Brewing in the 1860's
Everything old is new again...
For those of you who are new to Le Gourmet TV you might notice that we cover pretty much all of the major drinks: Coffee, Wine, Tea, Whisk(e)y, Gin, Vodka; but beer is missing.
What gives?
Well, I’m not sure. Back when the site first went live (2 years ago) we had a beer section, hosted by a really knowledgeable beer geek. We visited micro and craft breweries, did tastings, talked about the brewing process, and how ingredients / methods changed the brew. We even went outside our own backyard, doing pieces on breweries in the PNW, and Alberta.
But it didn’t work out, views were low and we decided to re-tool the section. As time went by and we didn’t shoot anything, we ended up pulling the videos down. Which is too bad; beer (not the mass market stuff) is on par with or better than wine when it comes to pairing with food and cooking into recipes. Just take a look at these Beer Brownies, beer makes the chocolate taste better. Are you making a Flemish Stew. or any slow braised meat dish? BBQ Ribs perhaps? You need beer.
What went wrong? I have a few theories:
1) Beer is a commodity to most - we buy what’s cheapest, and only a handful of beers hold 95% of all sales in North America.
2) Craft beer is very geo-local, with poor distribution. If you don’t live in the ’hood, you can’t taste it.
3) You didn’t like the host? Maybe, but you seem to put up with me cooking.
4) We didn’t blow anything up, have fast cars, or pool parties while tasting the beers.
Today though we take our first tentative steps back into the arena of beer. And there is no better place to start than the newest old brewery in town: Black Creek Historic Brewery at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto.
This is a real working brewery circa 1860’s located in the basement of the halfway house - just like it could have been in any town in Ontario during this period. This is as far from mass market brew as you can get, it’s even quiet a distance away from most craft or micro breweries. The reality is during this period all the ingredients would have come from within a day’s travel (20 miles or so) and the beer would have been consumed by people in an area that was even closer. So the operation doesn’t need to be that large, in fact it would fit in most suburban garages neatly with room left for the car.
The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s all copper and wood; no stainless steel, no pumps, no steam jackets, no computer control or refrigeration. Fermentation, and aging happens in oak barrels, with a final product that tastes like... Beer. There are 4 beers currently being made, and there are tours that explain the process and allow you to taste the fruits of their labour. Or sit down in the restaurant and enjoy a beer paired with local cuisine.
The plan for this brewery is to eventually have most if not all the ingredients grown and milled on the property - a 1 mile beer.
So watch our 3 part interview and tour of the brewery; part 1 is up now, with parts 2 and 3 rolling out on July 1st and 8th.
For more info on the Brewery, Tours, Tastings and Black Creek Pioneer Village - check out their website.
To watch our interview and tour of the Black Creek Brewery check out the videos here.
Also, tell us what you want to see in beer videos.