Newmarket / Aurora taps?

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:47 pm

People are thirsting for craft beer! Makes you wonder why more places like this don't open around the 905.

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:10 am

icemachine wrote:Went up to Hungry Brew Hops for tonight's "Soft Opening" after work arriving at 7, hoping for dinner. Looked like maybe 20-25 tables and room for about 12 at the bar. They had an hour wait for a table, and bar was absolutely packed, with maybe another 15 people lined up waiting to get in as well.

Decided to go home and grab a pizza.

Very happy for them to have such a busy opening, will try and stop in at some point over the weekend,

This place looks great (from their web site). The tap list is very nice too. Good to see more craft beer bars opening up outside the city. Now if we could just get one decent beer bar in Mississauga. Just one...

lister · Post by **lister** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 10:51 am

midlife crisis wrote:People are thirsting for craft beer! Makes you wonder why more places like this don't open around the 905.

An in-law has a few restaurants up that way and beyond. I've been bugging him and my sister for some time about this. Only a big toe has been put in these waters. I've even pointed out successes like Buster Rhino's and others but alas...

I may check out Hungry Hops on my way home on Sunday.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:17 pm

Stopped by HBH this afternoon with Sprague11, Had pints of Muskoka Winter Weiss and GLB Half-Nelson. Both served in brewery branded glassware (disappointed Muskoka chose shaker pints)

Had the Sweet Chili wings, they were good, pan fried style, guessing it's a house recipe, on the sweet side and very sticky.

Think they were about 8-10 taps shy of full 26, but they had on the chalkboard above the bar that all 26 would be running by the 14th.

Rotating GLB is the Half Nelson with Crazy Canuck on the main list, Beau's rotating tap is Tom Green Stout.

Great to see this place opened up, and will be back frequently

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:09 pm

Are they pseudo-pint, 16 oz shakers? I encountered that at Duke's Refresher recently. An unfortunate American trend we should try hard to resist.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 8:56 pm

Nope these were full 20oz pints, but I still dislike the shaker pints as they do nothing to enhance a beer

lister · Post by **lister** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:06 am

icemachine wrote:Stopped by HBH this afternoon with Sprague11,

I was there on Sunday too and may have been seated to your left at the bar.

I had the mac & cheese, beer bun and HBH burger. All good. Would have preferred a little something in the mac & cheese like truffles/truffle oil or whatever to give it an accent to the cheese.

If I lived in the area I'd be fucking ecstatic about this place! It's pretty dismal up that way and beyond. HBH exceeds the tap numbers of the Local in Barrie and has a few more adventurous beers. The food is a little more ambitious too.

We'll be definitely stopping in from time to time when in the area.

cratez · Post by **cratez** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:29 am

midlife crisis wrote: Are they pseudo-pint, 16 oz shakers? I encountered that at Duke's Refresher recently. An unfortunate American trend we should try hard to resist.

Absolutely nothing wrong this as long as the price reflects the smaller size i.e. $5-6.50 a glass as opposed to $7.50 or higher.

Considering I like to try three to four new beers whenever I go to the pub, and each one is usually above 5%, smaller glasses and/or half pint options are helpful in ensuring that I don't get shitfaced (again, as long as the price matches the pour).

The insistence on 20oz pints makes me think of old curmudgeonly British dudes who like to drink the same 3.5% Bitter at a "tied house" all night long.

Now that our beer scene is rapidly evolving and increasingly mimicking the more advanced craft beer culture of the U.S. – with a growing emphasis on variety, for instance – you see the 20oz pint becoming less and less common and I don't think we're any worse off for it.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:34 am

Well, I agree that half pint pours should always be available, and stronger beers shouldn't be served in 20oz portions. But I still think 16 oz glasses masquerading as pints are an abomination and a completely unnecessary Americanism. At Dukes they were priced at $7.25 IIRC.

cratez · Post by **cratez** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:56 am

midlife crisis wrote: At Dukes they were priced at $7.25 IIRC.

No two ways about it – that's gouging.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:56 am

lister wrote:
icemachine wrote:Stopped by HBH this afternoon with Sprague11,
I was there on Sunday too and may have been seated to your left at the bar.

I had the mac & cheese, beer bun and HBH burger. All good. Would have preferred a little something in the mac & cheese like truffles/truffle oil or whatever to give it an accent to the cheese.

If I lived in the area I'd be fucking ecstatic about this place! It's pretty dismal up that way and beyond. HBH exceeds the tap numbers of the Local in Barrie and has a few more adventurous beers. The food is a little more ambitious too.

We'll be definitely stopping in from time to time when in the area.

Thought that might have been you, we really need those Bartowel Buttons. Sorry if we annoyed you with our Habs talk

Another great feature of this place is that both pints ordered were just $7

lister · Post by **lister** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:11 pm

icemachine wrote:Thought that might have been you, we really need those Bartowel Buttons. Sorry if we annoyed you with our Habs talk

Ha ha! No, it was fine. Quite civilized. Always nice compared to the typical meathead fans of any team. A playoff matchup would be pretty cool.

My girlfriend and I went to a Leafs vs Habs game in Montreal a few years ago. Way better atmosphere than at ACC. It was actually kind of fun wandering around Montreal on game day with my Leafs jersey on. Receiving anti-Leafs taunts in French was kind of pointless, hehe.

schomberger · Post by **schomberger** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:24 am

Finally made my first visit here at around 500 yesterday. It was already hopping busy with room at the bar only, which was all i wanted. Had a Nickelbrook Belgian Pale--quite tastey and satisfying. The chalk board had less than 26 taps listed but there were a few clipboards scattered along the bar with the complete list as well as menu; my only gripe would be the text size was too small for me without reading glasses. The room continued to fill as I sipped my pint, standing room only and a line out the door for tables. Looks like they're off too a great start.