Hi, my name is Tracy and I’m a lover of craft beer.

Formally speaking, I’m a recognized graduate of the Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP), which is a fancy way of saying I’m one of the world’s 3,611 lucky beer lovers who gets to judge beer competitions. I am also a columnist for TAPS Magazine, where I explore the synergy between the local food AND craft beer movements. I’m also co-founder of the Toronto Beer Club, a devout group of guys and gals who explore specific styles of Ontario-produced beer every third Thursday of every month. And finally, on June 18th I’m about to launch my career as a homebrewer – starting with a simply yet sultry brown ale.

By day, I do outreach and education for Local Food Plus, an award winning charity that certifies local sustainable farmers and links them up with commercial buyers.

So, yupp. Basically, I’m living the good life.

This was all fine and dandy until a few months ago I was sharing a glass of Flying Monkey’s Hoptical Illusion with a good (but unenlightened) friend. After taking a sip of the exceptional Quebec beer she said to me nonchalantly “…. meh, it tastes like a beer”.

“WHAT, it tastes like a beer?!??!!!” I said, knowing far too well her experience with beer was limited to Molson’s Canadian and the occasional PBR. “But this is not just ANY beer… This is a classic example of a dry-hopped IPA, busting with notes of pine and citrus from the addition of Cascade Hops!!!”. After staring at me for a moment thinking I’d gone mad, she said, “We’ll, it’s alright, but beer has a lot of calories, so I’ll just stick with my cocktails”.

From that moment on, I knew it was my mission in life to help well-intentioned folks experience the limitless world of craft beer. To help move society away from drinking six-packs of cheap, corn-based, and ambiguous lagers towards the communal appreciation of quality beer!

And the good news is we’re moving in the right direction. Beer is the new buzz beverage of choice across North America, and more and more Ontarian’s are shifting their dollars in flavor of regionally-produced beer.

Whether or not you’re an aspiring craft beer connoisseur OR you just want to showoff to your friends, I’m here for you. I will provide you with a personalized, experimental and most importantly FUN quality beer experience in the comfort of your own home.

It’s easy – First, gather a group of 4 to 8 friends. A simple “Wanna come over and drink good beer?” will most certainly do. Next, select one of three beer tasting packages – I can provide a Style Specific Tasting, World Tour Tasting, or a Flavour of Ontario Tasting (details here). And finally, sit back in the company of your friends, and prepare to enjoy beer.

For an hour-and-a-half I’ll guide you through five different beers using your senses, exploring their aroma, appearance, taste and mouthfeel (don’t worry, it will all make sense after your tasting). We can also chat more about the beer’s ingredients, the historical significance of the beer or what foods you should pair the beer with. You’ll leave the evening having the taste and the knowledge to continue on in your exploration of quality beer (and the lingo to impress your friends).

So I invite you to check out my website and get in touch.

Don’t forget to join me every week on my blog for all the beer basics! I’ll be posting reviews on my favorite beers, talking more about the world’s 27 different beer styles and sharing my explorations in home brewing.