Southern Ontario, Canada

Nearly 20 percent of Canadians live in the “Golden Horseshoe,” a region that wraps around the southern tip of Lake Ontario and is anchored by the country’s dynamic, multicultural powerhouse—Toronto. In the last decade, drinkers here have slowly been undergoing a craft beer conversion thanks to the wellspring of new breweries, beer bars, festivals and even Canada’s first brewing school, popping up. Much of the movement has been spearheaded by Bar Volo, whose longtime owners, Ralph and Tomas Morana, have coaxed southern Ontario brewers to experiment with new styles via the bar’s many events, like their annual IPA competition, Funk Night (featuring sour and funky one-offs) in the summer, and Cask Days, a festival with a week’s worth of lead-up activities throughout Toronto every October.

But Torontonians don’t have to spend much time seeking brews from outside the province. Longtime craft brewers like Great Lakes, Black Oak, Muskoka and Amsterdam are launching inventive seasonals and adding talented staff to ramp up production, while a slew of newcomers, like Bellwoods Brewery, Kensington Brewing Co. and Sawdust City, are hitting the mark with their own creative beers.

Outside “the Big Smoke,” there are lots of great watering holes to explore. Peterborough, where burnt-out urbanites go to raise their families, explore their artistic side or retire, is a small city nestled in the white pine forests and lakes about 80 miles northeast of Toronto. And it’s a gem of a beer-drinking city, thanks to the Publican House brewery, a brewhouse, a charming Belgian taproom, a killer music scene and a laidback hippie vibe. Toronto’s suburbs also celebrate Canada’s rich brewing culture with their own beer bars, making the entire region one sprawling craft beer destination.

New Toronto Bars
The Burger Bar
Inside this charmingly faded saloon in Kensington Market, owner Brock Shepherd serves his own Augusta Ale, a West Coast-style IPA. The other nine taps and a cask feature Ontario brews. A tasting flight of any four can be had for $6. Another 30 hard-to-find Ontario microbrews are available by the bottle. By the end of 2012, Shepherd hopes to have his own microbrewery set up in the back of the building, to serve more one-offs and experimental brews. Oh, and the burgers are good too.

Bellwoods Brewery
Named after the artsy ’hood where it’s located, this compact brewery, tapas-style restaurant and bottle shop is housed in two former car-repair garages. With only 40 seats, it’s always crowded, but well worth a visit, as the two young brewers heading up the joint are creating some of the most solid beers in the city, like their Pinot Noir-aged Saison/Tripel blend.

Thirsty & Miserable
Owner Katie Whittaker admits she’s always been frugal, so when she opened her dream bar in Kensington Market this February, she kept things simple. No food—instead, just eight rotating taps of fresh, local brews, a bottle list of 30-odd Canadian micros and Belgian imports, and some of the best prices of any beer bar in the city. It’s a lovely little dive bar.

Mugshot Tavern
Stroll through High Park, a destination for nature and animal lovers, to the northeast corner, and you’ll need a refreshment. There’s nowhere better than this friendly neighborhood pub, which opened in the fall of 2011. Decorated with black-and-white celebrity mugshots, it boasts 14 taps of Ontario craft brews and foreign imports. Homemade Southern-inspired fare like fried chicken and mac & cheese keep stomachs lined and satisfied.

WVRST
This sleek take on a German beer hall fits perfectly into the upscale King West neighborhood in Toronto. Sausages, fries and the like can be ordered from a kitchen in the back, and patrons wash them down with one of 16 draft beers, like Ontario’s Flying Monkeys or Black Oak, and Germany’s Thurn & Taxis.

Suburbs to the West of Toronto
The Monk’s Kettle
Just west of Toronto, industrial Etobicoke is home to Black Oak and Great Lakes breweries, but no remarkable pubs until this beer restaurant opened last fall. Locals flock here for its 16 taps, a rotating cask on weekends and a 40-plus bottle list.

Canadian Homebrew Supplies
10 Wilkinson Road, Brampton
homebrew-supplies.ca
To keep up with his online homebrew supply business, former automechanic and longtime homebrewer Randy Salamon finally opened a brick-and-mortar shop in an industrial strip of Brampton last year.

Shepherd’s Crook
Another welcome addition to the otherwise beer-barren suburbs of Georgetown and Milton, the Shepherd’s Crook is a mellow, English-style pub housed in a 19th-century stone building. Its 18 taps are made up of half European and half local brews from places like Guelph’s F&M and Wellington breweries, Neustadt Springs and Brick Brewery, plus a  rotating cask.

Hamilton & Niagara
Augusta’s Winking Judge
This no-nonsense beer bar fits right into “Steeltown’s” no-nonsense attitude. Its 22 taps serve only Canadian microbrews from nearby Grand River Brewing in Cambridge, and standouts like Beau’s LugTread and McAuslan’s Oatmeal Stout from Montreal. Mondays are $5 selected pints, and prices for craft beer are among the lowest in the Golden Horseshoe.

Niagara Falls Brewing College
135 Taylor Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake
firstdraft.ca
If you’re travelling to or from Niagara Falls, it’s worth stopping in at the beautiful campus of Canada’s first and only brewing school, tucked on the edge of the Niagara escarpment. At least five student brews, crafted under the tutelage of brewmaster Jon Downing, can be sampled and bought at a small retail shop beside the brewery. Plus there’s a student-run greenhouse, restaurant, bakeshop and winery, all offering handcrafted treats at bargain prices.

Syndicate Restaurant & Brewery
This brewpub’s got nine taps of Niagara’s Best brews, from a smooth Blonde ale to an Eisbock spiced with cinnamon and ginger, alongside a $9 express menu at lunch. Pints are $4.65 and a tasting flight can be had for $6—brewery tours are free and should be booked in advance.

Peterborough
Olde Stone Brewing Company & Hot Belly Mama’s
The town’s only brewpub is split into two sections—the Olde Stone brewpub and Hot Belly Mama’s, a Cajun-style restaurant. The five English-style ales are served in both spots and made in the basement’s microbrewery. Hot Belly Mama’s is packed with locals tucking into blackened catfish, po’ boy sandwiches, and pull & peel shrimp—all generously spiced.

St. Veronus Café & Tap Room
The sunken, carved wooden bar in this Belgian taproom and restaurant is the most gorgeous bar to sit at in the Golden Horseshoe. The six Belgian and two German and Austrian taps alongside a long list of Trappist and Abbey bottles (including special orders from places like De Struisse) is supplemented by five rotating Canadian taps from star craft brews like Dieu du Ciel. Dinner reservations are advised—the menu of Belgian dishes matches perfectly with the brews. ■