The Bar Towel

Has anyone tried Church Key Ale? It is the only product from a new brewery in Campbellford (Church Key Brewing), started by John Graham, who used to work at the Amsterdam in Toronto.

Supposedly it is a cross between a cream ale and a stock ale. It is evidently coming to Toronto on draught this summer. Probably worth a try...I'll post more details as I get them.

I tried an ale, I believe it was a red ale, by this brewery last summer while in Belleville, half hour from Campbellford (or as the locals call it c'ford), and I must say it was not great . This is not to say it has not improved over the past year, they were just starting out at the time. Worth another try.

I have tried the Church Key Ale on tap. It was available at Isaiah Tubbs resort pub in Halliwell (resort area south of Kingston very near the site of Glenora Brewery in Quinte) but it is no longer available there. As a draft it was very underwhelming with a very average taste, no lingering flavor and extremely flat overall. As you can tell I was underwhelmed. However the Triple Chin, which you mentioned you didn't like in another post, was quite good on tap. It had good colour, a caramel flavor to it with only a subtle hint of the sweetness you detected. However as Glenora is a very small batch brewery (I visited it this past winter) there may well be a consistency issue which would account for the varying sweetness we both have experienced. Then again, personal taste could also have a lot to do with it.

Just an update regarding Church Key. They are beginning to get a few Toronto draught accounts - here's where you can currently find them:

Smokeless Joe
C'est What
Mackie's Taigh Osda
Renaissance Cafe (1938 Danforth)