Eatdrink #42 July/August 2013

52 www.eatdrink.ca
№ 42 | July/August 2013
Taste of the Month
The Niagara region is not only a new hot bed of
artisanal brewing, I have long maintained that
the craft brewing studies and pilot brewery at
Niagara College were responsible for many of the
good changes throughout the provincial craft
beer industry. Niagara College craft brewing
grads and instructors have had a major impact
on the Ontario craft brewing
culture — expanding the
industry with style diversity,
innovation, repeatable
quality and new craft
brewing operations. In
keeping with this trend, a
new leading edge brewing
consortium involving
Niagara college brewing
personnel recently
collaborated to form Bush
Pilot Brewing Company.
Bush Pilot Brewing is the
brainchild of Roland and
Russell artisanal beer aficionado Vlado Pavicic
in collaboration with Niagara College brewing,
local crafters and famous brewing artisans
from around the globe. The concept is to have a
celebrated brew master design a special brew and
oversee its production at local craft breweries
in collaboration with local brewing artisans,
creating a series of exceptional one-off brews. (A
permanent brewery is in the plans.) The focus will
be on big, unique, barrel-aged craft brews.
Bush Pilot’s first offering was designed by
the legendary Danish craft brewer Anders
Kissmeyer, of Nørrebro fame. Stormy Monday
is a fruited-spiced barley wine aged in Calvados
barrels. A profusion of natural adjuncts are
used in this brew — star anise, bitter orange
peel, cocoa, cinnamon, dried fruit (quince,
apple, dates, raisins, figs), real vanilla beans,
cardamom, juniper berries and local maple
syrup are combined with several select malts
and hop varieties. At first blush this sounds like
flavour bomb overkill but consider that it was
Bush Pilot Brewing Company’s outstanding
first offering is Stormy Monday barley wine
aged for over seven months in barrels sourced
from Domaine Dupont, France. The barreled
batch was brewed at Niagara college and a non
barrel-aged batch was brewed at the Nickel
Brook brewery in Burlington. Then they did a
60/40 blend and bottled it. The results I sampled
were phenomonal, and gave me this impression:
My sample decanted dark
opaque brown ale into the
snifter; when held to light
this is a beautiful hazed
ruby color. Two-finger
tight-pored tan cap lasts
and laces (a rarity in barley
wines). The operative word
for delineating this beer’s
character is complex and
layered. The aroma is rich —
spice, dark fruit, succulent
fruit, herbaceous tones,
cocoa, layered malt aromas
— amazing. Overkill? The
flavour tells the tale — from the front side to
the middle to the finish this ale is complex. The
palate is assaulted with a host of flavours from
piquant to subtle — spices, fruits, malts, herbs,
wood, vanilla, cocoa, hops, sweet, bitter and
various impressions caused by these flavour
amalgams — some new aroma or taste keeps
emerging as the brew warms — this holds great
promise for what cellaring will do for this big ale.
This is big brash barley wine meets spiced ale
meets barrel aging — complex verging on chaos.
An ambitious first offering for this brewing
company. I’m told they have a second offering
in the works — a barrel-aged Doppelbock called
“Norseman.”
Bush Pilot will be the one to watch for truly
unique barrel-aged brews.
THE MALT MONK is the alter ego of D.R. Hammond, a
passionate supporter of craft beer culture. He invites readers to
join in the dialogue at maltmonksbeerblog.wordpress.com/