![]() In January I posted my final entry on my Barrie trip, wrapping up with Flying Monkeys. After visiting Flying Monkeys last July, I continued along my way to Gravenhurst to join my family for our annual cottage trip. During our week in Gravenhurst I had to arrange a craft beer day! So my father, uncle and, brother in law joined me on a 3 brewery day trip. Stop 1 was Clear Lake Brewing Co. Clear Lake, founded by Greg Knight, is located in Torrance, Ontario. So it's still a bit of a drive up the road from Gravenhurst, about 20 minutes. Located directly behind another favorite place of mine to visit, Pie wood fire pizza. The 3,000 square foot facility really has that cottage feel with a canoe hung up over the bar. The brewery is basically just an open area allowing people to see the fermentation tanks while enjoying their beers. Clear Lake also offers food. Mostly burgers, sandwiches and, wraps but are more than ok with you bringing a pizza in from across the parking lot. All the tables have game boards for popular board games printed on them, which I thought was a really cool touch. Our table had snakes and ladders on it. Our visit came not too long after the brewery opened for the day which, in hindsight, may not have been the best choice as we were advised that most of the kegs were not tapped so all the pours in our flight would be from a can. While not the end of the world, it was a little disappointing. We were also disappointed that the beer fridge in the bottle shop portion of the brewery was not yet stocked and there were very few cans to purchase and bring home. That said, the merchandise selection (hats, sweaters, tshirts, ect) might have been one of the best I've ever seen in a brewery. Lots to choose from. We were fortunate to have the brewery to ourselves for most of our visit. That meant all the staff working were more than helpful and made sure we were well taken care of. Before I get to my picks for Clear Lake, I'd like to talk about something else related to craft beer, something that I really realized for the first time at this brewery. We have 4 guys on this trip and I really got to learn their tastes in beer. My uncle, who isn't a huge beer drinker (but likes the odd one), is a pilsner and cream ale fan. My dad, who really is a wine guy (if I'm a beer nerd, he's a wine nerd) appreciates trying all sorts of different beers but really likes easy drinking lagers and rice beers. My brother in law is more like me, he's an IPA fan and does like to try local beers (he loves his local - Jackass Brewing in Cambridge) but doesn't tend to try anything other than IPAs unless I'm with him. It really hit me then and there that craft beer is for everyone, there's so many styles and flavours that there's something for everyone. You just need to find it. I really enjoyed this day with them and sharing thoughts as to what we thought of each beer we sampled so for these 3 breweries (Clear Lake, Muskoka and, Sawdust City) my picks will be based more on the group consensus than just my pick. Jer (and family)'s picks: Cream Ale: Honey is used in the fermentation of this cream ale but you wouldn't know it because it really isn't sweet, which I mean as a compliment. It was a little smoother than you'd expect from a cream ale but on a hot summer day, that is more than welcome. This was easily my uncle's favorite from Clear Lake but we all agreed this was pretty good. American IPA: This is brewed with El Dorado hops and was actually pretty easy drinking. I don't recall much bitterness and it had a slight fruit flavour which was mango-ish. Honestly, it drank like a pilsner. While it isn't what I've come to expect with an American IPA I did enjoy it. I think this is a good beer to introduce people to American IPAs. Cran Radler: Made with locally sourced cranberries I got the impression that this was the beer that we had to try. I enjoyed it, a little sour from the cranberries and citrusy notes. Not too much acidity. I think I was the one who enjoyed this the most but my dad, who is a fan of cranberry juice, also enjoyed this.
