London, Ontario and Area

[cannondale]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be in London this Saturday evening to watch the Brier, so this will come in handy. Am I correct in assuming that if I am only able to make it to one place, Gambrinus would be the one?

I'm amazed by the progress that has been made since I last lived in London.

[SteelbackGuy]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be in London this Saturday evening to watch the Brier, so this will come in handy. Am I correct in assuming that if I am only able to make it to one place, Gambrinus would be the one?

I'm amazed by the progress that has been made since I last lived in London.

Yes, Gambrinus is the must visit. It may be really packed due to it being directly across the street from the JLC, but the beer selection is what matters!

[cannondale]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be in London this Saturday evening to watch the Brier, so this will come in handy. Am I correct in assuming that if I am only able to make it to one place, Gambrinus would be the one?

I'm amazed by the progress that has been made since I last lived in London.

Yes, Gambrinus is the must visit. It may be really packed due to it being directly across the street from the JLC, but the beer selection is what matters!

Quality is king, I'll walk (or stumble) across the street to Gambrinus.

Thanks Len, looking forward to it.

[SteelbackGuy]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be in London this Saturday evening to watch the Brier, so this will come in handy. Am I correct in assuming that if I am only able to make it to one place, Gambrinus would be the one?

I'm amazed by the progress that has been made since I last lived in London.

Yes, Gambrinus is the must visit. It may be really packed due to it being directly across the street from the JLC, but the beer selection is what matters!

Quality is king, I'll walk (or stumble) across the street to Gambrinus.

Thanks Len, looking forward to it.

You're welcome. Don't forget to look for me. I'll be the guy in the LCBO uniform. See me, come and say hi!

[cratez]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be in London this Saturday evening to watch the Brier, so this will come in handy. Am I correct in assuming that if I am only able to make it to one place, Gambrinus would be the one? I'm amazed by the progress that has been made since I last lived in London.

No problem! I'm in Florida right now so I won't be able to make it Saturday, but I'm sure Len, Milos, Adil and others will treat you to an awesome time. Enjoy.

[cannondale]

Thanks for posting this. I'll be in London this Saturday evening to watch the Brier, so this will come in handy. Am I correct in assuming that if I am only able to make it to one place, Gambrinus would be the one?

I'm amazed by the progress that has been made since I last lived in London.

Yes, Gambrinus is the must visit. It may be really packed due to it being directly across the street from the JLC, but the beer selection is what matters!

Quality is king, I'll walk (or stumble) across the street to Gambrinus.

Thanks Len, looking forward to it.

You're welcome. Don't forget to look for me. I'll be the guy in the LCBO uniform. See me, come and say hi!

I certainly will. First round is on me.

[cratez]

So here's a current list of interesting taps downtown. I figure the update is necessary now that our #1 beer geek haven (Gambrinus) is closed. Like Belgian said, you can think of it as a "survival guide." The obvious tragedy is that most of these draughts used to be available in ONE location and served by folks who are much more knowledgeable and passionate about craft than anyone else in London. But if you're yearning for some micro beer on tap, are willing to hit multiple spots, and can tolerate varying degrees of quality and presentation (proper glassware at APK, Shire if you ask, Morrissey never), there's still plenty of craft to be had around the core.

The Black Shire Pub
Denison's Weissbier
Denison's Dunkel
F&M Stone Hammer Maple Red Ale
F&M Stone Hammer Dark
Grand River Hannenberg Pils
Stratford Common
Other taps from McAuslan, Railway City, Big Rock, and Stratford

The Morrissey House
Flying Monkeys Smash Bomb Atomic IPA
Fuller's Bengal Lancer IPA
Fuller's ESB
Double Trouble Hops & Robbers
Michael Duggan's #9 IPA
Lake of Bays Pale Ale
Other taps from Mill Street
30 bottles (Don de Dieu, Choklat, etc)

Brennan's Beer & Bistro
Spearhead Hawaiian Style Pale Ale
Flying Monkeys Netherworld CDA
Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion
Lake of Bays 10 Point IPA
Mill Street Lemon Tea Ale
Other taps from Railway City, Mill Street, and Steamwhistle
Muskoka, Urquell, and Smash Bomb in bottles/cans

APK Live
F&M Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout
Muskoka Spring Oddity
Mill Street Cobblestone Stout
Unibroue Maudite
Unibroue Blanche de Chambly
Other taps from Wellington and Mill Street
15 bottles (usually LCBO seasonals)

The Early Bird / Nite Owl
Mill Street Seasonal (rotating)
Mill Street Tankhouse Ale
Steamwhistle Pilsner
Assorted bottles (Grand River, Black Oak, Muskoka, etc)

Again, the first four lists combined resemble the typical lineup at Gambrinus, and none of these other bars get the harder-to-find gems from Sawdust City, Granite, Cheshire Valley, etc., so hopefully Milos and crew are able to open their new joint ASAP. In the meantime we'll have to settle for the "decent but never great" pubs around town. Cheers

[LondonBeer]

Thanks for the update. At one time bungalow had a half decent selection also but lately it has kind of gone for a shit

[MatttthewGeorge]

The Black Shire Pub
F&M Stone Hammer Maple Red Ale
F&M Stone Hammer Dark

APK Live
F&M Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout

Cheers

Just to clarify, since I'm the sale rep for Stone Hammer in the area, at The Shire we have Stone Hammer Light & MacLean's Pale Ale on. No Dark, and they just ran out of their last keg of Maple Red and are not ordering any more.

