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Finally winter is here!

Not only does this mean snow and winter sports (which I am fond of) it also means WINTER BEERS!

In the last few weeks I’ve seen some winter and Christmas themed beers popping up in the L.C.B.O. and this makes me very happy as I am a fan of seasonally themed beers.

The first of these special coveted (if only by me) brews that I got my hands on was a Winter Ale from Great Lakes brewery which is nice and definitely drinkable but not quite different enough for me to really get super excited over.

Then just a few days later while wandering through my local L.C.B.O. I came across my absolute favorite of the winter brews. BAH HUMBUG!

Oh just typing the name makes my mouth water! This blend of ale and warming winter spices is truly a masterpiece! Wychwood brewery sure did a good job on this one (I shouldn’t be too surprised though seeing as how these are the people who make Hobgoblin and Fiddlers Elbow).

Winter is definitely my time for what I think of as “warming” beers. Beers like deep flavored ales and heavy stouts. Beers that make me feel full and happy. Beers that can be served without being fully chilled and still be enjoyable.

I’ve even heard rumor of eggnog beers… I’ll be investigating further in to this.

Bishops finger Ale has released a set of ads that are quite cheeky. Drawing similarity between close ups of stained glass and naughty bits! Personally I like them. A cheeky 5.4% indeed!

I have to give kudos to Bishops Finger for bringing some sex in to their advertising. Not an easy thing to do with a name like theirs.

It’s that time again! Well… this blog hasn’t been around long enough to announce any previous but The Golden Tap Awards are upon us and internet voting has commenced!

In its second year now The Golden Tap Awards are a series of acknowledgements for Ontario brewers. The Categories this year are:

• Best microbrewery in the GTA
• Best microbrewery in Ontario (outside of the GTA)
• Best beer brewed in the GTA
• Best beer brewed in Ontario (outside of the GTA)
• Best bar in the GTA in terms of draught beer selection
• Best bar in the GTA in terms of bottled beer selection
• Best bar in Ontario (outside of the GTA)
• Best brewpub or tied house in Ontario

Head over to the Site and vote now.

Premier Dalton McGuinty has made comment on the recent pressure from certain groups to change the way you and I in Ontario buy beer.

There has been some pressure to remove the monopoly that is held by The Beer Store on Ontario beer buyers. When asked is the system should change at a news conference McGuinty said “No, I like the system as it’s found at present,” he said “I don’t think consumers would tell us that. Certainly, Ontarians are not delivering that kind of a message to me.”

Some think The Beer Store is not good for Canada being a foreign-owned operation, it’s a joint venture by American-owned Molson, Belgian-owned Labatt, and Japanese-owned Sleeman. But let’s not forget that all of those were Canadian companies before they were bought by bigger breweries. The Beer Store is also one of Ontario’s rightest supporters and contributors to recycling in Ontario.

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory also defended The Beer Store but said he’s willing to see change in the area of micro or local breweries. “I’m open to looking at ways in which we can give a fair chance to the craft brewers” by allowing them to sell in corner stores.

Personally I think this is a bad idea. There’s enough underage kids getting cigarettes as it is there’s no need to allow them to get beer as well. There is a better way to help craft brewers. Mandate The Beer Store to drop their prices for entry. Breweries are forced to pay to have thier beers supported in thier local beer store or LCBO. Lower that fee and more Craft beers will be eligible.

There has been some backlash concerned with the news of a Wii Beer Pong game we mentioned here.

Some members of the video game community have shown distaste towards bringing out a “drinking game” on the Wii which is (so far) a more child oriented console.

The only problem I see here is the fact that the game has been given a “T” rating meaning that is can be sold to anyone 13+. Lisa Lombardozzi of the Greater Herndon Community Coalition is worried that selling such a game to minors will promote underage drinking and even binge drinking in minors. Since the legal drinking age in most states is 21 some are worried that the game will promote drinking unhealthy ideals in the youth population.

JV Games’ spokesman Vince Valenti said, “We are not advocating drinking any more than watching cartoons or watching the TV show Cheers, or even going bowling or to a baseball game … If anything, you’re going to be drinking less, because you are too busy playing the game, trying to beat your opponent, to be constantly picking up a beer and drinking it.” Vince sounds a little less than interested in Lisa’s view of the situation.

The video in the preveous post has since been removed from youTube.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

The Toronto Transit Commission is considering mandatory drug and alcohol testing for it’s workers after the death of a subway working in April of 2007. This is a move that some are calling “highly controversial”

Personally I call it UTTERLY LUDICROUS!

How can something that takes so many lives in to it’s hands daily even consider NOT having mandatory drug and alcohol screening for it’s workers?

