PairingwithBeer

Craft Beer Lifestyle Blog

Month: April 2019

Black Lab Brewing Inc.

April 26, 2019 / / 3 Comments
The Black Lab Brewing Sign above the entrance to the brewery.
The Black Lab Brewing Sign above the entrance to the brewery.

Able to let loose…

In a packed (with humans and dogs alike) tap room on a Saturday afternoon, I sat at a high top table with Billy Madden, co-owner of Black Lab Brewing Inc. I asked him what he thought a ‘craft beer lifestyle’ might be.

“It’s hard to describe a feeling,” he began. “It’s hard-working, yet easy-going – like a 1940’s mentality or something. It’s charitable and focuses on local, while being artistic and creative. The culture is one that also a strives for high quality, but without being snobby.”

He returned to how he began: “I guess that craft beer feeling is really a sense of inclusion, of wanting to share the experience with others. And with others, I think a craft beer lifestyle is one that is able to let loose and enjoy life.”

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Kensington Brewing Company

April 19, 2019 / / 0 Comments
The exterior of Kensington Brewing Company (missing the other half of the patio, which was installed days later).
The exterior of Kensington Brewing Company (missing the other half of the patio, which was installed days later).

Supporting local…

Mike Gurr, the VP of operations at Kensington Brewing company, sat across from me at a two-top table in the brewery’s tap room. I asked him what he though a “craft beer lifestyle” might be. “It’s a lifestyle that’s centred around supporting local,” he began.

“But it’s not necessarily just beer – I think it’s really a craft lifestyle. It’s more than beer. Individualism is important; being adventurous and curious with one’s taste, of course, but I think a big part of such a lifestyle is rooting for the underdog – and that doesn’t have to be a brewery.”

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Northern Maverick Brewing Company

April 12, 2019 / / 0 Comments
Looking at the sun outside of Northern Maverick Brewing Company.
Looking at the sun outside of Northern Maverick Brewing Company.

From local…

Sharing a pint and sitting at a high top table across from the bar, I asked Jason Kaptyn, owner of Northern Maverick Brewing Company, what he thought a ‘craft beer lifestyle’ might be. “Well, it precludes the consistent drinking of macro beer,” he began, “It has great charitable components, always aiming to support the local community.

“Craft beer drinking is something that’s really up to the individual and their preferences. One explores flavour, and intends to expand it. And I would say that this search for flavour occurs within a made-from-scratch landscape. True to a culinarian, we at Northern Maverick make ‘from scratch’ our mission, both with our beer and our food. A craft beer lifestyle is one that engages a ‘from scratch’ mentality, I would say.”

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Big Rock Brewery

April 5, 2019 / / 0 Comments
The storefront of the Big Rock Brewery brewpub in Liberty Commons, Toronto.
The storefront of the Big Rock Brewery brewpub in Liberty Commons, Toronto.

Wanting something different…

Sitting with Bryan Woods from Big Rock Brewery in the restaurant portion of the their brewpub in Liberty Commons, Toronto, I questioned him on what “craft beer lifestyle” might mean to him. “It’s about avoiding pretentiousness and finding out for yourself what you like. It’s wanting something different, and something that’s produced by the ‘little guy,'” he responded.

“One engages a craft beer lifestyle when they want to support something different than the usual – and this is exactly how Big Rock Brewery began: wanting something different from the norm.”

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