Podcast Companion: Avling Kitchen & Brewery
Toronto’s Avling Kitchen & Brewery were the featured guests on Episode 65 of the podcast. It was a super interesting chat in which they talked in detail about their ethos not only as a brewery, but also as a restaurant, and as gardeners. How they choose their ingredients is an important part of every segment of their business. As such, their restaurant menu is as unique as their beer lineup. They are strong believers in using local ingredients, but are meticulous in that it has to make sense with what they want to create, which is to say that they won’t develop a recipe to be “local for local’s sake”. With that in mind, they have an entire segment of their lineup labelled 99% Ontario, which as you could probably guess, denotes beers that were made with 99% Ontario ingredients, including hops and grains from local farmers, grapes from local wineries, juices and fruits from local juicers, and more.
Check out the episode to hear the whole fascinating chat, and learn more about Avling’s story and philosophy as a business. Here, I’m taking a deep dive into the lineup of beers they drank on the episode. Read on!
Magpie
Hoppy Lager - 5%
Magpie has a cloudy appearance, and a nose full of bright citrus and melon. The oats in the malt bill make it fuller in body and really soften the palate. Candied lemon comes through along with a touch of pineapple and melon. It’s more smooth than crisp, and very hop forward. I learned later while listening to the episode that it’s hopped primarily with Galaxy, which certainly explains the bold hop flavours. They describe it as a juicy, drinkable pale ale, fermented like a lager, which I think is a pretty apt description.
Tahoma
Dry Hopped Lager - 5%
The second hopped-up lager to be featured was Tahoma. It pours on the hazy side with a tall foamy head and great retention. The nose is bready with tropical aromatics of mango and pineapple, and a hint of wet grass. The dry hop flavours come through quite strong, with lots of juicy pineapples giving off a fair bit of acidity. The malt bill is a bit harder to pick out amongst the bold hop flavours, but it has a fresh, fluffy wheat feel, and there’s a very subtle kick of spice at the end. It’s a bit more full-bodied than I’d usually expect for a lager. I think I personally would have preferred it to drink a little lighter and for the malt bill to shine a bit more. That said, it’s tropical, juicy, and undeniably tasty.
Carillon
Bière de Miel - 5.2%
When an Ontario beer is brewed with raw wildflower honey, you can bet that honey came from Rosewood Estates. That is exactly the case with Carillon, from Avling’s 99% Ontario series, also brewed with pineapple sage from the Avling rooftop garden, and can-conditioned for three months. It pours a pale yellow with a thin, bubbly head. The nose is earthy and complex, with lemon, herbaceous and floral tones, and a subtle sweetness creeping in amongst an overall dry palate. It’s wheat forward with a grainy feel. Banana esters come through alongside subtle honey sweetness. The flavours that come through more strongly are the savoury and slightly spicy character from the pineapple sage. Following that is a floral note and a refreshing hit of lemon. It’s very light on the palate with high effervescence as you’d typically find in a wheat beer, but still packing a ton of complex flavour. The banana esters resurface on the finish along with that savoury spice. This is a super interesting and delicious beer.
Brevis Cherry
Tart Saison - 4.4%
Another 99% Ontario beer, Brevis Cherry is a Tart Saison on cherry pomace and juice from Black River Juice Co., and elderberries from Elora, Ontario. It pours reddish pink, with a nose bursting with almond and tart cherry. Nutty cherry pits are up front on the palate, followed by juicy cherries and cranberries. The yeast gives a very subtle note of farmhouse funk. It’s barely detectable, but it gives a nice complexity that really works with the flavours, adding more depth than if it had been a straight sour ale. It’s slightly earthy as well, with a mineral tone and a light mustiness. It drinks very light, with high carbonation and a ton of flavour, especially for a sub 5% beer.
Pale Fire
Barrel Aged Blend with Peaches - 6.7%
Avling’s barrel program rolled out its first bottles in late 2020, containing some dynamite blended beers that were complex, yet balanced and flavourful. 2021 has seen two more additions to their barrel lineup, both of which are 99% Ontario beers.
Their summer bottle release was the beautifully named Pale Fire, a barrel-aged blend on Ontario peaches. It pours a pale, cloudy yellow, with a fuzzy effervescence, and a complex nose that’s rich with peach, floating in a background of subtle earthiness, musty farmhouse funk, and a touch of candied sweetness. The palate is equally complex. Tart stone fruit pit comes out swinging up-front but it’s quickly doused by juicy, candied sweetness leading to a mineral earthiness and bone dry finish. The flavour really evolves on the palate. It has an oaky tannic quality that starts subtle and gets stronger as the tartness and sweetness subside. All on the same very subtle farmhouse base. Phenomenal.
Orpheus
Barrel Aged Blend with Orange Wine Skins and Marigolds - 6.5%
Orpheus was released back in April. It was aged on orange wine skins from Trail Estate Winery in Prince Edward County, and marigolds from the Avling rooftop garden. It pours with a gorgeous orange-pink colour and a thin bubbly head. It also has what looks like a very thin orangey-red layer settling on top of the beer, which I learned from the podcast episode is from the oil on the marigold petals. The nose is a layered blend of funky horse blanket and orange zest on a pleasant floral background.
Like the previous releases, it has frothy carbonation and a delicate, complex flavour profile. There’s subtle barnyard funk with orange wine layers. There’s a zesty note of orange rind, along with a white wine barrel quality giving it some mild acidity and tartness, and an earthy, floral background. It’s very mildly sweet upfront, which dries out from the mid-palate to the finish, where there’s also a nice tingle of peppery spice. Like all their barrel offerings, this is an absolute delight.
Most of these beers are currently available in the Avling shop! Check them out next time you’re in Toronto, or hit up their web store where their beer can be shipped across Ontario!
Article and photography by Nathan Lefebvre.
Find Avling Kitchen & Brewery online:
Related:
Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.