The 2015 Brewery Tour | GTAMotorcycle.com

The 2015 Brewery Tour

macro

macro

Well-known member
Hey everyone,

So I generally like to get out for some long days on the weekend, but this year I thought it might be nice to have a slight goal of sorts. I'm going to try and stop at every brewery that sells their beer on location in Ontario! I made a list, there's almost 100 of them. There's many more breweries, but they don't all have a bottle shop, so whats the fun if you can't bring some home with you??

I'll upload the list as an Excel spreadsheet to make it easy for anyone who wants to do it as well. I'm planning on updating this as I go with my thoughts on the beers and the brewery, riding roads to it, etc.

If I missed any, please let me know and I'll update the list! I've organized it by city, with the address and hours of the store (if I could find it). Most of the hours I found looked like winter hours. The list of breweries I got from http://www.momandhops.ca, they have an interactive map as well.

Anyways, hope this is interesting to some of you guys, maybe I'll see you out there!
 
5 Paddles Brewing in Whitby, just up the street from GP Bikes and Royal. It's a small batch micro, their selection varies week to week due to their small facility so it's worth stopping by regularly and trying out what's going on that week!

Amsterdam Brewing is in Leaside on Esander Drive. This is the main brewery for them. They've got all their specialty beers, as well as some one-offs that you can only get in a 2L growler. My personal favourite is their summer Framboise, I love raspberry beer! The 416, Downtown Brown and Wee Heavy Scotch Ale are also very tasty.

I stopped in at Lake of Bays Brewing last weekend. They're on Muskoka rd (117) in Baysville. Obviously the riding up there is fantastic and the brewery makes for a nice little stop. They have a patio and beers on tap as well as cans for sale. I grabbed a bottle of Riverwalker Ginger Lemon Ale, Rock Cut Baysville Lager and Crosswind Pale Ale. The ginger lemon didn't have nearly as much ginger flavour as I was hoping. It tasted over-hopped.

I should mention at this point that I do not like IPA's or hoppy beers. To me, it overpowers the beer at the expense of everything else. Also, I'm by no means a beer expert. My at-home cheap beer is Old Milwaukee, so there ya go.
 
Awesome, I'll check that out!

Today I checked a few of the locals off the list. Threw the top box on the back and went for a rip!

The score:


Planned the route so I could zip from one to the other straight from home.

First I tried to stop by Granite Brewing, couldn't find them. It's a brewpub but it somehow eluded me, after checking online though it seems like it's rare for them to have bottles and I don't really want to haul around a growler on the bike so I'll check it out another day.

Next stop was Junction Craft Brewing, hidden on a little back road. Next door looks like a distillery of some sort but they were closed so I'll have to go back and check that out. I picked up a bottle of Golden Oak ale, aged in oak barrels and a bottle of Pumuckl Red Ale. Both sound great and delicious. They had a lot of beers on tap for pints and in bottles, something for everyone!

Around the corner from Junction is the Indie Ale House. It seems like an awesome little place, but I was in need of bottles and all they had was a couple of IPA's and a vanilla porter. Again, they had an ale in a growler. They said they switch it up from time to time so I'll stop in again.

Zipped over to Ossington and went to Bellwoods. If you don't make it down there often, Ossington is a fun little street. The brewery is right next door to Town Moto, if you've never been to that shop you should check it out. I'm sure some people hate on it but they've got some really nice gear and the guys are very friendly. Bellwoods have great beer, in bottles all they had was Jutsu 2.0 and I'm drinking it right now. It's delicious. Citrusy, a touch of sweetness with only a little hoppy bitterness. I can smell the citrus and flowery-ness even though my horrendous allergies.

After Bellwoods was over to the Toronto staple, Steamwhistle. I'm sure everyone knows Steamwhistle but if you don't, all they make is pilsner! Easy drinking and brewed downtown at the roundhouse across from the Rogers Centre. I don't find it quite as smooth as the classic European pilsners, but I love that a local brewery is so successful off of one product. I think that's great. A note on parking, a bike can sneak in the back off Lower Simcoe. In a car? Fuhggeddaboudit.

