What was I doing at Mill St Brewery last week? I’m not going to lie I do enjoy the odd beer even though my preference (obviously) is wine year round. I had something cross my desk that I simply had to check out for myself… Don Valley Bench… a wheat beer brewed by Mill Street to appeal to the Chardonnay lover. Even the name, Don Valley Bench, is paying homage to what you might find on a great VQA label as many sub regions are called benches (20 mile bench or St David’s Bench). When I spoke with Brewer Bridgid Young about the beer she told me that Mill Street endeavoured to brew something that, without using any non-traditional beer ingredients, would have characteristics of what you would normally find in cool climate chardonnay. I was curious but had to enlist some assistance from other wine drinkers at the station to see if this beer did in fact live up to it’s goal. The beer is filled with many of the flavours that you would find in a great unoaked Chardonnay, a nice balance between citrus flavours and acidity, but nothing overpowering. The beer was aged slightly in Oak barrels so you do get hints of vanilla on the finish. I could compare this beer to Rickards White, but everything is more subdued and the flavours are much more complex. If it weren’t for the carbonation you might think you do have Chardonnay in your mouth (…almost). The bottom line is that you have an easy drinking, light beer that will be great to enjoy in the summer. You can pick up the summer sampler pack from the LCBO (345553/$13.95) but I would suggest you head to the soon to be opened beer hall at the brewery in the distillery district when you can enjoy this beer on tap. Make sure you check out the video of my conversation with Bridgid Young about Don Valley Bench.
Beyond beer I feel it would be unfair to not mention the Beer Hall. After sampling the Don Valley Bench beer I stuck around for dinner. The new hall is having it’s grand opening on May 30 and the menu is fantastic! Even though you are in a pub the menu feels upscale without being pretentious. Highlights for me were Tiratido (crudo of fresh Ontario rainbow trout, yellow pepper “Aji Amarillo” sauce, fried cilantro leaves, crispy sweet potato chips) and the Pork Board (frenched pork shank, smoked pork belly, apple glaze, candied apples, triple crunch mustard, turnip choucroute). Each course paired with a beer that shows great food does not need to be paired with only wine.
