Amsterdam to move in the fall

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:58 am

Hopefully they do well.

When I lived in the area I actually thought that the DVP & 401 would be a good spot for a brewery. Cheaper rent/real estate and easier shipping. There wouldn't be as many walk-ins, but a lot of people drive to pick up beer anyway.

The new location will be just off the DVP, so drive-ins aren't too bad. Plus if the Eglinton light rail ever goes through it'll make transit A LOT nicer. The trail system is actually pretty close, but that's a lot of effort for a beer run (at least for me)!

The Granite was my 'local' when I worked at Sunnybrook. There's over 10,000 employees and not many after-work drinking options. I was lucky we had a free shuttle that stopped just down the street from Volo. ;D

Olde York really is great. Unfortunately we didn't go much because I had High Street just down the street from me.

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:11 pm

It's a short bike ride for me. I'm right by the Granite and see lot's of walk in and ride up people, so I suspect they too will be close enough.

The big ugly penquin mall up the street is expanding so it may become a busy enough retail area to attract attention for them.

So many breweries like Black Oak, Great Lakes, etc. are in PIA industrial areas and still get storefront business.

saints_gambit · Post by **saints_gambit** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:49 pm

Well, who knows. I think that there's an against the grain going in nearby, as well as a longo's with a corks (thanks atomeyes for telling me about that). It's going to be a hip, happenin' little spot. Probably way too hip for the room.

BrausBackinTown · Post by **BrausBackinTown** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:39 pm

I couldn't be happier about this. I live in East York, and between Amsterdam moving right across the bridge, the Only Cafe, Morgan's, and Sarah's, I'm liking what's going on in the East End. Represent.

sprague11 · Post by **sprague11** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:44 pm

A much easier drive for those who commute ridiculous distances south to Toronto. Hoping it works out for them.

chris_schryer · Post by **chris_schryer** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:21 am

They'll do fine in Leaside. Way bigger facility with much a much better position from a shipping point of view. While they get more walk-in than drive-in business at the Bathurst retail location, I would be really surprised if their retail store accounted for even a few percent of their total business. It's more of a luxury than a necessary part of the business. What annoys me, is they were ready to move into the east Don Lands (by the Canadian Tire big-box) till Doug Ford opened his moronic yap and scared everybody so much, they basically froze all building in that area. It would have been a perfect spot for them, and they would have been a great early-adopter for the area, but after McCheese & Co.'s visions of monorails went public, the timeline went from months to years, and, as noted, they had a fixed deadline. Thanks Fords, another gem in your political crown......

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 10:11 am

chris_schryer wrote:Way bigger facility with much a much better position from a shipping point of view.

Curious what your logic is for that? Proximity to the Gardiner seems like it would be better?

chris_schryer · Post by **chris_schryer** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 8:05 pm

Haha, true, while Ansterdam is currently nearly under the Gardiner, they're actually not that close to an on-ramp. In addition, while they have a killer parking lot, their trucks have two options at the top of the driveway, turn right, and head into downtown hell (possibly going east along front, then south at Spadina to hit lakeshore), or go left, get stuck in a huge line up waiting to go left or right at lakeshore (after they've waited for a break in traffic) then get stuck on lakeshore east bound if they have a hope of finding the Gardiner. There are blocks of time during the day where this isn't so bad, but first thing in the morning, when the trucks are leaving, it's probably insane. In Leaside, they are closer to the DVP, which isn't exactly ideal either, but at least they can get out of the brewery easy enough, and for trucks leaving the core, I'd bet it speeds things up nicely. Just my opinion though. I've never done deliveries from either neighbourhood.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 10:20 pm

Makes sense. Even pulling out from there with a car to make a left turn can be excruciatingly slow. Shame this old building got lost in the shuffle of re-development.

Re new location - sometimes more distance does equal less time (speaking as a hardened Toronto road warrior who uses wacky detours and side-streets.)

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:23 pm

That actually makes sense I guess. I had assumed that most deliveries would be later in the day and miss the morning rush but that is probably not the case.

Yello to Mello · Post by **Yello to Mello** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:30 pm

This is some bad news as I am one that lives on Stadium Rd. I enjoy walking home with a refreshing 2-5 in the brown box.

On another note, apparently their Sleeping Giant barley wine is releasing tomorrow.

grub · Post by **grub** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:44 pm

Yello to Mello wrote:On another note, apparently their Sleeping Giant barley wine is releasing tomorrow.

and, aside from being a Biergotter collaboration, it's pretty freakin' badass! an excellent barleywine, jack daniels barrel aged, beautifully integrated barrel character and just too damn tasty. Eric and Iain do good work!

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:50 pm

grub wrote:
Yello to Mello wrote:On another note, apparently their Sleeping Giant barley wine is releasing tomorrow.
and, aside from being a Biergotter collaboration, it's pretty freakin' badass! an excellent barleywine, jack daniels barrel aged, beautifully integrated barrel character and just too damn tasty. Eric and Iain do good work!

ISO!

any torontonians wanna pick me up a bottle or 2?

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:28 pm

grub wrote:
Yello to Mello wrote:On another note, apparently their Sleeping Giant barley wine is releasing tomorrow.
and, aside from being a Biergotter collaboration, it's pretty freakin' badass! an excellent barleywine, jack daniels barrel aged, beautifully integrated barrel character and just too damn tasty. Eric and Iain do good work!

i second it. its better than Mill Street and may age nicely. its a very nice first attempt. its not up there with Half Pints in Winnipeg, but its something to be very proud of.

grub · Post by **grub** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:38 pm

atomeyes wrote:i second it. its better than Mill Street and may age nicely. its a very nice first attempt. its not up there with Half Pints in Winnipeg, but its something to be very proud of.

hehe, it'd be hard NOT to make a barleywine better than mill st... the first couple years they made it (back when it was still in stubbys) were the only ones worth drinking - not to mention paying a ridiculous premium now just for the fancy bottles.

i'd also have to politely disagree on declaring it far lesser than burlywine as i'd say it's at least as good as my memory of it, but i might just have to do a side-by-side comparison.