I love me some good barbecue from time to time. Not the summer-stuff-on-the-grill, although that too, but the southern US stuff of almost any stripe. Memphis rubbed ribs, Texas smoked brisket, pork-and-slaw in Arkansas, the vinegary sauces of North Carolina; I love it all, and will happily engage in completely unbecoming face-stuffing from time to time when circumstances allow.
And what goes ideally with barbecue? Why, beer, of course. And so we arrive at our topic of the day.
Yesterday I visited for the first time a relatively new arrival on the small Toronto barbecue scene, a place called Lou Dawg’s on King Street just west of Portland. Not being quite of the mind for ribs – St. Louis-style at Lou’s – I opted instead for their pulled pork sandwich, which was offered to me on a choice of white or whole wheat bread. This should have been a warning sign – this is barbecue we’re talking about, not some damn veggie burger – but I persisted nonetheless with my order, adding both sweet potato fries and a beer. But what beer…?
On tap was a slew of Sleeman brands, three of them to be precise, plus their “house” lager, which I assumed would be Sleeman Silver Creek Lager by another name. Of the draughts, only the signature Cream Ale had any appeal, but I worried that it would be lost beneath the spicy tang of the restaurant’s barbecue sauce, so I asked about the bottled beer selection.
“Oh yes, we have bottles,” exclaimed the white-aproned fellow behind the counter, who then proceeded to open the metal beer fridge door to reveal…exactly the same brands as the ones on tap, plus Dos Equis. Although I held my tongue, what I wanted to say, nay scream, was “Are you stupid or something?! This is Toronto, the heart of Toronto, in fact, not some corner of Houston where they’ve been serving barbecue and Shiner Bock for generations, and you offer the same damn beers in a sadly limited bottle selection as you do on draught?!? The wine bar a block or two away has a better selection! What’s more, you have not one beer that actually suits the kind of food you’re serving!”
But like I noted, I instead held my tongue, ordered a pint of Cream Ale, and patiently awaited the arrival of my sandwich while thinking about my recent experience at RUB BBQ in New York City, a Chelsea barbecue joint where I had a pint of Stone Arrogant Bastard while waiting for a table to open, and Blue Smoke in that same city, where not only do they seem to always have a pilsner, porter and IPA on tap – all of which complement nicely the various types of barbecue Blue Smoke serves – but know how to make a pretty damn good Sazerac cocktail, too.
