The Bar Towel

came across this:

But does it even matter? The beer stinks.

Agreed with Liam, but Kanata-ish...I'll likely stop in every now and then. I'm down to try a seasonal from them every now and then.

From what I know, it will be a production facility. No food. Pumping beer into the LCBO.

I've also heard rumours that Phillips has purchased a location downtown for a second restaurant.

liamt07 wrote:But does it even matter? The beer stinks.

I don't know I think they have had some pretty solid offerings. Their ESB is pretty good, and I really liked the Iron Arse charity beer they made for the ride for dad event. Their Raspberry ale was nice too. What I do appreciate is that they actually try new things, that a lot of breweries aren't. I was there on Sunday for brunch and their seasonals included a Dubbel, a Black IPA, a chocolate milk stout and a session IPA. And that was on top of their standard offerings.

Considering the fact that with Chris Phillips's name recognition they could have just been a standard sports bar and have been pretty successful, this kind of thing always impresses me. I mean how many other brew pubs make a dubbel?

Kel Varnsen wrote:
I don't know I think they have had some pretty solid offerings. Their ESB is pretty good, and I really liked the Iron Arse charity beer they made for the ride for dad event. Their Raspberry ale was nice too. What I do appreciate is that they actually try new things, that a lot of breweries aren't. I was there on Sunday for brunch and their seasonals included a Dubbel, a Black IPA, a chocolate milk stout and a session IPA. And that was on top of their standard offerings.

Agreed. Enjoyed their hopfen weizen in particular. The beer does not, generally, stink.

Bytowner wrote:

Kel Varnsen wrote:
I don't know I think they have had some pretty solid offerings. Their ESB is pretty good, and I really liked the Iron Arse charity beer they made for the ride for dad event. Their Raspberry ale was nice too. What I do appreciate is that they actually try new things, that a lot of breweries aren't. I was there on Sunday for brunch and their seasonals included a Dubbel, a Black IPA, a chocolate milk stout and a session IPA. And that was on top of their standard offerings.

Agreed. Enjoyed their hopfen weizen in particular. The beer does not, generally, stink.

Second that - any new place that promotes craft beer, puts out some solid offerings, and is willing to try new things is worthwhile. It raises the profile of all good beer, and may encourage people to try things they wouldn't otherwise even buy.

liamt07 wrote:But does it even matter? The beer stinks.

Have you been to Ottawa to try their seasonal? I imagine they could say the same about several Toronto breweries that only send flagship beers to Ottawa...

I haven't really seen any Big Rig beer around Toronto lately.

liamt07 wrote:But does it even matter? The beer stinks.

The beer is completely solid. It is not always exciting, but it is brewed solidly to style and it's quality. The IPA is really good.

No matter what you say, Lon's German styles are spot on. Hefe and Hopfenweisse are bang on.

Seems they've sold to a Quebec company looking to expand Nationwide.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/o ... -1.5170120