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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:13 am
by Jon Walker
I have the price list for beer as well. I didn't think it was appropriate to post up here as they are yet to open and things may not be finalized. All those beers are categorized by stars. One star generally means macro beer (Ex, 50), four means rare premium import (Delerium Tremens, DeKonink). Prices vary based upon the number of stars, four stars are priced seperately for each product. Expect full pints to run between $5 and $7 (plus tax) for the one to three star beers. You can order half pints, pints, 30oz yards and 60oz pitchers as well or get a sampler of any six beers (4oz each) for between $8 and $9.

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 8:20 am
by DAN-D-MAN
What, no Black Oak!? Ken, what happened? Too close for ya!?

Impressive list indeed. I would have the following as I haven't had these on tap before:
Muskoka Lakes Hefe Weissbier, Ontario
Muskoka Lakes Red Cream Ale, Ontario
Belhaven Original Best Cream Ale, Scotland
Clancy’s Amber Ale, New Brunswick
Neustadt Scottish Ale, Neustadt Ontario

Looks like this place has to open tonight as they have a band scheduled to play, according to their website.

Are they open on Sunday? I don't have a car and live in Toronto, however I'll be passing by on Sunday and would like to check it out.

Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:16 am
by JWalter
DAN-D-MAN wrote:Are they open on Sunday? I don't have a car and live in Toronto, however I'll be passing by on Sunday and would like to check it out.
I rec'd an email from Mark Williams, the General Manager:
We are planning on opening on Monday November 13th.
If you want to be in the loop, just request to be added to their mailing list - just send them an email - west50@hiprestaurants.com

If they are open Monday, I'll be there with some buddies at about 10:30pm...

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:45 pm
by BeerMonger
There was a large ad in the Friday edition of the Mississauga News stating that Monday would be their opening night.

BTW, it also states complimentary underground parking.

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:13 pm
by JWalter
FIRST REAL REVIEW!

As planned, I visited West 50 last night (Monday), after indoor soccer.

Our group of 4 arrived at about 10:30pm, the place was fairly busy, mostly people around the bar.

NFL Monday Night football was playing on a bunch of big screen TV's.

The taps... Ooh the Taps! Beautiful... A very similar style to both the Beer Bistro and new-style C'est What bar with a stainless steel wall with all the taps lined up side-by-side, the bar is L shaped so unless you stand back you don't really get to see all 100+ taps at once.

Service was cheerful and enthusiastic, for the beer geeks don't expect that anytime soon your server will be able to provide a lot of product knowledge, I think the staff are mostly experienced bartender/wait staff but only with your vanilla knowledge of beer... Be patient, be kind, I'm sure they'll learn ;^)

All of the beer we tried was in good condition... They offer sample sizes, 1/2 pints, pints, and the 1/3 yard (30 oz) sizes, prices were reasonable, most OCB's are $5/pint, as mentioned previously they have a system where each beer is given a number of stars, and are priced accordingly, I think the 2 stars are about $6/pint and the 3 stars at $7...

Among the 4 of us we enjoyed the Belhaven Best, Caledonia 80/-, Fullers London Price, Church Key Holy Smoke, Tankhouse, Delerium Tremens, Afligem, Hacker Schorr, King Pilsner...

We also had some food, it was all really good - I tried the Mexican Fry Bread - a sort of combination of pizza/bruscetta/mexican pizza sort of thing, very filling, a superb value for $6.50, also big marks for the 'Tower of Parmesan Dusted Onion Rings', came with a really yummy chipotle dip...

Had a really good time and I don't think the novelty will wear off too soon... Me and the boys will be making West 50 a regular post-footie Monday night habit...

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:47 pm
by JerCraigs
JWalter wrote:FIRST REAL REVIEW!
most OCB's are $5/pint, as mentioned previously they have a system where each beer is given a number of stars, and are priced accordingly, I think the 2 stars are about $6/pint and the 3 stars at $7...
Should really be "$" instead of "stars" if the OCB stuff is only $5 a pint and other stuff is $7 :)

Sounds like the four star stuff may be the cheapest :)

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:16 pm
by JWalter
JerCraigs wrote:
JWalter wrote:FIRST REAL REVIEW!
most OCB's are $5/pint, as mentioned previously they have a system where each beer is given a number of stars, and are priced accordingly, I think the 2 stars are about $6/pint and the 3 stars at $7...
Should really be "$" instead of "stars" if the OCB stuff is only $5 a pint and other stuff is $7 :)

