We all have favourite styles of beer. Some love IPAs, others go for lip puckering sours or maybe a dark roasted stout or porter, but what we all have in common is the love of really good beer, no matter the preference in composition. Every can or bottle poured into the glass is the culmination of something that began as an idea or dream in the brewers head, a creation writ real by the mash tun.
We see only the final result of what could have been months or years of hard work and development, perhaps less in the case of a growing confidence and mastery by the brewer, but nonetheless, it is an end of a process that starts long before the first bag of malted barley is poured or the kettle heated. The beginning of any recipe calls for some sign of what the final product should and can be, a beer is no less a design of components mashed together to create something unique in a world of bland corporate sameness. The only limitation is the edges of what constitutes a drinkers palate, there is an open possibility of what can come next if we are willing to try it.
While we may debate why we drink the beer we do, there is no doubt that along with the creativity and design of each new brew, we are drawn in by the community surrounding our beer even more. It is the experience of the taproom, the communal nature of sitting down and being able to talk about the beer with the people who make it or who have a passion for it just the same. The new friendships that have happened because of simply sharing pictures or thoughts about your beer online are astounding, it's not just the beer traders, it's the groups that get together and go on beer tours, self guided or otherwise, who meet up when they go out and who have formed new and lasting relationships with people they would never have met in a million lifetimes, just because they choose to drink craft beer.
Dreamers alike, brewers and beer drinkers, we hope for a bright future for this industry we call craft. We seek to support local business, some larger than others, some hyper small and serving only a tiny space in this world. We want people to succeed with their dreams because we feel connected with every pint we buy and every story we tell. We belong to this community because we see the possibility in what comes next, believing in a future where it transcends beer and becomes ingrained in a more inclusive and diverse world we can create. We look around us at a planet resting on weary legs and wonder what if we can make some part of it better, from the start and with conviction. The door needs to be open wider, we who have come in already need to make a place at the table for anyone who wants to sit down and if we really mean we want to make this world a better place then we need to be more active in defending and calling out the actions we see that bring harm or disrespect to anyone.
It's not about beer anymore, it can be so much more than that if we want it to be.
It matters because we can make it matter.
Cheers!
Polk
Is "craft beer" dead?
Has this term of endearment that has meant so much to so many of us as we have grown and changed over the last few years when it comes to our taste in beer become co opted and broken from overuse, misplacement and so much noise?
Seeing things in black and white is what I did when I look at who makes my beer and where my dollars will go when it comes to supporting breweries, the grayness of that decision has grown in the last few years. The call of "craft beer" used to mean being independent of giant, multinational conglomerates that see beer as nothing more than a part of their bottom line at the year end P/L statements and to ensure that stock dividends are met. And while you and I may find Molson or Labatt's beer boring, it is indeed a well made product and maintains consistency no matter where in the world it is brewed or consumed. We are not so much about the beer as the world around our beer that we want to be part of. In your 20s, it was all about the party and being part of that "in crowd". As we have gotten older, we see the shift and want more than just pithy advertising, we want substance and a connection to what we consume when it comes to certain things, beer and food being chief among them.
It isn't just about beer at all, but more and more about the culture shift and community around the breweries than beer itself that has drawn so many like me and you into the fold. It is the people that drive the engine of making the beer, dreamers and creators who want to share their visions with us by the glass. But at the end of the day, all beer is business and their business is to sell us that beer at a profit and in a timely fashion to pay their people, their bills and their suppliers. So it becomes about finding great beer as well as an atmosphere and attitude that makes us feel independent and also part of a movement at the same time. "Craft beer" is cool and knowing that, the macro producers attempt to buy into that market by hook or by crook and time after time, people fall into the circle of not knowing where their beer is made or not caring because they like it or have been given an incentive to do so. The terms around our beer make us feel superior, above the average drinker who doesn't know better and it is that type of snobbery that will keep driving people away and into the arms of he macro producers and their faux craft subsidiaries.
