I park well. Well, I park well in Toronto at least. I have found a way to get right into the heart of the city and out by car without spending all that much time in, you know, the city. And, as it turns out, my trick now comes with a brew pub, Duggan's Brewery. I won't tell you which building it is I park under for 20 bucks a day but suffice it to say that adding Duggan's to the landscape of my twelve square block Toronto is a bonus.
What does that got to do with The Session and the question for the month "Cask, Keg, Can, Bottle?"? Well, for one thing, it is an incomplete list. There are other ways to enjoy beer and I am enjoying one now - a growler of fresh beer from the bright tanks at a brewery. Not cask nor keg, neither bottle or can? For me, it is the best way to have a beer as it is not only fresh and economical but expresses the beer as it is most soon after fermentation is complete without all that fuss about what sort of packaging is better than the others. It's like having a very long straw into the heart of the tank. And a straw that extends all the way home. Home style. I remember when I worked in Poland my personal sense of triumph when I realized that the adjective "domovy" on the menu just meant home style. The beer I brought home from Duggan's was definitely "domovy."
What has this got to do with Duggan's? Well, the beer is very good. Very good indeed. The #8 porter in the growler is a particular gem, cocoa and date with that sense of thickness that I look for in a good beer and rarely find in Ontario. So, too, with the #9 IPA which was an entire delight, shadowed only when I realized that the fresh filled six pack from the brew pub was in 275 ml rather than 340 ml bottles. Maddening. The equivalent of a stylish sort pour. Yet it's a fabulous beer. Like the bar, both good looking and a little chilly. City-ish. Don't get me wrong as I live in a city myself but a smaller one - 4.8% of the size of the Big Smoke. A different scale I don't think I will ever envy... but the beer is there is now so good I might just make a weekend jaunt around it.






Comments
Dan - February 8, 2011 4:03 PM
Love the #9! It is to much of a drive to get anything from the brewery, hopefully they will get more of their product in the LCBO.
Reluctant SCooper - February 17, 2011 2:53 AM
Thanks for the post. The Session round-up is now live:
http://www.reluctantscooper.co.uk/2011/02/session-48-round-up.html
Alan - April 21, 2011 2:49 PM
And there is was - gone.