I spent weeks and weeks trying - to no avail - to get my hands on some of Mill St. Brewery's new spirit that they're distilling right in the distillery district. If you want to read more about it, see my post on the 5 things I wanted to try this spring. This was one of them...

The first couple of times in April, I called - but they did not have it yet. The people I spoke to told me that it was being made, but not yet bottled. I waited a couple weeks, and then visited, and right beside me in the store were the boxes piled high of the sleek looking bottles.

Unfortunately, they were still waiting on the go ahead from the AGCO to start selling the stuff. I imagine there were some hurdles to cross when it comes to moving from selling beer, to selling 45% alcohol spirit. So...I continued to wait. 

I checked in a couple more times, but STILL NO BIERSCHNAPPS! Even went to their new 'Beer Hall' with some friends for dinner and drinks, only to see a 'Coming Soon...' watermarked over the drinks section of their menu. Needless to say, I was disappointed. 

Fast forward to this past weekend, when Michelle and I are out enjoying our new Bixi memberships (more to come on that in a later post...), when we stop in at the most Eastern Bixi station at the distillery district. I walked into Mill St. with my expectations low, but hopes high, and what do I see? All three flavours (they distil it from their popular beers) of the liquor. 

Now - I was ready to walk in and buy a bottle - but at $35.00 for what looked like a 500 mL bottle - I was feeling a little sheepish. Michelle talked me into going to the bar and having a shot - like it's meant to be had - before committing to the whole bottle. I agreed.

So - I was served up an ice-cold (how it's supposed to be) shot, with about an ounce of chaser beer of the same flavour (I tried the traditional tankhouse schnapps). The total was around $8.00 (pretty pricey for a shot if you ask me...)

The elusive shot...

So...what were my thoughts? To be honest with you - a let-down...I guess I could have figured out that a spirit made with a grain (like this) would taste a lot like another spirit made with a grain....vodka. This shot tasted like a pretty basic shot of vodka, with a TINY bit of hop flavour in the moment. If you know me - you know that I absolutely HATE vodka, so this did not go over well. All I thought as we left empty-handed was 'Thank God Michelle talked me out of going for the bottle first'. 

I'm glad I tried it, no regrets there, but unless you're a big vodka fan, I'd say save your money. If you ARE a vodka man, I still say save your money and just buy some vodka. 

I'll stick to keeping my beer and spirits separate for now...

Consider this number 2 of 5 on my recently posted "Things to do in Toronto this spring" post. I've been waiting a long while for this beer to arrive in Toronto, ever since BlogTO gave us all a heads up a little while back. It's imported from Chicago, and has a great reputation for being great beer - and the first time it's been in Ontario.

After checking stock, for literally 2 weeks straight, every day, on the (actually pretty well designed) LCBO app, I finally saw Goose Island's 'Matilda' belgian ale, and 'Sofie' farmhouse ale start popping up at locations. Unfortunately, there were like 2 bottles in Sudbury, 1 bottle in Brampton, and 1 at the Summerhill location (which I was always told has the best selection). One day though, out of nowhere - there were 80 or so of each at the Front/Jarvis LCBO (the one that's pretty much built into St. Lawrence Market. So I hopped on it.

***Side note: Like I mentioned - a lot of people say the Summerhill LCBO has the best selection all around, and I can't disagree with that beauty of a store - but after talking to some of the guys down at the Front/Jarvis location, they told me how the ordering for each location is done by individuals. Apparently, the guy down there is a beer 'connoisseur' and is always on top of ordering what's new and what he'd want to try. So, if you're a beer person - check there from time to time.*** 

I took the King car down, and picked up a bottle of what I thought would be the most unique - the Farmhouse ale.

For $9.95 it feels expensive for a beer - but keep in mind that it comes in 765 mL bottle (like wine), and is strong (at 6.5%), so it's pretty fair.

I read up on this beer before trying it, and if there's one thing I'll pass along, it's that this beer is meant to be treated like a wine, in the way it's bottled, and in the way it's drunk.

The first thing I noticed, was the quality of the bottle and the label. You know when you just feel like something is expensive, but worth every penny? This had that quality. I don't know if you can see it in the photos, but if you're in an LCBO that has this - pick it up, and feel it (that sounds creepy).

The beer itself is extremely carbonated - and you can chalk that up to the fact that the beer is "developed in the bottle for up to 5 years". From making beer at home myself, I know that the carbonation from naturally carbonated beer (which most big places don't do now - that's right, they add in the bubbles), comes after you bottle it. In fact, if you don't have the right amount of sugars and yeast inside, the bottle could shatter (it's why they tell you to use plastic bottles the first time you home brew). Anyway, this beer had more bubbles than Sprite (which I find way too bubbly).

It tasted wheaty, yeasty, and very...craft brewed. To be honest, all I can say is that it tastes like a homemade beer. Not in a bad way - I think that's what they were going for - but because I know first hand, it tasted that way.

I finished a whole bottle in one night (albeit, the Leafs game was on...), so I must have liked it enough - but to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. The experience of it was great - but the taste? Nothing as exciting as I'd hoped. Verdict: I say try it out - it might not be often that you see this stuff. At the very least, the label feels nice against your face (maybe I did drink too much that night...)

When I saw this at the LCBO - I thought that it could go two ways:

• Molson would finally have a beer worth drinking
• Molson would put a stain on the delicious wheat-beer movement out there

I hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst.
******

I'm glad I was prepared...

Nice packaging - for what I imagine was a soft release (I haven't seen any ads, or commercials yet...), enough to make me buy it, that's for sure. 

Pouring it - the beer itself looked good too. On the can - they have 'instructions' on how to pour a wheat beer - normally, unfiltered beers will tell you to gently 'roll' the bottle before serving; in Molson Wheat's case, they tell you to:

   
1. Pour 2/3 into a glass;
2. gently swirl what's left (to mix up the residue that was unfiltered);
3. pour the remaining into the glass.

The problem I have with this approach is that you can't see the beer, and because of the normal Canadian consistency, I ended up with a 1/3 can of foam. 

Anyway, the beer itself?

The taste is terrible - it tastes exactly like normal Molson Canadian - but almost like they threw some cornstarch into it to make it a little cloudy, and taste a little fuller - like other wheat beer. 

Don't buy it...don't try it...don't trust anyone else who says otherwise - they most likely have never drank a 'real' beer. If you are brave - make sure you get something good to wash it down with - there was something in the news this morning that might do that for you!