 14 - Black Oak Oaktoberfest Organic

This week there was a lot of excitement on The Bar Towel website when Ken Woods, President of Black Oak Brewery, announced that he has come out with a brand new seasonal beer for fall called Black Oak Oaktoberfest Organic.

Ken stated, "We only made a half batch just to test the beer and see what people think."

It was shipped in kegs to only five bars in the city ... Beer Bistro, C'est What, The Embassy, Twisted Kilt and The Rhino. On Thursday, Ken announced that the beer was bottled, labeled and ready for sale. Being a limited production, only 40 cases were bottled and could only be purchased at the brewery.

Black Oak has a great reputation amongst craft beer drinkers and the comments rolled in from the beer geeks saying they were on the way. I am not a beer geek ... yet. But this morning Teena and I were in the car heading westbound on the QEW on our way to get some for myself before it sold out.

I have written about Black Oak before and love all their offerings, so had no reservations about buying a dozen of the Oaktoberfest without having tried a sip. I also walked out with a dozen Pale Ales which were bottled fresh from the tank just yesterday and six of the Summer Saison.

Did I mention I love this brewery?

And the Oaktoberfest? It is an unfiltered organic Oktoberfest beer using all German ingredients and pours a coppery colour with a good head which remains. After taking a few sips, I found the lacing stayed nicely on the sides of the glass.

There is a nice maltiness in the taste and a pleasant bitterness with a long lasting enjoyable finish. I quite enjoyed this and am glad I bought a dozen.

I also went over to The Rhino to try a pint from the keg. I found myself once again sipping on a very enjoyable pint.

Can hardly wait for next year when this is more readily available!

Beer Can Chicken with Mill Street Belgium Wit

Teena is leaving on Sunday to head to Ottawa on business for a week. I wanted to have something special and different for supper. As we are going out tomorrow with friends for dinner at Granite Brewery, the dinner had to be tonight.

It struck me as I was walking home from work on Wednesday. We have not had Beer Can Chicken for quite some time. We have made it with various beers in the past and even ginger ale, so again, I wanted something different. Something favourable.

Then I remembered that 6 Mill Street Belgium Wit were sitting in our fridge. The beer is full of flavour and has a very nice taste of orange, or citrus, and coriander. Could be a nice flavouring for the chicken.

We have a stand with a built in reservoir to make this kind of chicken. The idea is to fill the reservoir with beer, place the chicken over the funnel which sits over the beer, and then season the chicken with the spice of your choice. My favourite spice for chicken is Irie Creole seasoning. In the outer area of the stand, I poured in water so the grease and juices from the chicken would not smoke up.

Then just throw it in the oven at 375F for about an hour and a half. It was Friday night and we had worked all day so it was a long hour and a half. Cooking time is always relative to how hungry you are. I drank the rest of the bottle of the Belgium Wit while we waited.

And how did it turn out?

The beer bastes the inside of the bird creating a very moist, very tender feast. The chicken never takes on any strong flavouring from the beer but is nicely flavoured.

Did we enjoy it? We must have.

There are no leftovers.

For Teena's review click here.

Beer of The Week - Nov 8 - Muskoka Dark Ale

473 mL can
Price: $ 2.60
5.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 3
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Lakes Of Muskoka Cottage Brewery

This week I dropped into the LCBO on Brock Street to search for my Beer of the Week and found my search over early. I have heard good things about Muskoka Cottage Brewery and the first thing I spotted in the beer section was their Muskoka Dark Ale sitting on the shelf.

Search over!

The brewery, located in Bracebridge, Ontario, has been open since 1996 and currently has a staff of 18. The regularly brew four different beers ... a Cream Ale, an unfiltered Hefe-Weissbier, a lager and, of course, the Dark Ale which I am trying today.

Muskoka Dark Ale recently won a Gold medal at the 2009 Ontario Brewing Awards in the Dark Ale category. Knowing this, I was anxious to give it a try.

The beer, which is described on the back of the can as a "Southern English Brown Ale", pours a very dark brownish colour. There is no seeing through this beer. It pours with a nice head and, as I was changing batteries in my camera, noticed the nice lacings left by the head. (Note to self: always check camera batteries before cracking open the beer.)

The beer has a full flavour, not heavy, just full in taste. I found it almost stout like. My taste buds are not great in identifying flavours in a beer or wine but I was reminded of carmel or chocolate in this one. There is no hoppiness detected but I gather hops are used to balance the malt in this case.

And well-done too.

This is a very nice, enjoyable brown ale and I can see why it won gold. This is not the last time I will be having this one. When I'm in a mood for a brown ale, I will be picking this one up again.

Cottage country has many good reasons to visit it. This brewery is another.

1812 Great Canadian Victory Party

Last night Teena and I went to St Lawrence Hall to see the 1812 Great Canadian Victory Party.

Before the play started, the characters were all very interactive mingling with the audience throughout the hall. It was fun watching them trying to figure out the technology from the 21st century. Pictured right is Laura Secord cautiously having her picture taken.

