Labatt Employee Drinking Songbook (Circa 1930's)

A couple of weeks ago Teena and I were at a charity event at the John Labatt Room on Queens Quay. The bar was gorgeous with lots of room and a great atmosphere to relax after work. It seems that Labatt has always ensured their workers know how to relax.

I found this songbook on the Retronaut website and had to share it. Click here to see the full songbook. Interesting that they even have the words to Oh Canada and God Save the King in it. There are 70 songs in the book, many which I have heard before.

Excellent find, Retronaut!

Book Review - The Oxford Companion to Beer

Friday I finally did it. I went out and bought The Oxford Companion to Beer. 

Beer is, as the saying goes, "proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." The first major reference work to investigate the history and vast scope of beer, The Oxford Companion to Beer features more than 1,100 A-Z entries written by 160 of the world''s most prominent beer experts. Attractively illustrated with over 140 images, the book covers everything from the agricultural makeup of various beers to the technical elements of the brewing process, local effects of brewing on regions around the world, and the social and political implications of sharing a beer. Entries not only define terms such as "dry hopping" and "cask conditioning" but give fascinating details about how these and other techniques affect a beer's taste, texture, and popularity. Packed with information, this comprehensive resource also includes thorough appendices (covering beer festivals, beer magazines, and more), conversion tables, and an index. An absolutely indispensable volume for everyone who loves beer as well as all beverage professionals, including home brewers, restaurateurs, journalists, cooking school instructors, beer importers, distributors, and retailers. 

Over 900 pages thick, this will be a great resource for me in researching beer. I have used it already over the weekend when researching my latest Beer of the Week, Olvisholt Brugghus Lava Smoked Imperial Stout. Now it sits on my bookshelf just below shoulder height in an easy to grab spot. In a year's time, it will have lost that new book shine and should be a well-worn, well-used book. Another step for me along the road to true beer geekdom!

Book Review - The Art and Mystery of Brewing in Ontario

A few weeks ago I borrowed The Art and Mystery of Brewing in Ontario from the Toronto Public Library. I found it a very interesting read.

How interesting?

I was supposed to return it yesterday but had not yet finished it. I could not renew it as somebody else had it on hold. To that person, I do apologize.

The book really should be named The History of Brewing in Ontario as it is mainly a look back at brewing through the ages in all the cities and towns of Ontario.

The Canadian thirst for beer is legendary. A national pastime with the same associations as camping, sports, patio weekends and college festivities, a tall foamy beer is just something most Canadians feel passionate about. In The Art and Mystery of Brewing in Ontario, Ian Bowering examines the history of beer production and lore. The book includes a series of anecdotes and brewlore from people continuing to make this province's beer some of the best and most popular in the world. Beer aficionados will love this amusingly written account of the past 200 years of brewing in Ontario.

The book talks about brewing then goes in alphabetical order of city or town and the breweries which existed in each. Surprising today but when you think back to the 1800s when transportation was an issue, it is no wonder every city or town had one or more breweries.

Mr Bowering is a professional historian with a Masters of Museology and History from the University of Toronto. The thesis he did was on brewing in the 19th century in Toronto. Not only is he an expert but also a good writer. I have to love this guy too as the notes at the back say he is a fencer!

I especially enjoyed some of the ads that the breweries did back in the 1800s. Now I do believe that beer is not an unhealthy drink if drank in moderation and made all natural like craft breweries do (I have no idea what chemicals the big breweries use so they may not have the same claim). The ads promoting the "medicinal" properties of beer is hysterical.

Here are a few:

From a 1911 ad for Grants Spring Brewery Ale ... It gratifies the taste, Refreshes the body, Builds bone and sinew. Never knew beer was good for bones and never worried about my sinew before."

From Portsmouth Brewery 1857-1916 ... Recommended by most prominent physicians for invalids....natures own tonic.

Prescott Brewery from an 1859 Prescott newspaper ... perfectly pure and possess the fine tonic properties in a high degree. The Medical Faculty have given their strongest testimony in favour of the above and highly recommend their use to ladies and invalids.

Thunder Bay Brewery 1913 ad ... It would be worth a dollars worth of medicine to you, ask any doctor if there is anything more healthy than a good beer.

I can't give away any more. The book also has interesting stats such as in 1909 the O'Keefe Brewery paid its brewer an annual salary of $500 and his accountant $1,000. Too funny!

Ian Bowering wrote this book back in 1989 and much has changed since then with the amalgamation of big breweries that originated in Ontario and the closing of Northern Breweries and Formosa. I enjoyed the old pictures as much as the histories of all these small forgotten breweries and there are a lot of great pictures, many from the 1800s (right is Carling brewery in London circa 1879; left is Simcoe Steam Brewery in Barrie circa 1890).

How good of a book is this?

It is being returned tomorrow, the fine paid and I'm going to order my own personal copy. That's how good it is.

Well done, Mr Bowering!

