Mill Street's new beers

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sun May 04, 2003 4:28 pm

I was at Mill Street this weekend, and tried their Balzac's Coffee Porter & Tankhouse Pale Ale and they are really good beers.

The Coffee Porter is really nice with an intense dark roasted coffee flavour and milk chocolate undertones. Michael told me he is thinking of cutting back on the coffee next time, but was unsure because the response has been so good. Personally, I like it the way it is. It is a coffee flavoured porter and should be just that. We'll have to do a Bar Towel pool. So rush out, try it, and let everyone know what you think.

The Tankhouse Pale Ale is phenomenal. Nice fresh leafy, citrus nose, lots of body, and one of the best structured pale ales I've had in a while--hops and malt in perfect synchronicity (I know I'm misusing the word).

With these two beer Mill Street has answered any criticisms that might have been voiced. While their Organic Lager will not be my beer of choice, it will tap (pun intended) into a huge market and, I predict, make them some money. I think their bottle and pricing for this product are ingenious. Let's remember it Lakeport, Molsons, & Labatts who market to the Big Box Store crowd. Let's hope this beer will allow them to continue to brew, to steal a phrase from Michael Jackson, some truely remarkable beers.

Great work guys.

P.S. And the distillery site is incredible

[ This Message was edited by: jcappadocia on 2003-05-04 16:29 ]

[ This Message was edited by: jcappadocia on 2003-05-04 16:35 ]

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Sun May 04, 2003 5:31 pm

Thanks for the news Joe. I'm looking forward to heading down there soon and meeting the guys at Mill Street.

I have a fancy new digital video camera, so I'd like to shoot some footage to show on the site.

Cass

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sun May 04, 2003 7:03 pm

Wow, suddenly I'm joey_capps. Thanks Cass.

Anyway, the distillery district is quite the construction zone at the moment. Might make for some interesting pictures though.

They are having a grand opening Jazz festival starting on the twenty-third (I think). Will make for a very good time. The the atmosphere of the district is incredible.

Joe

P.S. Did anyone mention that the bar at Mill street was in the movie Chicago?

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Sun May 04, 2003 7:04 pm

Oh, and the Porter is on at Joe's now.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Mon May 26, 2003 9:53 am

I had the sparkling ale while visiting the distillery district for Doors Open Toronto yesterday. It was a tasty if unremarkable beer. I was hoping to try the pale but they were sold out. (Which bodes well I think!)

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Mon May 26, 2003 10:03 am

I went down to Mill St. last weekend (to avoid the rush of this weekend!)

I did have the Pale Ale, and it was quite nice. Better than the sparkling, I thought. Probably my favourite of their beers (excluding the Weisse, of course

)

A · Post by A » Mon Jun 02, 2003 12:07 am

And let me chime in also. Stopped by the Jazz festival this afternoon, they were serving up all the beers except for the Denisons.

The Coffee Porter and Pale Ale are both fantastic. The former is thick and creamy, with an abundance of roasty coffee flavor.

The latter is almost a dead-ringer for a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, except I think its even a little better. Its smoother and has a little more malt to it. It may have been because it was so fresh, but nonetheless its a very good beer.

The Sparking Ale is, unfortunately, even less remarkable than the Organic Ale.

They had stubbie 'prototype' bottles for these 3 beers so perhaps they will be bottling them soon.

BTW the Distillery District is a really great place to spend the afternoon. I was led to believe it was still being 'built', but it seemed mostly complete today (and populated, seemed like over 30 art shops and other interesting places on site).

Josh Oakes · Post by **Josh Oakes** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 10:29 am

I was down for this event and tried all the beers. Big report in this week's column on that. Not sure why the brewery itself wasn't pouring all of their beers - are they embarrased of them? Anyway, I loved that Mill Street stuff was the only beer on sale and I hope that is how it goes in the Distillery forevermore. It would be a coup for great beer if the bars and restaurants down there stuck together and kept it local. I'd also love to see a microdistillery in there producing small batches of Gooderham & Worts for local consumption. That would be pretty cool.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 12:40 pm

On 2003-06-02 10:29, Josh Oakes wrote:
Anyway, I loved that Mill Street stuff was the only beer on sale and I hope that is how it goes in the Distillery forevermore. It would be a coup for great beer if the bars and restaurants down there stuck together and kept it local.

According to all of the press and other info I read last fall when they had some preview events in the District, the plan is to keep things as exclusively local as possible, with the bars and restaurants in the District serving only Mill Street beers, only Balzac's coffee, only baked goods from the local bakery, etc.

This may have changed in the interim, but I agree that it would be really nice if they stick to this plan.

Greg

Lemmings · Post by **Lemmings** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 9:48 am

I was talking to one of the Bartenders while I was at the Jazz Festival and he said that they were getting one of Molson or Labbatts (I don't remember which one) in as well as the Mill Street. I don't recall him saying whether it was just bottles, but he seemed to know the story of Denison's.

