Railway City Ironspike Blond

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:40 pm

I was at the brewery for the opening day and I picked up a growler of this. Its a hoppy, well balanced, full flavoured ale that is perfect for summer quenching.

Al and crew have worked hard to get the ball rolling here, so lets show our support by stopping by the brewery in St Thomas and picking up a growler.

Its only 15 minutes south of London!

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:32 am

Good to hear! I'll be in Windsor in a few weeks and hope to stop into the brewery on the drive home to pick up some beer. Looking forward to it even more after your tantalizing review. Sounds like my perfect sort of summer session brew.

tupalev · Post by **tupalev** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:19 am

Had a fresh growler of this last night (thanks Len). While I would not call it hoppy (or blonde for that matter - it was pretty dark amber I guess), it is a solid first offering. Sweet without cloying, refreshing, medium to full bodied for the style and very drinkable - a session style lighter ale. And it tasted very fresh, obviously the best way to enjoy a beer like this. If this was local and I needed a drinking beer for the weekend, I would not hesitate to pick this up.

Given my personal preferences for more "out there" beers, I look forward to seeing what else these guys can come up in the future. Best of luck to them, they are off to a good start (the growler label and design was pretty impressive as well).

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sun May 11, 2008 8:47 pm

I was a little less impressed with this than I thought I would be, but it is still a decent hot weather quaffer. Really like the graphics on the growler.

For anyone that's interested, as of yesterday (Sat. May 10) they had two other beers - a Copper and an Amber - both set to go in growlers.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Sun May 11, 2008 8:48 pm

velovampire wrote:I was a little less impressed with this than I thought I would be, but it is still a decent hot weather quaffer. Really like the graphics on the growler.

For anyone that's interested, as of yesterday (Sat. May 10) they had two other beers - a Copper and an Amber - both set to go in growlers.

I'lll be there tomorrow, so I'll check out these beers.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed May 14, 2008 10:39 pm

Sampled these today. The Amber is a spicy, bold representation of the style and cetrtainly has its place amongst us.
The copper was a bit thin, but that is only a minor complaint. Quite tasty as well.

If anyone is in the london area it is worth checking out. It is also woth checking out chaucers pub and M.E and Suzies and other fine establishments in the Middlesex/Elgin county area.

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Mon May 26, 2008 6:57 pm

Made a visit to Railway City on Saturday. Nice little operation they've got going. Friendly people in there, gave us samples of all three and took us on a tour of the brewery. Bought a six of the copper, which I think is a pretty decent brew.

Blonde wasn't too bad, probably grab the amber if I make a return visit (thought it had a bit of a brewed tea taste to it).

Took a few snaps:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27095928@N ... 272423737/

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Mon May 26, 2008 10:48 pm

gedge, easy to find?

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Mon May 26, 2008 10:53 pm

northyorksammy wrote:gedge, easy to find?

I know they were going to build a maze around St. Thomas so that people who resided outside of Middlesex county would not have access to the beer, but they scrapped the idea last minute.

That being said, if you want to try the beer, they are now doing sixes, I could ship some out to people in trades if thats the way you want to go.

But I think more people from the T.O .area need to start representing down in the southwest. There are pleny of good places in the area to warrant a day trip or even an overnight stay. Ship up!

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:41 am

northyorksammy wrote:gedge, easy to find?

Yeah, it's downtown (and St. Thomas is small to begin with). 168 Curtis St. is the address.

tupalev · Post by **tupalev** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:07 am

But I think more people from the T.O .area need to start representing down in the southwest. There are pleny of good places in the area to warrant a day trip or even an overnight stay. Ship up!

The southwest certainly makes for some good beer day trips, no question. And it is a lot closer than say Montreal (but further than Buffalo). But personally, breweries/bars are not high on my list of family day trip destinations. I also like to leave the car as far away from me as possible when beering it up - living downtown Toronto one gets used to walking/ttc'ing everywhere when beer is involved.

Beer is a local thing - the southwest certainly has the population to support many fine establishments and it is great to see it becoming a microbrewery hotbed. You guys keep the support up there and I'll be happy to throw my touristy beer dollars your way when I am in the area.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Thu May 29, 2008 5:36 pm

With all due respect, London and environs is about as far from a "microbrewery hotbed" as we have in urban southern Ontario. My brother lives there and I therefore visit from time to time. For a city it's size the good beer choices are limited to say the least -- the King Edward is by far the best pub (and it's not even in town!). Chaucer's is good but suffers in my personal preference because it has no cask conditioned beer. I'm sure I would drink there if I lived in London but there must be 20 places in Toronto whose selection is superior. Overall, I'd rather be out and about in Ottawa, K/W - Cambridge, Hamilton, Guelph or even Peterborough!

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:54 pm

midlife crisis wrote:With all due respect, London and environs is about as far from a "microbrewery hotbed" as we have in urban southern Ontario. My brother lives there and I therefore visit from time to time. For a city it's size the good beer choices are limited to say the least -- the King Edward is by far the best pub (and it's not even in town!). Chaucer's is good but suffers in my personal preference because it has no cask conditioned beer. I'm sure I would drink there if I lived in London but there must be 20 places in Toronto whose selection is superior. Overall, I'd rather be out and about in Ottawa, K/W - Cambridge, Hamilton, Guelph or even Peterborough!

It sucks that Chaucer's don't have a cask from time, I'll give you that, but I wouldn't say the scene in Cambridge beats London.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Thu May 29, 2008 7:26 pm

Perhaps I was exaggerating somewhat. But I was thinking of how much Grand River has improved things there. It's great that Railway City is now brewing, but their stuff (granted I've only tried one growler) is a long way from Grand River's, from a Bar Towel point of view at least.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Thu May 29, 2008 7:30 pm

midlife crisis wrote:Perhaps I was exaggerating somewhat. But I was thinking of how much Grand River has improved things there. It's great that Railway City is now brewing, but their stuff (granted I've only tried one growler) is a long way from Grand River's, from a Bar Towel point of view at least.

Agreed. Grand River does add a very bright to that area of the South.

Railway city might not be making stuff at the same level as Grand River, but their beers are above average, and are certainly tastier (at least to me) than a lot of stuff that you can normally find a new brewery experimenting with in this area.