Some of you reading might remember this blog post we did back in early April about a barley wine our brewer Iain (@_murdoch) and Eric Ecclestone of the Biergotter Homebrew Club brewed and aged in fresh whiskey barrels from the Jack Daniel Distillery. Well, the time has come. This beer is bottled and hitting our retail store shelves today - Tuesday August 14, 2012. Named ‘Sleeping Giant Barley Wine’, it is the first of many single barrel releases from the Amsterdam Adventure Brews Series. Brewed with an abundance of English malts, this big beer (10.7% ABV) is very smooth and easy going, like the name, but its warm finish reminds you not to wake the sleeping giant within.

Available only at our brewery retail store at 21 Bathurst St. and in limited quantities. $5.95 per 500mL bottle.

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DIVINATION #1 - 9% ABV

Divination #1 is the first in a series of brews experimenting with wine and beer hybrids and was served for the first time at the 2012 Hart House Craft Beer Festival,. A mixed fermentation IPA brewed with Belgian, wine and champagne yeasts. Primary fermentation with Belgian ale yeast before being blended with 20% active Chardonnay lees (originally destined for a sparkling wine). After 3 weeks of secondary fermentation we added Champagne yeast to finish the beer. Aromas of peach and mango with a touch of oak. Citrus upfront in the taste with a juicy hop bite and sweet chardonnay in the middle leading into a dry finish. Special thanks to Flat Rock Winery for their expertise and assistance in the brewing process.

What a week it was last week for us and the Toronto/Canadian Craft Beer scene overall. So many events, parties, tastings, people and beer… it was like a dream come true. We think it’s about time to sit back, reflect, and recap all the things that went on (good thing we have pictures because the memory is a little fuzzy in spots).

We started off the week with Toronto Beer Week - the first one ever - and it was definitely a success. Amsterdam took on the lead sponsorship position for the first ever Toronto Beer Week Homebrew Competition… and what a competition it was. With over 100 entries we were treated to some very interesting and tasty brews. From stouts to lagers, barleywines to English style IPAs, almost every type of beer was represented. This competition could see some significant growth at next year’s Beer Week and that makes us excited. As the lead sponsor, Amsterdam offered a grand prize of commercially brewing the Homebrew Champion’s beer which will be released in our onsite retail store. This year, Kyle Teichert’s Smoked Porter was selected as the winner. Congrats Kyle! 

In 2nd place was Reed’s Old English Barleywine and in 3rd place came Ctrl Atl Delete.

Here is a list of all the category winners. Fantastic beers by everyone. Keep up the homebrewing!

Amber Hybrids - Ctrl Alt Delete 

American Ambers - Red Headed Steep Child 

American IPA - Hopocalypse 
American Pale Ale - Teichtbier Pale Ale 

Belgian Ales - Tall Dark and Belgian 

English Pale Ales - DJS ESB 

Imperial IPA - Imperial IPA

Imperial Stout - Canadian Imperial Maple Stout

Lager - 3rd and Goal 

Light Hybrid Beer - Caramel Cream Ale 

Old Ales and Barleywines - Reed’s Old English Barleywine 

Smoked / Herb / Vegetable - Smoked Porter 

Specialty and Cider - Moroccan Imperial Brown Ale 

Stouts and Porters - Bufords Best Corkscrew Stout 
Wheat Beers A Bee A BurrWheat Beers A Bee A Burr

Homebrew Competition entries. 

Judging the brew.

Our second big event of the week was the release of our seasonal brew, Oktoberfest - a traditional style Rauchbier brewed with beechwood smoked malt. We threw a party at the brewery, called ‘Oktubafest’, to celebrate the fall brewing season and the arrival of this beer. Caplansky’s joined us to serve up some smoked meat sandwiches and we made it a legitimate German affair with sausages, Oompah music and smoked cheese. Thanks to everyone who came out! 

Oktubafest photo credits go to Hamish Grant

Oktubafest 

Ladies and brewmaster Jamie serving our new seasonal brew

Rounding out the week, the Amsterdam Crew made an appearance at the 8th Annual Canadian Brewing Awards, and to celebrate the fall season again, some us rocked it with Lederhosen. 76 Canadian breweries submitted 390 different beers for judging making this year the largest brewing competition ever held in Canada. We had our best showing at the awards yet and walked away with 4 medals:

Gold Medal - KLB Pale Ale

Silver Medal - Amsterdam Two Fisted Stout and Spring Bock

Bronze Medal - Natural Blonde Lager

The Hardware

Amsterdam Crew at the 2010 Canadian Brewing Awards

Thanks to everyone who supported us last week and we’ll see you all soon!

Cheers,

The Amster’Dam Good People

It’s that time of year. The leaves are turning colour, squirrels gather acorns for the winter, your mom unpacks all your sweaters from their vacuum sealed plastic bags, and smoked beer is here. Our Fall Seasonal - Amsterdam Oktoberfest - will be released next Thursday, September 23rd in celebration with Toronto Beer Week and Caplansky’s Delicatessen… and we figure we should have a little party.

OKTUBAFEST

When? - Thursday September 23, 2010

Where? - The Amsterdam Brewery, 21 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON

We’re teaming up with Caplansky’s Deli to do some smoking. Meat and beer smoking, that is. Smoked deli meat sandwiches from Caplansky’s and our fall seasonal smoked beer on tap… we may even put some in a cask. 500 mL bottles of Oktoberfest will be available for take home as well.

Amsterdam is also sponsoring the Toronto Beer Week Homebrew Competition. The winning entry will be announced on the 23 during the event!

Come on out, enjoy some smoked treats, and support your local brewers!