Sheltered Girl Meets World

Ottawa Humane Society Summer Harvest Garden Party

From chef Michael Blackie of Le Café – pineapple, marshmallow, peanut crumble, caramel and drunk cherries.

This past Saturday over 200 people crammed into the Ottawa Humane Society in their best garden party garb to help raise money and celebrate the memory of Chef Kurt Waldele.  Attendees were treated to wine from Colaneri Estate Winery, beer from Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. and delicious creations from 20 of Ottawa's best restaurants, caterers and bakeries.

With so many talented chefs in attendance and the abundance of kittens, puppies and rabbits this event is quickly becoming one of my favourites.  My food highlights included Chef Blackie's multi-component pineapple on a stick, the Cake Shop's seemingly endless amount of cupcakes and Chef Lepine's smoked duck tongues (I apologize for eating so many and making it awkward).

Besides the wonderful food there were also some amazing Ottawa foodie themed packages auctioned off - like dinner for 8 with Gay Cook, dinner for 12 from Chef Carmichael, Christofferson, Larkin, Lepine and Wilson or a weekend for 4 in Prince Edward County (to name a few).

Congratulations to the Ottawa Humane Society for putting on a wonderful event and a fitting tribute to Chef, and animal lover, Kurt Waldele.

Take a look at last year's Ottawa Human Society Garden Party photos.

Freshly shucked oysters from the Whalesbone Oyster House.

From Chef Luc Doiron of The Pine Restaurant at the Monterey Inn - cones of creamy smoked salmon.

 

From Chef Robin Bowen of the Southway Inn - smoked salmon on corn pancake w/ cilantro and crème fraîche.

From Chef Michael Hay of Back Lane Cafe - gazpacho.

From Big Easy Seafood & Steak House - shrimp gumbo.

From Chef Gabriel Pollock of Grounded Kitchen - corn and black bean empanadas w/ chili salsa.

From Chef Kyle Christofferson of Brookstreet Hotel - sweet corn and chorizo soup w/ pork dumpling.

From Chef Marc Lepine of Atelier - crispy smoked duck tongues.

From Chef Ian Carswell of KW Catering - deconstructed sushi w/ pickled ginger, sesame crips, yuzu foam and sesame snow.

From Chef Ben Baird of The Urban Pear - flank steak, daikon w/ a fermented black bean and corn emulsion.

Real Sports Bar & Grill Executive Chef Robert Bartley was on hand to give a preview of their lime salt and bacon maple mustard coated wings.

Platters of assorted cupcakes and shortbread from The Cake Shop (pictured is my favourite, Red Velvet).

The best cannoli in Ottawa from Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana.

Perfect presentation from the Algonquin College Culinary Arts Program.

One of many chocolate delights by Stubbe Chocolates.

National Capital Craft Beer Festival 2012

Craft Beer lovers converge on Marion Dewar Plaza.

This past Saturday (and the days leading up) I was hard at work tweeting and Facebooking for the National Capital Craft Beer Week.  It meant being glued to my phone at events, drinking beer, taking photos and updating Facebook during my lunch break at work - things I do already but now with more of a purpose.

Cassel Brewery's White Fog; kegs stashed behind the Flying Monkey's stall; Muskoka Brewery's Summer Weiss; dried hops from Bristol Hops, Cask August Pale Ale being tapped by Clocktower Brewpub Brewer, Patrick Fiori; Seed to Sausage Jalapeno Cheese smokie (with crushed chips!); cans and cans of Waterloo beer; Uncle Mark from Kichesippi Beer Co., Door Hinge does not rhyme with Orange from Flying Monkey's.

The feature event of the week of activities was the Craft Beer Festival held on Friday and Saturday at Marion Dewar Plaza.  There, craft beer fans descended on 17 breweries loaded up with kegs and casks of craft beer - some special to the event.

Being a good social media volunteer I did my best to sample a beer (or two, or three) from each vendor and several food items (too many to list and not be embarrassed).  I tweeted photos through Instagram and highlighted quotes from the speaker series with the tag #NCCBW.  I had a blast and so did many of the festival goers from the looks of it!  I had several favourite moments - some beer, some food:

• Flying Monkey's series of fruit beers.  They were fizzy, light, sweet - perfect sunshine beer and I couldn't get enough.
• Seed to Sausage.  Not only did you spit roast a pig with Big Rig IPA but you added crushed chips to your condiment table.  How did you know?
• Kichesippi Beer Co.'s Uncle Mark.  One of the friendliest, funniest booths (who else would be willing to show you their belly?) and a great new seasonal to boot - Uncle Mark's Hopfen Weisse.
• Beau's All Natural Brewing Co.'s Pumpkin Weisse.  I know I complained about pumpkin beers arriving too early but after a 4 oz sample I've decided I'm okay with the early releases.
• West End Chiles smoked almond habanero brittle.  The perfect candy for someone who likes something smokey, sweet and spicy.  I should have bought more.
• Nickel Brook's Naughtiest XAPA.  There were a few casks tapped at the festival and this was one of my favourite - crazy hop intensity, grapefruit flavour with a little dryness.

