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Having loved beer since my first sip, I had the good fortune of discovering craft beer early on. I was immediately intrigued by the complexity of flavour and varieties of styles available. Being curious by nature, I began reading about beer, visiting breweries, and seeking out new brands. Since 2006, I have devoted myself full-time to the study of beer. I also decided to take advantage of my performance background in opera, and promote local brews through freelance work with a focus on public speaking and education. Now, I very much enjoy organizing and guiding beer-tasting sessions, and collaborate with a number of other companies that give me the opportunity to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for beer. In 2007, I joined the Canadian Amateur Brewers Association (CABA) and began working towards certification as a beer judge. I have judged in a number of competitions, including the Ontario Brewing Awards and the Canadian International Beer Championship, as well as homebrew competitions in Canada and abroad. With help from CABA, I also organized a Beer Judge Certification Exam study group in order to increase the pool of certified beer judges in the Toronto area. My background is French-Canadian and Italian. I am fluent in French, and visit Montréal many times a year to keep up with their local brewing scene. I then report my findings in TAPS, as well as in the Great Lakes Brewing News. I am also fluent in Italian and often spend time in Italy where the craft beer industry is really blooming. In my travels, I also seek out contemporary art and spend as much time as possible in art galleries, theatres and museums. In Toronto, I help organize events with Treehouse Group, promoting “multi-disciplinary collaboration… to encourage diverse thinking”. Whether at home or abroad, I am always immersing myself in new cultures, exploring different cuisines and, of course, discovering new beers I set up Beerology in order to offer guided beer-tasting sessions in the Toronto area. I had been studying beer for a while, and started thinking about the best way to share the information I was gathering. When I looked into doing promotion for local beers, I found that there was great interest. People were asking for tips on how to navigate a beer selection, or how to figure out which kind of beer they like. I find the best way to answer these questions is to sample a variety of beers side by side, explore similarities and differences, and start discussions. That’s exactly what Beerology provides; a fun, sociable, interactive way to learn about beer. Beerology guided beer tasting sessions are a hands-on approach to learning. While it is great to read about beer in books or online, nothing compares to tasting it with a group of people and a guide who will point out flavours, provide fun facts, and answer questions.
Craft beer is a term that is used to describe beer made by a relatively small, independent brewery using traditional methods. It is brewed in small batches, with a focus on flavour and style. Choosing to drink a craft beer over a mass-produced lager is like deciding to buy fresh produce instead of processed food. My passion for craft beer stems from the fact that I like to shop locally and support small businesses. I like to use Ontario beers in my guided tasting sessions as much as possible, because it’s great to discover a new product that is made locally, and can be bought fresh. Of course, it helps that there is a wide variety of very tasty Ontario beer available on the market. The craft beer industry in Ontario is in full bloom. There are approximately 40 craft breweries in the province. These breweries offer a large selection of brands, brewed in a variety of traditional, and non-traditional styles. |
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Mirella Amato