Perhaps we have moved past the term craft beer, although it will continue to be the de-facto designation because it is too well ingrained into the minds of the general public to change overnight. I'd prefer to see the Independent label, much like they've gone to in the US (website here : https://www.brewersassociation.org/independent-craft-brewer-seal/), as a means of truly identifying these standards we would like to see define what craft beer is. What those standards are will be a subject of some debate as large regional and even national brewers will be suspect as their volume grows while maintaining an independent ownership that still feels crafty, the times are changing and we need to figure out the next steps.
Some will say, and have for some time, that it doesn't matter who owns the brewery, that it is the quality of said beer that matters much more. A technical point for a macro purchased craft brewer that is made all the time and not unfairly. If it is about the beer itself, then the quality issue is the only consideration. In "craft beer" though, I have found that the beer is only a component of what draws people into this world. It is the taproom experience, the story behind the beer, the people who work and make it and the community that has grown to surround the world that is this beer. It isn't just about the beer and that is why the descriptions and labels matter so much to those of us who wish to see nothing but more growth and inclusivity into this transformative drinking experience that has shaped and changed how and why we drink beer.
What will we see as the percentages of craft beer drinkers continue to grow? Will more brewers look for exit strategies that involve selling to a macro producer and cashing in on a lifetime of work? Will breweries become legacy projects or sold to the people who work there as a way to keep alive their independence from the big boys of beer? Is all of this just a very first world problem that really is about a luxury and a business that we have turned into community and a proud label to wear? Craft beer drinker or Independent beer drinker? Only time will tell...
Cheers!
Polk
The world we live in is messy. It's complicated and every day we are faced with decisions on where our money will be spent for necessities, essential things like food and shelter and a myriad of other products we need to exist day to day. Then comes the discretionary money, probably not as much of what we take home as we would like to be able to spend on the frivolities, hobbies and joys we try to give ourselves to brighten our days and nights. For some of us that little slice of life includes craft beer and while we sometimes spend a too much, it brings us happiness to share our beer with friends and online to the wider community. Where you buy your beer from, however, has a lot of factors and sadly in this province, supporting the current government is indeed a hot button issue we must examine further.
There have been outright displays and inducements from certain craft breweries who participated in the low hanging fruit that is buck-a-beer, even to the point of hosting the premier and his cronies for ill thought out ad campaign style promo spots, ignoring the wider discussion about the cuts to so many social, educational, and environmental programs in the face of making it all about business as usual with the government of the day. I've written about my own feelings regarding anyone who participates in or consumes the buck-a-beer nonsense and while that is an easy target to avoid if you are the least bit aware, the nexus of what is happening now is a little deeper and shows more shades of gray than I would like to admit.
Businesses contributing to political parties was a way of life in Ontario prior to a change in legislation, some hedging bets by spreading money around, others targeting the likely winners to curry favourable legislation and goodies at the trough. Craft breweries are no different, although for the most part most are too small to engage in the kind of donations that make much of a dent in a politicians gaze towards power and privilege. But some have made donations in the past and perhaps their individual owners have or will in the future, the question we must ask ourselves as consumers is what is the limit and depth of our willingness to continue to patronize a place that supports an ideology that we ourselves find repugnant. How deep will we dive to discover the political and social mores of the businesses we go to and when do we stop spending our dollars?
These questions are very much at the forefront in recent conversations on Twitter and while some of the accusations and terms thrown around do inflame the conversation rather than encourage it, the intent is to keep a light on behaviour that people find contrary to their core beliefs. So it is with great trepidation that I even move into this discussion, always wary of having to fend off trolls or even worse, being unable to articulate how I feel and missing my point being heard clear and concise. So I asked myself some questions that maybe you should too...
1. Does a past contribution to a political party indicate an endorsement of said parties future actions? Well, that is pretty much what has people discussing this now. Prior to 2017, some of the larger Ontario Craft brewers did donate to political parties, including Doug Ford's PC party during the lead up to his election and while they may not have known just how disruptive and divisive this government would have been, the donations leave a bad taste in the mouths of many of us who drink their beer on a regular basis.
2. Do we hope they thought of the donations more as a cost of doing business, taking the political temperature at the time and seeing that the PCs were all but inevitable as winners of a majority Government? A little more likely than the first question. Most educated guesses hoped that the cooler and more experienced members of the incoming caucus would reign in Ford's wilder and more outlandish behaviours and actions but did not take into account their inability to separate people from party and fell into lock step with every utterance of the premier.
