![]() When talking about all the great beers out there in Ontario I feel one brewery gets overlooked a little bit and it’s funny because the story of this brewery has roots going back to 1993. All or Nothing Brewhouse started as a contract brewery in 2014 by brothers Jeff and Eric Dornan in Oshawa, Ontario. Originally All or Nothing was going to be named Underdog’s Brewhouse but there was a trademark dispute with another craft brewer and the name was changed. In June 2016 All or Nothing, who was still looking for their own home, purchased Trafalgar Ales & Meads, Trafalgar Artisanal Distillery and, Pioneer Black Creek Brewery. Trafalgar was one of the oldest breweries in Ontario, having their roots going back to 1993. This purchase included Trafalger’s brewing facility in Oakville, On. Announced at the beginning of November, 2018; All or Nothing is moving back to Oshawa, Ontario. The company has purchased a 20,000 square foot facility that used to be a beer store and plan on opening the facility early in 2019. The current facility in Oakville will be closing at the end of November. That seems to be this weekend but I have not been able to find an official date. My visit to All or Nothing actually happened by coincidence last winter. I was doing a Hamilton beer run and decided to search on google and breweries that I may pass on my way to Brampton. This one came up. Prior to my visit I had tried a few of their products but I was not aware that All or Nothing and Trafalger were brands owned by the same company. I actually almost drove right past the facility as, besides for a small sign out front saying “buy beer here” there’s not much that makes it obvious that there is a brewery in this industrial area. When I walked inside, that was a whole different story. The bottle shop is very nicely finished with the yellow theme for the fridge and wood everywhere. The gentleman working that day and I had a long chat (only 1 other couple came through while I was there and I think he was happy to have some company) but I learned that they host courses, spend a lot of time making beer and spirit recipes and, I even sampled some apple pie shine. I didn’t buy any spirits though they do have a large selection of unique flavours. I bought some beer and mead and headed out. For me, the styles of beer that the Black Creek and All or Nothing brands make aren’t my go-to styles but this is one of those breweries that take so much pride in their craft that you taste the difference. That’s why Jer’s picks for this company features 1 beverage from each brand. Black Creek Historic Brewery’s Canada 150: It’s an English Bitter Ale and is very malty. It’s got the toffee and caramel notes and is actually very drinkable. All or Nothing’s Hopfenweisse: Pale Wheat Ales are not in my wheelhouse generally speaking. This one is very lightly hopped and had a sweet note to it that really differentiated it from anything that I’ve had that comparable. Trafalgar’s Niagara Peach Mead: Ok, so mead isn’t beer. If fact, though most meads today have grains or hops, originally meads were essentially fermented honey and water. Granted, we’re talking about the medieval times. As a beer fan you might find that mead smell a little weird and is not nearly as carbonated. That said, this one is light and fruity. It’s a delicious drink that is a nice change of pace from a typical beer.
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![]() “Brewed for you, Ontario”. I think anyone that reads this blog knows that slogan. To me; it’s more than a smart marketing slogan. To me it brings fond memories that go back to my early days in discovering craft beer which I’m sure is true for a lot of craft beer fans in the Toronto area. Great Lakes Brewery has been at it for over 30 years now and really are a pioneer of the craft beer industry. They’re not only known for being pioneers in the craft beer industry but for being ahead of the curve when it came to experimenting with recipes. After doing a lot of reading and watching (GLB released a documentary for their 30th anniversary) I’ve decided to put together a little history on GLB for my blog post. GLB began in 1987 as a malt extract brewery in Brampton, Ontario. This is significant because most breweries of the day were all grain. The company was started by Bruce Cornish and 4 other silent partners. Great Lakes brewed 2 beers: Great Lakes Lager and Unicorn Ale which were packaged in 1 litre plastic home brew bottled. After 4 years of production the company had run out of money. Enter Peter Bulut Sr. Bulut Sr purchased the business in 1990, made the change from malt extract brewing to all grain in 1991 and in the early months of 1992 moved the brewery to its current home at 30 Queen Elizabeth Blvd where Cornish continued on as head brewer for a short time. The building, interestingly enough, was a former perfume factory that won an architecture award in 1950. The move to Etobicoke was because Bulut Sr did some construction work (his background was in that industry) and liked the proximity to the QEW, primarily because the building visible from the QEW. Bulut Sr. quickly