Brews News: Natterjack wins props for smoky Logger chops

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If there’s a spring in the step of the Soos family, it’s for good reason.

The well-known West Elgin family own Natterjack Brewing in the unlikely node of Eagle, where the quaint general store and famous greenhouse closed years ago, leaving a restaurant and, for the last six years, a brewery.

The family didn’t set out to be brewers, but its dreamer did. Matt Soos trained at the Niagara College Teaching Brewery and was just starting out, working for other beermakers while keeping plans to open his own brewery in his back pocket. Sadly, he died in 2015 before realizing his dream.

Starting with a recipe Matt worked on at college – for a Belgian blonde with pistachios and cardamom – Natterjack Brewing was born.

Boosted by strong local support and tourists driving and cycling the scenic Talbot Line along Lake Erie’s north shore, Natterjack’s reputation has grown steadily as a brewer and entertainment hub, hosting everything from Yuk Yuk’s comedy to popular food trucks.

They’ve been building their brands at festivals, like this fall’s Pints and Plaid in Port Dover, and at Bingemans in beer-loving Kitchener. They’ve entered the seltzer fray with flavours echoing soft drinks like Dr. Pepper. They’re even the Ontario distributor of a beery beverage to hydrate dogs.

And now, the boost Natterjack needed.

Logger, the best from the six-pack I picked up at the brewery store this fall, has won an Ontario Brewing Awards gold medal for smoked lager. It’s the brewery’s first beer award.

The beer and its name are a nod to Dan Soos’ earlier career as an arborist and hard-working loggers. It was one of the original three Natterjack beers.

The beer, from a recipe by Dan and Racheal Soos, is six per cent alcohol and low in bitterness. Key is the use of peat-smoked malt from the U.K. The secret to its popularity is how it pairs with barbecue.

“We have never won any other brewing awards, but have won business awards in the past from Bridges to Better Business in St. Thomas . . . (and) from Elgin Business Resource Centre in St. Thomas,” Dan Soos said in an email.

For Matt’s dream, the eagle has landed.

AWARD WINNERS

Expert judges at the Ontario Brewing Awards were impressed by the breweries of Norfolk County, which is clearly a marquee beer destination now.

Meuse Brewing, one of Ontario’s notable farm breweries, won gold for a second straight year in the Strong Belgian category for Salon de la Meuse. It also took a bronze in Monastic Ale, meaning Meuse has won eight awards in three years.

Simcoe’s Backyard Brewing took bronze in the Spiced Beer category for its Roasted Banana Pepper Ale. Waterford’s Wishbone Brewing drew honourable mentions for its Celebration 2.0 (fruit beer) and Ground Rules (spiced beer).

London’s Anderson Craft Ales won silver for its fall seasonal Marzen – the local beer I’m most likely to recommend if asked right now – along with bronze for its Amber and silver for its strawberry sour collaboration with Heeman’s.

The eye-popping brewery beer fans have to discover after the 2022 awards? That’s Paris Beer Co. Its took golds for Mill Race Bohemian Pilsner, Head Gate Dunkel, Ransom Note (in the Strong European category) and Barnyard Bully (Strong American Beer), plus silver for its low-alcohol Clever Hans. These outstanding results put Paris on the craft beer destination map.

Best overall beer in the 2022 competition went to one of Ontario’s best breweries, Nickel Brook of Burlington and Etobicoke, for Jam Stand, a Berliner weisse with vanilla and hibiscus.

For those looking to track down winners as a Christmas gift impress-’em pack, remember not all beers are available all the time.

NEW AND NOTED

• Like seasonal flavoured beers? Christmas six-packs are ready at Broken Rail in St. Marys. The cleverly named beers include two each of Resting Grinch Face (cranberry-raspberry wheat), Sleigh My Name, Sleigh My Name (chocolate orange pale ale) and Let’s Get Elf-ed Up (a strong 8.6 per cent alcohol spiced ale).
• London’s Storm Stayed has released two takes on an oatmeal stout. Safe Harbour, a gold medallist at the 2021 Ontario Brewing Awards, returns along with Danger Bay, which adds cocoa nibs, ancho and pasilla chilis, cinnamon and vanilla.

• Cameron’s Brewing of Oakville has two new seasonal beers on LCBO shelves. Crooked Nose, brewed with East Kent Golding hops, is a stout with a deep cocoa flavour. Bad Robot is an 8.2 per cent alcohol double IPA brewed with six varieties of hops.
• Bayfield Brewing has a beer advent calendar presented in a handcrafted wooden case. Inside are 24 of Bayfield’s beer and to satisfy the peckish, housemade pepperettes. It’s $130.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.

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Twitter.com/WayneWriteOn