Monday, February 16th
Due to a combination of factors, I had been in for the long weekend.
The isolation of working on a text leads you to interesting places, and the Harmonicist John Popper once sang, “sometimes I think I need a prison in order to dream of being free.” A lot of the weekend had been eaten up thinking about what I would do if I actually had money and world enough and time. You know you’re deep in a Canadian winter when you’re considering walking from Koblenz to Bingen to see a nun about some hops. The yen to be anywhere else is significant in February.
I had been looking at the menu at Augustiner (Ashleigh Carter had made a compelling case for the Hirschgarten) and wondering whether Lowenbrau was even worth consideration given that they have Budweiser at the top of their menu when I considered the old school. Weihenstephaner in Freising and Weltenburg on the Danube would both be worth seeing and generally in the same direction from Munich. I haven’t seen the Danube since 1995. Andechs has a guest house, and that led me to thinking.
I have to host a Tripel tasting with Craft Beer Days on the 28th and I’ve read a lot about Benedictine monks and Belgian beer, but I wonder what that looks like in real life. People have exaggerated thoughts about what that might be like, but I’m certain it’s fairly austere since you’re meant to be up for Matins or at least Lauds. I had taken a flyer and emailed some Benedictine brothers at Orval, Westmalle, and Sint-Sixtus Westvleteren. Theoretically, monastic guesthouses are meant for pilgrims on a period of retreat who have spiritual questions. I sort of figure if you’re willing to travel there to better understand the relationship of the monastery to beer and reflect on your own career in a pretty earnest way, that ought to qualify even if you’re with the Anglicans.
I’m shocked to find that not only have they responded, but that they’ve done so pretty quickly. Orval is out, but the other two are on board. I don’t think other people plan vacations this way.
Owen has texted from The Granite saying that I should stop by and check out music night, and since I wanted a look at the LRT and need a refresher on some FVX beers for the text I went. Since it’s a holiday Monday, the CASK group is there and there’s some lively conversation to be had. I had been meaning to ask Ken Woods from Silversmith about archival photos of Granite events anyway. It’s invaluable having OG beer people around. Bruce Halstead may have retired, but he’s got a very sharp memory and a twinkle in his eye. Gord and Malcolm seem unchanging as well. I think Gord has been wearing the same hat for the last decade.
Tuesday, February 17th
Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there on the bus.
The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention’s annual cider competition has been running for a decade (minus two years for COVID) and I’ve been there for most of them. For me, it’s become the sign that spring is on the way. One particularly warm year, Chris Schryer and I managed a stop at The Olde Angel Inn on the way back. It’s an odd one in the sense that the number of entries is not particularly high so the judging is short and sweet. I get to chat with Kathy Yan Li which is always a pleasure. While there are lots of BJCP certified judges, it’s rare that you get to talk to people who are actively sharpening their skillset. She’s good enough to challenge my thought process a little, and I like that.
Renee Sferrazza comes over and introduces herself to us and is funny and self assured and generally quite impressive. I find wine sommeliers are more likely to have an upbeat, can do attitude. I think it has to do with the stability of the discipline and the tax bracket it therefore occupies. It doesn’t matter how established you are as a beer person; you still have to judge light lager.
Most years, since the competition reimburses travel expenses, I will stop for dinner at Counterpart. Their cauliflower and hummus platter is a real bright spot in February and they make good pilsner in addition to their hazier offerings. This time, it’s a flying visit and It’s been subway to bus to uber to uber to bus to uber. By the time I get home, seven hours in transit to judge eight ciders.
I arrive late to Patois for an Innis & Gunn beer event, and I’m mildly zonked by the anxiety of being late and the sheer commuter bus-ness of things. Craig Wong’s curry goat influenced haggis makes up for it, although since I’m catching up with the room, it barely touches the sides. It turns out he’s looking for a hibiscus beer and open to collaboration, so I point him at The Second Wedge who have quite a good brut hibiscus beer called Revel.
I’d been looking forward to seeing the Innis & Gunn folks especially in the wake of the news about Brewdog’s impending sale. I figure there’ll be some Caledonian scuttlebutt and a certain amount of see you, Jimmy. Nicol Rennie also brought a bottle of their Allsopps Arctic Ale, more on which at some point.