found success in the 1990s Toronto restaurant scene, selling his beer to the Greek, Serbian and, Italian communities. From what I could find in my research, it was in 1997 when Peter Bulut Jr started getting involved in the business which is what his father had always wanted: for this to be a family business. This is also the period of time when the more experimental recipes were starting to be developed. Any interviews I’ve seen or read with Bulut Jr have him chalking this up to boredom. Out of this “boredom” Golden Horseshoe Lager and Red Leaf Lager were created. In 2000 the on-site retail store opened. Fast forward to 2006. Devil’s Pale Ale 666 is created in June and it became so popular that the brewery introduces it in the LCBO. This beer, which has just made it’s return in the retail store at the time of posting this entry, is the beer that really kicked things off for GLB. The next beer that has a significant story takes place in 2006. The brewery made 1200 bottles of a specialty beer for their holiday party, as a gift for the staff. 600 bottles were given away and they were such a hit that the decision was made to sell the other 600 bottles, which were originally planned to be used in giveaways. Thus, the holiday tradition of GLB’s Winter Ale was born! In 2007 another significant step for the craft beer world came to be. GLB came into contact with a tobacco farmer who’s business was not doing well. He owned a conveyor belt that was designed to dry fruits and vegetables. Bulut Jr and this farmer decided to dry some sorghum, sweet potato, orange peels to try some experimental recipes, before you know it the Orange Peel Ale and Pumpkin Ales appeared. The Winter Ale, Pumpkin Ale and, Orange Peel Ale lead to BLG winning the Golden Tap Editor’s Circle Award for seasonal products in 2007. The GLB story isn’t complete without mentioning Mike Lackey. Bulut Jr and Lackey are lifelong friends, going back to kindergarten and Bulut Jr and Lackey used to stay in the Brampton location to brew the beer while the Etobicoke location was being built. Right behind the Brampton location was a brew your own beer shop and the 2 friends used to experiment there. Fast forward to 2009 project X launched. Project X was a monthly event where brand new beers were created on a pilot system and offered to Project X members. Many of the Tank Ten series of beers were first born at these events but the reason this Project X series came to be was that Lackey self-training himself to brew. Lackey had enough of cleaning the lines and went to Bulut Jr and asked if he could start brewing and testing recipes. That’s how Lackey became the Recipe Development Brewer for GLB. In 2010 Crazy Canuck Pale Ale was introduced in time for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This was another of the pilot beers that Lackey brewed. This is the beer that really launched BLG into the IPA scene and started to really generate some sales. This beer, which later changed it’s name to Canuck Pale Ale, might just be the closest thing to a “go-to” beer in the Ontario craft beer scene today. Sadly, Peter Bulut Sr. passed away in 2010. Peter Jr then took over the brewery as president. The momentum continued to roll in 2011 as Crazy Canuck launched full time in LCBO and wins it’s 2nd consecutive Gold medal at the Canadian Brewing Awards. ![]() 2012 saw GLB’s 25th anniversary. To celebrate Robust Porter, Vanilla Bean Imperial Espresso Stout, Belgian Saison, Imperial Black IPA and Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout were created. GLB was also named Best Brewery for Cask-Conditioned Ale in Ontario at the 10th annual Golden Tap Awards. In 2013 GLB was named the Canadian Brewery of the Year at the 11th annual Canadian Brewing Awards. As well as named Best Brewery for Cask-Conditioned Ale in Ontario at the 11th annual Golden Tap Awards. In 2014 GLB was named the Canadian Brewery of the Year at the 12th annual Canadian Brewing Awards, awarded the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in the NA India Pale Ale category at the Canadian Brewing Awards for THRUST! an IPA, Karma Citra IPA, My Bitter Wife IPA, named the Best MicroBrewery in Ontario at the 12th annual Golden Tap Awards and, named Best Brewery for Cask-Conditioned Ale in Ontario at the 12th annual Golden Tap Awards. The awards continued in 2015 Canuck Pale Ale - Gold Medal at Ontario Brewing Awards, RoboHop Imperial IPA - Gold Medal at Canadian Brewing Awards and, THRUST! an IPA - Silver Medal at Canadian Brewing Awards. GLB was named the Best Brewery in Ontario at the 13th annual Golden Tap Awards. THRUST! an IPA - Best Seasonal/One-Off in Ontario at the 13th annual Golden Tap Awards. It was in 2015 that GLB opened an outdoor patio to consumers at brewery, a staple that remains today. More awards in 2016 Canuck Pale Ale - Best Regularly Produced Beer in Ontario, Golden Tap Awards. Karma Citra IPA - Best Seasonal or Specialty Beer in Ontario, Golden Tap Awards. Best Brewery in Ontario 2016 - Golden Tap Awards. It was also in 2016 when a new state of the art bottling line was installed. 