Measuring the Affect of Higher Alcohol Beers

I have been wondering lately what exactly is the difference between drinking a higher alcohol beer and a lower alcohol one besides the obvious, that there is more alcohol involved. What I mean is ... what is the affect of having a couple of 6% beers versus a couple regular 5% beers.

Each beer has on its label the amount of alcohol by volume (APV). APV is the amount of alcohol contained in the amount of fluid in a bottle. For instance, a 12 oz (355ml) bottle of 5% beer, has 0.6 oz (17.75 ml) of alcohol in it which is 55% of the beer's volume. A 6% beer has 0.72 oz (21.3 ml) of alcohol in it.

OK, so now we know the alcohol increases steadily and not on a graduated scale.

But this does not explain the affect of drinking a higher alcohol beer versus a lower one? To do this, we must bring the amount of alcohol in a drink down to a common denominator.

I researched a few websites that bring about the idea of a "Standard Drink". They determine that a standard drink has 0.5 oz of alcohol in it. Interestingly enough this is the amount of alcohol in a 1.25 ounce shot of regular rum, whiskey or vodka, without mix. Now that we have a standard to measure against, we need a formula to determine how many standard drinks are in various alcohol levels of beer of the same size.

For the formula, we need to multiply the serving size by the amount of alcohol per volume to get the total number of ounces of alcohol in your beer. We then divide this by a standard drink of 0.5 oz of alcohol to see how many standard drinks a serving is.

That is the long version. The formula is a lot more simple. It is (number of ounces served) times APV x 2.

So for a 12 oz bottle of 4.2% alcohol it is 12 oz x .042 x 2 = 1.008 or close enough to call 1 standard drink for beer.

Let's see how the standard number of drinks grows as the alcohol content rises. We'll use the same 12 oz bottle (355 ml)

APV = Standard Drink
4.0% = .96
4.2% = 1
5.0% = 1.2
5.2% = 1.25
5.5% = 1.32
6.0% = 1.44

So if I am sitting at home and having three of Black Oak Brewery's delicious Nutcracker Porters (341ml or 11.5 oz @ 5.8%), it would have the same affect of my having 4 beers at 4.2%, or drinking 3.6 regular 5% beers.

I have some bottles of Grand River Russian Gun Imperial Stout in my fridge. Have to be careful with this one. It comes in a 500 ml bottle (16.9 oz) and weighs in at 8% APV so by the time I finish one bottle of this, it is like having almost 2.75 beers. Don't want to be pounding this one back! Even if they packaged it in a regular 12 oz (355ml) bottle, which they really should do for a potent beer like this, each 12oz bottle would still be like drinking almost 2 beers.

Really, this all makes great sense.

Here are some regular bottle and can sizes broken down from millilitres to ounces in case you wish to play with this formula.

341 ml = 11.5 oz
355 ml = 12.0 oz
473 ml = 16.0 oz (cans)
500 ml = 16.9 oz

The question here, though, is measuring the affect of drinking higher alcoholic beers. We can do this by measuring Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) using this pretty good calculator I found and the Standard Drink formula (a different chart is pictured to the right). You can use this calculator in different ways. What I am doing is feeding in standard drink sizes at 4.2% for a 12 oz bottle.

Lets take a 200 lb (91 KG) male. He has 4 - 4.2% APV 12 oz lagers over a two hour period. This comes to 4 standard drinks. His BAL comes in at .047%

Now, let's say this same person has the same number of 12 oz beers over the same period of time. He starts with a nice 4.2% lager, then has a nice 5% ale, followed by a 5.8% porter then finishes with an excellent 6% IPA. The number of standard drinks here is a little over 5, so really just one more. His BAL jumps to .066% which is 40% higher.

There is the affect! Just the equivalent of one more beer over a two hour period.

So the original question was what is the affect of having a couple of 6% beers vs a couple regular 5% beers? We'll do this over a 1 hour period. The 6% is equal to having 2.88 standard drinks and gives an approximate BAL of .04%. The 5% is like have 2.4 beers gives a BAL of .031%. This person has drank just under a half a standard drink more with the 6% yet the blood alcohol is 22.5% higher!

So as always, don't drink and drive and, if you are sitting at home having a couple of 6% ales and feel a buzz before you expected, that is why.

World's Oldest Recipe ... Beer!

On the weekend, there was a beer fact on my 365 Bottles of Beer calendar which says that the oldest recorded recipe ever found was one for ... you guessed it ... beer!

I had to do some research to see if, indeed, this is true.

It seems that the recipe was recorded on a Mesopotamian clay tablet which is over 4,000 years old and was found in what is now Iraq. The recipe comes from the ancient culture of Sumeria and its descendants. According to the Beer Institute, this formula, known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi", was handed down from the god of Wisdom Enki.

From the Gods? Pretty impressive!

I could not find when the stone tablet was discovered but did find out that attempts were made to translate it in the early 1900s. It was finally properly translated by Miguel Civil of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1964.