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 10:17 pm

Just wanted to share a little story about Mill St. from today. I'm planning a little cottage getaway this weekend, and I wanted to get a keg for the trip. On a lark, I called up Mill St., not really thinking I would actually be able to get a keg, since they went through so many during the jazz festival.

Well, an hour after my call I had a keg of their great pale ale in my trunk.

At the brewery I had a nice chat with Steve and Jeff, whom I had never met in person before. They're great guys, and I'm still disappointed by what happened here (they still harbour sore feelings, I believe). They'll just be one of the many Ontario beer folk who lurk instead of chat with us lot

Mill St. is probably one of the better things to happen to the TO beer scene in quite some time. The distillery district is no doubt the talk of the town, and I hope them much success.

Here's some pics from the first visit I had of the brewery, from just before the jazz festival:

<img src="http://www.bartowel.com/pics/mill/ms1.jpg">

<img src="http://www.bartowel.com/pics/mill/ms2.jpg">

<img src="http://www.bartowel.com/pics/mill/ms3.jpg">

<img src="http://www.bartowel.com/pics/mill/ms4.jpg">

Oh, and I think they have some limited-release beers in the works for the future. Can't wait.

[ This Message was edited by: Cass on 2003-06-03 22:18 ]

the.brewer · Post by **the.brewer** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 2:15 pm

[quote]
On 2003-06-02 00:07, A wrote:
And let me chime in also. Stopped by the Jazz festival this afternoon, they were serving up all the beers except for the Denisons.
[quote]

Just a brief explanation....I was not expecting my Weissbier to be on tap at the jazz festival, but then two days beforehand I got the "good" news that it would be served. I say "good" because when one brews using only one or two tanks it is hard to take care of major swings in consumption. Basically the first few days of the jazz festival cleaned me out of what should have been 3 to 4 weeks of supply, so I had to ration my beer (on and off). The Festival got through a huge amount of Mill Street's brands too. I'm glad to say that this all ended last night, Friday, when my next brew became ready for serving.
Incidentally, the reason that my, and some other beers were not available for sampling in the brewery itself is none more than the fact that the lovely new multi-tap bar unit, with the glass towers made on site, was being used in another location on site for the Jazz Festival.
See you at the St. Lawrence Beer Festival this weekend. Anyone want to give me a hand with the booth?
Cheers & Prosit!!! Michael the brewer.
denisons@rogers.com 647-227-8963

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 4:12 pm

On 2003-06-07 14:15, the.brewer wrote:
Incidentally, the reason that my, and some other beers were not available for sampling in the brewery itself is none more than the fact that the lovely new multi-tap bar unit, with the glass towers made on site, was being used in another location on site for the Jazz Festival.

Ah, that explains it! Sheryl & I were down there this afternoon for Woofstock, the big dog fair, and were disappointed to find that they only had the Lager being sampled at the brwrery. But we spotted a multi-tap bar in the patio near the brewery that seemed to have all the beers available, including the Wiesse. Sadly, the patio was a dog-free zone, and we had both our dogs with us, so we were unable to stop for a drink, but we're looking forward to tasting 'em all at St. Lawrence next weekend.

Greg

Josh Oakes · Post by **Josh Oakes** » Sun Jun 08, 2003 1:37 am

Thanks for the clarifications, Michael. But of course impressions are more important than fact when you're dealing with the public. And I still don't like that when you walk into the brewery all you see is an endless wall of Organic Lager. If that Jazz Fest is any indication, there will be a lot of people making their first microbrewery visit at Mill Street and the last thing the industry needs is to give the impression that pale lager is the only beer worth drinking. And when even microbreweries are putting that style over all others, that is the impression the public receives.

I still think Black Oak should drop their Lager if it is indeed their distant #3 brand and still want that giant Steamwhistle sign at the Judge removed, pissed on and burned. Not that I'm necessarily qualified to give these recommendations on a business basis, but as a beer lover, I still sense a lack of resolve even among the biggest proponents to spread the gospel of real beer. As much as I disdain their gorilla marketing, Stone have made a pretty good living for themselves by insisting that beer drinkers raise their game. Southern California was a worse beer market than Ontario five years ago, but these guys, AleSmith and a few others turned that around on a dime by refusing to compromise. Consumers see things like confidence and conviction, and respond well to it. Mixed signals don't generate the same kind of response, and the Ontario market is good evidence of that.

So yeah, my point was not so much about walking fifty additional feet to try the beers as it was about a squandered opportunity to make a clear statement as to what microbreweries are all about.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Sun Jun 08, 2003 10:26 am

I was alittle surprised by the giant Steam Whistle sign at the Judge at first too. After talking to Bill, it became clearer. They wanted a sign or banner to dress up the front of the building. They approached the brewers that they do business with (myself included) and asked for a sign. I guess that everyone but Steamwhistle could not afford the cost, so Steam Whistle it is.Micros are often placed in this type of situation. Money is usually very tight and promo dollars are at a huge premium, so this kind of thing usually gets passed up.
In Bill's defense,he does understand that money is tight and does not punish the brewers that cannot afford to dress up his bar. (many others do!)But he still wanted a sign for that patio and Steam Whistle were in a position to deliver it.