Sheltered Girl Meets World

WEEKNIGHT DRINKING: Heller High Water by Kichesippi Beer Co.

I'm either really bad at celebrating occasions or really efficient and I have my parents to blame.  I don't know when we started doing this, but for the last 10 (?) years we started combining birthdays and holidays.  Instead of having individual parties for my Dad's Birthday (April 26), my Mom's Birthday (May 4), Mother's Day (May 12) and Father's Day (June 16) we combine them into one mega celebration.  That doesn't mean I'm a mean daughter and don't acknowledge the day with a phone call or treat, it's just easier on all of us to schedule one family meal instead of four.

For this year's family celebration I grabbed dinner from Cozmo's Souvlaki, our favourite Greek takeaway, ordered Black Forest cupcakes from Little Cakes and brought a growler of Kichesippi Beer Co.'s Heller High Water.

The Helles Lager is a sessionable beer, meaning it's lower in alcohol and suitable for those long drinking moments like relaxing on a patio with friends, or warming up next to a campfire.  This beer is truly German, brewed with German malts, German noble hops and Munich yeast.  I find it slightly unbalanced with the noble hops giving it a strong floral taste, but when I asked my Dad for his review he gulped down half his glass and said it was a true German beer!  Coming from a man who was stationed in Germany, and a regular at the local beer garden, that's high praise.

WEEKNIGHT DRINKING: Urthel Saisonnière by De Leyerth Brouwerijen

The other night I went out for drinks with a friend to Bistro L'Autre Oeil in Gatineau - a hop, skip and jump over the bridge from Ottawa.  Housed in a converted Victorian mansion, this is the home to the biggest and most impressive bottle list I've ever seen.  Seriously, take a look.

After zeroing in on the Belgian section and having a few lambics (my new thing) I ordered Saison Dupont.  The waiter arrived not with the renowned farmhouse ale from Brasserie Dupont but with Urthel Saisonnière by De Leyerth Brouwerijen explaining that they had just sold out and this was the next best thing.  I went for it, not just because I wanted a saison but because of the awesome glassware that went with it.

I'm tempted to describe the glassware instead of the beer, but that's not the purpose of this blog.  Saisonnière starts off sweet with notes of lemon, pepper and cloves then finishes with some lingering grassy hop bitterness.  I really enjoyed it and would recommend you try it - even if the bar you're visiting doesn't have the appropriate awesome glassware.

ANNIVERSARY: Kichesippi Celebrates Three Years

How big of a local beer fan are you?  Do you remember when 866 Campbell Avenue was the home to Heritage Brewing Company?  Do you remember the Scotch Irish brands that were contract brewed out of Heritage?  Do you remember when Kichesippi contract brewed out of Heritage before eventually purchasing it?  Bonus question, did you ever attend one of Heritage's open houses?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you deserve the respect of all the craft beer drinkers in Ottawa - you know your beer and you've probably been supporting the industry for a while (...I know I have).

Seriously though, as someone who's been watching from the sidelines it's been an awesome sight to see the former home of Heritage Brewing Company become the bustling, ever expanding Kichesippi Beer Co.  Over the years I've watched them add more tanks, produce delicious seasonals and, more recently, launch an old fashioned soda line called Harvey & Vern's.

With everything happening so quicky a big anniversary bash was definitly in order!  At the brewery the full range of Kichesippi brews were on tap (Natural Blonde, 1855, Wuchak Polaris, Heller High Water and a Polaris cask) as well as ginger beer and cream soda from Harvey & Vern's.  For eats, Ottawa Streat Gourmet pulled up their truck to serve up some hot sandwiches while Pascale was busy making ice cream floats and selling out of ice cream sandwiches.

Congratulations Kichesippi on three years - I can't wait to see what the next year brings ..and I'm really looking forward to your next party!

WEEKNIGHT DRINKING: Make'r Easy by Beyond the Pale Brewing Co.

After Beyond the Pale Brewing Co. launched in December it quickly went from being Ottawa's newest brewery to being Ottawa's most sought after brewery.  Perhaps it was the beer they were producing or maybe it was their location, but the demand has been so high that their retail hours were scaled back and an expansion was ordered just four months later.

In addition to their regular line up, Beyond the Pale produces a few one offs that keep the beer fans in a frenzy and causes a line up outside the Hintonburg Brewery.  Thanks to weekend overtime shifts I've never been able to join any of the line ups or presales, but I had a rare Saturday off and the weather was beautiful so I joined the line for my two bottle allotment of Make'r Easy.

Make'r Easy is the bourbon barrel aged version of their low ABV English Mild, Easy Pleasey.  I haven't tried the original, but I think the barrel added some wonderful notes of vanilla and dark caramel to an already nutty/grainy beer.  I don't usually comment on texture, but this had a wonderful smoothness, almost creaminess that made me sip it slowly, savouring the flavours.

I kind of regret not making the time to stand in line for the other bourbon barrel releases.