2017 brought the 30th anniversary (Feb 12) celebrations. In celebration the brewery released a documentary (as mentioned earlier in this post) highlighting the history of GLB. Another part of the 2017 celebrations was welcoming a number of different people from the craft beer world to come and brew special collaboration beers. Bulut Jr also bought the brewery a 30th anniversary gift; a brand new 7bbl copper pilot system and 4 new 15bbl fermenters. These gifts enabled GLB to produce more regular product as well as experiment with new recipes. 2017 also brought an official partnership with the Toronto Rock Lacrosse team. Canuck Pale Ale became the official beer of the Rock. Present day, we see the growth continue. The Wavy Wall Craft Kitchen was added in the summer of 2018. Octopus wants to fight, a very popular seasonal beer became part of the regular lineup and, the retail store had a slight reconfiguration to increase how much beer they could sell from their fridges. So, now that the history of this brewery has been covered: GLB offers $5 pints, flights, the Wavy wall kitchen and, they have plenty of events at the brewery like the upcoming Christmas market. An interesting fact (that I learned from the Toronto Mike’d podcast which GLB sponsors) is that GLB sells 99.9% of their beer in Ontario, hence the slogan “Brewed for you, Ontario” but there is a bar in Halifax, Nova Scotia that has a long standing relationship with GLB that they continue to honour. At time of posting I’ve had 36 different beers from GLB and I’m sure that will change within weeks. So today’s “Jer’s Picks” will be 5 picks. 1 honourable mention, 3 picks and, the “top sauce” pick. The tops sauce idea is an new thing I’m going to do when I have a brewery that gets a long post like this and there’s lots to choose from. Jer’s Picks: Honourable mention – Swamp Juice: This pick get the name “honourable mention” because really, it’s not 1 beer. Stay with me here. Swamp Juice is something GLB does (did? I haven’t seen it in my recent trips) where they take different beers and mix them together in a growler. To date, according to their website, they have had 39 different variations. I love it, it’s fun and I have yet to have had a batch that turned out bad. Lake Effect IPA: Just a solid IPA. Citrusy, not overly hoppy but still that bite you want from an IPA, a hint of pine. Just all around solid. I tend to like American style IPAs and, funny enough, this Canadian brewery makes one of the bests. Audrey Hopburn: A Belgian IPA now. Yes, another IPA. I like IPAs. It’s got that hint of spiciness that you’d expect from a Belgian yeast. Citrusy nose and that bite again. I like getting that bitter bite from a good IPA that has that taste but don’t linger all night after. Grimace’s Tears Strawberry Milkshake IPA: Come on. If you read this blog you know I like Milkshake IPAs. So what you have here is one of my favorite breweries making one of my favorite styles of beer featuring one of my favorite fruits. I mean, this was made for me. It’s so juicy, the lactose makes it a little sweet – almost “yogurty” and of course it’s nice and hazy. It’s just a whole bunch of good. Top Sauce – Octopus Wants to Fight IPA: 8 hops, 8 malts, a little juicy, a great hop bite, hazy. It’s just all kinds of delicious. Over the past summer (keep in mind Octopus Wants to Fight was still a seasonal beer at that time) my Uncle asked me what my favorite beer is. I told him that I really couldn’t answer that. I explained that I don’t go get “my usual” from the beer store and that I always try something new thusly there are a number of beers I really like. That said, gun to head, if I had to choose an everyday drinker this would be that beer. ![]() A couple weeks ago I decided to head out to Brantford to a few spots that were on my list of breweries I really wanted to visit. "Get some content for the blog" as a I joke with my friend who I chatted with on my drive to Brantford. Bell City Brewing Company was high on that list. I recognized the logo from their beer Edison’s Peep Show but that was about the extent of my familiarity with their beer. It turns out Bell City is in a pretty great location: right across from the Lynden Park mall, which itself is just off the 403. Bell City Brewing is named after the city of Brantford’s nickname (The Bell City) which is in reference to one of it's most famous former residents: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the the telephone. Arguably he plays second fiddle to the other popular former resident of Brantford; Wayne Gretzky. Like many breweries their roots lie with a group of friends home brewing and looking for alternatives to what was available at the beer store at that time. Bell City offers tours that are very highly rated. While the facility is not huge they really make sure to take their time and offer a real look into the brewing process and, due to the number of people attending, it seems Bell City has developed a little reputation. Bell City also has a full food menu with items like flatbread; sliders, soup, sandwiches and, of course pretzels. For "Jer's Pick" I am picking the Mango Vanilla IPA: The Mango Vanilla IPA really is a milkshake style IPA, in fact, it was listed that way on the menu board in the brewery. Milkshake IPAs are, as a rule of thumb, my favorite so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that this is my pick. The balance of the sweetness from the vanilla, juicy mango flavour and, the evident but not over powering hops made this my favorite sample in the flight and the beer I enjoyed at home that same night. I couldn’t wait to get more. ![]() Steam Whistle brewing in Toronto has been brewing 1 beer for almost 20 years. They are a well-known brewer and, this year, they decided to expand. In May of 2018 they brought Marek Mikunda back to Canada from the Czech Republic to help create Von Bugle Brewing. Marek was involved in the early days of Steam Whistle and his Czech influence was ideal for this new brand. Much like Steam Whistle, there will only be 1 type of beer brewed by Von Bugle. This beer is called the Von Bugle Munich Lager and is described by the company as follows: Von Bugle Munich Lager is brewed to be the most sessionable dark beer on the market. The complex grain bill blends traditional and specialty malts to provide the robust and bold flavour. This is contrasted with Noble hops in addition to the newly bred Kazbek hop that’s available exclusively in our beer in Canada. While the colour is a beautiful rich amber, the beer retains the drinkability and crispness associated with the cold fermenting and long ageing of lagers. The taste is smooth and perfectly balanced between gentle bitterness and malt sweetness. The Brewery was opened at 249 Evans Ave in Etobicoke in May but the tap room opened over the Labour Day long weekend. I visited this past Friday. The facility is huge, they are clearly looking to get a lot of volume out. I took a “wrong turn” (well, I played it off that way) and walked through some open doors into the warehouse and saw rows and rows of large tanks. That’s about as much as I saw until I was pointed in the right direction by an employee. The tap room is very large too with shuffleboard, darts and, BMWs painted in blue and gold. The theme is clearly there but the room has an unfinished feel to it. I’m sure that the taproom remains a work in progress. Available in the tap room is both Steam Whistle and Von Bugel. I will say this, this facility is clean as can be. Everything was spotless. Normally this is where I’d make my pick. Obviously there is only 1 choice and I wasn’t a huge fan. I don’t want to trash anyone here so I’ll just refrain from further comment on the beer. What I will say is this: Steam Whistle has invested (from what I’ve been able to find in my research) 23 million dollars in this new brand. That’s a big chunk of money and I hope that this pays off for them. I applaud them for taking this big leap forward. ![]() Milton, Ontario is a suburb of Toronto. It's a city that, until the 1970s was really just a village and over the past 30 years it's grown by about 80,000 people. I'd say that it's about time Milton got their own brewery! Orange Snail Brewery is located in an industrial strip plaza, right across the road from a John Deer dealer, which I like because it kind of a nod to Milton's farming past. Orange Snail was started by 2 Miltonians; Damion and Kevin who are old university buddies and between the 2 of them have about 20 years of brewing experience. One of the things that I like is that everything they do is Milton related, all the names of the beers have a tie into Milton and, I've read they even donate a portion of profits to local charities and community organizations. Orange Snail hosts food truck events from time to time but their main focus seems to be the taproom and tours. The building itself is a small taproom/bottle shop in the front which opens up to the brewery in the back. One of the things I really liked when I walked in was the smell. It was clear they were working on mashing in a new batch as that smell was in the air. I went on a Friday after work and the place was busy! There wasn't much left in the fridge but I chalk that up to the guy in front of me in line who, although there was a line behind him, decided to buy about half of the inventory in the fridge. Not Orange Snail's fault at all of course, that was just a rude guy. Despite being busy, I had a nice little chat with the gentleman working behind the bar. I wasn't able to stay for a flight (as I usually like to do) but he invited me to come back and do so. It's the small touches like that, they make all the difference. I'm going to have to go back again soon when I have a bit more time because I saw a lot of things I liked but didn't really get to get the full experience. I was able to pick up 3 beers, 2 core beers and a Halloween seasonal beer which is the beer that I'm picking as Jer's Pick for Orange Snail. Hockey Mask Pumpkin Ale: Admittedly pumpkin ales are not my favorite style of beer but there was something a little different about this one. Orange Snail makes this with local pumpkins from Milton and "spices passed down from generations of pie makers". I got a hint of something sweet and I'm not quiet sure what it was but it made this one pretty good for a Pumpkin Ale, if you ask me. Plus; that name is cool! ![]() Brant is predominantly a rural municipality that is bordered by Brantford, Ontario. Although this is a rural area, don’t be mistaken; at the address of 105 Powerline road in Brant there is a lot going on. Harold Kuret and Cindy Blair own this property and have been growing hops on this site since 2015. They also have plans to expand their nursery to grow fruits, grains and, berries. If that wasn’t enough, the couple collects and restores antique tractors and steam engines (hence the name of the brewery) and are involved in heritage associations. 