Sounds like the four star stuff may be the cheapest :)
You're right - I don't think necessarily that the stars are meant to represent the best beers, perhaps the more unusual/rare/etc - I can't remember the exact descriptions they use for the different #'s of *'s it might be 1 star is 'Premium'... When I said other stuff I was referring to Belgians/ and certain UK Imports, etc, not Blue Light :)

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:19 am
by Publican
I went to West 50 last night and sat at the bar. After a few minutes I had to ask for a beer list and menu as several bartenders walked right past where I was sitting without asking me if I'd like a beer but to be fare it was busy. After looking at the beer list for several minutes I settled on Mill Street Tankhouse Ale.
The Tankhouse was in good condition and was priced at one star which was $5.30 a pint. What was incredible is that the swill (Canadian, Blue, Coors Light) was the same price!! There were quite a few people drinking beer out of half yard glasses. I had a chance to do this at the Arbor Brewing in Ann Arbor Michigan a few years back but I had beer by the pint, I'll have to try it some time at West 50. A half yard glass holds 30 oz of beer.

I had the 6oz Prime Rib Sandwhich which was excellent and was also served with gravy and mushrooms with a side salad. This was
great value for money as this was more than enough prime rib for me. It cost $11.50.

I paid my bill and waited quite a while for my change. Hopefully the service will be a bit better the next time I go.

With the City of Toronto Act ( able to tax beer in pubs amongst other things) coming into effect on Jan 1, it is good to know that I can drink quality beer in a bar with out being taxed to death. I will still frequent Volo and the Victory from time to time especially for cask ale.

John, I'd like to have a few pints with you here but 10:30 on Monday night is a little late for me. Perhaps we can meet on a Sat. or Sun?

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:40 pm
by Radek
Muskoka Lakes Red Cream Ale, Ontario
Gary McMullen of Lake Muskoka says that there is no such beer. Can someone check whats the story when there?

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:42 pm
by GregClow
Radek wrote:
Muskoka Lakes Red Cream Ale, Ontario
Gary McMullen of Lake Muskoka says that there is no such beer. Can someone check whats the story when there?
I strongly suspect that it's just the Muskoka Cream Ale. West 50 has the Taps Red Cream Ale on tap as well, so I imagine this was just a cut & paste mistake on their menu.

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:46 am
by JWalter
So Publican and I are the only ones who've been to West 50 so far?

That's suprising! A bar opens within about a 30 minute drive of Toronto, with the best draught selection in all of Canada, and on a web site of hundreds of local beer enthusiasts, only 2 people have been (or bothered to post about it)?

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:06 am
by JerCraigs
JWalter wrote:That's suprising! A bar opens within about a 30 minute drive of Toronto, with the best draught selection in all of Canada, and on a web site of hundreds of local beer enthusiasts, only 2 people have been (or bothered to post about it)?
Its surprising that people in Toronto don't want to drive way out of their way to get to a place that sells beers they can get many places near a subway?

Im excited to see such a place in the Sauga and will be checking it out once I get back to town but I really don't see it becoming a destination for people outside of Mississauga. I could of course be wrong.

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:17 am
by lister
It's Mississauga! :-?

(insert suburban driving everything-same-looking wasteland diatribe here)

I don't know about anyone else but I'm not driving out there or anywhere for that matter just to get a beer. If I happen to be forced to venture out to Mississauga then I definitely will stop in at the Pour House.

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:47 am
by Slacks
JWalter,

I was there Sunday, heading back again tomorrow. My full review is on my site (right here), but my general thoughts were that the place looks great, the food sounds great, the food will taste better in a few months, and the beer is pretty cool. I managed to snag a couple new ratings and enjoyed most of what I tried. I do fear for both their future, due to location, and for the freshness of their better brews that won't have that mass appeal. But all told I think it's a good restaurant and I look forward to making it a semi-regular stop.

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:12 pm
by Jon Walker
JWalter wrote:So Publican and I are the only ones who've been to West 50 so far?

That's suprising! A bar opens within about a 30 minute drive of Toronto, with the best draught selection in all of Canada, and on a web site of hundreds of local beer enthusiasts, only 2 people have been (or bothered to post about it)?
Are you wagging your finger at us?

I'm in Vancouver so the drive to Mississauga would be a little extreme. When I am back, and I have time to get out to the burbs, I'll check it out.

As for your contention that it has the "best draft selection in all of Canada", I'd consider that to be way off base. It certainly has the largest (that I know of) but MANY establishments in this great land have better quality draft beer selections without all the crap beers along for the ride. Are you rating it above Dieu du Ciel? Vices Et Versa? Cafe Volo? C'est What? Swans?