Mike Duggan's New Brewery

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:55 pm

A lot of guys talking about pulling pork in this thread has me worried.

antirealist · Post by **antirealist** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:10 pm

Anyone know the opening hours for this place? Their website is not yet active.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 5:37 pm

antirealist wrote:Anyone know the opening hours for this place? Their website is not yet active.

IIRC, the hours posted at the restaurant are "11:30 AM to Close", which is fine if you want to know the earliest time you can show up, but annoying if you're planning to stop by for a late evening pint. Does "Close" mean 11 PM? Midnight? 2 AM?

Oh, and they're closed on Sundays.

antirealist · Post by **antirealist** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:17 pm

Thanks. This afternoon I wandered by and the place seemed empty, though I didn't go in. I'll definitely stop by tomorrow for some oysters and a pint or two.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:32 am

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/arti ... ew-brewpub

Happy to hop into a new brewpub
By Josh Rubin

One of Ontario's most talented brewers, Duggan is back running his own show. Earlier this month, he opened up a brewpub called Duggan's Brewery in downtown Toronto. It's in the spot that used to house Denison's brewpub until 2003.

Duggan has already started brewing and serving customers, but there's still construction to be done, and even basics like fixing up the heating system.

"It's fun to be in this position again, starting up something new," says Duggan, who co-founded Mill Street Brewery, but parted ways with the company in 2007.

In his new spot, Duggan is using the same equipment last used by Denison's owner/brewmaster, Michael Hancock, in 2003.

"We've had to replace a lot of the peripheral stuff (such as tubing and wires)," he says, "but all the big stuff like the tanks are the same ones that Michael used."

Since the departure of Denison's from the spot on Victoria St., most of the equipment had sat idle as the location was turned temporarily into a restaurant. Hancock, meanwhile, had taken his stable of beers to a variety of breweries and had them produced under licence.

While Hancock specialized exclusively in German-style brews such as wheat beers and dark lagers at his brewpub, Duggan will try a more wide-ranging approach: "I plan on brewing any possible beer you can imagine. I've got complete freedom."

At the moment, Duggan has seven of his brews on tap, including his highly touted, hoppy No. 9 IPA, a stout, a porter, and an "Asian lager" that is brewed with barley, rice and a Japanese hop variety.

He's also aiming for a higher standard of food than pub grub. To that end, he hired chef Rene Chauvin, who ran three restaurants owned by a restaurant group in the Distillery District and is a cooking instructor at George Brown College. While Chauvin's menu includes pub classics like fish and chips, there are also things like duck confit poutine.

"I'm pretty lucky," says Duggan. "We've got a lot of George Brown people around because of Rene, so we've got some pretty interesting food."

After splitting with Mill Street, Duggan worked in Cuba for a few months consulting for a brewery and doing charity work. He then spent a year working for Barrie's Robert Simpson Brewing. Since then, he has been a consulting brewmaster at Etobicoke's Cool Brewing. At Cool, he came up with the recipe for his No. 9 IPA. A bottled version of the No. 9 IPA is still produced at Cool, as well as any other of his brewpub beers he decides to bottle.

Sometime in 2010, Duggan plans to offer takeout growler jugs of draft at his brewpub, and hopes to launch a food and beer delivery service.

"Because we've got a brewery licence rather than a brewpub, we're allowed to deliver our beer," he explains. "Our plan is that people could call up and order a pizza and some beer."

josh@thestar.ca

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:21 am

A new beer is on as of Monday, and we were lucky to get in on the first tapping. Its a nice floral tripel. Not too sweet or grainy, with a nice clean feel and balance.

lister · Post by **lister** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:19 pm

My girlfriend, myself and a buddy went for lunch today. I had the Asian Lager, the Fest and the porter. She had the weizen and the trippel. My friend had the stout. All very good. The fest, to me, smelled very similar to the weizen. The trippel hid the alcohol very well.