3. Do they continue to contribute, albeit as individuals, now that we know the full and harmful extent of what Ford's government has inflicted on the poor, sick, mentally ill, LGBTQ2, minority and so many more marginalized groups in this province? This is where the rubber meets the road for most of us, the shades of gray will become black and white in a heart beat as the next election cycle begins to heat up in the coming year or so. The alignment of political opinion and currying favour with the Ford style of governance by division with the inclusivity and community feel of most craft breweries will not reconcile and for most of us who are informed or try to stay that way, a continued support of any kind for Ford or his cronies would be the final straw. It isn't easy to say, but the gauntlet has been thrown down by the no longer progressive conservative folks who take pleasure in inflicting pain on those less fortunate and unable to defend themselves or fight back.
4. Do we walk away from a brewery if they continue to support the PC government and by attachment, Ford and his politics of angry white guys? Some already have, taking into account past actions and when saying no more of their discretionary spending will go anywhere near the stink associated with the current government. A staunch and principled stand that I understand and can feel sympathy for. Personally, I'd like to think that past actions and current ideals will see the light and that these brewery owners will understand that not only is giving money to such a divisive and polarizing individual and party bad optics, it will hurt their business going forward from this point. Isn't that giving them a pass from their past support? Maybe, but I think the truth is they had no idea where this government was going to go and despite the loosening of regulations concerning where they can sell their beer, this alone is not a hill you want to die on. Treading carefully, anyone is free to support whatever political party they want, free speech and all that jazz, but that doesn't mean you are free from the consequences of your words and actions...
I don't know what will happen in the future, I wouldn't have believed any of what has happened since 2016 if you had told me about it back then. The sheer divisiveness of politics now and the anger and fear of "the other" being stoked by those claiming to be conservative is most assuredly not the party or politics I grew up with and followed for years. It is the ultimate first world problem to be worried about the politics of your favourite brewery, but in a world where every dollar counts, it does to those of us who wish to see the world a better place for everyone. Our money is a reflection of our beliefs to a certain extent, although most of us still shop at Walmart, Loblaws and other huge corporations with spotty track records in how they treat their employees, the environment and even their loyal customers. Context is everything I suppose.
It is a distinct piece of privilege that we have the time and freedom to investigate and make informed decisions about our beer purchases, try to understand that not everyone has that available to them. We must decide where our money goes and if a business decides their need to support a political party outweighs public opinion, hopefully we can use that decision to show how we feel going forward.
Just my 2 cents, I'm learning as I go. This isn't the place I ever thought I would end up when I started taking pictures of my beer on Instagram 4 years ago. Subtle nuances are becoming much clearer and I am growing into a life lived with more awareness and love.
Cheers!
Polk
For more info on who donates to what political party, check out this link and have at it...but know that you might not like what you find.
https://special.nationalpost.com/follow-the-money/database
It's all about the beer, the people who make it, drink it and love it and the places where we go to enjoy it. It is time for the only democratic, publicly voted beer awards in Ontario and I am stoked to see some changes and updates to this years Golden Tap Awards (click to go vote!) ((Vote Polk 2019)) categories. winning last year as Ontario's Best Beer Writer will long remain a highlight of my time spent in craft beer and was a truly special moment for a guy who had long since given up hope of writing about anything, let alone having people read and enjoy it. This year, The Bar Towel (Cass Enright) has tweaked the Golden Taps to better reflect the changing landscape of Ontario craft beer and I thought this would be the right time to delve into those changes and maybe help spread the word a little further so everyone can have their say and make their vote count.
Going down the list, their are so many amazing choices for each category and I have no doubt that the winners in each will be worthy of their fans support. In the end, it all comes down to real people writing in the names of their favourite people and places and that is the highest honour I can think of.
Off we go...
1. Best Brewery
This one will break your heart eight times before you finally type in your answer. Serious consideration goes to your regular stops, the places you go to frequently because of proximity or sheer love. The other choices are those places you may have never actually set foot inside but you have either found their beer at an LCBO, had it delivered via Canada Post or maybe a beer saint brought you something so good, you can't get it out of your head. Choose wisely, your vote could be the one to send your favourite straight to the top. Want to help ensure a spot on the podium for your pick? Get your friends involved, launch a campaign, write a witty slogan!
