The Fireside

It's fall beer season - means Oktoberfest! There are quite a few great offerings available.  first and foremost, is this year's Beau's Oktoberfest Mix Pack, pictured above. It should be on sale anytime now, depending on which LCBO you go to, as well as directly at the brewery and through BYBO.ca. I mentioned previously about the beers, but here they are again: Oh, and you get one of each. 1) Happy Pilsner Bohemian Pilsner • 5.3% alc/vol The Bohemian pilsner is a staple of the German diet, and we're happy to include one for you in the 2014 Beau’s Oktoberfest mix pack! Pale blond in colour, Happy Pilsner’s light floral, herbal and honey aromas take your senses on a trip to their happy place: the ever-enjoyable taste of a crisp, clean traditional lager. Traditional to the style, the flavour has some yeast-derived soft sulfur notes. The hopping provides medium bitterness that balances the malt profile without harshness. 2) Dark Helmüt Imperious ...

The weather has gotten warmer, and we are now well into June, which most people seem to think summer is here! Even though summer begins June 21, and ends in September...either way, for a beer drinker, this is good news. The summer seasonal beers are now here. First up, from Mill St is their summer seasonal sampler mix pack.   Inside this year's pack, you get: Palomar Ale, 100th Meridian Organic Amber Lager, Belgian Cherry IPA, Belgian Wit, Tankhouse Ale, and Organic Lager. I haven't tried the 100th Meridian, Palomar, or the Belgian Cherry, so I'll definitely pick this mix pack up at some point.  Now, onto Beau's. It is time again for Festivale, their summer seasonal. They describe it as: Festivale Altbier • 4.7% alc/vol Festivale is based on a rare German style of ale, know as Alt (German for old, referring to how long this style has been in existence.) It originates from the northern part of the Rhineland, and is something of a cousin be...

Winter is here. For me, aside from (occasionally) nice winter weather it also means a change in the beer season.   There are three worth noting, however, in the winter stouts are in 'season' whereas in the summer it's usually blondes.        Anyway, Beau's has 'collected' their 4 best of the year and released it in a mix pack. They are Screamin' Beaver, Doc's Feet Dubbel, Burnt Rock and Rudulphous VI . Go here for more info and beer detail : https://www.beaus.ca/beer/ best_of_beaus       Not quite seasonal beers like the Oktoberfest mix set, this is more of a 'year end' event. But their seasonal, Bogwater , is out now: https://www.beaus.ca/beer/ seasonal/bog_water   A reminder that you can buy Beau's online through their site here, part of the BYBO program : http://www.beaus.ca/store/beer       Finally, there's the Mill St Seasonal Sampler . You get : Organic La...

Some of my friends and family know that I like to drink. I wouldn't consider myself a drunkard or an alcoholic, but I like the taste of beer, and usually have it with food and / or in a social setting. That being said, I do have preferences of what I do like to drink.