Two, OH (Canada), One, Nine

Been there, done that...before it was even a thing....

We kicked the end of 2018 out and welcomed in 2019 while on a three-city jaunt to the Great White North (aka Canada).  I found a lot of good beer throughout the trip.  Here's a quick run-down:  

12/29 -  Take off, ya hoser!  Well, we would like to, hoser, but your airplane is delayed ABOOT an hour.  Our flight to  Toronto on WestJet, was delayed a little, so I had a Sam '76 lager from the Samuel Adams/Boston Beer Company at the Nashville Airport location of Neely's BBQ since it was the only one they had on the menu that was new to me.  And it wasn't half bad actually.  On the quick flight up north I was surprised to see  what I thought was a craft beer offered by the Westjet airline.  The English Bay Pale Ale from Granville Island Brewing was pretty good despite it being listed on UNTAPPED as a macro-brew.

TORONTO

Now THIS is my kind of "flight to Toronto."  After some tasty poutine for dinner, we moved across the street to The Craft Brasserie and Grille for some libations.  This is an outstanding beer bar and I got a tasty flight to enjoy.  From L to R was the terrific Belgian Style Stout from Spearhead Brewing (Kingston, ON),  the solid Nosbeeratu  black IPA from Rainhard Brewing (Toronto); the yummy Lady Friend IPA from Elora (ON) Brewing; and the solid Truth Serum IPA from Rorschach Brewing (Toronto).  

I also had a few sips of the drinks my traveling companions ordered. I had a good couple swallows of Ashlee's  yummy Old Tyme Gingerbread Porter from Niagara Oast House Brewers (ON).  I somehow have gotten to 20 ciders on UNTAPPD (despite the fact I don't really care for them) thanks to shared tastes from my friends like Wayne, and now Wendy, who was here on the trip, who let me try her  Cherriosity from West Avenue Cider (ON) which was a sweet as she is...if not more...ultra sweet cherry taste? Yecch!  

I could have stayed all night at that excellent beer bar, but we had reservations at a unique place I found called LOB Toronto.  It's basically bocce meets putt-putt golf played indoors.  Mix that with some decent craft beer and you've really got something here!  While we lobbed our two games (from where I came in dead last the first game to tied for first in the second), I had a really good pale ale called Yuzu from Radical Road Brewing here in Toronto.  I had a taste of Wendy's Batch: 1904 cider which is listed as "sweet" but I found to be crisp and dry and tolerable..for a cider.  I finished with a  few sips of my friend, Charly's, Riverside Czech pilsner that was pretty good.   It's from Saulter Street Brewery also here in Toronto. 

I finished the night and collected another cool  travel drinking badge back at our hotel, the swanky Westin Harbour Castle, in their lobby bar with an excellent Boneshaker IPA from Amsterdam Brewing here in Toronto.  Good first half-day!  Thanks, "Tronnoh."  

12/30 - Put me in, Coach!  Charly and I headed out fairly early this morning for a quick walk on the snowy streets of Toronto to the Hockey Hall of Fame while the girls slept in and shopped a little.  

The Hockey Hall of Fame was amazing and incredibly interesting.  While I am rather new to the sport with the love of the Nashville Predators, I have become a big fan of the sport and appreciate the it greatly.  The displays and interactive set-ups here are tremendous.  You can easily blow a few hours wandering around.  

He shoots, he scores!!  Three in a row actually.  I made my first three shots for goals in this interactive set-up at the Hockey Hall of Fame.  I didn't fare so well as a goalie with only one blocked shot, but it was set on the pro level.

After the Hockey Hall of Fame, we met up with the girls at this amazing market-style restaurant called Marche'.  With my awesome Asian stir-fry I had a pint of Tankhouse Ale from Mill Street Brewing here in Toronto.  It's considered a macro-brewery, but I thought this darkish pale ale was crafted well and very tasty. 

After lunch, the four of us strolled toward the iconic CN Tower and the Toronto Railway Museum.  Next door in part of the old railway roundhouse is Steam Whistle Brewing where I had their Steam Whistle Pilsner Unfiltered (Plus) which was pretty good.  This is a weird little brewery, they evidently make more than just one beer, but the standard pilsner (which I had in Calgary last year) was all they had on tap except this unfiltered variety.  Still a very cool place though.

After goofing around at Graffiti Alley, we headed back toward the CN Tower and found the Lucky Clover Sports Pub to have a few libations.  I started with a Kilkenny red ale since it was an Irish bar after all.  It's made by Guinness in Dublin and I thought it was great.  I found they had some craft taps after that and had an outstanding IPA called Eclipze from Lost Craft Brewing here in Toronto.  

 12/31 - Train beer!  As we headed out to Montreal on the VIA Rail train today, I was happy to find a local craft beer on the serving cart that came around to our seats.  I enjoyed this tasty pint can of Lug Tread kolsch from Beau's All Natural Brewing (ON) as the kilometers flew by (at over 80 mph sometimes). 

MONTREAL

When we arrived in Montreal, I was able to convince everyone to go to dinner  at a place near our hotel called Bier Markt.  Yes, they 150 unique beers available, but their food was tremendous too!    Evidently, this is a regional chain and I was very impressed that they have 40 regional beers available.

"They have 150 beers, and all yours look the same..." says my smart-ass friend, Wendy.  But, yeah, she's right.  I was in a heavy IPA mood and I got a wonderful snoot-full with this flight.  I started with the delicious and cloudy New Wave Milkshake IPA from Bieres Jukebox Brewing (QC). Next up was the solid L'Occasion session IPA from Brasseurs du Monde (QC).  Third in line was the dandy Les Trois Mousquetaires IPA also from the QC area.  The final flourish was the very good Yakima IPA from Microbrasserie Le Castor (QC).
I even got a gulp of Wendy's Somersby Apple Cider from the Carlsberg macrobrewery family to continue trying for  my next undeserved cider badge on UNTAPPD.  

