Pioneer Ontario Breweries

[Tapsucker]

What about filtering makes it non-vegan?

Not 100% positive, but I'd guess it would be the use of isinglass (made from fish swim bladders).

Correct.

[chris_schryer]

As the guy ordering the beer for Castro's, I can confirm, we're talking about not fining the casks with isinglass, because vegans can't get down to it. Stone Hammer, Welly, and Neustadt all generally fine their casks with isinglass, but leave ours unfined, as we get a lot of vegans in (at least, compared to most other bars).

Regarding DE, you run into this argument about where a vegan draws the line. I mean, yeast is a single-celled organism; in cask beer it's alive when you consume it. They won't even eat honey because it's produced by a bee (even though the bee isn't harmed in it's production), but they will eat fruits that require cross pollination to produce fruit. Yes, it can happen through breezes and direct contact, but most of it is via bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. I used to enjoy baiting vegans about this, but just don't care anymore. If a vegan comes over the top at me for eating seafood (I generally don't eat mammal/bird) then I'll argue a bit, but I'm much more into live an let live. Vegans know that they consume bugs incidentally, and possibly bigger stuff occasionally too. For most, it's more about intention and mind-set over militant food-based rules.

I can be okay about that. There are people with way more screwed-up opinions. Ford still has an approval rating of over 30%.........

[Belgian]

Yeah the vegans are pretty amusing. "First World Problems" as Emma Blackery likes to say.

I mean at least organics makes sense to me, not killing our life ecosystem faster than it can recover.

[S. St. Jeb]

"One of the first craft breweries in Ontario established in 1996"

Not sure how far up the list you have to be to be considered "one of the first", but I think this is an exaggeration.

Obviously the true pioneers were Wellington, upperCanada, Conners and Hart (I may be forgetting one or two others). But I would say they were important for a while in the early second wave?

I fondly remember Conners Best Bitter, especially from the Don Valley days of the brewery.

I think we can add the early iterations of Amsterdam, plus Niagara and Algonquin, and maybe, just maybe, let Brick and Northern squeak onto the list.

Oh, and of course, The Granite.

EDIT: and Denisons

No maybe about Brick as far as I'm concerned. They were first in Ontario and helped pave the way for others.

By Northern, are you referring to the company that had breweries in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins?? That company had a long, long history, but were not part of the coming of micro-breweries in Ontario. Maybe you mean something else...but I can't think of any other "Northern".

[Tapsucker]

By Northern, are you referring to the company that had breweries in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins?? That company had a long, long history, but were not part of the coming of micro-breweries in Ontario. Maybe you mean something else...but I can't think of any other "Northern".

Yes, that's who I was referring to. I'll concede, not 'craft' per say, but in their day they were an alternative to the big boys. They did seem to be fighting in the budget category, but I thought the product was pretty decent, so I'll give them my vote. It kind of brings up the question, how does one lay claim to this category? I remember a lot of consternation over Sleeman at some point.

Maybe we are so keen on genuine that we lose sight of good? Not saying that Northern or Sleeman were/are that good, just asking...

[Coronaeus]

Northern was founded in 1907. I think they would be more akin to Moosehead as a regional macro producer were they still around in their original incarnation today. Were Sleeman’s independent, I’d suggest them for that category too. Certainly nothing ‘micro’ or ‘craft’ about the former in the sense those terms are usually applied.


I was in Quebec during the early days so only remember this period in Ontario from brief visits grabbing whatever I might find. Where does Scotch-Irish (sic) fit in? Was that part of the first wave? I remember hearing good things about them. I just can’t remember when they existed.

[midlife crisis]

Northern was founded in 1907. I think they would be more akin to Moosehead as a regional macro producer were they still around in their original incarnation today. Were Sleeman’s independent, I’d suggest them for that category too. Certainly nothing ‘micro’ or ‘craft’ about the former in the sense those terms are usually applied.


I was in Quebec during the early days so only remember this period in Ontario from brief visits grabbing whatever I might find. Where does Scotch-Irish (sic) fit in? Was that part of the first wave? I remember hearing good things about them. I just can’t remember when they existed.

Oh man. Very early 2000's? Not entirely sure. I do remember buying a case of that fantastic Tsarina beer out of Perry M's trunk. Those were the days.