Then it was towards home and Left Field Brewery on Greenwood just south of Danforth! I've wanted to go here for awhile and I'm glad I finally made it. What a cool space! Wide open, beers on tap, garage doors, and offsales. All they had left when I got there was an ale but they have a grapefruit Belgian that I'll get next time. They're on Wagstaff, just off Greenwood, it's a cool little industrial alley with a coffee roasters and some nifty grocers. I highly recommend checking these guys out, can't wait to try the beer.

That's it so far! Thanks for reading!
 
Not that some Ontario beer isn't great (and I definitely support Ontario craft)....but why not go for a longer/nicer ride and hit somewhere in the Northeastern US....Vermont, Maine, Philadelphia/surrouding area....all really nice rides and all have REALLY great breweries!
 
I would like to make a few trips that way this summer. If I do, you'd better damn well believe I'll be bringing home beer! I think the craft brewery's are actually better in the states. There seems to be more of them anyways.
 
Plus, it's not often I can get away overnight. Majority of my rides are long day trips.
 
I wholly support this endeavour and thank you for the spreadsheet! I'll all over this like a fat kid on a smartie.
 
homme de fer said:
I wholly support this endeavour and thank you for the spreadsheet! I'll all over this like a fat kid on a smartie.
Click to expand...

Homme de Fer,

Have you checked out Orange Snail Brewing in Milton yet?
I really enjoyed their "Mixed Tape".

Cheers,

rob
 
Mat
You hit some really excellent micros in one day.
Granite's "Peculiar" is one of my favourite beers.
I haven't had something from Bellwoods that I didn't like. Their "Witchshark" is delicious.
Keep up the great reporting!
Cheers,
Rob
 
Thanks for the feedback guys! Rob, I'll have to try Granite again. Is it in the office building? I couldn't seem to find it! I agree, Bellwoods is great, I don't have a lot of experience with their beers but I'm looking to change that! I was impressed with the variety that Junction had as well. I just finished the ale from Left Field and it was pretty good, I'm looking forward to trying their grapefruit Belgian.

Edit - Rob, is that a ninja 1000 in your pic?
 
Macro, outstanding work! I've been on a pilgrimage few a few years now to drink a pint of everything brewed in the province, thank goodness they keep making something new somewhere every week.
Its a noble quest.
 
robertv19 said:
Homme de Fer,

Have you checked out Orange Snail Brewing in Milton yet?
I really enjoyed their "Mixed Tape".

Cheers,

rob
Click to expand...

I haven't, I'm looking that one up right now!
 
macro said:
Thanks for the feedback guys! Rob, I'll have to try Granite again. Is it in the office building? I couldn't seem to find it! I agree, Bellwoods is great, I don't have a lot of experience with their beers but I'm looking to change that! I was impressed with the variety that Junction had as well. I just finished the ale from Left Field and it was pretty good, I'm looking forward to trying their grapefruit Belgian.

Edit - Rob, is that a ninja 1000 in your pic?
Click to expand...

Correct sir!
It's a 2013.

I just realized that this thread is basically "Macro and the Micros" Har-dee-har.

Cheers,

Rob
 
crankcall said:
Macro, outstanding work! I've been on a pilgrimage few a few years now to drink a pint of everything brewed in the province, thank goodness they keep making something new somewhere every week.
Its a noble quest.
Click to expand...

A noble quest indeed, considering there are now over 250 micro-breweries in Ontario!!!

Cheers,

Rob
 
Ha, I love it. I didn't know there were so many people of this mindset. There's something about riding all day, and coming home and drinking beer. It's as if those two things were always meant to be together.
 
pgagy said:
Ha, I love it. I didn't know there were so many people of this mindset. There's something about riding all day, and coming home and drinking beer. It's as if those two things were always meant to be together.
Click to expand...
Heck yes!

Rob, how do you like the Ninja? That's on my "One day new bike maybe" wish list along with the fz/fj-09 and a few others.
 
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