For food we had the curry poutine. Very large and different. Tasty. I had the pulled pork sandwich with caesar salad. Tasty but didn't notice much smokiness. The salad was good. The coleslaw not so much. It was creamy which I don't like (more of a vinegarette fan). My girlfriend thought there was blue cheese in there. She had the ribs and onion rings. Both of which were good. The onion rings were large and probably double dipped. My friend had the steak sandwich. Tasty as well.

All-in-all it was a good visit. The beer was good. The food was good. We'll be returning. I'm going to suggest to the powers that be at work to hold the 2010 Christmas party there.

IPA Boy · Post by **IPA Boy** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:30 pm

Swung by the place today with the wife and son.

I am very encouraged to see a brewer looking to bring quality beer to the GTA. I love his philosophy. Hopefully, Mike will be distributing his beers to other bars in the area.

Before I say anything about the beer, I want you all to know that the service I got from the manager and waitress (Tamara) was top of the line. Excellent.

We sampled all the beers (8 total) and all were very good. I really liked the Stout and the Trip. The Pils was a little off for my taste, but still quality.

My real reason for stopping by was to try the #9. I'm new to the GTA and am longing for a West Coast style IPA like I get at home in San Diego.

The #9 was the best IPA we have had yet in Canada. It is the only one I have had here that actually should be called an IPA (though it could use some more hops for my taste). All the other "IPA" beers in Canada are like a Pale at best (I'm being kind).

The #9 had a little more malt then expected, but very smooth and I could certainly taste the Cascade. A very good beer.

Thanks Mike for bringing some quality beer to the TO masses.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:22 pm

IPA Boy wrote:My real reason for stopping by was to try the #9. I'm new to the GTA and am longing for a West Coast style IPA like I get at home in San Diego.

The #9 was the best IPA we have had yet in Canada. It is the only one I have had here that actually should be called an IPA (though it could use some more hops for my taste). All the other "IPA" beers in Canada are like a Pale at best (I'm being kind).

The #9 had a little more malt then expected, but very smooth and I could certainly taste the Cascade. A very good beer.

Welcome to the boards, (and to Canada) IPA Boy! Just out of curiosity, what other Ontario IPAs have you tried since you've arrived? There are a few pretty nice ones here (though nowhere near the quantity/quality of what you were spoiled with in SD...). They are mainly draught only and sometimes frustratingly limited in their availability (usually limited to C'est What/Volo and a handful of other places).

If you get a chance, try Hopping Mad from Granite (more of an APA), Hop Addict and Hop Head (cask) from County Durham, or the recently released 10 Bitter Years from Black Oak. And if you can, try to grab a few bottles of the superb Dieu du Ciel Corne du Diable from the LCBO shelves.

AND...if any of these are ones you've tried already and didn't care for, then...

With the exception of the 10 Bitter Years, none of these are big head basher American-style brews, but they are highly satisfying quaffs with layers of subtlety in their own right. Good luck in the hunt.

TJ · Post by TJ » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:04 pm

I stopped by for a quick couple of pints with my girlfriend before a movie on Saturday. Finally.

The decor seemed kind of sparse. There's no real atmosphere or comfortable vibe going on. I hope that's just because the place is still being finished. Some kind of signage on the outside probably wouldn't be out of place either.

The service was good (we had the same sever as IPA Boy) and the manager stopped by to ask how everything was, which is always a plus in my book.

I had the Asian lager which was a nice lead up to the popcorn I had in the theatre later. It was really nice and full flavored for a 4%er, nicely toasty and sweet and lemongrassy. It smelled and tasted a tad buttery though.

I had more than a few sips of my girlfriend's weissbier. My initial impression was that it was a little too fruity and bubblegummy for my preference. Still a good beer though. (She found it too sweet). Also it was fairly clear(ish) for a hefe.

I then had the porter which was great. Nice roast and chocolate in nose and taste, with a decent bitterness at the finish. I could drink a lot of this one.