I know people who have worked for Brewdog over the years, and almost none of them have anything good to say about the company, the beer, or the ownership. I saw James Watt do a tasting at beerbistro in 2010 and he’d lifted someone else’s schtick: Richard Paterson. At this point, they hadn’t quite reached the bottles in taxidermied stoats portion of the career yet, but few of the beers were impressive. I thought 5 AM Saint was pretty good, but we already had everything else.
There had been a rumour that Brewdog was looking to expand to Toronto around the time of the second edition of the OCBG. The rumour was somewhere around King and Sackville, probably in what became Terroni’s space down there. I suspect they would have been greeted with tremendous indifference right up until the point when their HR practices ruined them locally. Wherever you go, there you are, including Corktown.
Wednesday, February 18th
Nothing of note is accomplished. Tuesday has left me feeling pale and wan, despite being ruddy and robust. The cat is off his food and I’m out of sorts. Some days you just go back to bed.
Thursday, February 19th
I meet up with Mirella Amato from the WSET for a hand off of promotional materials to hand out supporting the courses at George Brown. It’s always good see a friendly face, and since I’ve got a couple of speaking engagements in the next couple of weeks, it’s an excellent time to try and get people into the program.
The school has been in touch to see if I know of anyone who would fit the bill for a scholarship opportunity, The Spirit of Inclusion Initiative. This is a relatively new program that was put in place during the pandemic and one of a couple of extant scholarships that I am just learning about because of a funding deadline. I am not in the building during the day.
It occurs to me that the last five scheduled sessions haven’t run and that I have essentially been monitoring an email inbox for free for three months while attempting to promote under my own steam classes that have not yet been scheduled while everyone else in the situation is salaried. Freelancing!
Friday, February 20th
A shipment arrives with a laptop and cellphone and this is the sure sign that government service is impending. For the last month, I’ve been saying to myself, “you just have to make it to March 2nd.” It’s a relief to have steady work in an uncertain world and part of the attraction is that I get to hire people who also need work.
As you’ve seen in the diary over the weeks, just existing as a freelancer takes up a lot of mental energy and on days like Wednesday things can seem insurmountable. You can get down on yourself. Sometimes in grim moments, the recurring thought occurs, “there will never be anything.”
But, over the last year, I’ve worked with a college where I designed a program, Elections Canada where I operated in three different capacities, Elections Ontario where I operated in two different capacities, I have co-written my sixth book, contributed content to magazines, and I’ve successfully delighted any number of people with bespoke culinary tourism. I’m also a part time carney for two weeks a year.
Apparently, I can go from that to managing something like 125 people in a walk on capacity for the federal government. And yet, when presented with the possibility of resources and the potential of an autumn vacation I went with monastery guesthouse?
Either the quietude sounds enticing or I’m a pretty weird dude.
Saturday, February 21st
Editing continues.
The boy, who had been off his food, has resumed normal function. Sweet William is twelve this year and has never had any manner of medical issues. I’m not sure where I would even take him if he needed an emergency vet. For about twelve hours I was properly panicked about the fact that he hadn’t used the litterbox. He hadn’t been very active. I was dreadfully worried that he had swallowed a hair elastic or some scrap of plastic bag.
In practice, I’m fairly sure the wet food I tried him on didn’t agree with him and caused something like food poisoning. He’s not exactly jumping around all nimbly-pimbly, but he’s bright eyed and waking me up before dawn. It’s a terrific relief. I don’t know what I’d do without the boy, even if he is a hooligan and responsible for a lot of scar tissue.
Sunday, February 22nd.
The whiteboard stands at 10 pieces of editing to go and the book is really coming together.
We’re examining our options for publication, and it occurs to me that if you actually had resources and experience self publishing you could end run the royalty structure of traditional publishers. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but if you wanted a third edition of a craft beer guide or maybe a good beer guide to Toronto, it’s not only possible, but something you could probably manage off the side of your desk at a full time job.
In fact, it’s a terrible idea.