Innis & Gunn Bartender’s Choice Tasting
Despite the rugged sounding name, the Edinborough Innis & Gunn Brewery have only been around since 2003 and was founded, Dougal Gunn Sharp, who used his middle name and his brother’s, Neil Innis Sharp, to title it. A group of 30 or so staff from GTA The Keg locations, and myself, sat and listened to Peter Allison, their global brand ambassador explain the history of the beer and their (mostly) exclusively oak-barrel brewing methods, along with a tasting session, which kind of goes without saying. Interestingly enough, 30 is also the number of staff that run Innis & Gunn, on a global scale.
Their Edinburgh brewery, formerly the historical Caledonian Brewery founded in 1869, was one of the last of of its kind when it was purchased by the Sharp son’s da’, Russel Sharp, in 1987. A bit shocking considering there were over40 by the time beer brewing hit its peak in 1860, but the lack of naturally grown hops must have been a drawback to their production cycle — Scottish soil is too alkaline to grow it, however they use alternatives like heather or fruits and gruit. Another thing that I learned was that before the Reinheitsgebot of 1516, that is, the official beer standardization laws, breweries were using wacko products to cut their fermentation process, ranging from opium (yum!) to arsenic (not so yum, more like…croak.)
So, onto the actual beer. Most people are used to tasting oak aged wine, but oak aged beer has a really interesting sweetening effect. Oak contains naturally occurring vanillin (similar to vanilla pods), with an incredible flavour profile, see above, that’s released into the beer while it is aged and gently heated in the casks for 77 days. The result is a sweet, savoury, and fruity 6.4 % alcohol bath for your palate that may be a bit overpowering at first but the taste really grows on you after a few gulps.
We were also treated to the Innis & Gunn Spiced Rum Cask beer which, as you can guess, has been aged in rum casks, giving it an even more caramel flavour. The Rum Cask beer is actually their most decorated beer, having one numerous in the British Beers category. Also on the table was their soon to be released Winter Treacle Porter, a recipe Dougal found in ancient recipe book from the 1800s titled “Scot’s Cellar”. Apparently it’s not a true porter, as treacle (what we call molasses), is just added to the brewing process partway through to give it that a rich sweet flavour that you might associate with sugar cookies, christmas, and winter seasonings. This is what the Brit’s actually call a “wee heavy” beer. One thing I almost forgot… Innis & Gunn also treated us to a bottle of their un-oaked beer, that is, beer before it gets barrelled, to give us an idea of the before and after tastes. It sounds intriguing, but not really something you’d wanna drink on a regular basis. The dominant tastes were bitterness and maltiness, with a pronounced drying effect on the mouth.
The tasting also had another purpose, which was to promote the Innis & Gunn Bartender’s Choice contest, a bar-industry user submitted idea contest where the winners would win a trip to Scotland and have their beer idea actually bottled and sold internationally! They are running the contest in Canada, England and Sweden of all places. I met two awesome, friendly and very serious bartenders from the Vaughn Keg location who showed up with their proof of concept already completed and professionally designed. Good luck Angela (who also runs her own vodka-based blog The Vodka Doll, how cool is that? More bartenders should blog more often!) and Tassia! May the luck of the Scots, err I mean Irish, errr, I mean African princesses, be with you!
What Four? – Duke Slammer
Duke Slammer is the latest moniker from established techno maverick, Luke’s Anger. As he said in his BBC Introducing interview, he enjoys “looking for albums that sound like Prince but aren’t as good” to help create his electro-boogie, spandex-obsessed sound. You can hear ‘GO$$IP’ from his upcoming album ‘What Four?’ album out on Bonus Round Records Dec 10th, below, performed at the BBC.
Craft Coffee Club
Man, how I wish I had an extra $20 to blow in my monthly budget on Craft Coffee, who deliver three 4 oz bags of specially curated artisan beans to your door on a monthly basis. While this vid is beautiful, honest and sent my coffee-lusting receptors into overdrive, there’s something about Michael Horn’s (founder and CEO), drawl that is spot on with Louis CK’s indie barista impression from his “Chewed Up” tape. If you are easily offended by Louis’s arbitrary imagination, perhaps you should avoid his bit and skip straight to the moka.
Craft Coffee from Craft Coffee on Vimeo.
CONTACT Music Festival: INTERsections – Musicworks Oct 2012
Once again, I was scared, frightened, yet quite excited to be tackling another assignment for Musicworks, the world’s leading magazine in experimental music. This month’s issue had Juno-winning electronic artist Tim Hecker on the cover, whom I helped nominate this past spring!
Click the articles to expand for easy reading.
Bulletin – Lazy Habits
I love this video because it has the hype of a British heist flick and because it was partially shot in Taiwan, where I spent a year teaching English in 2007. The vast rows of scooters were kind of a giveaway at first, but I had to check the credits at the end to make sure. Visuals aside, Lazy Habits are a fresh New Orleans Jazz, Big Band and Soul-based hip hop group from Hackney, London, and this cautionary tune fills my void of The Streets.
Here’s a much more epic and grittier remix of the tune by Fjokra.
