River Walker Lemon Ginger Ale. New name. New beer?

Well sort of.  The folks at Lake of Bays had mixed reviews for their 2013 River Walker Summer Ale.  On the one hand hopheads loved it as a summer thirst quencher, having a light and grainy texture, lovely spicy and citrusy flavours and the requisite hop bitterness in the finish.  On the other hand, it didn’t go over so well with the less initiated beer drinkers who were expecting, I imagine, a refreshing yet rather bland lager style beer.  Lake of Bays are based in the Muskoka region and that is cottage country if ever there was one.  Many cottagers are not craft beer aficionados.  That will change as more craft breweries such as Sawdust City start to make their impact felt in the local community.  But for now they are quite happy with a 2-4 of a mass market lager to suck back on while out on the pontoon or waterskiing.

Lake of Bays is cognisant of their local demographic.  This year they decided to try and brew a River Walker that would satisfy the tastes of both groups.  They dialled back the hops from a mouth puckering 85 IBUs (International Bittering Units…yes that is a thing!) to a more palatable 65 IBUs, and did the same with the lemon and ginger to lessen the impact (aka flavour).  The irony is that this year they changed the name from River Walker Summer Ale to River Walker Lemon Ginger Ale, even though they reduced the amount of lemon and ginger in it.  Seems to me that Summer Ale is a more appropriate name for it this year than it was last year!!

So did they get it right?

From a hophead’s perspective, in other words mine, I loved the Summer Ale last year.  It was one of my top “sitting on the dock” picks for 2013.  I think what I loved about it was that it was refreshingly full of citrus fruit flavour, but it still packed complexity with the ginger and bitter hop finish.  Those characteristics are rather muted this year, although I can pick out some of the more subtle flavours because of it.  There’s a nice belgian-esque earthy character to it. As planned, it is a more universal beer, and I can’t really find anything bad to say about it.  I just miss the Summer Ale I fell in love with….

This beer would pair well with barbequed white fish such as sole, especially with a squeeze of lemon to bring out the lemon peel flavours in the beer.

River Walker Lemon Ginger Ale retails at $9.95 for a 750ml bottle and is available at the following LCBOs at time of writing (http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/product/searchResults.do?ITEM_NAME=river+walker&ITEM_NUMBER=&language=EN)

Anarchy reigns in US beer market?

I took a trip down to NYC last week.  It had been 5 years since I last visited the US, almost as long as I have been a craft beer groupie (Brewpie? Anyone? No?). With the topic of beer sales in grocery and convenience stores being such a hot potato in Ontario right now, I was interested to see how the system in the States – which many would like to see implemented here – was working for them.

I can report back that it’s an absolute disaster. I witnessed store owners selling beer to what looked like mere children. There were robberies by armed thugs at almost every convenience store I went into. Car tires were burning at seemingly every corner due to kids who drank too much illegally purchased beer and listened to too much Headley. Law and Order has broken down people.

That’s what a certain Ontario monopoly would have us believe. Following is what actually transpired.

Nothing. Nothing bad that is.

Not only did I not witness underage drinkers being served, I witnessed every person who was buying beer being carded.  I’m 36 and I never get carded at the LCBO or TBS, yet carded I was.  I saw a woman of at least 60 being asked for ID, which frankly was overkill.  The point is that there is clearly a strict enforcement of the minimum age to buy beer, not an atmosphere of greedy and reckless store owners looking to profit at any cost.

What I also noticed was the phenomenal beer selection that was available at corner stores, gas stations and supermarkets.  Far from being excessively expensive due to the convenience factor, beer was actually cheaper down there.  Of course that might be due to the Draconian taxation laws we still have here in Ontario, which harken back to a conservative time when alcohol consumption was frowned upon and high taxes were used as a deterrent to maintain social order.  Not that this is likely to change anytime soon, the taxation of alcohol being a cash cow for the provincial government.

I had my first Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and I can honestly say it was worth the hype, wonderfully balanced between juicy malts and crisp bitter hops.  Other notable beers I really enjoyed were Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a truly world class APA; Abita Turbodog, an American Brown Ale with gorgeous dark fruit and chocolate character; and Southern Tier’s Hop Sun, a summer wheat ale which was both highly refreshing and had a satisfying bitterness.  I think Hop Sun will be a big hit on patios outside Ontario this summer

Hopefully the movement for change in Ontario alcohol laws gains momentum.  Until then I will continue to pray….