It has become very very difficult indeed, to keep up with the growth and expansion of breweries in Ontario. But one brewery that didn’t slip between the ever widening cracks in my attention was Cowbell Brewing Co, the soon-to-be-opened farm brewery in Blyth Ontario, that aims to be a fully carbon-neutral brewery. Even if I […]
Wow, I just looked, and I haven’t done a full blog review since June. Did I mention I got a job? I’m not sure how real people manage it…. Regardless, I still get beers to review, and I still want to add content here, and I’m just going to have to buckle down and say […]
One of the benefits in the surge in craft brewing, is the impact it is having on the big guys. Yes, we get crap like Shocktop, but we also get killer brands like Goose Island, Elysian, and even Ballast Point getting bought and having much wider distribution, with (arguably) no decrease in quality (and in […]
Hey! It’s Cider Week here in Ontario, and I’m stoked to have been passed a few cans of a new cider to try out. It’s called Ernest Cider from Faris Farms, which is in Newmarket. The ingredients list apple juice (first), honey, organic cane sugar, and sulphites. The can says it’s a dry cider, not […]
Vankleek Hill, May 17, 2016 – Yesterday morning, Steve Beauchesne, CEO of Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company, Canada’s largest craft producer of organic beer, took centre stage in Ottawa’s ByTowne Cinema amidst the brewery’s employees to announce the news of its imminent sale under an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP). Since its inception in 2006, […]
With so much happening in the brewing scene in Ontario, it’s often difficult to find a “thing” to be known for. And even if you do, you then need to make sure that you’re being authentic. And that your beer is good. Oops, still being authentic? Collective Arts does all of this well. If you […]
Sigh. Left Field. What can I say? Like watching a friend’s child grow from cute quirky kindergartner into a mature confident adult (I’m looking at you, Taylor Jackson), I have been so very lucky to have been witness to one of the most lovely success stories in Toronto in recent years. From hanging out in […]
A few years ago, I co-hosted a homebrew contest with Fred, from Edge 102. We put out a call to the homebrewers of Toronto, to send us their best brews, and we judged them in a head-to-head knock-out, with the best 5 (if I recall) then being judged by a panel of people who actually […]
In the beer scene, beer names are often based off of puns, or pop culture references, or sometimes inside jokes. Sometimes, understanding the reference is like a rite of passage. Do you know who Johnny Simcoe is? Maybe. Do you know what river got lost near Bellwoods? If you’re a history buff, probably. But who […]
Are the proposed changes very good? A bit. Are they really rather bad? Sadly, yes. How is this even possible? Let me explain. We have just seen the biggest proposed change in beer sales in Ontario, since the repeal of prohibition and introduction of Brewer’s Warehousing (subsequently Brewer’s Retail, now just The Beer Store). It […]
