A buddy and I are planning a trip to Ontario, Canada in 2018. We want to sample the best craft beers that we can't find in Pennsylvania. We have already had and love Great Lakes, Unibrou and Brasserrie Dieu Du Ciel. Can anyone recommend similar quality brewers to try available in cans and bottles?
Depends greatly on where in Ontario - we are pretty big (probably 15% or more of all lower 48 states) and pretty spread out (almost five hours between Toronto and Ottawa and hardly a city between). Toronto and nearby surroundings give you plenty of options, elsewhere not so much (with the exception of Ottawa and its locals and better access to Quebec options).
You've just listed three of the best brewers in the country, so finding "similar quality brewers" might be a bit of a challenge. In particular, Unibroue's Belgian-style products have no genuine comparable in this province, at least IMO. A lot of the best beers in Ontario are made in small batches and only available at brewery bottle shops. Very few of these are distributed to liquor stores (LCBOs). If you're just stopping at an LCBO, some brewers to keep an eye out for are Collective Arts, Nickel Brook and Bench Brewing. You can't go wrong with most of their stuff. If you're stopping in Toronto then Bellwoods is a must-visit. The general consensus is that they are the best brewer in the province, but none of their stuff is distributed to liquor stores so you'll have to actually visit one of their bottle shops (or find it on-tap somewhere) if you want to try anything. Half Hours on Earth has made a lot of noise in this province over the last year. They focus mostly on wild ales/sours. Unfortunately they also aren't distributed to stores, and the brewery is in the middle of nowhere. Unless you are going to be driving through the London area (doubtful if you're from PA) then it's probably too far out of the way to be worth visiting.
I was reading that back to myself and it sounded a bit pessimistic so I want to clarify. There is still plenty of stuff at the LCBO that is well worth trying (even aside from those three brewers I mentioned in the next paragraph). Great Lakes IPAs are also pretty commonplace there these days. And they have always sold Belgian imports such as Rochefort, Chimay and Orval (seasonally) for relatively cheap compared to most of the US bottle shops I have visited. What I should have said is that few of the highly sought-after, highly rated and/or renowned beers produced in Ontario (which would be on par with DDC or Unibroue) are actually sold at the liquor stores here. Toronto itself (as well as areas such as Ottawa, Guelph, Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, and now even SW Ontario) have dozens of good breweries and beer spots that help fill in the gap, but you'd need to consult a local (or BA) to find the ones that suit your itinerary best.
Where are you going? If Toronto then your best option to sample the best beers is to just set up trades in Toronto when you are here. If your goal is to hit up breweries then I suggest crossing the border at Niagara-on-the-Lake. You can hit a bunch of breweries that on the way to downtown Toronto. Visit Exchange Brewery, then drive to Hamilton and do Collective Arts and Merit Brewing, then on to Burlington and do Nickel Brook, then Great Lakes, then downtown Toronto. All those breweries are on route. In downtown Toronto there are lot's of options.......check the "visiting Toronto" threads.
Ontario is 415,600 square miles (Pensilvania is 46,055 square miles). You need to be a little more specific!
Agreed with Derek. Ontario is the size of 5-10 U.S. states. Narrow it down a tad. There are so many generous BAs here willing to help you out.
Ottawa Area: Breweries - Dominion City (purchase on site + tap room) - Beyond the Pale (purchase on site + tap room) - Tooth and Nail (close to Beyond the Pale so might as well) - Bicycle (purchase on site + tap room) - Tooth and Nail (purchase on site + tap room) - Stray Dog (purchase on site + tap room) Pubs - Brother Beer Bistro (excellent choices of tap in the region) - Elgin Beer Project (mostly cans and bottles) Toronto Area: Breweries - Bellwoods (eat, drink, merch, insane beers, must-go on Ossington) - Collective Arts (look at their facebook page for releases) - Indie Alehouse (purchase on site + tap room) - Blood Brothers (purchase on site + tap room) - Merit (purchase on site + tap room, good hot dogs) - Godspeed (curious to see where ex DDC brewers Bim is taking this place, great place btw) Went but would not necessarily recommend the ride - Amsterdam (some available at LCBO) - Cameron's (bottle shop only) - Nickel Brook (some available at LCBO, they have lots of other choices on site) - close to Merit, Collective Arts - Great Lake (some available at LCBO) Pubs - Birreria Volo (best selection in the province, if not country for sure, Tomasz and his crew are damn good hosts) Close to Toronto - Sawdust Far on the west side of the province - Half Hours on Earth (i'm looking for some)