I knew I would enjoy it as the war of 1812 is a subject that I have a heavy interest in. I was glad that Teena enjoyed it too. Her write up is here.

"The 1812 Great Canadian Victory Party will bring the War of 1812 and the Farmers Rebellion to life as you become an honoured guest at a celebration featuring Laura Secord, Fitzgibbon, Tecumseh and other Canadian heroes.

This theatre performance is a lighthearted dramatization of the events that put Canada on the path to nationhood, starting in 1812 and ending in 1834 when Toronto was incorporated as a city. The performance will be held in St. Lawrence Hall, built in 1849 and was the social centre of Toronto for more than a century.

As part of this unique production, a tasting of authentic fare served during this era fruit preserves, cheese and heritage bread will be featured. The food will be prepared by students enrolled in George Brown Chef School (Canadian Food History a Toronto Museum Experience course), who will use recipes and cooking methods from the 1800s."

The various characters gave speeches of their part in the war. I especially enjoyed Laura Secord's speech, where she read from a letter which was prepared by James FitzGibbon. I have read that letter so found her rendition very enjoyable.

It was a very well-played production which started as a party celebrating the British victory in the war, then advanced to the 1837 farmers revolt in Toronto.

I enjoy live theatre and local history and last night brought both together for me. It was another great night out with Teena!

Here's a copy of the original letter which FitzGibbon wrote in praise of Laura Secord's heroic effort.

Teena and Reverend John Strachan.

The room was beautiful. Here are the characters making their speeches.

Me and the ladies

Teena and I

A Surprise from Teena!

I am going to be on the road a fair bit in the coming weeks traveling to out-of-town fencing tournaments and had casually mentioned that maybe I should go out and get myself an iPod. It would be better than fumbling with CDs when I can't get a decent radio station.

So last night when I got home, Teena had a great surprise for me. It was the newest version of the iPod, a Nano, complete with cover and better earplugs. Stores up to 2,000 songs AND can record video with sound AND has FM AND acts as a pedometer.

Very cool!!!

I had dinner plans with friends so didn't get a good chance to play with it before heading out. Once I was back home, though, Teena walked me through the download process and already I have 138 songs loaded up.

Tonight I'm going to see how many steps my walk home is and how many calories my body uses up.

Led Zeppelin II, which is the first album (who remembers records) I had ever bought and have owned it in every format. Now it resides on a new one ... my iPod.

Thanks honey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beer of the Week - Great Lakes Pumkin Ale

650 mL bottle
Price: $ 4.95
5.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 2
Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: Great Lakes Brewing Co. Inc.

I had never had a pumpkin ale before and figured this was the year to give it a try. So I headed down to the LCBO for a large 650 ml bottle of Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale.

Located in Toronto's west end, this is the third year the brewery has been making this seasonal. Last year it was so popular that it sold out before Thanksgiving. This year they are brewing more.

Keeping it very local, the brewery uses pumpkins specially grown in the summer to be ready for early fall brewing by a farm in Aylmer, Ontario. They add the pumpkin directly into the brew along with specialty malts, hops, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice.

The beer pours with a slight orangy tinge to the colour. The aroma of nutmeg is very apparent.

I admit I was apprehensive in trying this, which likely is why I waited three years, but I enjoyed the taste. The pumpkin flavour is there along with the flavouring of the spices. These do not overpower the taste of the beer but compliments it.

This was an ale which I would have again and has made we want to go out and try others.

Dinner at Mill Street Brewpub

Last night we decided to head over to The Distillery District and try out the Mill Street Brewpub.

According to their literature: “Officially opened in December 2002, the brewery began in an original tank house within the historic Gooderham & Worts distillery complex, now known as the Historic Distillery District. Built in the late 1870’s the building is a well preserved example of classic Victorian architecture. Mill Street’s 5,000 sq ft space includes an open concept brewery, sampling bar, retail store and event space. The venue features 18 ft ceilings and four enormous skylights.”

I am a fan of many of their brews and was looking forward to trying some on tap that aren't available in bottles or at other pubs.

We stopped in first to the store and I was delighted to discover that at the store they do sell their wonderful Pilsner in six packs. I knew then that I was not leaving empty handed.

The restaurant is a very open concept. I liked the decor and how they expose the natural brickwork, ceiling and did not modernize the existing skylights. It was well-staffed too and, as it was Halloween, most were in some sort of costume. I am pictured with our server who was dressed as a party animal.

I started with a Mill Street ESB, which I found a little watery.

For supper, I had corned beef sliders and a basket of onion rings. Teena had Bombay Chicken Curry. She quite enjoyed it but thought there could have been more chicken in it. My sliders were OK but could have used more corned beef and sauerkraut. I could tell the onion rings were made from scratch and not frozen and were excellent.

I had an Oktoberfest Marzen next, a very malty lager with lots of flavour. I then finished with a couple of IPAs which had a real nice hoppiness to it and a long finish. A very enjoyable beer and my favorite of the night. Teena stuck with the Stock Ale which she liked.

It was an enjoyable evening and we will be sure to return, especially in the summer when the patio is open.

For Teena's review, click here.