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![]() Back in November I made a trip out to Brantford to check out the breweries they had to offer. I've written about Bell City and Steel Wheel but the first stop I made that day was Mash Paddle Brewing Company. They are located in a former industrial site turned into almost a strip mall for independent businesses. It's cool to see something be converted and used again. Mash Paddle was founded by husband and wife Teddy & Nicole Scholten and their friend Matty Buzanko who is the head brewer. The space is basically an open unit with the brewing equipment behind the bar and number of different seating options. They have games to enjoy while you visit and a patio out front (though, it was a little too cold for a patio beer that day). I arrived at about 11 on a Saturday and still wasn't done my coffee so I only grabbed a couple to go but even at opening, it was pretty busy which is something you always like to see. They 2 core beers: Dutchman's Alt and Unnamed Pale Ale and then they experiment with many different seasonal beers. When I visited I picked up a bottle of the Unnamed Pale Ale and the seasonal beer called Citranatti Bengal. Both are great names! To date, these are the 2 beers I've had the chance to try from Mash Paddle so they will be today's Jer's picks. I need to go back to try another release that is more in my wheelhouse as the beers I had were well done but not necessarily my first choice in style of beer. Unnamed Pale Ale: "Crushable". A sweet note to it, biscuit-y, not overly carbonated. I could see this being a beer that is a good stepping stone for non craft beer drinkers and a refreshing beer to have on a hot summer day. Not necessarily my favorite style of beer but I do enjoy one every once in a while. Citranatti Bengal: Citrusy and piney session IPA. Mostly an orange citrus taste. At 4.5 ABV it doesn't hit you hard. Another well crafted beer that could introduce non craft beer drinkers to the craft world. ![]() To date, I've posted about breweries that I've wanted to go see really badly or have really influenced my beer drinking choices. In some cases (my Barrie trip) I literally learned about a brewery and just went there, blindly. This one, is very different. Wellington Brewery is one that's always been around. I mean that literally. It was established in 1985, the year I was born. I've certainly tried some of the core beers but, as silly as this sounds now, until this past summer it never really clicked that this was a local craft brewery. I guess I just assumed, as they were always available, that they were macro. Obviously that is not the case and I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't figure that out until 2018. What is it that the kids say? "Don't @ me". The truth is, Wellington is pioneer of the craft beer industry. The core beers are traditional style ales but they dabble in just about everything. In fact, Wellington came to be after a law change in Ontario in 1985 that allowed small brewers to operate in the province (side note: where would we be without that law change? I don't even want to think about it.). Phil Gosling was the founder who's vision was for a brewery that would produce English style ales; also known as cask-conditioned beers. This process is different than the normal as the beers are naturally carbonated and are served at cellar temperature (granted, if you read this site you probably knew that). To get that authentic English style the brewing equipment was flown in from England. Seems appropriate that they set up the brewery in Guelph aka "The Royal City". The core brands, who remain to this day, were developed at this time. These brands are; Special Pale Ale, County Brown Ale and, Arkell Best Bitter. It didn't take long for Wellington to become recognized. By 1987 they were winning local and national awards for their beers. In they year 2000 major changes were afoot for Wellington. The original owner, Phil Gosling, decided to retire and sold the brewery to 2 of his longtime employees; Doug Dawkins and Michael Stirrup. It was at this time that the added focus of sales to restaurants and bars was a business growth strategy that came into play. That is something that I normally wouldn't mention but as a result of this we got the famous boot tap handle that remains a staple in bars and restaurants today. 2007 brought more changes. The 25th anniversary was celebrated with a big party. The brewery installed their first canning line and, Michael Stirrup retired as the president. Doug Dawkins, who was the co-owner with Michael, took over as president and brought Brent Davies in to assist. Brent had been in sales with Wellington previously. It was also in 2007 that the Welly One-Off series kicked off. This series was a rotating series of small batch specialty beers. 2011 saw Wellington officially change their logo to the boot that had been featured on the top handles. This was also the year that tank capacity grew for the first time. The second time being in 2013. The 30th anniversary year in 2015 was very special as a 12,000 square foot addition broke ground. New brewing equipment and a new packing line was also added. Sadly and unexpectedly in 2016 Doug Dawkins passed away. A sad moment for the brewery as he was at the helm while so much growth was experienced. In September the brewery hosts Welly Cask Fest which is a celebration of casked beers. In 2018 over $2500 was raised for Habitat for Humanity at Cask Fest. I made my first visit to Wellington at the end of January this year. I went early (about noon) on a Tuesday, so it wasn't exactly peak busy hours but I was in the area and really wanted to check it out. The building is a cool Oast house style of building. The taproom and the bottle shop are connected but the taproom is a larger space than most craft breweries out there and I'd love to come back on a Friday night and see it packed. As I admitted earlier, what this brewery means to the scene really didn't click and as a result I see I haven't really dug too deep into what they have to offer until this past summer when I ordered a couple beers online that I really wanted to try. As a result I've only tried 5 of their beers. So for Jer's picks I'm going to pick my favorite of their year-round offerings as well as my favorite one-off that I really liked. Before I do that though, Wellington released a glass as part of the Welly Cask Days in 2018 and it's probably the coolest looking beer glass I've ever seen (and now own!). So shout out to the Welly CaskBuddy glass. I'll have a photo of it in the pictures below. Jer's Picks: Upside IPA: This is the year-round offering. This is a east cost style IPA with a Vermont ale yeast and has hints of grapefruit and peach. It's just a really well done IPA that is always a good grab. Shubie: Shubie is an IPA but I really wouldn't be surprised if people called it a sour either. It's a raspberry lover's dream, and I am a raspberry lover. It's juicy and tart as you would expect from a Raspberry beer. Just a really nice beer on a hot summer day. The can art was pretty cool too! |
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