My girlfriend also had the Tripel, which was described on the menu as a "Traditional Belgian Trapus [sic] Style strong ale with hints of clove". I only had two sips which wasn't really enough to get a bead on the taste, but it seemed a bit fruity and the carbonation seemed a tad high and I couldn't detect any clove. I'd definitely order it for myself on a future trip though.

I did notice another table had a flight of all of Duggan's beers which I considered ordering, but really, I much prefer to take my time and enjoy a full pint of something rather than taking a couple of sips and then quickly moving on. I plan to be back to do just that to all of the other beers as soon as I can.

I wasn't there for the food so I can't say much about it, but I was talking to a friend on Saturday who'd had the vegetable curry there a week or so before. She said it seemed to be a catchall for the kitchen scraps. Potato ends. Mismatched carrot slices. A little bit of this and that from other menu items. Which wouldn't have been bad but, as she put it, it was unlike any curry she's ever had. In a bad way.

Anyway, overall I was highly impressed by the quality of beer and plan to go back every chance I get.

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:33 pm

I passed by tonight and cannot recommend the beers highly enough. These are very well-made beers, e.g., the Fest beer had a complex fresh maltiness, the porter was everything a porter should be, and the Pilsener seemed to combine the best of German and Czech attributes. I also got a taste of the IPA which, while in the West Coast style (not my favourite) could not be bettered for what it was. The only thing I noticed is the carbonation level of the Fest and Pilsener was on the low side. This can affect enjoyment (for me anyway) but I am sure this kind of kink will work itself out. The place was pretty full, not bad for such a new operation. I did not try the food but noticed many people ordering and it all looked very good.

Well done Mr. D.

Gary

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:54 pm

I will second that all of these beers seem scupulously well put-together. In all 12-15 drinks I've ever ordered only maybe just a single pint of #9 IPA was a slight let-down (and I've had so many better pints of #9 other places, but it varies a bit IMO.) Mostly it's far and away a beer-drinker's heaven where you can just sit there and go 'hey, it doesn't really get much better than this, does it?!" That's a nice thing.

And yes, the look of the place (while certainly not bad) definitely feels kind of empty and sterile. I bet Mike's working on that and all else one thing at a time. Let's support him if we can!

JesseMcG · Post by **JesseMcG** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:08 pm

I popped in for a couple pints Friday after work. They were out of the lager and the weiss... unfortunate.

Blankboy · Post by **Blankboy** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:00 pm

I quite enjoyed my visit there a few weeks ago as well, really good food and the beer they make is solid.

BUT, it would be nice if they got out of the safety zone a little bit. All the styles are the most mainstream ones: A Porter, a Lager, a Pilsner, a Wheat beer, etc. I hope in the future we will see a hoppy beer on the menu, and not the #9 which doesn't even come close to cutting it for me, it's less hoppy then Tankhouse. I'd like to see a Barley Wine, a DIPA, an Imperial Stout, a Saison, etc. A good comparison would be Les Brasseurs du Temps in Gatineau: a nice restaurant, slightly upscale, and they opened with a Barley Wine, an Imperial Stout and a (truly hoppy) IPA. It can be done. Maybe when they get settled in the brewer can start making some interesting, less mainstream beers, maybe seasonals or one-offs?

It's not a knock on the place, they do what they do well, it's just that until they have a true IPA or something hoppy, then it won't be a regular haunt for me.

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:17 pm

Blankboy wrote:A good comparison would be Les Brasseurs du Temps in Gatineau: a nice restaurant, slightly upscale, and they opened with a Barley Wine, an Imperial Stout and a (truly hoppy) IPA. It can be done. Maybe when they get settled in the brewer can start making some interesting, less mainstream beers, maybe seasonals or one-offs?

To clarify a little, BdT didn't have their Barley Wine, Imp Stout or DIPA until October/November. Their opening in May was aimed at getting their year-round beers up - a pale ale, a weizen, Belgian blond, an amber, a stout, and an IPA. Their seasonals followed after they had been up and running for about three months.