The launch of a unique beer by an Ottawa brewing company combines traditional brewing ingredients with bacon, creating a flavour unlike any other in the area.
Ottawa’s HogsBack Brewing Company recently released its new suds, dubbed “Aporkalypse Now” at a launch party at the Preston Street location of The Heart and Crown.
The quirky name is derived from the brew’s key ingredient: bacon. The company website describes the stout as a “smooth, dark beer” which has the “perfect finish hinting of the fine swine contained within.”
For HogsBack co-owner Paige Cutland, the addition of pork to a pint seemed natural.
“With a name like HogsBack, we were wondering if there was anything we could do that was pig related,” he said in a phone interview.
“With bacon being so on trend and popular these days, I searched to see if there was any sort of way to flavour beer using it. I found lots of examples of bacon beer that had been made in the United States and figured it could work here.”
The beer has already made news in the United States, as well as England and Finland.
It was produced in conjunction with fellow Ottawa brewers Broadhead Brewing Company, which supplied the necessary beer making machinery. Opened in 2010, HogsBack Brewing Company was created by Cutland and three like-minded friends who were inspired to start a brewery after attending a trade show in Orlando, Fla.
The company has won awards for its flagship lager, while also producing four seasonal beers each year.
In the last few years, the city has seen a surge in popularity of craft brews, with many smaller companies getting their product on tap alongside larger brewing corporations.
More than 13 kilograms of bacon was needed to flavour each 780-litre batch of beer.
To meet their pork requirements, Cutland and his three other co-owners sought the services of Pork of Yore pig farm. Located 100km west of Ottawa, the farm produces pork products from pasture-raised hogs.
Public reaction was positive at the beer’s launch party, and Cutland says he received many compliments on the beer’s taste.
“Trying it was a very unique moment,” said craft beer enthusiast Brian Molerio in an email.
“It was only the second bacon beer I had ever heard of and the first I’ve tried. The warmer the beer became, the more bacon flavour came out of it.”
Added launch attendee Galen Wright: “I myself thought it was really really good. It was a classic, dark stout with just a hint of bitterness. I had about five pints if that serves as any indication of the quality.”
Cutland says HogsBack is looking to build a brewery in Ottawa.