I left shortly after the Brew Master's Forum and I missed several casks and kegs that were tapped later in the evening.  I also missed Founder/President JP Fournier proposing to his girlfriend, Trish Watson, on the stage.  She said yes (!) and sported a temporary engagement ring made out of a NCCBW wrist band.

 It's only going to get bigger and better next year, right?  Bring on National Craft Beer Week 2013!

Chef/owner Michael Mckenzie of Seed to Sausage.

Featured speaker and author, Stephen Beaumont.

The Brew Master's Forum with Shane Clark (Beyond the Pale Brewing Company), Patrick Fiori (Clocktower Brewpub), Jordan St. John (author, How to Make Your Own Brewskis), Joel Manning (Mill Street Brewery).

Beer Blending at Real Sports Bar & Grill

Blending a Mad Tom IPA and Kronenbourg Blanc - does that make it a Mad Blanc?  A French Tom?

My first experience with beer blending was over eight years ago when Guinness was my favourite beer and I didn’t know the difference between an ale and a lager.  I was at Pub Italia with several of my friends and we had started ordering randomly from the coveted Beer Bible.  Wanting to be different but not stray too far from my favourite drink I ordered a Crown Float – Guinness floating on top of Strongbow Cider.  When my pint arrived at our table it became the center of attention and all eyes were on me as I took the first sip.  What I tasted was creamy, malty, bitter stout followed by a cleansing tart cider that seemed to get better with each sip and each additional pint.

While beer blending may still be a novelty to some beer drinkers others like Matthew Valentine, Mixologist and Real Sports Bar & Grill General Manager, suggest that it’s a way to be introduced to stronger flavoured beer or to experiment with different flavour profiles.

Real Sports Bar & Grill’s beer menu is all encompassing, offering a long list of domestic, import and speciality draughts and bottles as well as eight beer blends.   Some are plays on the classics like the Snake Bite, Boilermaker and Poor Man’s Black Velvet others are house specialities like Oh, Canada! (Rickard’s Red and White) or Les Bleu’s (Kronenbourg and 1664 Blanc).

The more adventurous can order off the menu and get a unique blend suited for their taste.  I asked Valentine to create a blend for me - a craft beer hop head who loves strong flavours.  He suggested a combination of 1/3 1664 Blanc and 2/3 Mad Tom to highlight the citrus notes of the IPA as well as mask some of the bitterness.  I blended it shortly after I got off the phone and enjoyed it – a perfect gateway IPA blend.

Real Sports Bar & Grill will be opening in the Byward Market at 90 George in the fall with 376-seats, 99 HD TV’s and nearly two storey TV screens.

NCCBW Cask Festival @ The Arrow & Loon

Overhead view of the Cask Festival at The Arrow and Loon.

The first event in the National Capital Craft Beer Week schedule was the sessions Cask Ale Festival hosted at The Arrow and Loon.  Featuring over 25 casks from both regional and provincial breweries there was something for every palate - from malty to sweet to biter enamel tingling hops.

Cask Ales, or 'real ales,' are neither pasteurized nor filtered and have their carbonation levels maintained by a secondary fermentation within the cask rather than the addition of carbon dioxide or nitrogen.  When a cask is tapped (with a mallet and foamy dramatics) it starts oxidizing and only stays drinkable for 48 hours.  On first sip, you'll notice a gentle carbonation, higher serving temperature (12-14°C) and a richer, more developed flavour.  I like sampling casks of beer I have tried previously on draught or bottle - there can be quite a taste difference.

Great Lakes Brewery's 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison was one of my highlights.

Enjoyed both the Summernights and Crackberry casks from Muskoka Brewery.

Beau's Rolling Blackout IPA, another favourite and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Beau's groupie.

Wellingon Brewery's Arkell was okay but their Russian Imperial was great!

Armed with water and pretzels I made my way through the brewery tables trying one or two small samples from each brewery.  Here were my highlights:

• Beau's All Natural Brewing Co.'s Rolling Black "Out" IPA
• Great Lakes Brewery's 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison: Big banana flavour, slightly fruity.
• Muskoka Brewery's Crackberry Ale: Bittersweet with the addition of blackberry.
• Kichesippi Beer Co.'s All Natural Blonde: Emphasis on grain and malts, loved the big flavour.
• Mill Street Brewery's White Cap Ale: Refreshing, grapefruit - surprised me.

National Capital Craft Beer Week continues this week with special menus at participating restaurants and pubs, a beer and food paired menu by Muskoka Brewery at the Hintonburg Public House, a beer and food paired menu with Stephen Beaumont and the two-day Craft Beer Festival.

What were your cask highlights?