Best Ontario Brewery?

I've done a bit of trading in my time - the beers that seem to get the most praise have been Bellwoods, Great Lakes tank 10 beers, Amsterdam tempest (or double tempest) and the odd Flying Monkeys seasonal - depending on the band they are promoting. (reminds me, if anyone has a spare BNL let's talk....)

Overall, if I'm going to a tasting and bringing Ontario beer for my friends in the US, I'm usually bringing Bellwoods.

 

GTA's beer situation:

1. Bellwoods
2. Tank Ten Great Lakes
3.

 

You forgot the punchline. I would have gone with Trafalgar, personally.

 

Poor Trafalgar...

 

Yeah, that pretty much sums up most of Ontario, a few exceptional ones, a swath of decent ones and a few lemons of whom I would lump Trafalgar, Skeena, Black Creek and Brick.

 

I made a second visit to Silversmith in Virgil on the week-end. They are by no means the best brewery in Ontario, but I think they are doing some pretty solid stuff. Bavarian Breakfast Wheat was better than it was when i had it back in May. The Black Lager I could take or leave, but certainly worth a try. Best of the bunch was a newer seasonal brown ale brewed with hazelnuts that my wife absolutely loved. I had a sip of a gose that was serviceable too.

On top of pretty solid beers, the food from Tide and Vine was nice. The oysters were good and the currywurst was very good.

Definitely worth a visit when in wine country. I'd certainly lump these guys into the growing second tier of brewers in the province that are almost always worth a try.

 

I agree in general with this sentiment.
I've tried time and time again to really get into their beers.
I probably try to stop in every month or so, to see what new things are happening.

The problem for me is I find their beer is all to often just" serviceable".

The other issue I've had is that of inconsistency. Their beers (ie. the black lager) can taste very different from batch to batch (not necessarily for the better), and I have also on occasion found myself second guessing if the beer stylistically represents what they say it is supposed to be.
It is a great location, a fantastic bar, and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. I also very much enjoy the Tide and Vine presence, I think its a good finishing touch.
It seems they've made all the effort to do things right, and everything seems to be in its place.
It just, for some reason, doesn't seem to translate to the beers, I feel there is so much more potential there than being shown.
I would still mostly definitely recommend stopping in if your in area.

I really want to like this brewery more, but they are not making it easy...

 

I almost wrote the exact same thing pinot. They are another brewery that seems to be just trying to appeal to the masses rather than create their own market like Bellwoods. I hope more Ontario breweries will learn from Bellwoods that there is enough true fans of craft out their to support their business rather than trying to straddle the line between making beer that the average BMC fan will like and while at the same time being "craft." I think the only creative and distinct beer they've made is the lambic that they had out for a week and then put down to age, so hopefully that's a sign of things to come.

I'm just annoyed that I live 10 minutes away from two breweries and neither of their beer is something I ever get excited to run out and buy. Somebody in Niagara please brew a good IIPA regularly and a good RIS stout already. All I want is a world where I buy fresh ipas from the brewer down the street every month, is that too much to ask?!

 

AMEN!

 

I can't disagree with these sentiments. If this was my local brewery I'd probably be a little more 'glass half empty.'

Having only been twice, I can't speak well to inconsistencies. That said, both the wheat and black lager were different this time than the first time I tried them.

I too wish more local breweries were like Bellwoods.

 

I've not had as many ON beers as many here, but I have been lucky enough to have quite a few, and based on that limited sampling I tend to agree with this. I would definitely put Bellwoods up there with the best Canada has to offer, easily top 3.

 

Bellwoods! They have great beer overall, although I just tried Farmaggedon (like I'm having it right now) and was kinda disappointed... but I would totally recommend witchshark, cat lady, roman candle, and catherine wheel... oooo skeleton key was amazing! But that was a one time release

 

http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2014/10/the_top_50_beers_made_in_toronto/

 

Couldn't agree more about Forked River. They're starting up a bit of a barrel-aging program that's turning out some great beers. Had their sour trippel Oracle a few months back. Seemed like an ambitious beer for such a young brewery but I was pleasantly surprised, nice balance of sweet and sour.

I don't think anyone that's had Bellwoods can say it's not the best in Ontario right now.

 

Stone City out of Kingston has been doing some very interesting stuff. Wouldn't go so far as to say they're the best around, but they make beers that you'd expect to find in Vermont, not Ontario.

 

I don't follow the VT comment... what do they make? World Class IPAs?

 

I have no issue standing behind my opinion that Bellwoods is the BEST brewery in Canada.
I used to be a big DDC fan, still am, but Bellwoods has taken the torch.
That being sad, if someone from BC wants to contest that Driftwood maybe better.... well, you need to send me some for me to evaluate.

 

Based on this last year (and presumably some problems getting the centrifuge set up) I would not even say Driftwood are top 3 BC for me. Best local brewery is probably Four Winds, with honorable mentions to Brassneck & Persephone I think.

But overall best brewery in Canada? My vote's also Bellwoods. For now