Just last week on Tuesday June 3rd the passengers of a TTC buss called police because they suspected that their driver was under the influence. Upon being pulled over the driver a 48 year old male was charged with one count of driving over the legal limit. Is this something that’s acceptable in our community? Drinking and driving is never okay but it’s especially ridiculous when you are carrying 100’s of passengers within a shift all over a city!

A TTC spokesman said that the union deals with about six cases a year of alcohol or drugs on the job from within 9,000 members. I say that’s six too many!

1.5 million people ride the TTC every day. 1.5 million. If one of the many TTC workers is impaired how many of those people are in danger?

Mandatory drug testing is sometimes considered discriminatory under the Canadian Human Rights Commission guidelines unless it’s in “safety-critical” occupations. Trucking is considered to be one of the “safety-critical” occupations. Yeah hauling blue jeans along the 401 is “safety-critical” but hauling myself, all my friends, and the elderly and young of Toronto isn’t “safety-critical”.

I’ve always wondered why they use a knife to cut the foam off of a Stella Artois in the commercials and in fancy pants bars but I never thought to ask. Well thanks to youTube I have an answer! Apparently the ideal way to enjoy a Stella Artois is with “two fingers” of head so that the beer isn’t exposed to the surrounding air. This incidentally is also the way beer should traditionally be photographed.

The cutting of the head removes the larger bubbles which stand in the way of you and your tasty brew. Check out the video bellow and you can impress your friends with just how snooty you can be about your next glass of the brew from Belgium!

This all came about thanks to the local Boston Pizza where I won a t-shirt, basketball bag and a couple of snazzy Stella bottle openers which can be used to cut the head off all the Stella’s I may consume in the future!

Interesting note: Stella Artois came in to production in 1926 as a Christmas brew and is named Stella after the Latin for “star.”

If you’ve ever wondered what beer to pair with what culinary delight you happen to be experiencing at any time here’s a handy guide for you to reference.

Click for the extremely large version.

Image originally found on BrewPoll and hosted on BcLiquorStores.com.

Frat Party games (a devision of JVGames the people who brought you such hits as… ummm…). Has announced that they are currently working on a title for Wii ware (the Wii’s downloadable game program) called Beer Pong at first look I thought this game would be really stupid EVEN THOUGH I used to quite enjoy playing beer pong myself.

The Official Website for the game is pretty lame. Flash based with images that are horribly pixelated and animations to match it was looking even more bleak at this point.

Then I watched the video below and it actually looks kinda fun.

Being the only ThirstyMate with a Wii console right now I’ll be letting you know how this game pans out when it drops in June. I’m looking for a 1000 points (10 dollars) OR LESS (preferably) price on it because I don’t think it’ll sell too well if it’s more than that. But this game looks like it could be a riot to play with some friends.

Steam Whistle Brewery holds a fond place in the heart of most Toronto beer drinkers. While they make on hell of a pilsner they also brew in a partially restored historic building in the heart of Toronto.

The John St. roundhouse was built in 1929 and was previously the home of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s steam engine repair and cleaning facility. It operated from 1929 to May 13th 1988 and is currently owned by the city of Toronto due to it’s historic status. Steam Whistle operates out of bays 1-14. The roundhouse is located just a short walk from Union Station, The Rogers Centre and The Air Canada Centre.

Steam Whistle is also very very GREEN!

• In winter 2008 they installed brand new state of the art equipment that cuts their energy consumption by almost 33% compared to their old brewhouse.
• During the summer months since 2008 Steam Whistle has used Enwave’s Deep Lake Water Cooling system to cool the air in their factory and conference rooms. Deep water pipes draw icy cold water from lake Ontario in order to cool the air. Reducing energy use and CFC’s.
• Even off site they’re green! Using biodegradable cups made of cornstarch resin that is completely compostable within 50 days! (That’s faster than it takes the city to clean up some of the garbage form the Toronto Grand Prix!)
• Keeping with the out of office theme Steamy (as some of the ThirstyMates call it) uses B20 Bio Fuel in their delivery trucks. The fuel contains Soya oils and recycled restaurant grease.
• You may have noticed after finishing a bottle or two of their delicious brew that the bottles are a little heavy. That’s because the glass is 33% thicker than the bottles used by the big boys. This ensures that less bottles get broken or chipped and allows them to be used up to 35 times. That’s about twice as much as a regular beer bottle. Yet another plan by those crafty guys at SW to keep it green is using custom bottles with painted labels they reduce the paper waste headed to the landfill and down the drain.

So next time you sit down to enjoy a box of the good green stuff remember that the company making it is doing its part to keep your world clean.

(As a side note please try to return those special bottles. In the summer of 2006 the crew at Steam Whistle had to slow production due to a lack of returned bottles.)