Indie Ale House Brewing Company

Indie Ale House Brewing CompanyIndie Ale House Brewing Company
Indie Ale House Brewing CompanyIndie Ale House Brewing Company
Brewery, Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

2876 Dundas St W
Toronto, Ontario, M6P 1Y9
Canada

(416) 760-9691 | map
indiealehouse.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.84
Beers:
93
Ratings:
430
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.21
Reviews:
14
Ratings:
32
pDev:
8.79%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of JunctionCat
Reviewed by JunctionCat from Canada (ON)

4.58/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.75
Love this place. Mostly, locals, most of the time as the Junction is a little off the beaten path, so while the tourists and box-tickers head downtown, the locals have this place to ourselves, at least until the weekend evenings. Its busy and occasionally loud, but if you pick the right time to visit its very laid back. Service is always great, attentive and someone will always be happy to geek out with you if you like. Food is the best, many people here just for the food, then discouver the amazing beers. Always have a top-shelf IPA on tap, and a sour or two - ask about what's new and recent bottle list is A+. Rare releases are always around if you are lucky enough to find one, grab a couple. Only complaint, no real access to tour or see the brewery unless a brewer is there and has the time. Bottle shop is always stocked and great.
Sep 22, 2018
Photo of West_Chester_Ale_Tester
Reviewed by West_Chester_Ale_Tester from Ohio

3.43/5  rDev -18.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.25
This is another place, in a long list of places, that was just fine to me. Nothing about it was really all that bad, but nothing about it was all that good. I'm not sure I would include it in a must visit list for Toronto.
Aug 12, 2018
 
Rated: 3.66 by vincechan from Canada (ON)

May 10, 2018
Photo of byronic
Reviewed by byronic from Canada (ON)

4.32/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25
A packed place with a nice bottle shop. At the time of my visit the fridges were stocked with all sorts of brews. Reasonably priced and a nice line-up of Fates & Furies. Service was spot on.
Sep 26, 2017
Photo of eberesford
Reviewed by eberesford from Canada (ON)

3.81/5  rDev -9.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | food: 3.5
Great vibe - lively and fun without being too noisy. Service is good. The food is fine but the menu short. The beer choices are dominated by hop forward ales. Some good guests.
Sep 10, 2017
 
Rated: 3.92 by qcbrewer from North Carolina

Aug 30, 2017
 
Rated: 4.3 by StormAles from Canada (ON)

Jul 16, 2017
 
Rated: 4.98 by Cycle69 from Canada (ON)

Apr 15, 2017
 
Rated: 4.2 by ikidunot from Canada (ON)

Feb 25, 2017
 
Rated: 4.28 by kevinlater from Canada (ON)

Jan 05, 2017
Photo of JPNesker
Rated by JPNesker from Canada (ON)

5/5  rDev +18.8%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Perfect.
Sep 13, 2016
 
Rated: 4.43 by mattmarka1 from Minnesota

Sep 06, 2016
Photo of DaveBar
Reviewed by DaveBar from Canada (ON)

3.83/5  rDev -9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4
Dropped in to hit the bottle shop but stayed for a 5 sample paddle. Nice environment. Clean. In the "Junction" so it's a hip albeit ran down area of town.

Nice 12 or so brews on tap. Paddles run between $10-$15 for a 5 sampler. 5oz glasses that you get 4oz in. No real big beers on tap though. Almost everything has a add on price though. Any deviation in price from the base will cost you. If you want anything other than water it will cost you. If you ask them to sneeze on the glass it will cost you.

Didn't have any food but did see some coming out of the kitchen that looked good.

Friendly service and with some marketing should get more customers.
Sep 07, 2015
Photo of MtnSoup
Reviewed by MtnSoup from Colorado

3.98/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Vibe: Located in an awesome area - The Junction, which incredibly was dry until 2000! Indie Ale House's vibe is pretty great, very cozy, wood walls and comfortable L-shaped room. A nice bottle shop/to go area located up front.

Quality: Beers are good overall. Quite a few styles brewed on-site to choose from, and some other guest taps to boot.

Service: Great. Attentive, and very knowledgeable about the food and beer.

Selection: Good variety of beers/styles to choose from (I think there were 10-plus bees to choose from).

Food: Again, impressed by the food. Fried chicken was delicious. As was the quinoa salad.
Aug 21, 2015
Photo of Coronaeus
Reviewed by Coronaeus from Canada (ON)

4.38/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75
One of my favourite spots for beer and food in Toronto. Great atmosphere, friendly service with knowledgeable staff that is always willing to let you taste before you order a full glass. Despite no patio, the large street-front windows tend to give the place an airy, open feel.

