Two local pub owners want to change your mind about beer.

Since taking ownership of the Griffin Pub in August, partners Curt Dunlop and Jed Corbeil have brought their love for a good brew and food to the masses. Starting with 20 Ontario microbrewery beers, the pub has now expanded to about 45 offerings. It has also started the popular brewmaster’s dinner.

Corbeil said microbrewers put heart and soul into their product, which is why he and Dunlop decided to go exclusively with microbrewery beer at the Griffin.

“They (microbrewers) have a passion for their products,” said Corbeil. “These guys devote their life to beer.”

Their dedication comes through loud and clear during the monthly brewmaster’s dinners the Griffin holds.

The dinners have been a sellout so far, offering something different for the average North American beer drinker: matching beer and cuisine.

Pairing food and drink is usually something thought of in wine circles.

“Beer pairings are something a bit new. A lot of people use beer just to get drunk,” said brewmaster Sam Corbeil during December’s dinner.

At each dinner, the Griffin invites a different microbrewery brewmaster to speak about their beers and how they are paired with food. Griffin chef Adam Palubiski creates dishes for the five-course dinner.

Sam Corbeil, the brother of the Griffin’s co-owner Jed Corbeil, is from Mill Street Brewery in Toronto. With a wealth of knowledge, garnered from study in Germany to become a certified brewmaster, Sam talked about beer and gave the group some of the beer basics.

“When you are looking at beer pairings with food, usually more robust flavours in the food will go with the bigger bodied beer,” said Sam.

For the first course, pub goers were treated to blue cheese polenta cakes matched with Mill Street Brewery’s flagship beer, Mill Street Tankhouse Ale.

“It smells delicious. It really is very inviting,” said Sam of the ale.

December’s dinner included a variety of light and dark beers, including ales and lagers, which led to a brief lesson on the differences.

Both ales and lagers can be light or dark, said Sam.

The difference between ales and lagers is the yeast. In the lager yeasts are fermented at lower temperatures and ales are fermented at higher temperatures. The temperature a beer is served at also depends on the fermenting process.

Ales are served at high temperatures, he said.

Beer should not be served too cold because it will numb your taste buds, he notes.

“If you see a beer that is advertised at sub-zero, that means there is probably no flavour and they are just covering any other flavours up. You actually can’t register taste at anything less than zero Celsius,” he said.

The Mill Street Coffee Porter, a thick, dark ale served with three types of chocolate, changes some perceptions about beer.

Made with 25 pounds of coffee in each batch of beer, which equates to the same as a cup of coffee, this beer is a pick-me-up. It also has chocolate and toffee flavours.

The Mill Street Barley Wine, served at room temperature, is more like a brandy than a beer. At 11 per cent alcohol, it is a very “boozy” beer, according to Sam.

“It will change your mind about what a beer can be,” he said.

The barley wine is offered only once a year from the Mill Street Brewery and is aged for 10 months. It is not a summer beer, he said.

“It is a seasonal offering,” said Sam.

The Griffin is located at 9 Chancery Lane in downtown Bracebridge. The pub can be reached at 646-0438, or by visiting the website at www.thegriffinpub.ca.

The brewmaster’s dinners are held the last Sunday of every month.