Innis & Gunn Winter Treacle Porter – Limited Edition
Happy Halloween and treacle for all!
Treacle conjures up memories of my childhood in Paris where I went to an international school and was taught The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe by well meaning British English teachers. Treacle and toffee, and especially treacle pudding fascinated me as I lusted after sweets. Innis & Gunn’s oak-matured Winter Treacle Porter is syrupy and smooth with subtle rich banana and more than naught, molasses flavours that swim about it’s 7.4% alcohol content. It’s a tasty brew but it’s not something exceptional to lust after. However, it performs quite well as a midrange brew with a nice decorated bottle.
Wii U profile / interview with Nintendo Spokesman Matt Ryan
Last week I attended Nintendo’s Wii U Holiday Showcase event and sat down with their Canada spokesman, Matt Ryan, old acquaintance that some of you may know from his involvement with Destiny Productions.
In case you don’t know, or have been living under a NES, the Wii U is Nintendo’s re-entry into the core gamer market of 16-35 year old males. Despite what Nintendo might argue, their approach doesn’t have much at all to do with the original Wii. They have finally made a processor that can allow for 1080 p HD graphics and have created a gaming experience that revolves around a super crazy awesome HD tablet/gaming remote device that allows for new ways to interact with the game, or even take the game with you if the TV is needed. Another telltale sign of arcade integration is the optional 8-button style controllers seen on other systems.
While Nintendo stresses they have not forgotten about their 5-95 age bracket, I am crazy excited for this new jump in Nintendo’s evolution with games like Assassins ZombieU, Call Of Duty: Black Ops II and the racy gorefest (feat. Ayane as a playable character from DOA with a massage/ambush attack, so you can imagine what that might entail) that is Ninja Gaiden III: Razor’s Edge. Not since the SNES have I seen a Nintendo console that will have me back in the (cannon) seat, firing away with glee.
Shipwrckd: So tell me about the Wii U.
Matt Ryan: Wii U is the next innovation from Nintendo, we are al about innovation. It’s about the U game pad, an integrated second screen for asymmetric game play that gives you another window to peer into your gaming realm that’s also happening on your TV. It can offer a different perspective, a different view; it can be a way to access your weapons, items, and menus. It can literally have a different angle view, either top down or straight on. It can be a competitive advantage, a competitive disadvantage. It’s a new toy in the toy box for a developer to have this 2nd screen that will react in real-time while playing the game on the TV.
Some games using the gamepad, you might not look at the screen at all, as you’ll see in Nintendo Land’s mini-games like the ghost hunt, Mario chase. Some games like Mario U, you can literally pull the game off of the TV and continue on the pad if they want to watch a movie or watch the TV. That’s not for all games; it’s up to the developer to build it that way. The gaming console is backwards compatible with all the Wii games and accessories like the nun chucks, balance board etc. You don’t have to buy all them again.
In terms of user accounts, we are moving to an account based, rather than hardware based system, all the Wii ware and virtual console purchases can be moved over to the U. you can also move your Miis over.
Shipwrckd: What does moving away from the Wii Remote and nun chuck represent?
Matt Ryan: I don’t think we are.
Shipwrckd: But it seems more based around the new pad.
Matt Ryan: I don’t think we are moving away from it at all. The idea is that we are making multiplayer games where some users can use the remote and nun chuck combo; others can use the Wii U game pad. It’s a transition of accessories slightly, but it’s a leap forwards as a console because it’s got more than the Wii U gamepad. It’s got HD for a leveled playing field, higher processing power. The Wii U gamepad is an integral part of the game play that we want to show off in this leap forwards, and a different way to play your games. But we want the experience with Wii remotes, Wii remote pluses, and nun chucks, still to be great. Depending on the developer builds on what is the experience, there are tonnes of options. The Wii U game pad is just a toy to add to the experience.
I would argue that we are not moving away from the Wii remote and nun chuck and if anything, developers have learned to perfect those controllers and we’re moving into another generation of consoles where that perfection will just make better games and experiences.
Shipwrckd: But the games aren’t built to be immersive experience as they are with the nunchcuk.
Matt Ryan: That’s true. I would say that games are being developed with the Wii U gamepad in mind, first as that new innovation. And I guess your argument is that with Wii , it was all about the Wii game remote. So I guess we are digressing slightly away from the Wii remote as the hero controller and I definitely agree with that but we are not fully moving away from it.
Is that a Nintendo strategy? Was the Wii Remote too out there and now they are going for a more traditional route as a recipe for success with the core gamer market?
Matt Ryan: I think we are doing something very unique that no one else is doing. The new gamepad is built specifically to work with the Wii U and you can’t take the gamepad with you on the go, it’s not a portable gaming device, it’s wireless, you can walk around the room with it. but the idea that the two are built together is totally unique, so I will definitely argue with that. The focal point of the main controller as the game pad is true, but some gamers will prefer to use the Wii U pro controller because of what it offers. There are lots of different options to play and it’s up to the developers to make those experiences.
Shipwrckd: So the age is skewed higher than the original Wii?