The food is very good, and the boneless fired chicken is fantastic. Flights of five beers range in price from $10 to $15. Most pulls are $7 with the size offered dependent on style and ABV. There is usually one beer on cask available. The adjoining bottle shop has improved in so far as there is an increased attention to bottles whereas in the past, the 1.89 litre growler dominated. Other merchandise is a little pricey.
May 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.61 by psweendogg from Connecticut

Apr 01, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Electros from Canada (ON)

Nov 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Adamthornton13 from Canada (ON)

Oct 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by liamt07 from Canada (ON)

Oct 21, 2014
Photo of Luisc94
Reviewed by Luisc94 from Canada (ON)

4.25/5  rDev +1%
Arrived to the place arround 5 a Tuesday. First impressions the place looked beautiful, from outside was very appealing and in the inside it was very cozy.

Costumer service definitely lacked the bartender bearly greeted me, no smile, pretty much a what do you want. He still was pretty helpful answering my questions he was polite just his attitude wasn't the right one.

The beer was great (some of them). There were some "experimental" styles that I didn't enjoyed. The food was great too the anchovi Pizza paired perfectly with the Belgian IPA I was drinking.

The cashier at the bottle shop was different from the server, much more friendlier and nice.

Overall a really nice place with great food and beer, worth checking out.
Oct 11, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by yancot from Canada (ON)

Oct 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by mick303 from Canada (ON)

Sep 04, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Jodillia from Canada (ON)

Aug 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by RaoulDuke from Canada (ON)

Jul 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by DaPan from Canada (ON)

Jun 30, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by hopsolutely from Canada (ON)

May 17, 2014
Photo of korguy123
Reviewed by korguy123 from Canada (ON)

4.58/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4
Stopped in this afternoon after a job interview.
Needed some lunch and felt like a new beer would be great on one of my rare trips to Toronto.

Walked in just after 2pm and was greeted promptly by the girl working in the bottle shop section. She came out showed me to my table and sat me with a menu. For about 35min I was the only one in the place (not uncommon for 2ish on a Wednesday)

Ordered the Brisket Mac & Cheese, the breakfast porter and a water.

Glassware was awesome, the beer boards were legible and easy to understand (Beer Name, Style, Serving Size, ABV and Cost) No confusion to what you're ordering. The water came out in a clear swing top bottle and a glass (Very memorable)

Food was excellent and prompt (as I'd expect being the only one there)

Will definitely be returning. Wanted to try the sour stout but they had none in growlers, bottles and I was driving and one beer with lunch was plenty.
Feb 12, 2014
Photo of MarcatGSB
Reviewed by MarcatGSB from Michigan

4.38/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.75
Very impressive young brewpub. Not being from Toronto, I have no idea of the politics of this place, or the story behind the brewery, it was just a stop on my list.

I was staying downtown by Kensington Market, so it was quite a hike for me to get up to the pub, as it's on Dundas in the Junction area, which seems like a trendy area with plenty of shops and things to check out.

The pub is well light...it's kind of a hybrid feel to it. It has some of the traditional exposed duct work, but it has a very refined, slightly upscale feel. Some really nice pedestals fro the wood tables, and a tin ceiling above the bar. There are quite a few times, all square, that are spaced fairly close together. Looks easy enough to push a few tables together, and make some larger tops of big groups.

Towards the front doors, there is a door that jets off into a small, sparsely stocked retail area. Three different types of glasses, some growlers, and work shirts. They also sell the posters that were made by a local artist for $40. Great price, and they are really nice looking posters. Screen printed, with some great artwork.

The food was freaking fantastic. We tried quite a bit as well. We had the hummus, which was very flavorful, and pita bread. The pita bread seemed home made, and had some great texture to it. It was served with some roasted olives that were also very impressive. We also had the roasted kale salad, and the quinoa salad. Both were a huge hit. The roasted kale salad was extremely creative, and made the kale soft and very accessible. There were some roasted artichokes on there as well that had great flavor. The Quinoa salad was honestly amazing...It had some fresh avocado on top, with halfed sun gold tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes. Very well thought out and delicious. We then finished with an order of the maple licorice wings, and the brisket burger. I originally suspected that the brisket and the burger were mixed together, however it turned out that the point of the brisket was sliced and put on top of the burger. There was then some sort of old bay mayo and smoked gouda on it, excellent sandwich. The wings were nice and big, and the sauce wasn't overly sweet, nor was it overly anise forward.