2016 brought a hops harvest that gave them enough materials to home brew for the entire year so they continued to grow and the 2017 harvest produced several hundred pounds of hops. Potentially enough to sell the surplus. They are currently growing 7 varieties of hops; Columbus, Cascade, Centennial, Mount Hood, Nugget, Cashmere and, Ultra. In the meanwhile, if these 2 weren’t busy enough, the 1890s farmhouse that the brewery is housed in was completely renovated with an outside patio and a tasting area/bottle shop inside. Finally, we come to 2018. In June the brewery is opened to the public. For a couple of retired people, they are a very busy pair! Steel Wheel encourages its customers to bring their own food in and to take their time enjoying their beer. They also provide board games. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere with very friendly staff in a very picturesque building. When I visited the place was pretty full but there was no sense of chaos, the staff took their time to talk to everyone and, they even provided snacks free of charge for the guests, a nice touch that really stuck out to me. I tried 4 beers during my visit and all were very good (you can see my untappd ratings below) but my pick for Steel Wheel is; New England IPA: For me IPA are a favorite, no doubt. That said, there are a ton out there and some just “do enough” to be an IPA. This is not one of those. Steel Wheel uses El Dorado and Anarillo hops, it has that hop forward taste that is smooth, citrusy and, hazy. It was served nice and cold too. I took a sip and audibly said “wow, that’s good”. This beer alone will have me going back and I highly recommend it. ![]() In August I posted about Collective Arts. The building that Collective Arts is housed in has its own cool history prior to Collective Arts calling it home. This post is about another brewery that finds its home in a historical building; Shawn & Ed Brewing company in Dundas, Ontario. In the 1860s a foundry was built in Dundas Ontario which was converted to a skating a curling rink not to long after. In fact, in 1903 the Dundas Curling Club won the Ontario Tankard and hung their winning banner in this building. Eventually the need for a separate curling club and skating rinks were realized and, between the years of 1923 and 1932, the Highway King Bus Line (the Dundas-Hamilton bus service) used the building as a garage for their buses. From 1933 to 1974 the building became a manufacturing plant that manufactured all sorts of different items from crinoline boards to ringer rollers for washing machines. Finally, in 1974, Valley City Furniture, which resided across the street, purchased the building as a storage facility. In 2012, it was purchased by Shawn Till and Ed Madronich and the restoration began. But the interesting stories about this building didn’t end there. In 2015 a dump truck had lost it brakes and crashed into the wall, needing it to be rebuilt. From that came a unique opportunity; you can buy a brick and have your name engraved on it and they will be added to a wall in the brewery. Another cool story is that Shawn Till found out that a previous owner was Bob Crockford who happened to be a life-long friend of his father. Its clear tradition was honoured in this building. Wood was re-purposed to make the bar, tables and, many other elements in the building. They found old rolled up destination signs from the Highway King Bus line days and hung them up in the facility. The story about the brewing company is one that most beer fans are probably familiar with. 2 buddies having a couple beers and talking about opening their own brewery. Apparently this had been an ongoing theme with Shawn and Ed for years and, with Ed’s career being in the wine industry, the 2 eventually took the leap. The brewery has plenty of events going on from bands, to food events. Recently, curling was brought back with an indoor non-ice surface. A really cool touch that honours the building's heritage. The brewery has a core lineup of beers and then produces seasonal beers to compliment the main line. The 4 main beers are:
As Shawn and Ed have a smaller line up of beers, I opted to make 1 pick. WinterShed: Last winter this was one that I was really into. It’s a strong American Ale that was lightly spiced. Considering the types of beer I lean towards aren’t really winter beers, this was a great find. |
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