Bellwoods Brewery [ON]

Bellwoods is probably the original hype brewery (at least in TO).

I would suggest they probably have the best all-round sour program in the province. There are better sour beers, but when you look at their lineup its hard to beat.

Jelly King (and varients) is sort of the OG of dry-hopped sours around here.
Barn Owl
Farmageddon
Donkey Venom
Grandma's Boy (2018 is still one of my all-timer beers)
Motley Cru
MOGs
plus all of the one-offs. Amazing.

Tons of outstanding stouts. I love the Stout with Coffee personally.
And that's not even getting into the IPAs.

 

I've had a limited selection from them. I will say the standard Jelly King is probably the best sour in Ontario, although I wouldn't say by a huge margin after Side Launch Dry Hop or Collective Art Jam up the Mash. The other variants are good, but that one takes the cake.

A lot of people proclaim them the best brewery in Ontario, but I haven't had enough from them to say that. Their Beer Advocate listed seems to show the focus on the hype styles IE: Extreme Stouts, IPAs and Sours, but I don't think that is the case.

 

Visited here last August before I joined BA and back when we were still able travel. Loved pretty much everything I had here. I actually thought their IPA's were all top notch. Enjoyed Jelly King and at least one variant. The one stout I had was actually a sweet mess. On an unrelated note, there was an ice cream place down the block that literally had the best customizable ice cream cookie sandwiches I've ever had.

 

Bellwoods is great for a variety of reasons I think. They make a great number of styles well; they may not be the best in the Province in any category, but are certainly near the top of the pack in all of them. They run the best festival in Province. Great assortment of breweries each year, and I am a fan of the all in one pricing on they employ.

According to my ratings here, I’ve had 258 different beers from Bellwoods. I have a number more (~20 or so) waiting to go as well. No other brewery comes close for me in that regard.

Some disparate Bellwoods thoughts:

I think their lagers are very good and always try the new ones that come out. I can think of only one or two Ontario breweries with better lagers overall.

That low alcohol beer they made (.97?) was one of the better ones I’ve ever had. It is up there with Athletic Brewing NA beers which is saying something.

2016 Grandma’s Boy is the best sour beer ever made in Ontario. Intermodel makes me excited for the future of their spontaneous program.

Their raspberry beers are as good as any I’ve had from elsewhere. Raspberry Jelly King is simply amazing.

I miss that they have moved away from some of their early beers. In particular Grizzly Beer, Grognard and Stay Classy.

Their collaboration beers often fall flat. Cutting Bells anyone?

The lack of any formal statement on the infected BOYD was disappointing.

 

If you have a look at Untappd ratings for 2018 BOYD you’ll see a lot of comments on how it has soured. Also, at some point in 2019, it disappeared from the on site bottle list at Ossington. I don’t think they have ever publicly acknowledged an issue.

 

I am a fan of Bellwoods and really like most of their stuff. I often get their IPAs and love the fact that I can get Roman Candle and Jutsu at the local LCBO (fresh...before the LCBO ruins it).

I loved their stout series Black Liquids, especially the one with peanuts...it was fantastic.

Grandma's Boy 2016 set a standard that no brewery in Ontario has surpassed for sours.

I agree with Coronaeus on BOYD, I have had it a few times, and I have tried to let it sit for a few months or longer, but it goes off very quickly. When I have had it fresh, it has always turned into a headache in a glass.

I am going to put a plug for Farmageddon with Montmorency Cherries. I have had it a few times, and the 2018 was my favourite.

It's gonna suck when I move back to the Maritimes and their stuff isn't so easy to get. I'll have to set up a pipeline...I can send Stillwell, Trailway and others back.

 

Deal!

Also, I agree on Black Liquids. Very Black Liquids was the best stout they have made in my opinion.

 

I'm no fan of Bellwoods - and stopped buying a couple years ago. Most of the beers do not age - and that's a joke. I have cases of Hill Farmstead shelfies - $10 US - some of them going on 6 years. They have body, complexity and development. Any Bellwoods saison will have autolysis, be a gusher, and be undrinkable. I've had to drainpour case of Farmageddon, Grandma's Boy, etc because they've turned to junk.

Small Pony and Reverence make much better sour beers - and they're usually cheaper. Double win. Godspeed makes substantially better saisons and lagers. If you like pastry or diabetes stouts, I'm sure Bellwoods will please, but so will Blood Brothers, Third Moon or Collective Arts.

Best thing I did was stop buying Bellwoods a couple years ago - and seek our, and try, more than a hundred different breweries across the province. In a covid world, it's way easier to do, given the selection of singles available from Thirsty & Miserable, 4th & Seven and Bar Volo.

 

To each their own. I am not in a position to be buying a case of $14 Farmageddons or $18 Grandmas to age so have never been in the situation.

To be best my (admittedly limited) knowledge, White PIcket Fence is the only saison they make regularly and I have never held on to one long enough to have it go bad but I absolutely agree there are better saisons in the provice. Godspeed amoung them.

Glad you have found alternatives you like. I hope to enjoy the Intermodal I just ordered.

 

Other than that one year of BOYD, I haven’t had any issues with Bellwoods stuff that sits in the cellar. Skeleton Key seems to improve over time, to my taste. Any older Farmageddon has been fine. I don’t really age beer on purpose though. I just buy too much and it happens.

I do find that for most styles, I probably prefer another brewery. But, Bellwoods tends to come in second or third generally for me, and Hafis is a ten minute drive for me making it very convenient.

My biggest complaint with Bellwoods is my general complaint with Ontario beer. Enough with the grapes already! Enough with wine barrels, enough with the grape must, enough with the hybrids. The ubiquity of grape beers is what turned me away from being a Bellwoods completist.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with that. Grapes in beer is a good way to ruin a beer, but I know different folks have different opinions.

My other big issue with Bellwoods, and every GD brewery in Canada (and the US) is the obsession with haze. Every damn IPA is hazy. I don't mind a hazy beer, but I find things limiting these days, as most brewers are going nuts on the haze. I just want some variety...make a West Coast IPA, or a classic English IPA. I love WC IPAs, but they are so damn hard to find.

I am an old curmudgeon, I know, but variety makes everything better. I don't think I have had a non-hazy IPA from Bellwoods. Perhaps I am wrong, but I don't think they have one.

Sorry about the rant, but this stuff bugs me.

p.s. Anyone in the NCR (Ottawa/Gatineau) might want to check out the WC IPA from 5e Baron in Aylmer. It's a nice take on the style. It's called Wychwood.

 

From my experience over the past year or two, every second wild ale is either aged in wine barrels or has grape juice or must included. Bellwoods and Burdock are the worst offenders, but it is all over I would say.

I haven’t opened one yet. I’m a little soured out at the moment and my wife doesn’t like the style. I’ve read that it is fruitier than last year’s bottles.