It's been a great year of beer for me and I am looking forward to more in 2019.  I was expecting this badge from UNTAPPD, but then something new came along....

Like I said, a very good year for the beer!

1/1/19 - Happy New Year!  I only had one new beer to kick off the new year in Montreal, but I had a great day there nonetheless.  After a food tour in Chinatown, my friend, Charly, and I, lost the girls to a Barbie exhibition, so we headed north of downtown Montreal to check out Olympic Stadium and Tower, the former home of the 1976 Summer Olympics and the now-defunct Expos MLB team.  The unique leaning tower was a hoot to go up into by funicular car.   

We were fortunate enough to catch a beautiful sunset from atop the Olympic Tower looking southwest toward downtown.

With as cold as it was outside today, it was hard to imagine a SUMMER Olympics here!
After meeting back up with the ladies back at our cool Hotel Bonaventure I had a decent Infamous IPA from macro-brewer Granville Brewing (BC) in the lobby bar.  We had to call it a night after that since we had a very early train to Quebec City tomorrow.

QUEBEC CITY

Told ya it was cold...

Cool video screen grab while on the train to Quebec City

1/2 - After a quite cold, but enjoyable, tour of the beautiful old town of Quebec City, we settled in for some dinner and warming up at a little restaurant called Le Casse Cou  (the broken neck), a nickname for the quaint little Rue de Petit-Champlain it is located on.   I had a couple of pretty good beers with my poutine dinner including a tasty St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout from Brasserie McAusian (QC).  See photo below. I finished with a solid witbier called Cheval Blanc from Les Brasseurs RJ (QC).  

Maybe one of the worst beers I can remember having, but I do like the name and I did like this mirror in the restaurant bathroom.  Haven't checked it in on UNTAPPD.  May have to give it another try if I get to back to New Brunswick.

The aforementioned poutine and brew.  This is where the delicious dish was created, so I had to have it here and it was perfect.

1/3 - It was another cold, but fun day in Quebec City that included Ashlee and I dog-sledding for the first time and a visit to the Quebec Zoo with polar bears, giant walruses and cute as a button arctic foxes,

Nice view of some dog butts...

The sled-dogs even still loved me after dragging my fat ass around in the snow for an hour...

 We embarked on a great little food and booze crawl to three different places near our hotel tonight.  The first stop was my favorite:  Noctem Artisans Brasseurs.  This place was made for me!   Great craft beers, good food with a cat theme!  What's not to love??  I got a flight of all their own beers that went as follows from L to R:  the terrific Hop Rush session IPA, the outstanding Kirby session IPA, the solid Oskar KMS Bismarck IPA and the best of the lot (and possibly one of the best  stouts I have ever had) the Belzebuth.  I had to get one of their T-shirts, of course, and I am wearing it as I type this!
I also had a sip of Ashlee's cream ale of theirs called Catkenny that was good, and a sip of Wendy's cider (of course) called CID Sec (QC) that was nice and dry and one of the best of hers I had tasted so far.  

Our next stop on the crawl was Phil Smoked Meat...that's not a typo...it wasn't Phil's Smoked Meat...just Phil...(who knows, they're French-Canadian)...any-who.. the smoked meat was spot on and delicious and with our two large shared plates I had an so-so Pale Ale from Okanagen Spring Brewery, a macro in BC.  I also got a sip of Wendy's next cider, Le Celeste - Bleuet from Le Somnambule Cidery (QC).  I also had a taste of Charly's Honey Blonde Ale also from Okanagen that was also just OK.
The beer improved greatly at our next and final stop, the Pub du Parvis, where I had an excellent bottle of MacTavish in Memoriam pale ale from Le Trou du Diable Brewing (QC).  I also had a good swallow of Charly's beer, the Charles Henri Noire Stout that was really good.    By the way, the desserts here are AMAZING!!  

One of my favorite comedians, Greg Proops, liked my tweet about the MacTavish in Memoriam beer since "Kittens MacTavish!!" is one of his favorite sayings.  

1/4 - Anytime my wife says I look thin in a picture, it's worth saving and posting.  This is me outside the ice hotel just outside Quebec City where we stayed tonight.  It was a bucket-list kind of thing that we won't ever forget.  

The ice hotel and surrounding winter park were a ton of fun, but they were really lacking in good craft beer of any kind.  I had to settle for a macro Molson Export Ale with dinner at a Polynesian style restaurant called Resto Safari.  It was actually pretty decent as was the meal.  So color me shocked on both accounts! 

No beer in the ice hotel, unfortunately.  They had Coors, but I don't stoop that low.  I did have a taste of an interesting spruce beer (similar to ginger beer) that they were using in some of the mixed drinks at the ice bar.

1/5 - On our last full day in Canada, we stopped back in Quebec City for lunch at  Les 3 Brasseurs, a  regional chain-style brewery/gastro-pub whose beer was decent and whose food was fantastic.  I, again, had a flight that included from R to L:  their Blonde, their Milkshake IPA, their Brune (Brown) and their IPA all of which were decent but not very memorable. 

I did reach a cool milestone with the 3 Brasseurs brown ale.  Salute!  

My last beer in Canada (for now) was a pint of the 3 Brasseurs Ambree (Amber) that got me to my next level on UNTAPPD.  Thanks, Canada, I will see you again soon.  I just know it!