LCBO Food and Drink Early Summer 2016

BEER  CAN DO!

British brewers used to add extra hops to pale ales bound for India (IPAs) to keep them fresher on the voyage. Today’s craft brew- ers have taken the idea and run with it, experimenting with different hops for their pale ales, sometimes in mas- sive quantities. Measured in IBUs (International Bit- terness Units), the resulting bitterness can reach ridicu- lous, macho levels; great ales prefer a more palatable balance between hops and malts. Pale ale now comes in many styles, to the endless delight of beer lovers. PALE ALES

Lake of Bays Crosswind Pale Ale LCBO 338400, 473 mL, $2.90

Great Lakes Pompous Ass

Sawdust City Golden Beach Pale Ale LCBO 436980, 473 mL, $3.25

LCBO 408054, 473 mL, $2.65 I grew up with English pale ales (Tolly Cobold was my Number One) and this re- minds me of them in its even- tempered intensity, though the hopping is more grapefruity than the hops of Kent. The bloke on the can looks like one of my teachers at school.

This was the first ever beer from Lake of Bays, devised by owner Darren Smith when he was still at university and brewing in his kitchen. Cloudy, big-bodied and mighty malty for a pale ale, it lets the hops shine at the finish for a perfectly balanced landing.

The can notes for this golden American Pale Ale talk of citrus, tropical fruit and freshly cut grass: sounds like a Sauvignon Blanc! Yes, there’s plenty of grapefruit and lemon from the hops but nothing too bitter— great with a summer salad.

Double Trouble Fire in the Rye LCBO 362855, 473 mL, $3.10 Double Trouble is a small, in- dependent company currently making its beers at the Wellington Brewery in Guelph. This one’s a real beauty—a big, strong (6.1% alcohol), complex, unfiltered pale ale that hits 60 IBU thanks to its floral Cascade hops. That’s about three times the IBU of an everyday lager, but this beer doesn’t taste too bitter. Barley malts bring rich equilibrium while malted rye in the recipe gives a spicy, peppery extra dimension. I highly recommend this brew with burgers and ribs off the barbecue and also with robustly flavoured Chinese food.

The Case for Cans Darren Smith, Owner and President, Lake of Bays Brewing Co. “We used to sell the same beers in both bottles and cans and there was no significant

difference in flavour. Now we just use cans for our year-round beers. They’re lighter to ship and to carry, more efficient to recycle and don’t leave broken glass on the dock. We can fill them more efficiently so the price point for us is also lower. Plus, we have the entire surface to play around with in terms of design.”

PORTRAIT OF DARREN SMITH BY SCOTT TURNBULL

134  FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER 2016