Day 3: To Routine
On Wednesday, OCB-stamped activities were happening all over the city, but I was sitting next to four taps only. Wednesday night is trivia night at Dave's on St Clair, where the revolving roster of my team, Vegan Summer Camp, puts in a weekly appearance. I love Dave's beyond all reason. The food's good, there's a bunch of kitsch on the walls, the servers are friendly, and Steam Whistle goes on special for trivia night. On a personal note, I have fond memories of Dave's. It's where I cemented my friendship with an old roommate by crying on his shoulder over some guy, and where I went on a first date with another boy, who hasn't made me cry on anyone's shoulder yet. It's good to have a local where you don't have to yell to talk. And there's something to be said for a weekly routine, with a reliable beer - Steam Whistle may not be as exciting as a smoked fruit beer with three kinds of hops, but it makes missing the Four Tops question go down easy.
Day 4: To Change
However, the next day I figured I should take advantage of the festivities. Black Oak (and board games) were supposedly on feature at The Only, one of my favourite east end bars. Unpopular Toronto sentiment: the west is nice, but the east is where it's at. It's less... you know... scene-tastic. There are places where you can mail a letter, and not just bars that will sell you a fourteen-dollar cocktail. Also, there was a Popeye's within walking distance of my house. Go biscuits! Anyway, I started off the night with a Black Oak brew, their marmelade saison. I thought it too fruity and a little flat, but I really liked the Cameron's Obsidian Imperial Porter I used to chase it. Cameron's makes perfect "dad" beer, bottles that are balanced and not too showy. The Obsidian is probably one of their more extreme offerings, aged in rum barrels and with strong coffee notes. It's also 9.2%, which really helped take the sting off my Ticket to Ride defeat.
Day 5: Back to the Neighbourhood
Feeling tired, broke, and possibly a little gassy, I desperately wanted to be housebound on Friday. But I still wanted to have beer. So I went local at the LCBO, and bought cans of the Kensington Brewing Company's Augusta Ale and Hockley Valley's 100 to bring over to the suitor's house. He lives mere blocks away from Kensington, so the Augusta seemed appropriate. And the presence of a new beer from the mysterious Hockley Valley, not a member of the *official* Ontario Craft Brewers, rarely spotted at a beer show, was intriguing. Hockley is uncommonly common on LCBO shelves, but not on social media, when the reverse seems to be the rule in the craft beer world. For a while I thought the brewery had actually folded, leaving a store of beer that was being slowly liquidated. Well, here's the 100 to prove me wrong. The beer isn't scoring well on Rate Beer at the moment, but either we got a good can or we've both gone insane, because the suitor and I thought it was pretty drinkable. And since he had the notion of putting curry mayo on our BLTs, I feel like he's at least on the ball.
Day 6: Finale
"I am full of food and high alcohol Indie Ale House beer. I feel great." - Me, to my brother
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