2. Best Beer
You thought Best Brewery was hard? Oh man, this one almost made me cry. One beer out of the thousands we pour into our glasses each year? Dang...I'm not going to lie, I wavered back and forth over 5 or 6 different beers of various styles and even after I picked one, I felt like I was choosing my favourite child. But choose we must and this one could be a one-off, seasonal or regular release core beer. Have your say, pick a beer and encourage others to join your cause!
3. Best Beer Bar or Restaurant
As someone who infrequently goes out to eat or drink, this one was hard for me. There are a lot of really good and well curated tap and bottle lists out there that could be paired with wonderful food as well, you know where you like to go and this is your chance to get the word out about your hidden gems. The social aspect of food and beer should not be discounted as part of the overall experience of enjoying a pint, vote your heart.
4. Best Taproom/Brewpub
This is another tough choice for anyone who has spent time in most of Ontario's breweries. They each have their charms, great beer and often people who bring out the best in all of us. I have found in my travels that the people working in a brewery's taproom can be a huge part of your loving or hating a certain beer. The personality of each brewery is defined as much by what they make as by the people who pour your pint and ring up your purchases. This award reflects that as much as the ambiance, beer and visual setup of each place you visit. Love one place so much that you can't wait to get back? Get the word out and get people to Vote!
5. Food Award
While I am not a big proponent of beer and food pairings, I like my beer as a stand alone experience, there are some damn fine options when it comes to eating at Ontario Craft breweries. From full scale kitchen and dining rooms to rotating food trucks to simple dishes that bring out subtle nuances in the beer, there is a cornucopia of stuff just waiting for us when we walk out the door. Stuff your face and get the word out to Vote!
6. Marketing Award
With the growth of social media and the rise in popularity of craft beer, it makes sense to examine the marketing and communication between brewery and consumer. I like this one and as a voracious devourer and commenter on craft beer social media, I can tell you that some are way more involved and entertaining than others. Other factors such as packaging, advertising and events will weigh heavy into your decision, so pour a beer and ponder if the medium is indeed the message.
7. Retail Award
I mean, we all gotta buy beer and we love dropping in on the breweries to do it. Think about your retail experience? Is the staff engaged, organized and passionate? Or are they punching a clock, doing the bare minimum and going home? Beer matters but the retail store may be the most important contact a brewer has with a consumer.
8./9.10. New Brewery/Bar/Beer
I'll put these three together because they require a little thought from us. What was new since September of last year? What bar gave you the best selection, service, food and beer in its first year? What new Brewery stood out among the plethora of openings in the last year? And perhaps most difficult of all, what beer stood tall among the rest of all the new and shiny things from the last 12 months? Vote with your heart and head!
11. Beer Personality
Okay. I'll admit I really like this change from Best Beer Writer, even though I am the final winner, reigning Champion and Golden Tap Highlander in that category. The written blogs and reviews are not the sole form of communication anymore. Few are published writers and most of us who do write do so for the love of beer, working full time and squeezing out a few things when we have time in a busy life. The rise on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter has delivered some shining examples of great accounts and people who help promote great beer, try to fix the problems we see or just have fun with their pictures and words. Many brewery folks themselves are pretty damn engaging online and in real life and with this change, the Golden Tap awards open up the world to a whole bunch of possibilities.
Do I want to win? Umm, Vote Polk 2019!!!, Hell yeah, I love awards, they make me feel shiny! But at the end of it all, its about working together to keep this train moving forward, opening up new avenues and exposing people of all stripes to what this community can be. I have my favourite people and next week I will give you a deeper look at who they are and why I think you could vote for any one of them.
So there you go, vote and let your voice be heard...much love to Cass for all.the hard work he does making this happen!
Cheers!
Polk
I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about craft beer and really, beer in general. It has become my passion and what gives me joy each day. I love to explore the changes and nuances each brewery brings to the different styles and while not all of them are my mug of pilsner, I have much respect for the intention and execution of a well made and thought out pint.
