Amsterdam week continues, and today was a noteworthy day: I walked in to 21 Bathurst St for what is likely to be the last time. Just stopped by to borrow a couple of shives, and was in and out, but couldn’t help but pause for a second, and think back over some really incredible times I had in that space, from brewing my first beer, to Katy Brown’s movember party, to various product launches and just popping by (like today) to hang out, borrow stuff, drink beer and visit with friends. That being said, tomorrow I’ll be heading up to Leaside to continue the tradition in the new digs; so here’s to the future!
Today I’m reviewing their Calm Before The Storm Mild. Two quick theory lessons for you then: Mild is a style not as many here in Ontario are as familiar with as they ought to be. Milds are generally very dark beers, that are quite low in alcohol (below 4% abv, Calm Before The Storm is only 3.2%). When people tell tales of British men going to the pub after work, and downing three or four pints of beer before going home for dinner, the reason they were able to do this without being completely inebriated, was they were drinking milds or bitters. Lesson one complete, here comes number two: When British brewers got into making big boozy imperial stouts to send abroad (particularly Russia) they had a problem: When you mash your grains (basically steeping them in hot water to convert the starches to sugars, and extract the sugar into the wort), there was such a huge volume of grain and they needed to have such a high proportion of sugar, that they couldn’t actually extract all the sugars without using too much water. So after their first runnings of wort, they would be left with grain that still had some sugars left in it. Thrifty folks as brewers are, they wouldn’t let that go to waste, so they would do a second running of water through the grains, to extract the rest of the sugars, and would get a wort that was about the right gravity (sweetness) to make a mild.
That is exactly what Calm Before The Storm is, a mild made with the second runnings of Tempest, the big badass Imperial Stout Amsterdam started making two years ago. So not only is it a wonderful beer, but it is also one of those very cool, highly sustainable practices from brewing, that existed long before sustainability became a cool thing.
Calm Before The Storm Mild — Amsterdam Brewing Co.
From a 341ml bottle, Calm Before The Storm pours a nearly opaque black, that is brilliant crimson red when held to a very bright light. About 2″ of dense off-white head drops to a thick layer of foam that lingers through most of the glass, and leaves more lace than you might expect from a mild. Aroma is charred malts, smoke, coffee, caramel and some leafy hops. Taste is more of the same, with a good dose of burnt malts and coffee. There is a bread-like quality that reminds me of a pumpernickel loaf, and some nicely dry hops to the finish, that are again a little leafy and herbal. Light bodied, with a bright carbonation, this is an exceptionally sessionable beer, and one that I hope to see more of in the months to come. While the bottle format benefits from that bright active carbonation, I bet a little warmer and just off-still on a cask would be delectable!
Cheers to Amsterdam, for making a great little mild, in a tradition of sustainability.
Buy This Beer
Well, again, I got this beer a while back, but I know that Tempest will be returning soon, and it seems only natural that there would be more Calm Before The Storm around the same time. Like I said yesterday, follow Amsterdam on Facebook and Twitter to keep track of when special bottles like this go on sale.
Drink This With
Life. This might not be a Desert Island brew for me, but if I could walk to a pub every day, and have a pint or two of this, I would be a very happy man. Eat it with pub fare: a nice pork pie, where the smoke from the malts will compliment the pork; sausage rolls with spicy mustard, and enjoy the way the bright carbonation helps cut the fattiness of the sausage rolls, which in turn, make you want to drink more mild. Milder cheeses would go great here, like a nice emmenthal or a young cheddar. This also is an ideal summer-time BBQ beer, like a porter or a stout. Forget about light snappy pilsners, next time you smoke a chunk of pork low and slow, drink a beer that is smokey too.
About The Brewery
Founded in 1986, The Amsterdam Brewing Company was the first brew pub in Toronto, ON, Canada. Originally opening on John St. in the illustrious entertainment district of this great city, the brewery was a success and grew quickly enough to require a relocation to a larger King St. facility in 1988. As the craft beer market in Toronto continued to grow throughout the 90s, the restaurant space of the brew pub was converted to manufacturing space in order to increase brewing capacity and to facilitate the launch of bottled Amsterdam beer to the market in 1997.
