If the notion of opening a chain of five craft breweries on each of the Great Lakes sounds a little bit pie-in-the-sky, you’d be right.

But that was the plan 30 years ago when Great Lakes Brewery was getting off the ground.

That vision by the original owners didn’t pan out, but three decades later, a clever focus on delicious India pale ale recipes has made the Etobicoke brewery one of the stars of the Ontario craft brewing industry.

You might know the names, and wonder why they pop up then disappear from the LCBO or your favourite craft beer pub: Lake Effect, Thrust! An IPA, Karma Citra, Robohop Imperial IPA, Audrey Hopburn Belgian IPA — the list goes on.

Great Lakes rotates its IPAs, brewing and distributing four or five distinct recipes throughout the year.

Up next is the highly-anticipated Octopus Wants to Fight IPA.

It’s an American-style IPA, fruity followed by a “walk in the woods,” to quote the tasting notes. As you might imagine, it pairs with calamari.

Octopus Wants to Fight is in pubs and on shelves in some 400 retail locations from Windsor to Ottawa and as far north as Thunder Bay

I met Troy Burtch of Great Lakes when he was at Forked River Brewing Company for a collaboration brew. Naturally, the collaboration is an IPA and should be in the Forked River bottle shop by mid-April.

Naturally, there’s more to Great Lakes than IPAs and they’ll be proving it this year as they brew some 100 new recipes from porters to pilsners. Most will require a brewcation to Etobicoke, but 10 to 12 will be at the LCBO and or in kegs at pubs.

“We have two full-time GLB taps, said Mark Serre of the Morrissey House in London. “One is whatever IPA they have going at the time as we know they are all about as good as you can make. People are excited with each and every one of them as they rotate constantly and again, are all quality. Their IPAs are their mainstays.”

Morrissey House also carries GLB Blonde (which curiously is devoid of a witty name) to give customers an easy-drinking lager choice.

Let’s also not forget two non-IPA GLB beers have well-earned reputations for great quality at a great price. Canuck Pale Ale, with its Monty Python-esque lumberjack artwork, is an award winner selling for $2.65 in a 473 ml can. Ditto Pompous Ass English Pale Ale.

. . .

Remember Pop Rocks, the carbonated candy that danced on the tongue?

I can’t help but think of them as I sample the new batch of Raspberry Mojo Wheat Ale from the tap at Forked River. Hold it on your tongue and it’s a tarty dance of flavour, mostly rave but partly barndance.

The raspberries used were harvested 10 minutes away at Heeman’s in Thorndale. Raspberry Mojo also has rhubarb and is currently available in bottles and growlers at the Forked River bottle shop, 45 Pacific Court, London.

. . .

Another welcome sign of spring is a new beer from Anderson Craft Ales.

Anderson Spring, available in 355 ml cans at the brewery, 1030 Elias St., London, is a recipe modelled after a traditional German schwarzbier.

“It has notes of chocolate and toast, but finished exceptionally smooth due to the long lagering time,” Gavin Anderson said in an email. “We figured it was a great style to transition between winter and summer, since it has some of the character of darker beers you expect in the cold months, along with the drinkability of a summer beer.”

Anderson Spring will be available in cans and on tap until mid to late May.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist in London.

wayne.newton@bell.net

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