Montreal food favourites

June 1, 2016June 1, 2016 / Greg / Leave a comment

I’ve spent enough time in Montreal to have a few go to food places. A trip to the city isn’t complete without a couple of staples. These are mostly things you already know about Montreal, and I’m not ashamed that my list isn’t one of under the radar places. All of these are wonderful and deserved of the attention they receive (well, maybe all except the last on my list).

First off, every trip to Montreal needs a stop for a Schwartz’s smoked meat sandwich, a dill pickle and a black cherry Cott cola. I’ve sampled some of the world’s great sandwiches and this is one of my all time favourites.

Continue reading →

First days in the new hometown

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016 / Greg / Leave a comment

I stepped off the plane in Saskatoon a little over a week ago, dragged two full suitcases to a taxi, and about fifteen minutes later (the proximity of the airport to downtown is a major plus compared to Halifax!) I was in my temporary apartment and unpacking. My first days included the mundane details of setting up a life in a new city, but I also set aside a fair chunk of time for some exploring before I started my new job.

First things first – Saskatoon is a very picturesque city. Those trails along the river will be seeing a lot of me:

Continue reading →

Searching out craft beer in Spain

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016 / Greg / Leave a comment

Spain and craft beer. Not two concepts that you’d immediately place together. In tapas bars in Madrid and Seville, there would always be one tap, and ordering a beer meant having whatever brand was flowing. Not that this was a bad thing. The beer was always ice cold, and while eating salty olives, perfectly sliced ham, or any of the other culinary staples in Spain, it made for a great pairing. Thirsting for something a little different, over two weeks in Spain, I had a few opportunities to dig a little deeper for a beer culture that is emerging, if still at the fringes.

Thanks to an article by the wonderful travel blog, Bite-Sized Travel (written by a fellow Haligonian!) I was inspired to chart a course of a few craft beer locations and beers in Madrid, Seville and Cordoba. My first stop was Fábrica Maravillas, less than a 5 minute walk north from the Gran Via metro. It’s a brewery in the back, small pub in the front kind of place. I tried two of their beers – the Malasaña (left; named after the neighbourhood in which the brewery is located; a well-balanced American-style piney IPA) and a bitter (right; light and easy drinking). This was also the start of my love affair with the plump, salty olives of Spain. The only thing missing from this visit was the pub’s resident pug, who, if he was around, may have enticed me to stay for a third or fourth beer.

Continue reading →

Texas craft beers and bars

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 / Greg / Leave a comment

One week in Texas, split between Houston and Austin, gave me plenty of opportunities to sample a number of craft beers from the state. The refreshment of the beverages (and the air conditioning in the bars) was much needed as the temperatures were pushing into the 30s the entire trip. Here are a few of the beers I got to try and a couple of the craft beer bars I visited in Houston and Austin:

Mongoose Versus Cobra – Houston

On the way back from a Sunday afternoon Houston Texans game, I got off the train a couple of stops early so I could pop into Mongoose Versus Cobra. This was my kind of bar – very laid back and mellow. Here I tried two Texas beers – on the left, an Uncle Billy’s Lazy Day Lager, and on the right, a Buffalo Bayou 1836. I liked the 1836 the best with its malty taste and dry finish. It was unique and reminded me of a cross between a British bitters ale and an American pale ale. I couldn’t resist perhaps the perfect beer snack of chicharrón with chile sauce, salt and lime.

Continue reading →

Mmmmm, San Diego beer

September 16, 2015 / Greg / Leave a comment

Full disclosure – I’ve starting writing this piece about the wonderful craft beer I had an opportunity to sample in San Diego while sitting at my “home” craft beer bar in Halifax. It’s a case of Nova Scotia craft beer fuelling some writing about beer.

Whenever I visit a new place, that city’s craft beer breweries and bars jump to the top of the must visit list for me. In San Diego, seven days would be nowhere near enough time to sample all I wanted to, especially considering some of this trip was work related and needed my full attention. After enjoying a Karl Strauss mosaic ale at a Padres game (my opinion: that might be the perfect ballgame beer), I visited their brewery just a few blocks from my hotel to try some of their other brews. Of the four samples, I really enjoyed the slightly spicy Windansea Wheat and one of their iconic beers, the Red Trolley Ale:

Continue reading →

A Vancouver craft beer crawl

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 / Greg / 1 Comment

One of the significant advantages of visiting a city for the second time is that it affords you plenty of time to dig into it much deeper. For my most recent visit to Vancouver, one of the things I wanted to explore was the thriving craft beer community on the west coast. On my previous trip there a few years back, I had a quick taste of west coast craft beer on a night at the Alibi Room. On this visit, although I had more in depth explorations planned, I found myself back at the Alibi for a couple of sampler trays and a delicious bison cheese steak. My favourite beers? In the first sampler tray (photo on the left), the Brassneck Staircase wit (beer on the far right) and the Four Winds pale ale (beer on the far left) were outstanding. In the second sampler (photo on the right), the Red Truck lager (left most beer) was a wonderful easy drinking sessional. Another Brassneck beer, the white IPA (second from right), was truly exceptional – a piney, citrusy mashup of a west coast IPA and wit. My multi-day Vancouver beer crawl was off to a great start.

Continue reading →

Nashville craft beer

August 10, 2014 / Greg / Leave a comment

Every North American city I’ve been to over the past few years has a vibrant and growing craft beer scene. As part my pre-trip planning, I look for a craft beer bar or two and create a list of beers I hope to try when visiting a city. For this recent trip to Nashville, a small craft beer bar in the Gulch neighbourhood, Hops + Crafts, came very highly recommended.

Early afternoon on my last day in the city, after filling up on a wonderful pulled pork sandwich from the Peg Leg Porker just around the corner, I arrived at Hops + Crafts just as it was opening. Not sure if it’s a good or bad sign when you’re the first person in the bar for the day. But when you catch a look at a set of taps like this, any guilt is gone. After all, this was a small sliver of vacation time for me…

Continue reading →

Early bird gets the craft beer

April 22, 2014 / Greg / Leave a comment

I’m blessed with a very robust body clock. When I travel, it can take me days to shake off even a small timezone adjustment. On this recent trip to Chicago, I found myself waking around 4:30am each day and patiently awaiting the time when I could venture out of the hotel to find breakfast. Even on my third morning, I was still operating on Atlantic Time. Why am I telling you this?… To justify a story of me wandering up to the Bucktown neighbourhood northwest of downtown Chicago on a Saturday morning in search of a craft beer bar called the Map Room.

There’s something about being on vacation that makes it relatively acceptable to partake in a drink before the crisp hour of noon. It’s even more justifiable if that drink at 11:30am “feels” like it’s been had at 1:30pm. By the third day of this solo trip, I was in an indulgent mood. The idea of a great beer (or two) in an outstanding neighbourhood bar while reading a book was what I wanted. After pouring over an outstanding draught list, I choose the most local beer available, a 3 Floyds Brewing “Live a Rich Life” double IPA (from Munster, Indiana). It was a hoppy, Belgian style double. At 9.5% ABV, I was glad to have a few of these delicious bread sticks to help mop up the alcohol:

Continue reading →

Beer experiences in Prague

November 4, 2013November 11, 2013 / Greg / 2 Comments

Drinking beer in Prague is a true pleasure. Great beer is everywhere; you don’t have to seek it out. Over the course of two weeks I didn’t have a single bad beer or ever spend more than $2 Canadian for a beer in a bar. These are a few of my favourite beer-related experiences in Prague – the bars, the delicious traditional Czech snacks, and of course, the beers themselves.

First beer in Prague: After getting settled into our apartment on the first day, we made our way for a much needed meal at Svejk Restaurant U Karla. We picked this location for the ease of gluten-free eating for my wife for the first night. A few minutes after sitting down, I got acquainted with my first Pilsner Urquell:

What went well with my second beer in Prague? My first pork knee. Czechs know how to eat:

Continue reading →

Pilgrimage to Plzen

September 24, 2013September 24, 2013 / Greg / 4 Comments

You won’t see a description for a day trip to Plzen in your Frommers guide to the Czech Republic, and that’s a bloody shame. For the beer lover, I would argue it’s almost a necessary visit. This quaint city gave birth to beautiful thing in 1842: a beer that has stood the test of time – pilsner.

For me, the day trip to Plzen this was a true pilgrimage. There was no way I was coming to the Czech Republic without visiting where my favourite style of beer was created. Only a short 90 minute train ride from Prague, the Pilsner Urquell brewery is located just outside of the city centre. When you arrive, you are greeted by the original gates of the brewery:

On our way into the brewery we got to see a morning delivery loading up. Each day, the brewery delivers beer to bars in the city by horse, keeping alive a long-standing tradition. I momentarily thought about taking the reins and making away with a few kegs of the good stuff:

Continue reading →