Lester P. Beerson Celebrates Canada Day
The Brewer's Backyard returns on Canada Day, Friday, July 1st with Lester P. Beerson Day, a celebration of Canada, great beer and delicious food at Toronto's most open beer festival. At the Evergreen Brick Works the event will feature breweries Great Lakes Brewery, Henderson Brewing, Pitschfork Brewing, Durham, Railway City Brewing and Brimstone Brewing, alongside food from Kanga Meat Pies, Food [...]
Crack into a Homebrew in Baltimore
The Bar Towel is proud to present our annual preview of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrewers Conference, now known as Homebrew Con, taking place from June 9th to 11th, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. This article will cover highlights of the conference as well as recommended beer destinations in Baltimore. [...]
A Beer At…The Publican
The Bar Towel is proud to present a new series entitled “A Beer At…”, where we feature a single bar or restaurant, have a beer there and get a feel for what makes them special. Our first visit is to Chicago’s famed The Publican, a shrine to beer and pork in [...]
Our Philadelphia Craft Brewers Conference Seminar Picks
The Bar Towel is proud to once again present our annual preview of the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America (CBC), taking place from May 3rd to 6th, 2016 at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Part One of the preview covered our highlights of breweries, bars and other sights [...]
Craft Brewers Conference 2016 Preview: The Bars of Philadelphia
The Bar Towel is proud to once again present our annual preview of the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America (CBC), taking place from May 3rd to 6th, 2016 at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Part One of the preview covers our highlights of breweries, bars and other sights [...]
Pints and Pistes in Ellicottville, New York
When one thinks of combining good skiing and good beer whilst living in Toronto, usually that means an arduous trip to venture to Quebec, Vermont, or further afield to the Rockies or beyond. But as learned this winter, we've got access to a great destination for both that's only a couple [...]
A Visit to Detroit’s Cass Corridor
In the late summer we posted an article about the emerging Windsor beer scene, noting that a visit to the city can be amplified even further with a trip across the river to Detroit. Luckily on that particular trip I was able to do just that, and wanted to relay some [...]
Ontario Craft Ingredients: Escarpment Yeast
In recent years craft brewing has undergone quite the renaissance. Hundreds of new brewers, thousands of new beers and countless loyal craft beer drinkers. Behind the scenes, a second revolution is starting to take shape: The craft growers, cultivators and producers of craft beer ingredients. As part of a three-part series, [...]
Unibroue on Bar Towel Radio
Recently I was lucky enough to sit down for a live conversation and morning beer tasting with Jerry Vietz, Brewmaster and Sylvain Bouchard, Beer Sommelier of Quebec's renowned Unibroue. The pair of them were in Toronto to promote the launch of the limited edition 6-litre releases of Unibroue 17 Grand Réserve [...]
Folly Brewpub: Farmhouse Meets Gastropub in Little Portugal
It was just over a year ago that the news of Habits transitioning their gastropub to include a nanobrewery appeared on The Bar Towel forum. By early 2015, the nanobrewery was up and running and Habits was selling their new world saison on tap (a saison dry-hopped with Amarillo). About seven [...]
Ontario Craft Ingredients: Clear Valley Hops
In recent years craft brewing has undergone quite the renaissance. Hundreds of new brewers, thousands of new beers and countless loyal craft beer drinkers. Behind the scenes, a second revolution is starting to take shape: the craft growers, cultivators and producers of craft beer ingredients. As part of a three-part series, [...]
Join us at Torontoberfest on Thanksgiving Monday
The Brewer’s Backyard returns for its final event of the season, Torontoberfest, on Thanksgiving Monday, October 12th at the Evergreen Brick Works. Torontoberfest, the Brewer’s Backyard take on Oktoberfest, will feature some of the finest breweries in the province, including Beau’s All-Natural, Junction, Granite, Black Oak, Amsterdam, Big Rig and Rainhard. Serving up delicious food will be WVRST, FeasTO the Midnight Snack Co. Join us [...]
Golden Tap Awards Announced
Last night at beerbistro the 2015 Golden Tap Awards were revealed in front of an audience of Ontario's brewing industry and beer lovers. The Golden Tap Awards are Ontario's most democratic beer awards event, as all awards are voted upon by the general public. A special set of Editor's Circle awards [...]
Toronto Beer Week Begins Tonight!
Toronto Beer Week, a nine-day celebration of craft beer in the city, officially begins tonight. Featuring over 35 breweries and 75 bars, Toronto will be awash in delicious beer from today until September 26th. There are over 125 events and counting coming up, including beer festivals, tap takeovers, beer dinners, pairings [...]
Vermont Beer 2.0 : Burlington, VT
Before Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders began making headlines, Vermont’s best known names were perhaps Sean Hill (Hill Farmstead), John Kimmich (The Alchemist), and Sean Lawson (Lawson’s Finest Liquids). Indeed, three solid reasons to make the trip to Vermont, yet with some 39 craft breweries and a population of just over [...]
The Accelerating Beer Scene of Windsor
Things are changing in Windsor. At least it feels that way, because I’ve actually never visited the city before. From a beer perspective, there wasn’t much to draw me there in the past. The craft beer scene began and ended with the old Walkerville brewery from the early and mid 2000s, [...]
B-Side Brewing Label on Bar Towel Radio
Back in April we attended the Craft Brewers Conference in Portland, Oregon and recorded a number of podcasts with some of our beer friends. We're thrilled to unveil another one, this time a conversation about the B-Side Brewing Label with Steve Beauchesne of Beau's All-Natural Brewing, Ben Love of Gigantic Brewing and Anders [...]
Sawdust City Brewing Company
As I sit in the crowded tap room at Sawdust City Brewing Company waiting for Sam Corbeil, brewmaster and co-founder, the space buzzes with a mix of locals sitting at the bar and a large group of tourists behind me; the flashes of their cameras light up the darkly lit room [...]
Beer Branding and Sexism
Recently I came across a picture of a few cans from Old Flame Brewing for their Blonde, Red, and Brunette, and the comment accompanying the picture asked people what their ‘favourite’ was. Most replies to the question all played along – participating in the obvious underlying theme in the designs. If [...]
Vote for the 2015 Golden Tap Awards
The Golden Tap Awards, Ontario's most democratic beer awards event, has launched its voting for 2015. Now in its thirteenth year, the Golden Tap Awards is the only major beer awards event in Ontario predominately determined by public vote by beer lovers in the province, recognizing the following achievements: Best craft [...]