Matt Ryan: We are leveling up the caliber of games, which is what the core gamer is looking for. Like in Ninja Gaiden III: Razor’s Edge which is quite gory, had some racy content and dismemberment, and a lot of blood. We want to make sure that we are delivering to the core, the experiences that they are looking for. You’ll also see it in ZombiU by Ubisoft. There’s a new IP coming exclusively for Wii U with some pretty gross, pretty terrifying first person shooters like ZombiU. Activision is coming to the table by giving us a great version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II which has some enhancements, so we are definitely leveling up the age category. But we’re not forgetting about our 5-95 target group from Wii because there are games like Nintendo Land that is safe for anyone, or Scribblenauts Unlimited, Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2. We have something for everyone and now there’s more for the core gamer, and there’s no doubt that they’ll be super happy about that. And now that we have a level playing field, there are going to be games that come through the pipe like Assassins Creed III that will be available in multiplatform.
Since we are in HD and have a higher processing power than Wii , it’s great. So now you have to make your decision. Which system are you going to play on. And we are pushing our developers to create Wii U exclusive experiences with the game pad, the type of content that you’re going to get.
Lee Fields & The Expressions – live @ The Opera House, 5/10/2012
Lee Fields is a true veteran of Motown. Having made his first recording in 1969, he’s been chugging away ever since. After a brief hiatus in the 80s, he returned in the 90s and has not stopped. His current group is Lee Fields and The Expressions, the Expressions being a mixed crowd of white Brooklyn kids who are probably young enough to be his grandsons, but never mind that. He played in Toronto a few weeks ago, with backups from Jason Palma, and the Soul Motivators.
Here’s a beautifully rich recording of Mr. Fields at the World Wide Awards, presented by Gilles Peterson (also in town tonight!). You can skip the 10 minute intro if you’re itching to get straight to the soul.
AZARI & III: DANCE ACT ARE ‘CREEPY NIGHT PEOPLE’ WHO WANT TO BE DAVID CRONENBERG
Posted on Oct 25th 2012 3:00PM by Jesse Ship
There was much-excitement awhile back amongst fans of fast-rising dance act Azari & Illwhen British paper The Sun announced the foursome would be opening Madonna‘s MDNA world tour.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly the case. Madonna had actually fingered Avicii to open for her, which left Dinamo Azari, Alixander the Third, Starving Yet Full and Fritz Helder with some unfortunate explaining to do.
“We were quite intrigued and never got to the bottom of that one,” Alixander the Third tells Spinner. “Avicii is touring with her so maybe people got all confused with the As, Vs, and Is. It could be that. You’d be surprised how quickly rumors fly. So many people were like, ‘I got tickets. See you there!’ But we were like ‘Uh, we won’t. But enjoy Madge.'”
Madonna oversights aside, Azari & Ill might be the best (and creepiest) deep house and techno live act to break out of Toronto in years. The BBC is certainly on board, same with folks like Cut Copy and Friendly Fires, who’ve collaborated with them.
The band’s self-titled debut album has was released over six months ago in England, but it’s just launched in the U.S. on Dim Mak (Planet Turbo in Canada). The retro house and R&B sound fits well with the label’s recent attempts to expand their sound past the traditionally abrasive electro and dubstep its label head Steve Aoki is known for. It also fits with old school method of album distribution.
“It’s a bit like how a British act would take a while to make it to America,” Azari says. “Sometimes they would rebrand the first record with a couple extra songs for the U.S. release. What’s happening with us is like the good old days of having import records before they were released as imports.”
Five Things We Learned at Ray Kurzweil’s Immortality Lecture – Feat. in THE GRID
Smug, nerdy, and in full I-told-ya-so form, inventor Ray Kurzweil expounded to an audience of hipsters, futurists, and mad scientists at the Danforth Music Hall last Thursday night. Kurzweil talked about the future of artificial intelligence and a few topics from his upcoming book, How To Create A Mind. Some of the highlights included:
» What really separates the men from the monkeys: According to Kurzweil, it’s not our DNA but the volume of our neo-cortexes—the wavy gray matter that allows mammals to pattern and emulate. The sheer size difference between a human and, say, a baboon gives us the upper hand.
» We can be chameleons: Kurzweil feels that our evolution has stagnated over the last few hundred years, but he thinks that wearable augmented and virtual reality technologies are the answer. We will be able to radically change our appearances via chips that let us implement new clothing or facial features, like in a computer game.
» Greener foods will save us all: Food shortage and animal cruelty could become a thing of the past when we start growing a bountiful and clean source of sustenance with vertical greenhouses and synthetic muscle tissue bred in labs without hormones or steroids.
» Forget Cold-FX—send in the Nanobots: Twenty years from now, our bloodstream will be filled with millions of microscopic robotic devices acting as caretakers for lagging red or white blood cells, programmed to fight off whatever ails us, and extending our lifetimes indefinitely.
»The “curse” of eternal life is very real: While some might ask “who wants to live forever?” Kurzweil summarizes the issue succinctly. “I’ve spoken to many 100 year olds, and if you ask them if they want to live to 101, they will tell you they do.”
