Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Syracuse, New York
Our latest episode of A Quick Beer takes us to Syracuse, New York. Syracuse has an up-and-coming beer scene with many new breweries in a city that’s easy to explore. We enjoyed just a taste of Syracuse’s thriving beer scene, including pioneer Middle Ages, modern breweries such as Talking Cursive, Meier’s [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer at Chicago’s Map Room
Our Quick Beer series in Chicago ends where it all started for many craft beer lovers in the city: the famous Map Room. The Map Room has been going for over 30 years and is on the very short list of top craft beer bars in Chicago. [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Canmore, Alberta
Join us as we have A Quick Beer in the scenic mountain town of Canmore, Alberta. Canmore is a robust town on the edge of Banff National Park with majestic views and a thriving local beer scene, but one not without its quirks. We visit all of the breweries in Canmore, [...]
My First Trip to Chicago in 2002
Please note: This article was originally posted in late 2002/early 2003. Enjoy for historical and nostalgia purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the present day (although much of what is referenced is still going). In late September of 2002 I embarked on a good old-fashioned, university-style weekend road trip. The [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Chicago, Illinois
Join us in our newest episode of A Quick Beer as we visit one of our fave cities, the wonderful Chicago, Illinois. A great drinking city, Chicago is full of history, architecture, culture, food, art, and in recent years, a thriving local craft beer scene. We visit 16 beer spots during [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer at Chicago’s FoBAB
In our latest episode of A Quick Beer, we visit the famed Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer (FoBAB) in Chicago, Illinois, which took place in November, 2022. Hosted by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, the event features hundreds of barrel-aged beers from breweries across the country in a competition and [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer at Bar Volo’s Cask Days
In our latest episode of A Quick Beer, we visit Cask Days, Bar Volo‘s famed cask beer festival, which returned in October 2022 as an intimate event reminiscent of its early days. Watch as we look back on the history of Cask Days and enjoy a quick beer at the event’s [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
In our newest episode of A Quick Beer, we head out of town and check out the beer scene in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh has a thriving beer scene with over 40 breweries in the city. We were only able to check out a few in the short time we were there. [...]
Mourning the Maple Wheat – A Review from the Late 90s
Please note: This review was originally posted in the late 90s. Enjoy for historical and nostalgia purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the present day. The Niagara Falls Brewing Company was once Ontario's most innovative brewery, producing beers like no other in the province. However, their beer lineup has underwent [...]
Looking Back at Amsterdam Brewing – A Review from 2001
Please note: This review was originally posted in 2001. Enjoy for historical and nostalgia purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the present day. The Amsterdam Brewing Co. has a long and interesting history on the Toronto brewing scene. Originally Amsterdam was the name of a brewpub on John St. in [...]
The Bar Towel Redesigns Discussion Forum and Website
The Bar Towel Forum, the longest-running online community dedicated to good beer in Ontario, has undergone an upgrade to ensure that beer fans can continue to chat about the beverage they love. At the same time, the original Bar Towel news blog has been redesigned for a cleaner experience. The Bar [...]
The Bar Towel Launches A Quick Beer
The Bar Towel is excited to launch A Quick Beer, a new video series that profiles breweries in Ontario. In the series we'll meet with different breweries to learn more about them, let you know about the kinds of beers they make and provide information about how to enjoy them. Your [...]
The Bar Towel Launches Ontario Beer Delivery Index
In response to the increased home beer and cider delivery options during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Bar Towel has launched the Ontario Beer Delivery Index (OBDI). The OBDI tracks over 270 breweries and cideries across Ontario and their delivery options, with links to their online stores. You can find the OBDI [...]
The Bar Towel Launches Cellar Diving
We're going deep into classic beers saved for the right moment. That's now. Introducing Cellar Diving, a new virtual drinking session with Ontario brewers & beer lovers. Every two weeks we'll be gathering beer folks from the industry to chat about what's been happening with them during the pandemic, and other [...]
2019 Golden Tap Award Winners Announced
Last night alongside the Ontario Brewing Awards, the 2019 Golden Tap Awards were announced. The winners were as follows: Favourite Bar in Ontario: Bar Hop Favourite Brewery Taproom or Brewpub in Ontario: Bellwoods Favourite Food in Ontario: Indie Alehouse Favourite Brewery Retail Store in Ontario: Bellwoods Favourite New Brewery in Ontario: [...]
Voting for 2019 Golden Tap Awards Open
Voting is now open for the 2019 Golden Tap Awards, Ontario's most democratic beer awards event. The Golden Tap Awards are the leading awards event recognizing favourite craft beer achievements in Ontario, as decided by beer lovers themselves. Now in their seventeenth year, the Golden Tap Awards is Ontario’s most democratic awards event, [...]
The Winning Beers of Brad Clifford
Brad Clifford (with Bruce Phillips), winning numerous medals at the 2012 Canadian Amateur Brewers Association awards. In our latest episode of Bar Towel Radio, we have a chat with long-time beer friend Brad Clifford, founder of Clifford Brewing. Clifford was recently awarded Canadian Brewery of the Year at the [...]
A Deep Dive into London’s Beer Scene
A few months ago I visited London, Ontario and was fortunate to have a round-table chat with Dave Reed of Forked River Brewing Company, Gavin Anderson of Anderson Craft Ales and award-winning beer writer Ben Johnson about the local beer and brewing scene. Recorded at Forked River, we discussed their backgrounds [...]
A Visit to Blyth’s Impressive Cowbell Brewing
I had heard amongst the beer community that the Cowbell Brewery in Blyth, Ontario (a small village in Huron County) had to be seen to believed. And when I visited for the first time at the end of the summer, I realized that the early architectural illustrations and photos I had [...]
2018 Golden Tap Awards Announced
Last night alongside the Ontario Brewing Awards, the 2018 Golden Tap Awards were announced. Now in it its 16th year, the Golden Tap Awards are Ontario's most democratic beer awards event and recognize the best in beer, as decided by the beer lovers of the province. The winners were: Best brewery: [...]