The Beer Taster's Notebook

In Praise of Haze It may seem like a misguided topic for an article. After all, everyone is brewing them and everyone is doing them. Or drinking them at least. The haze craze doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon, so what am I on about? Well, it goes by many a name, New England… Read more: In Praise of Haze

Into the Darkness The first black lager I ever tasted was quite confusing. It looked like a stout, it kinda smelled like a stout, but it didn’t quite taste like a stout, and it sure didn’t finish like a stout. Then I never saw one again for years. To be fair, the Schwarzbier (literally “black… Read more: Into the Darkness

The Aroma Files #006: Coconut The Aroma Files #006: Coconut WIt’s not uncommon to pick up faint notes of coconut in our beer, more so in Belgian ales or Kveik fermented beer, and even more so in barrel aged selections.  But without the intentional addition of coconut flavouring, where does it come from?  Lets dive… Read more: The Aroma Files #006: Coconut

A Thirsty Trek through the Nation’s Capital: Ottawa’s Brewing Scene Part 2 In part two, I explore the less walkable, but equally impressive. Bicycle Craft Brewery  850 Industrial Ave #12, Ottawa Having pounded a few extra kilometers into my soles, I finally walked through the doors of Bicycle Craft. The brewery is a bit of… Read more: A Thirsty Trek through the Nation’s Capital: Ottawa’s Brewing Scene Part 2

A Thirsty Trek through the Nation’s Capital: Ottawa’s Brewing Scene Part 1 WAs a Toronto based beer writer, the hunt for new beers, breweries, and flavours is a never ending quest. The Ottawa region had been popping up on my radar lately, and with the constraints of distribution being what they are, a visit to… Read more: A Thirsty Trek through the Nation’s Capital: Ottawa’s Brewing Scene Part 1

2025: A Beer in Review My favorite three Ontario breweries for 2025.  This year culminated in a lot, but likely not enough, visits to breweries and tap rooms. While I could probably list on fewer than three fingers the number of non-positive experiences, I could also regale you with all the lovely experiences in the… Read more: 2025: A Beer in Review

The Aroma Files #005: Banana Banana, the signature weissbier aroma, and a secondary player in a handful of other beer styles is really rather simple. Unlike most beer aromas that are a cocktail of molecules, the banana aroma and flavour is typified by the ester isoamyl acetate. A few other esters, namely ethyl butyrate, and… Read more: The Aroma Files #005: Banana

The Aroma Files #004: Pineapple Pineapple is one of the most intriguing beer aromas.  Even more fascinating is that while fresh, canned, and dried pineapple all have different and progressive aromas, so do the pineapple aromas in beer. Lets first explore the varying components making up the pineapple aromas in the fruit and its derivatives.… Read more: The Aroma Files #004: Pineapple

The Aroma Files #003: Mango When the juicy/hazy/NEIPA craze was in its infancy I tasted a beer that was strong with mango.  Very strong. Incidentally, it contained mango pulp. Subsequently, I tasted another IPA that smelled of mango, less overtly, and not a mango was to be found. This was one of my first forays… Read more: The Aroma Files #003: Mango

The Aroma Files #002: Pine “A classic West coast IPA with prominent notes of pine and resin”. Visually, it’s easy to reconcile right?  Hop cone, pine cone. Conveniently, the chemistry isn’t overly vexing either.  The pine aromas mainly come from a few terpenes and terpenoids which are present across hops, conifers and rosemary.  The primary… Read more: The Aroma Files #002: Pine

The Aroma Files #001: Grapefruit Along with resin, pine, dank, and floral, grapefruit seems to be one of the most common basic descriptors of American hop aroma, heavily weighted towards IPAs. Of course we know (most of the time) there is no actual grapefruit in the beer, so where does this aroma and flavour come… Read more: The Aroma Files #001: Grapefruit

A Quick Guide to Pilsners A long long time ago, in a city far far away, the citizens of Plzěn were so appalled by the quality of their beer, that they dumped it all. They then built a new brewery and hired a Bavarian brewmaster by the name of Josef Groll. In 1842 Pilsner was… Read more: A Quick Guide to Pilsners

Some Good AdWeiss: A Guide to Weissbiers Every beer has a time and a place. For Weissbier, that time and place is any time, any place.  It’s refreshing in the summer, delicious in the winter, and fits seamlessly in between. It has the uncanny ability to pair with almost any dish, making it the fallback… Read more: Some Good AdWeiss

When Hops Fight Back: Understanding Hop Burn It was one of those hot and humid Toronto summer days where heat radiates out of the pavement, hitting you from all sides with no relief. My wardrobe choices weren’t exactly helping the situation either, but finally I arrived at my destination, a semi shaded patio. The friend… Read more: When Hops Fight Back: Understanding Hop Burn

The Bitter Pain of Spice and (some) Beer Some classic pairings just make sense. Fish n’ chips with best bitter, steamed mussels and gueuze, bratwurst and pils. Not only do they work on a sensory level, but they are so culturally linked, they really are a natural fit. This simple beauty can lead us to… Read more: IPA and Curry, a Match Made in Hell

The Beers of Oktoberfest As autumn settles in, the mornings turn crisp, the leaves shift to red and gold, and the sounds of clinking steins raised to  “Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit” draw nearer. Oktoberfest is almost upon us- and with it comes the beer. But should you reach for a Festbier, an Oktoberfestbier, or a… Read more: A Festivus for the Rest of Us

The Bark, The Beaver, The Barrel, and The Beer: The Story of Vanilla In Your Beer If vanilla isn’t the most popular flavour on the planet, then it’s pretty damn close.  It’s everywhere too. It’s in ice cream of course, deserts, perfume, air fresheners, oh and BEER.  Like most flavourings, vanilla can simply be added… Read more: The Bark, The Beaver, The Barrel, and The Beer

Hoppy Ever After: A Guide to IPAs It wasn’t so long ago that everyone was making fruited kettle sours, and almost nothing but. It also felt like most of them were the same base beer with the fruit being the differentiator.  The sours still exist but have settled into a more appropriate portion of the… Read more: Hoppy Ever After: A Guide to IPAs

The Crown of the Pint: Unlocking the Secrets of Foam Ah the mesmerizing cascade in a freshly poured pint of Guinness, the massive rocky head on a Belgian Golden Strong, and the tight fleeting white collar on top of a cask ale.  All so different, but the ties that bind……  Foam.   Beer foam is so… Read more: Beer Foam

Easy to Drink, Hard to Define Whether preparing for beer judging, a tasting exam, or just honing your skills, building a mental sensory profile from which to benchmark is vital. It’s always lovely when something easy and attainable comes along like Belgian Witbier. Which can be benchmarked with Hoegaarden White, Blanche de Chambly, Blanche de… Read more: Irish Red Ale

The GOAT  Strong and malty, complex yet clean, and invariably incorporating a goat into the label, the beers we know today as Bock have had an interesting journey. The story begins in the northern German city of Einbeck.  In 1368 the city joined the Hanseatic league, and by the end of the 1300s had become… Read more: The Name’s Bock………..

MALT What is malt and why is it so special?  No malt, no beer.  Thank you for reading.  In the universe of beer and brewing, malt usually refers to malted barley. While beer is made from many a grain, and many a grain is malted, barley is the most prevalent in Western beer brewing for… Read more: The Malt Primer

In the beginning It has been proposed, by beer people of course,  that humans settled down so they could make and drink beer.  It’s a nice story. Similar arguments have been made with a focus on bread.  We can generally agree however, that it was the birth of agriculture that set the foundations for human… Read more: A Brief History of Beer