On its tenth anniversary in 1989, Anchor Brewery with the help of Professor Miguel Civil attempted to recreate the "Ninkasi Beer" recipe. The beer ended up with an alcohol content of 3.5% and had a "dry taste lacking in bitterness ... similar to hard apple cider".

Interesting fact that one day might come in handy if you're ever on Jeopardy.

The Rogue Creed

While I was doing some research on Rogue Ales, I came across a page which gives the Rogue Creed. What struck me was how true the points were, not only for brewing beer or running a business, but also for everyday life. So here they are for you to ponder:

"Rogues Fundamental Agreement"

1- The way ahead is clear.
2- Be honest about the battlefield.
3- Throw out the old rules that don't make sense.
4- Get out of the comfort zone.
5- Go to the front of the fight and stay there.
6- And most important, cut out all the B.S.

Rogue also developed "behavior principles" based on the Fundamental Agreement . I especially like these and again feel they can be wisely used in everyday life. Rogue calls these principles:

"The Rogue Way."

Listen generously.
Speak straight.
Be there for each other.
Honor commitments.
Give acknowledgement/appreciation.

Just some food for thought.

A Quote From Cliff Clavin

I love this one!

"A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, the slowest and weakest are killed first. This is good for the herd, because the health of the herd keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells.

Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest cells first.

That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Cliff Clavin from Cheers

My Top 5 Beers of 2008

It seems that most everyone has a year end list.

I love top 5 lists, as my Facebook friends can attest to. I have tried many new beers this past year and find it hard to pick a top 5, let alone put them in any order. One day I may feel like a Pilsner, another day maybe an ale or a nice tasty stout.

So not in any particular order here are my Top 5 favorite bottled brews of 2008. I have tagged those that I have written about.

Steam Whistle Pilsner - Toronto, Ontario
Has been a favorite of mine since my first taste years ago.

Sgt Major IPA - Carlton Place, Ontario
I just discovered this at the beginning of December. I have to get my local LCBO to carry this as I have found myself doing the 15 minute drive over to Queens Quay to get some.

Fullers 1845 - London England
I discovered something special in this. Currently my favorite English Ale.

St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout - Montreal Quebec
A smooth and creamy stout. Watch out Guinness!

Grolsch - Enschede Holland
I am constantly surprised that this is a lager, as it reminds me of a Pilsner. Sure is tasty. And has been a favorite of mine for years.

I can hardly wait to crack open some new finds in 2009!

Saving $$$ on Steam Whistle

My errands today included taking back some empties and picking up a 12 pack of one of my favorite Pilsners, Steam Whistle. I stopped at the LCBO on Brock Street to see what they might have that I haven't tried.

In the cold section, they carried Steam Whistle in both 6 pack bottles and in individual 500ml cans. I was going to buy a 12 pack at the beer store but there was something in the math which caught my eye.

The price was $12.15 without deposit for a 6 pack of 341ml bottles. A 500ml can came to $2.60 without deposit. I did some rough calculations and determined that it was likely cheaper to buy 8 tall cans at the LCBO than it would be to buy a 12 pack of bottles at the Beer Store.

When I got home I did the math. At $2.60 for a 500ML bottle the price came to $.0052 per ml. This would make a 341ml bottle at this price cost $1.773 each. A 6 pack averages $2.025 per bottle. A 12 pack averages 1.854 per bottle.

So buy buying the equivalent amount in cans you would save $1.51 on a 6 pack the same and $.98 on a 12. 4 tins is about the same volume as 6 bottles and 8 tins roughly the same as a 12 pack.

Of course, not everyone likes to drink from a tall can. Some find the beer gets warm before it's done or it is a little too much when when a person just wants a beer or two. Neither are a problem for me.

Especially with this delicious brand!

Big Brewery Beer

Back in the 70s, Canadians were very proud of their beer, whether it was in a stubby from Labatts, Molsons, or Carling O'Keefe, we loved our brands and despised American beers. In the words of Monty Python, "American beer is like making love to a woman in a canoe........" (you will need to see Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl to be able to finish this as we want to keep this blog clean)

We did love the U.S. advertising and marketing though. In Canada there was always quiet ads, that dumb Labatts Blue balloon in every single ad they made comes to mind, where down south it was hot women, studly guys and party scenes. Still we loved our beer more.

Then it was decided to let the breweries up here have 1 non-stubby distinctive bottle each. Then it was decided to let each brewery brew one U.S. product, and deals were quickly struck with Miller, Coors and Budweiser. Suddenly these are hugely popular brands in Canada.

Why???

The taste? I think not.

The price? No again.

Marketing. That was the answer. Marketing. Being bombarded from both U.S. and Canadian TV.

Now our big breweries are not even ours. There are very few, very few big brewery beers with a distinctive taste. I will be exploring these in the future.

I am afraid that we Canadians let advertising win out over quality.