I'll be returning to Waterloo in the coming weeks and would like some advice from you guys about what you think are the best available Ontario/Canadian bottles/cans currently available from the local LCBO/Beer Store etc to take back to Scotland. Any help would be gratefully appreciated as I'm a bit out of the loop. Thanks. Zimbo (Canadian ex pat)
Will you be spending any time in Toronto? If so, check out Bellwoods. If not, pray the local LCBO gets some stock in from some of the craft players in the province.
Thanks. Know all about Bellwoods but I was hoping not to fight my way through the TO traffic to get some. Might be necessary though. And nice hat BTW. Or is that a hop laurel wreath? Either way, its a winner.
Be sure to check the Bellwoods webpage for bottle availability before fighting the TO traffic. There are times when the bottleshop is empty. Right now though they are listing some seriously good stuff. I love that Farmageddon (and what a good name!). EDIT: By empty, I mean only a couple of choices available for purchase, not devoid of bottles .
LCBO in Waterloo has really gone downhill since I was last here. You probably have a better selection of North American Craft in Scotland. Where they used to have loads of Trou du Diable / Dieu du Ciel / etc. now there's 24-packs of Bavaria. There are some good Beau's seasonals. Patio Saison is my fave. But they're all worth a try. Lots of cheap Rochefort8 too. Sawdust City Lone Pine is my go-to hop-juice at the moment.
Oh, and this place looks really good, looking forward to visiting it. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32189/
Yeah, sorry. I don't know much about Waterloo specifically except anywhere in Ontario save TO you need to cross your fingers and pray. Yup... My daughter made it for me while harvesting hops last year
Best LCBO's are King & William or King & Northfield. As I find cans easier to transport would recommend Muskoka & Great Lakes options, plus Wellington if you prefer malt-forward. One or two bottle types of Bellwoods can usually be found at The Jane Bond (on Princess) as well as either a Great Lakes or Sawdust City tap, but best beer selection (draught & cask) is at The Bent Elbow as suggested above. Imbibe (on King St by The Museum) has a constantly rotating 6 OCB tap selection. Kickoff (University Plaza) has no food and looks like a dive, but has 17 (mostly) craft taps plus a cask each Thursday. New brewery in town is worth checking out at Northfield & Bridge = Innocente. Galaxy is his hop and not my personal favourite, but he has a brand new facility with both bottle & growler options. He used to brew in Scotland, so perhaps your paths have already crossed... ;-)
I just visited Innocente after your recommendation, Hopsolutely. Their "American IPA" is beautiful, imo. Really fresh, and maybe a little green, but I like that. It actually doesn't look or taste much different to Mikkeler's Green&Gold. Though maybe I just got a really fresh bottle, and I've been drinking too many tame IPAs lately.
damn, finished the 750ml already. Totally worth the 6km cycle though. If your a hophead, Zimbo, I think Innocente's Conscience IPA is the best thing in Waterloo at the moment. Looking forward to trying their other beers.
Thanks, that's really really helpful. Long ago are the days when the best you could expect was Wellington real ale in the Grad House (U of W), semi decent extract beer at the Huether and bottles of Sleeman's at Phil Grandson's Place. Good God,. I am a fossil. And yep. I'm off to see Steve and his Innocente Brewery when I'm in the twin cities. He made really good stuff when he was in Edinburgh.
Changes have been rapid and recent here. Only 5 years ago the Grad House was still Waterloo's best bet... Most restaurants now carry a token OCB option, which is encouraging even if it is frequently mediocre. Should mention "BeerTown" in UpTown Waterloo on principle. Part of the Charcoal Group they are expensive and refreshingly honest about beer not being their passion - exemplified several weeks ago when they replaced a SmashBomb tap with Coors Light. They have a Mad Tom tap and ~30 other macro & micro options. And if they encourage even one Rolling Rock drinker to try something different, I can't bring myself to condemn them as harshly as other beer geeks. Nice patio, good food, a cask tapped every Thursday but minimal beer knowledge or interest. Worth a stop.
If you can make it up to Guelph you can hit up the Sleeman's brewery. I know sleeman doesn't make the greatest beer but you can get Unibroue which they bought a few years back. They have some really nice Belgian ales. Also grab some Muskoka (Mad tom or detour), Flying monkey (If you can handle the hops) and some wellington for a solid malty beer. Theres also a few places where they just released 2 beers from Philips brewery in Vancover which are actually really good. Check out the LCBO's site for availability
Yes on the Philips. I think the other recommended beers are fine but not all that special. I mean, FM are my go-to when I have to shop in Beer Store, but I'm usually craving something a bit more interesting while I'm drinking them, if you know what I mean. Unibroue, obviously great, and available everywhere (including beer store in waterloo). [no snarkiness intended here] EDIT: The Philips beers were available in the main King St LCBO yesterday, plenty left. I think the Tripel was my fave, but they're both really good.
Wait... You can get Unibroue beers at the Sleeman brewery? Anything other than the usual suspects? (Fin, Maudite, Trois Pistoles, Blanche)
Unfortunately only those. I acutally work at the brewery, and I'm a little irked to say that our warehouse has Don de Dieu and a few of the ephemeres, but we don't sell them. I think it has to do with some politics with the LCBO and beer store and having to register them.
Reviving an old thread. Moved here (k-w) from southern Ontario recently, and have taken notes of places you've mentioned. Also, i'm itching to get home brewing again, But where does one go to get Home brew supplies? All I've been able to find are 'kits' and the places where they brew it for you. i've been recommended ontario beer kegs, but do i really need to drive out to mitchell to get supplies? seems absurd. sorry it's not on topic
We're not brewers, but on a BBM group with Ryan Ward @OriginalHopster who recommends http://localkitchener.ca/homebrew_grain_malt_supply_kitchener_waterloo/ We have enjoyed growing rhizomes successfully shipped from NS http://www.fourhorses.ca/
