The Dark Side of Craft Beer

The Dark Side of Craft Beer

Last Friday I undertook an exploration to Waterloo to check out the Patio at the always fantastic Beertown, The Patio looks out on to a square along the main street and looks to be one of the better ones in the twin Cities of KW. Sadly the weather decided it wasn't going to cooperate and we had to locate indoors to avoid the ghastly showers, I'll get on that Patio one day soon. Beertown usually have four seasonal beers on tap, a great feature I like to check out as there's usually at least one I've never had the privilege to try. Luckily for me this time there were two on offer I had never sampled before the first one I opted for, also the inspiration for this blog, was Granville Island Robson Island Hefeweizan.

This guy knows about the Dark Side

Using my always unreliable Blackberry I tried to check into this Hefeweizan on Untappd and for what ever reason it kept crashing out, or so I thought. I ended up with this beer checked in about 5 times on my feed quite by accident. Then something happened that got me thinking, a comment was left on one of my unfortunate check ins that was along the lines of 'Molson own's Granville and Molson-Coors make Rikard's White so they are just Craft Washing'. Now I appreciate the comment was obviously tongue in cheek but it got me to thinking about Craft Brewers who are backed by a major Brewery. 

Probably the most well known Craft Brewer that is backed in Ontario is Creemore Springs. They were bought out in 2005 by the Molson Coors Brewing Company. In turn Creemore bought out Granville Island in 2009. So that's two Craft Brewers now owned by a major corporation and it has left me somewhat conflicted. On the one hand I love to support the Ontario Craft Brewers because I think it's a great idea to keep the money generated in Ontario so the breweries can survive and are encouraged to come up with new and exciting brews for us to try. Another benefit is as craft beer becomes more popular it creates more jobs for people that want to break into craft beer as a living,

Another Dark Side

Now on the other hand I can't help but feel for people that own their own brewery. Creemore happens to make some of my favorite beers, so should I just stop drinking them now they are owned by Molson? If I owned a brewery and believed I made the best beer in the world I would want as many people as possible drinking it. Sadly for the small guys the only way to do this is to get the big players involved. They can provide the financial security and resources most craft brewers can only dream of and if I owned a business financial security would be a hard deal to turn down. Granville Island is located in Vancouver and I'm 100% positive I would not have discovered their beers without me having to travel out west to sample them. Then this made me think again, is that not part of the beauty of craft beer? Finding yourself somewhere new and trying all the new local beers you've never tried, are we going to be spoiled by the major players buying up the small guys and making them accessible?

This could turn into quite a big issue if Craft Beer carries on exploding the way it is. I can understand why a brewer would accept an offer to be bought out by a major brewery but would it be taking away from the soul of craft brewing? It's a thorny subject and one I'm going to keep an eye on, hopefully on the Patio at Beertown.

Prost!

EyeBeerHolder

Grodzinski is a GO!

Grodzinski is a GO!

There is no finer feeling then sampling a brew you've made for the first time, well for me anyway. After a 1.5 Weeks of leaving my Grodzinski to carbonate it was ready to drink and I'm very happy with the result.

Glorious Grodzinski!

As I was kegging the beer I took a gravity reading and the ABV worked out to around 4.5% which I was happy with as Home Brewing for me isn't about making the most Alcoholic drink you can, it's about experimenting with different styles and flavors that aren't readily available from the LCBO and Liquor stores . 

Smoked Polish Beer is something I have never encountered before, in fact the only place I could find on untappd to make it was Iron Hill Brewery who won a Bronze Medal for theirs in 2012. 

On pouring the beer I was delighted with the colour, the Carared© Malt giving the beer an amber glow, and a slight cloudiness from the Wheat DME. Cloudy Beers always remind me of the wonderful brews from Quebec who seem to have a fondness for Wheat and gives the region a unique style. 

Tasting the Grodzinski I was taken aback by how smooth it was, it gently glides down the throat which is always a dangerous profile on a Beer. The smoked malt gives the brew that wonderful smell that conjures up memories of the Fire pits from the Summer past and with Spring breaking on to the horizon it seemed quite fitting to be ready as the snows start to melt. It also gives the brew that little subtle something extra that keeps you interested in savoring every mouthful, which is beneficial with how smooth it tastes.

My only criticism is that maybe the smoked malt is a little too subtle and if I were to make this style again I would look to double the grain bill to see what the outcome would be. Perhaps though the smoked malt would be overpowering where as now it has a little air of mystery where the drinker can try to detect that little flavor over many smooth mouthfuls. 


 If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and please add any comments or contact me at @EyeBeerHolder.

PROST!!