Troy Burtch’s First Ever Article – On the Road in Halifax
In honour of Cass Enright's appearance on Great Lakes Brewery's Between Two Fermenters podcast, we are pleased to re-publish Troy Burtch's first-ever article about beer, a report from Halifax, Nova Scotia from 2006. Enjoy! The best city in Atlantic Canada is something to behold. From the history at [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Kalamazoo, Michigan – Episode One
Join us as we explore the brewing and beer scene of Kalamazoo, Michigan! In our first of two episodes, we kick off our trip with a visit to what put Kalamazoo on the national beer map: Bell’s, with stops at both the production brewery in Comstock and the Eccentric Café [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Revelstoke, BC
Join us as we continue our Canadian mountain series with A Quick Beer in Revelstoke, British Columbia. Home to Revelstoke Mountain Resort, “Revy” is a fun ski town with a hopping beer and nightlife scene where rugged meets refined.We check out Rumpus Beer Co., Craft Bierhaus, the Village Idiot, the Last [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Jasper, Alberta
Join us as we have A Quick Beer in the picturesque mountain town of Jasper, Alberta!We check out Jasper’s one local brewery, Jasper Brewing Co., and visit some fun pubs including D’ed Dog, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #31 (“The Stand Easy”), and the Whistle Stop. There’s a small but lively [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in East Lansing, Michigan
Join us for A Quick Beer in East Lansing, Michigan! East Lansing, which borders Michigan’s capital Lansing, is home to the sprawling Michigan State University campus. And bucking the expectations of a university town, although there isn’t much of a brewing scene, there’s a range of lively beer bars serving [...]
A Quick Beer at Beerlab and Storm Stayed
We continue our biggest A Quick Beer yet with episode two of our tour around London, Ontario.In this episode we stop in at Beerlab! and have a chat with Nick Baird and Adil Ahmad, the Beer Mayor and Beer Doctor of London (in our opinion!) Then, we visit Storm Stayed Brewing [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in London, Ontario
In our biggest A Quick Beer yet, we visit London, Ontario in this multi-part episode. In Part One we have a beer with Milos Kral, who could be called the godfather of good beer in London. From his days at Chaucer’s through Chancey Smith’s / Gambrinus to opening Pub Milos, [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Royal Oak, Michigan
Join us for A Quick Beer in Royal Oak, Michigan! Royal Oak is a city within the metro Detroit area, about 20 minutes from downtown Detroit. It has its own beer scene with old-school breweries Royal Oak Brewery and Lily’s Seafood, outposts of the popular Jolly Pumpkin and HopCat, gastropubby [...]
Watch Now: A Quick Beer in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Join us for A Quick Beer in Grand Rapids, Michigan where we tour around the city’s dynamic beer scene. We visit the famous Brewery Vivant, local favorites Mitten Brewing, City Built Brewing, Harmony Brewing, Speciation Artisan Ales and Arvon Brewing, a number of “second locations” in Grand Rapids including New Holland’s [...]
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 [...]