Now for the beer! The first day I went I had a sample try of five different offerings.
Breakfast Porter: Great flavor, had some nice notes of coffee and chocolate, wasn't too heavy, and had a nice roasted dryness. Very good beer.
Rye So Sour: Again, very very good. Some bright sour apple notes with a tad spicy character...
Ned's Mustache: Flanders Style ale...and tasted true to character. Maybe lacking a touch of barrel-vanilla-character found in true Belgian Flanders styles, but really again, for a young brewpub, this beer was very satisfying.
Spedina Monkey: Very reminiscent of Petrus Aged Pale...again, lacked some of the depth, but very very good, and I would have again if I went and they had it. Sounds like they do some different treatments to this beer, would have liked to try some of those.
The English Mild (can't remember the name): was a good palate cleanser, and was very true to style. Easy drinking, some nice nutty notes, and super accessible, but had great flavor.

Proper glassware for everything, and different size pours for all their beers. Overall, India Ale House was in my top five stops while in Toronto. I didn't visit in the evening, as I'm sure they are much busier, both stops were during the day. Would highly recommend this to anyone visiting or even people from the city that haven't made it over yet. Worth the trip, they are doing great stuff and I'm sure will continue to get better!
Nov 26, 2013
Photo of shivtim
Reviewed by shivtim from Georgia

4.34/5  rDev +3.1%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4.25
My friend took me here when I was visiting Toronto. I'd never heard of it, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Kind of a hipster-ey neighborhood. Lots of activity. Nice leafy residential side-streets.

We got there at about 7 on a Friday, and it was a little busy but not crowded. We easily got a table by the open windows and had a nice view and a little bit of a breeze. Nice laid-back atmosphere.

The beer was fantastic. I had an excellent and very well-balanced IPA. My friend had a great wheat wine, and her husband had a very unique beer made with lavender. All were served up in appropriate glassware. There were maybe 10 or so in-house beers on tap, plus several guest taps. Wide variety. The brewer really knows what she/he is doing.

The food was also excellent. I had mac and cheese with smoked pork. Even judging by Southern standard (I've had a lot of variants of mac n cheese in Georgia and the Carolinas!), it was delicious. I tried the ground duck and sage pizza my friend got, and it was also great. Prices were cheaper than I expected for Toronto (which is notoriously pricey). Beer was around $6 a pint. Service was friendly and quick; a notch above average.

Overall I highly recommend this place. If this were in Atlanta, I'd visit quite often.
Jul 16, 2013
Photo of TheSevenDuffs
Reviewed by TheSevenDuffs from Canada (ON)

4.08/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 3.5
I've been here 3 or 4 times since it has opened and have been more and more impressed with the beer each time. There's always a great variety and most recently that included a Barrel Aged Brown Ale, Wine Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Imperial Stout, Wild Ale, IPA, DIPA, etc. The collaborations are always a nice touch and the guest tap is great to have too.

The food could be better, but it is still above average and is creative and interesting at least.

Atmosphere is great and the service is excellent with knowledgeable and friendly servers.
May 08, 2013
Photo of cratez
Reviewed by cratez from Canada (ON)

4.28/5  rDev +1.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I've been here several times with my girlfriend and we've had nothing but good experiences.

The layout is clean, modern, and simple with plenty of seating throughout, and I like how there's multiple chalkboards so that you always have a clear view of what's on tap.

The severs are very friendly and attentive - we've never had to wait more than a minute or so to order another round.

The beers are fantastic and lean towards robust American and Belgian styles, with the Instigator and Christmas Porter being the standouts IMO.

Foodwise you can't go wrong with the Junction Pie and Double Pepperoni pizzas. We also enjoy the Chocolate Mousse dessert. Pint prices are fair as most are in the $6-6.50 range for 16-20 oz pours.

The clientele varies from night to night. Typically it's an unpretentious young crowd that minds their own but occassionally you'll find some hipsters staring about. However, the patrons aren't a deciding factor for whether or not to visit - we come for the excellent food, beer, and service that Indie consistently delivers.

Overall I think this place has a bright future ahead of it. Jason is doing a superb job of bringing a Chicago-style brewpub experience to Toronto (think Revolution, Piece, etc), and I look forward to having many more sessions here. Well worth a crawl.
Jan 02, 2013
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.93/5  rDev -6.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
Indie Ale House opening recently after long delays, and was well worth waiting for. It is in the heart of the rising Junction area at Dundas and Keele. Usually very buzy ("rammed") even during the week, there are many servers here. A decent sized bar, real wood tables and bar, and a safe feeling of young couples out for a pleasant drink, whom are successful, polite, and happy. The beer is as good as any decent American brewpub, with Jason at the helm and higher than abv offerings. Yes there are growler fills. All of my friends liked it, the lighting was very good, the food menu was approriate. Right glassware.
Nov 01, 2012
Indie Ale House Brewing Company in Toronto, ON, Canada
Brewery rating: 3.84 out of 5 with 430 ratings