As for APK Live, if the Oatmeal Coffee Stout is on, it is our last keg of it in the area.

Another place in London which is worth looking into is Windermere's Cafe, which has on draught:
Stone Hammer Light
Stone Hammer Dark
Flying Monkeys Amber
Flying Monkeys Hoptical
Steam Whistle
Railway City Honey Stung
+ various bottles, including our Maple Red, Railway City and some Mill St.

Finally I think Bungalow's listings is still decent. We have our Light on there (I know light beer isn't much to get excited about, but it's better than the Bud Lite they had before!), and it's the only place in London with Beau's Lug-tread.

[cratez]

...At The Shire we have Stone Hammer Light & MacLean's Pale Ale on. No Dark, and they just ran out of their last keg of Maple Red and are not ordering any more.

Just goin by the tap handle that I saw upstairs last Saturday, which was labeled as the Dark. If it's the Light instead, then I blame the bar. Both the MacLean's and Maple Red were on when I was there. Disappointed to hear that they're not getting more of the Red.

As for APK Live, if the Oatmeal Coffee Stout is on, it is our last keg of it in the area.

This is according to the beer manager and (new) part owner, Jen.

Another place in London which is worth looking into is Windermere's Cafe, which has on draught:
Stone Hammer Light
Stone Hammer Dark
Flying Monkeys Amber
Flying Monkeys Hoptical
Steam Whistle
Railway City Honey Stung
+ various bottles, including our Maple Red, Railway City and some Mill St.

Yeah I was surprised by the selection last time I visited, though there were only four taps as opposed to six. I'll have to pop in for dinner soon!

[MatttthewGeorge]

re: Shire. Well they definitely don't have the dark, so it's the wrong tap handle. Thanks for the heads up; I'll call them today. There was a management change their a few weeks ago and they are adding 4-6 Labatt taps, hence why the Maple is now off. Sadly a couple of other micros are gone as well (Grand River being one).

re: APK. They were suppose to let me know when they tapped that, so again thanks for the heads up. Definitely the only keg left in London (except for two 30 litre kegs Milo's private stash!)

re: Windermere. Us and Flying Monkeys just put in a six tap fridge two weeks ago, hence the increase from 4 to 6. They are changing thier menu soon to try and be closer to a gastropub instead of a high-class restaurant.

[matt7215]

re: Shire - There was a management change their a few weeks ago

seems to happen fairly regularily at the shire

[cratez]

re: APK. They were suppose to let me know when they tapped that, so again thanks for the heads up.

5 days ago she said it'd be tapping this week, so I figured it'd be on by now. If you haven't heard from them, it's probably because they're waiting until the weekend to tap it. The intention of my post was to relay to local Towelers what I've seen on draught in the last few days and what the owners have told me is on/would be on, not to dime out bars for being naughty.

re: Windermere. Us and Flying Monkeys just put in a six tap fridge two weeks ago, hence the increase from 4 to 6. They are changing thier menu soon to try and be closer to a gastropub instead of a high-class restaurant.

Well with The Shire going to the shitter (by the sounds of it), maybe this place will become a decent replacement.

[ErkLR]

re: Shire. Well they definitely don't have the dark, so it's the wrong tap handle. Thanks for the heads up; I'll call them today. There was a management change their a few weeks ago and they are adding 4-6 Labatt taps, hence why the Maple is now off. Sadly a couple of other micros are goe as well (Grand River being one).

That could explain why they had no more Railway City beers when I went last month and it seemed a if they were done with that brewery. I guess I'll go in and see what the selection is like now. I remember when they had3 kinds of Keith's on

[cratez]

I guess I'll go in and see what the selection is like now. I remember when they had 3 kinds of Keith's on.

That was two years ago. Besides the regular IPA (lager), I haven't seen any Keith's on in a very long time. The abandonment of micros wasn't apparent to me last week as they still had ~13 crafters on (and good ones at that), but based on what Matthew has learned, it sounds like The Shire won't be worth visiting anymore. I'm surprised the new manager has chosen to go macro since they could've easily capitalized on the fallout from Gambrinus closing. What a boneheaded move.

That could explain why they had no more Railway City beers when I went last month and it seemed as if they were done with that brewery.

IMHO Railway was one of the weaker micros that they carried. When faced with the choice between RCB stuff and beers from Denison's, F&M Stone Hammer, Spearhead, Grand River, and Great Lakes, I always went with the latter. But they did get some decent seasonals from time to time, like the Sham Bock.