Yes, I missed out on the seventh edition of The Session last month, something to do with being in Victoria for the Great Canadian Beer Festival and lacking time. A sad excuse, I know, but at the same time, I wasn’t exactly inspired by the choice of themes — the Brew Zoo. With all due respect to Mr. Lyke, who chose the topic, selecting a beer to review by virtue of the fact that it has an animal in its name seemed, well, a bit lame. (more…)

When I was in Stockholm last month for the Beer & Whisky Festival, I questioned a few drinks-savvy Swedes about their government’s plans to sell off V&S, the state-owned drinks company responsible for, among other things, the sales juggernaut that is Absolut Vodka. Given the enormous amount of revenue V&S provides the country, ditching it for a one-time cash infusion seems to me, at best, rather short sighted. (more…)

It’s been a few days since I returned from Victoria, British Columbia, and the Great Canadian Beer Festival, and I figure it’s high time I posted about it. (I’ve kept myself busy this week hitting deadlines and helping to organize the September 30 “National Toast” to the late icon of beer, Michael Jackson. I’ll post more on the latter as it develops, but in the meantime you should go here and read all about it.) (more…)

In this wacky world of beer in which I live, there are three “great” beer fests: The original Great British Beer Festival, the slightly younger Great American Beer Festival and the least recognized of the lot, the Great Canadian Beer Festival. (more…)

About fifteen minutes ago, I received word that Michael Jackson passed away last night at his home in England. Details are still sketchy, but according to one source, his death was a peaceful one. (more…)

Well over a year ago, quite out of the blue, I received a missing from Jorgen Hasselqvist of the respected Stockholm beer and whisky bar, Oliver Twist. As he explained to me in his email, after several years of promoting American craft breweries at the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival, he wished to bring the same attention to Canadian craft brews. Would I, he asked, be interested in helping make that happen? (more…)

I don’t read advice columns as a rule, but I do read two newspapers cover to cover each morning — The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail — and sometimes a headline catches my eye. Such was the case this morning with the syndicated “Ellie” column in The Star. (more…)

Although a part of me wishes that I could be boarding a flight to San Francisco tomorrow so that I could partake in the 20th anniversary celebrations at that venerable lower Haight beer bar, the Toronado, I will instead be Philadelphia bound. And I’m betting that the beers I’ll be tucking into and talking about will be enough to make me at least temporarily forget about the Russian River-brewed Toronado Anniversary Ale I won’t be drinking instead. (more…)

Viewed from an international perspective, the fruit beer theme of this month’s edition of The Session, as chosen by Greg Clow of Beer, Beats & Bites, affords no end of possibilities, from the strong fruit-flavoured stouts of the U.S. to traditional Belgian fruit lambics and even farmhouse blueberry lagers from Sweden. For a Canadian, however, the field is narrowed considerably, which makes me wonder why my fellow Canuck chose this particular theme for his hosting session. (more…)