After well over 1300 consecutive days of drinking and writing about at least one beer on Instagram, I am honestly and truthfully left with wanting more. There are stories to tell and beers not yet opened. There are narratives and beauty out there that have yet to find a voice and I want to do that every day for as long as I can. This was originally all about chronicling a beer journey (sound familiar) but after 4000 plus posts and the expanded Polk Universe of this blog, Twitter and the YouTube videos, it has become so much more to me. It is my window to the world, my way of communicating and sharing a little of who I am when I felt lost and alone not that long ago. It really isn't just about beer but using that beer as a medium for whatever message is rollicking around in my brain at that moment. It isn't about spreading a craft beer gospel or promoting this or that beer, it has become a way to utilize my favourite drink to self actualize and express myself in ways I never thought possible. Do I want everyone to drink better beer? Absolutley. Do I want craft beer to continue to grow and take even more market share every year? Yes times a thousand. But it has become obvious to me that what I am doing is not the same as what I was even a year ago as I too change and become something new and different than I was before. While my results may be the same when it comes to what I create, the motives behind it have become more about the story and the people behind the lens or beer than before.
I don't know what exactly comes next but this is what happens when you take your foot off the pedal and coast a little, checking out the scenery and enjoying what life brings. It's just beer, this much is true, but it let's us tell a whole lot more about ourselves everytime we post a picture, write a review or record a video or podcast. What we post and how we approach it let's people glimpse inside our minds and moods with each word and picture.
You live in everything you do, make it count.
I'm gonna try and do the same.
Cheers!
Polk
I like to come up with new ideas to celebrate my love of beer. Sometimes those ideas come from things I see or hear and other times they are thrust upon me by my own ineptitude or bad timing. A week of unexpected expenses has left me bereft of my usual beer money and I was left staring at myself in the mirror with a feeling of unease as I am a pretty regular (every other day at least) purchaser and peruser of local breweries and liquor or beer stores. To say I enjoy the acquiring of beer almost as much as the drinking would not be an understatement and I didn't relish the thought of the next two weeks without being able to add to what is already a pretty full series of fridge spaces in and around my home. While the budget conscious part of my mind saw this as a time to tighten the belt and reset my off kilter ways of spending, my totally irrational beer brain was apocalyptic at the prospect of not bringing home some new and favourite beers until the middle of the month. Luckily for me, my rational brain has been winning a few more of these types of battles lately and I committed to what I'd like to think is the wholly fun and interesting campaign of Drink the Fridge.
After spending a few hours with my budget for the next couple of months, making sure we were planning ahead and setting aside to rebuild our now depleted savings, I then turned my mind to this concept of clearing out and drinking up the beers I had bought, was given or thought I needed at some time or another. A walk through the house yielded some real gems lost in the back of the food fridge and downstairs in the now seldom used bar fridge, beers forgotten or left for another time, now fast approaching. A lot of fruity sours, dry hopped this or that, lagers, ales, stouts and various one offs that somehow caught my eye when I first purchased them but then found a way to the darkest recesses of my mind and my fridge.
So out of necessity and really, about damn time, I'm taking the better part of the next two weeks to clean out the beer backlog that has built up as I constantly pursued the next beer and the one after that, even though I had and have a bulging collection of beer spread across the house and beyond that was just waiting for me to drink them. Perhaps this lesson learned will help me to value my dollar a little more, respect the budget I make and drink my beer when I should. This isn't about the cellared stuff, the ones we are keeping for later in the year or beyond, this is simply about the beer we buy and then set aside, pushing back as we buy more and more. It isn't that it is bad beer (for the most part), it's that I am as guilty as the next person of picking up something a few times a week because its new, shiny or I just wanted to. I guarantee you that many craft beer drinkers have a similar predicament but maybe the rest of their lives are better organized than mine so they aren't pushed to confront this compulsion to buy everything as often as I seem to find myself doing.
Drink the Fridge will hopefully reset my mind to what I am buying and give me an opportunity to catch up with some stuff I am now seeing again for the first time. Will it be all sunshine and roses? Hell no, some stuff may have turned, gone bad or just plain not be what I thought it was. But the need to confront myself and bring order to this chaos is just what I need to get right with the beer gods and the universe I live in.
Cheers!
Polk
