I'll be honest - I personally like the LCBO system - you know you're getting the best (albeit not good) price, and it brings millions and millions of dollars into the economy and public programs every year. That said - sometimes I don't want to get gouged just because I want a drink.

I've been making beer at home for a few years now - I bought the Mr. Beer kit a few Christmases ago, and brewed my self-named, 'not-so-famous' Red Beard brew a few times.

My first ever home-brewed beer. It was...okay

Changed the name this time

This year though has already started off bigger and more grandiose. I have both a batch of French Pinot Noir on the go at "The Wine Butler" and a batch of Canadian Ale already bottled in our dining room. We might just become alcoholics in 2013, and by we, I mean me, because Michelle doesn't drink wine or beer.








So how much do you save by brewing yourself? Well, I consider it significant.



The wine making was a gift, but groupons and other group deal websites pop up all the time in the 70 dollar range (in fact here's one that's available now). A batch makes about 30 bottles - so you're looking at under $2.50 per bottle. You're not getting anything vintage or fancy, but if you enjoy wine, and want something more personal - the cost is just an added bonus.

The beer is a bit more of a process - I won't get into it in this post, but lets assume you have all of the (inexpensive) equipment. A quick brew kit (which is pretty much the hops and barley already malted together), will run you about $20 at any given store. This batch makes you about 20-23 litres depending on how you brew it. Do the math with me now - a standard beer bottle holds 341 mL - so you'll take away approximately 60 bottles of your own beer. That's under 50 cents per beer.

So, is it worth it for you?

Maybe, maybe not. But the next time you're at my house, remember to not feel too special when I serve you a fancy looking glass of wine or beer.

If you're interested more in the process of wine or beer making - check out my guide on homebrewing and the best places to go in Toronto to get everything you'll need to start (to be added soon). For more on the wine, I'll post a review  when it's done in six more weeks.

Also - if you don't recall - I also tried to distill my own rum with my buddy Ben a while back - to see how that went, check out my post here

Cheers

Deric

I'm not quite there yet, but in a couple of weeks - we'll be hitting the six-month mark of living in Toronto. It seems like yesterday that Michelle and I packed up our stuff and met roughly in the middle of both of our parents' places, but here we are - biding our time renting while we (still) wait for condo walls to be built.

So, what have I found the most different? annoying? enjoyable? Good question.

1. It was the right decision to move out. I think sometimes people leave home, only to find out they did it too early, and either end up back at home, or at the very least don't get to enjoy the independence as much as they'd hoped. That definitely wasn't the case for me - and considering I left home at 26, I don't think there was any question. My advice for anybody in a similar boat is to not rush it, but also not to wait until you're at odds with whoever it is that you're living with back at home. I left when everything was great, and although it was sad, it's better than "Good Riddance".




2. Driving isn't a necessity in Toronto - it's a hindrance. Growing up (mostly) in the suburbs, my friends and I always had similar thinking I'm sure - we all wanted to get our licenses and get our own cars. The first person with a car in high school was the best friend of everyone, and when you finally got your own, it was a sense of independence that is rivalled only by moving out. In Toronto (and I imagine any dense, urban city for that matter), it's quite the opposite - everyone takes transit. When you get on the subway, you see people from every avenue of life - CEO's, lawyers, students, families and yes, sometimes crazies, but there's nobody turning their noses at you. In Mississauga, when you tell someone you take the bus, you get this sense that they're thinking "Oh, you can't afford a car?" - but in Toronto, if you drive, people ask "Oh, I guess you're not from around here?"

2B. Transit sucks in the suburbs. Everyone complains about the lack of progress or growth in the TTC in the last 20...actually...50 years - but every day when I get off the subway and wait for that bus in Mississauga, I'm reminded how much worse it could be. To put things in perspective, by commute is roughly an hour and 15 minutes each way (not too bad): about 25-30 minutes to travel the first 25 km via a short bus ride and subway in Toronto, and about 45 minutes to travel the final 10 km via ONE Mississauga bus. That's if I don't miss it and have to wait another 15-20 minutes during rush hour...

3. Toronto has awesome food. I haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg yet when it comes to all of the options there are for food - whether it's pop-up locations, food trucks, new restaurants, or festivals - there is tons to eat. Not to mention we live off the Danforth, which has some of (if not all) the best Greek food in the city. Before we moved here, I attended my first YUMTUM (Toronto's underground food market), and I knew I was in for something special. From the walnut cakes we tried in Koreatown, to the Blueberry Balsamic doughnut from Queen East, to the best Gyro I've ever had from Zorba's on the Danforth - if you want to go out and grab something to eat - it's definitely here that you want to come.

4. I love the streetcar (and hate that they're replacing them). Maybe I'm the only person who is upset that Toronto is improving their fleet of streetcars, but ask Michelle and she'll tell you how much (even after 6 months) I like riding the streetcar. It's relaxing, fairly quick, and you can open the whole window! Sure they're not wheelchair accessible, often have problems and end up so packed that 3 sometimes pass you by - but they're still the number one vehicle the TTC has in my books.

5. It's cheap. Everyone always talks about the cost of living in Toronto - and sure condos and houses are crazy expensive, but there's reasons why people want to live here. The cost to get around is cheaper (once you come around to transit), there's always free stuff going on (no seriously, look), and when it comes to things like food, you can always find a deal. Michelle and I get most of our produce now from Chinatown East, and end up with great deals like 1 bag of 12 bananas for $1.00, 10 plantain for $1.00 and Avocado for less than 10 cents a piece. The point is, it's not all that bad!

6. The condo bubble is more of a tree. Did I just get too metaphorical and "sappy"? Get it? Sappy? Anyway...you could say that I'm biased, because I write this as Michelle and I sit here waiting for a condo to be built, but the more I live here, the more I realize that the people saying it's going to burst are the people that don't live here. If you stay here a week, and you see all of the other things happening - like new business towers, new restaurants, new retail chains from across the border, possibly a casino - you'll realize that it's not just condominiums, and residents moving into the city. The support and infrastructure are being built right along with it. Sure the market will cool off, that's obvious - but for those who are worried that the bubble is going to "pop" - I wouldn't count on it. Toronto was ranked as the fastest growing enonomy in Canada last year, and it's not just condos supporting that claim.

7. There's so much that I could be blogging about. New years resolution is to blog more about things I always hoped I would. I'd always pictured myself living in Toronto, and now I'm here - and I need to document it a little more. Not so much for any of you reading, but for me.

Cheers for now,

Deric

Maybe you never used them - maybe you never had a chance (like me) - but either way, I think we all know that the elimination of the Jarvis bike lanes is a bit of a waste of money, and a knock on not only Rob Ford's "money-saving" platform, but the reputation of the city for being proactive and open to new infrastructure.

Anyway, here's a brief history with all of the (frustrating) facts to get you by...

Call it a bad couple days on the subway and bus, or call it a lifetime of watching rude passengers make the same mistakes - I figured some education is in order. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is my guide to riding the TTC politely...

If you've been reading my blog in the past, you know that I've been lobbying/pushing (somewhat selfishly) for a free shuttle service between my workplace and the subway station - because let's be honest, free is good, and a shuttle bus has a lot less stops than any public transit does.

There's a few websites that I thought I'd share - and selfishly archive on my blog so that I remember them in the future. I don't even know where I discovered half of them - some of them are courtest of blogTO.com, some I just learned about through the grapevine, but I think you'll all find them pretty useful, or at least fun, especially if you're in Toronto.