if you are like me, you will probably want to spend your saturday afternoon with a beer in hand, a good friend or two, and some tasty food. my favourite kind of meal is the kind that’s quick to pull together, and easy to share.
smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onion, and rye toast.
so easy.
“stop eating. i need to take a picture”
i only make an effort to pull out my camera when the food is really worth it. this lunch was perfect, as far as perfect goes.
and as far as beer goes, we are extremely really lucky in toronto right now because it is ontario craft beer week! you may notice that many local bars are featuring a good number of really interesting beers. the only question is: where to start? in celebration of ocb, i wanted to suggest a few of my favourite summer, saturday afternoon beers (available either on tap, or at the lcbo, or both):
beau’s festivale alt beer
this delicious alt beer is biscuity and refreshing. it’s an award winner, and beyond that they use local spring water and 100% organic malting grains. how cool is that? this is a seasonal beer, so git it done before it goes into hibernation.
muskoka brewery’s spring oddity
another seasonal beer! and this one will disappear at the end of june. that’s one week people! this is a pretty impactful beer at 8.0% ABV, but it makes for a good, slow sipping beer. it’s a wheat beer with a prevalently fruity taste and smell (it’s made with orange peel and juniper berries). and for those amongst us who have muskoka nostalgia, muskoka uses “pure muskoka water” to make this beer. it’s a trip to the beach in a glass.
beau’s no. 20 fous allies mango saison
i really love a saison style beer. we’re cooking up our first homebrew batch, and so i feel particularly attached to the saison style while we wait anxiously to see how ours turns out. beau’s makes some truly outstanding saisons, and this one is so much fun with some tropical character alongside the great saison peppery aroma and taste.
spearhead’s hawaiian style pale ale
brewed with pineapples! another tropical-inspired brew, this one is really enjoyable and refreshing. you don’t have to worry about being smacked in the face with a giant burst of pineapple flavour; the beer is nicely balanced with a nice malty flavour and hops.
great lakes brewery’s orange peel ale
i keep buying this beer. it’s the perfect size to share with a friend or two, and very summer-appropriate. the name really says it all: it’s an enjoyable, malty, fruity ale and is relatively light with orange peel aroma and peel.
i really could go on, and i probably will, but this is a good primer for your next trip to the beer store on a nice sunny day. happy saturday, team. xx katty lea
kc lea 