Great Lakes Brewing News Archive

Ontario Beer News

Originally Published: 10/97

By Robert Hughey

A test run of beer and liquor stores in Ontario being allowed to stay open on Sundays in August during the hours of 11 am and 6 pm has been met with enthusiasm by both brewers and consumers.

Final tallies have not been made public but judging by unofficial results, the one-month trial was a huge success. Still, the government has suggested a referendum might be necessary to clear the final hurdle before putting Sunday beer and liquor store openings into law.

Simon Cowe, Lakeside Brewing Co, who brews for The Feathers pub in the Beaches, is now handling specialty brewing at C'est What?, leading off with Summer Ale and Ginger Beer, with a 6.5 % ABV Rye Beer in the works. Cowe will be cycling through the 12 or so house specials, seeking feedback from pubgoers in order to find the three most popular beers, which will then find regular taps among the 28 beers on offer. Cowe also anticipates he will be brewing a real ale in future for C'est What?.

The Feathers and C'est What? are both pubs with brewing licenses, which permit the beers to be brewed off site, with fermentation, carbonation and kegging done at the individual pubs.

However, a word of warning for both beer producer and consumer alike from C'est What?, with claims that the pub is having a problem finding 28 quality microbrews to run through its abundant draft beer lines.

The Great Canadian Beer Festival at the University of Guelph got off to a bit of a slow start this year, this its second annual beer extravaganza, but reports from the trenches are positive. Festival organizers were bouyed by the news that two new Ontario microbreweries, F & M Brewery, Guelph, and Neustadt Springs Brewery, Neustadt, were doing everything in their powers to brew and have the necessary licences in place and thus have product ready for the festival dates.

Short Measure: Congratulations to Ron Keefe and the Granite Brewery on celebrating its 6th anniversary. Seems like only yesterday I was stepping over construction materials in search of owner/brewer-to-be Ron. Keep pulling those great real ales. Cheers.

Toronto's Festival of Beer at Fort York was a sudsy success.

The Coffee Porter from C'est What? is now being brewed and bottled by the Durham Brewing Co, Pickering, having come over from the Trafalgar Brewery of Oakville.

Formosa Brewing Co will be the new name of the Algonquin Brewing Co in Formosa, under the Brick Brewing Co, Waterloo. And the products coming out of the scaled-back operation at Formosa will now be handled by Molson. Many of the former Algonquin employees have been slipped the pink.

The Dora Koegh, a traditional Irish pub on the Danforth next door to Allens, is set to open with plenty of Guinness on tap.

The tentatively named Waterloo/Wellington Brewers Network looks to be getting off the ground. Also, there is talk of the same group capturing the title of Ontario's Beer Region, similar to Ontario's wine region in Niagara.

Bids for the equipment at the defunct Elora Brewing Co have already been received and processed, with the Trafalgar Brewery of Oakville picking up the brewery, but not the coveted Elora Pale Ale and Elora Grand Porter brands, so expect a new/old brewery to open soon. Details have not yet been released.

The Amsterdam Brewery is now bottling Natural Blonde and Nut Brown Ale. How sweet it is! Amsterdam has also opened a beer store at the brewery on King Street, where the products can be purchased.

Sleeman's Brewing Co, at its expanded 230,000 hl capacity, is running flat out to keep up with demand for Honey Brown, which is nipping at the heels of Sleeman's Lager as the company's largest seller. How sweet is it? Sleeman, with brewing buzzing along, has proposed a $10 million brewery expansion.

Over at Wellington County Brewery, Honey Lager is currently the brewery's number two best seller, and climbing fast, reports head brewer Mike Stirrup.