The Bar Towel

Not to disparage all the contenders here, but boy are there a lot of 'best of' ranking discussions!

Can't somebody just think of the beer?

Tapsucker wrote:Not to disparage all the contenders here, but boy are there a lot of 'best of' ranking discussions!

Can't somebody just think of the beer?

We are....

I'm goign to disagree with everyone and list a brewery nobody else has chosen yet....my picks are:

1 - Bellwoods
2 - Muskoka
3 - Great Lakes
4 - Flying Monkeys
5 - Amsterdam

Just think back to what the beer lineup from all those breweries was 3 years ago vs. now, wow they've all stepped it up big time! (And Bellwoods is a great, new addition.)

1. Muskoka - Mad Tom and wide distribution
2. Great Lakes - distribute Karma Citra and you're #1
3. Grand River - always solid and best Mild out there.. 2012 Gun is best Gun ever!!
4. Black Oak - 10BY alone gets them on the list. Still pushing forward with new bottles and cool one offs . Can't wait for next release of 10BY
5. Flying Monkeys - Smashbomb - a key beer in Ontario craft history and still a favorite for me.

Honourable mention - Nickelbrook - kicking ass and taking names with beers like Naughty Neighbour

And all of them are sending at least some of their products outside GTA.

zombi69 wrote:

Tapsucker wrote:Not to disparage all the contenders here, but boy are there a lot of 'best of' ranking discussions!

Can't somebody just think of the beer?

We are....

...constantly.

It strikes me that there are really two geographies for this discussion... Toronto and Not-Toronto.

Almost all of the best stuff happening in this thread is pretty much only available in the GTA.

rejtable wrote:It strikes me that there are really two geographies for this discussion... Toronto and Not-Toronto.

Almost all of the best stuff happening in this thread is pretty much only available in the GTA.

I think the difference really comes down to Bellwoods. If you are in the GTA, you probably have Bellwoods ranked #1 (or at least #2). What other brewery would you consider Toronto-centric? (in other words, would not be expected on a top 5 list from anyone outside of the GTA)

I think Amsterdam and Great Lakes can, for the purposes of this thread, be considered GTA. How often do their limited release/one-off beers make it out of Toronto? A lot of them show up at an event, or at a couple downtown bars. The regular lineup of GL and Amsterdam is really nothing to get excited about.

TheSevenDuffs wrote:I think the difference really comes down to Bellwoods. If you are in the GTA, you probably have Bellwoods ranked #1 (or at least #2). What other brewery would you consider Toronto-centric? (in other words, would not be expected on a top 5 list from anyone outside of the GTA)

Aside from boneshaker and I guess Tempest nothing special being done by Amsterdam is available anywhere else. It was a tremendous year for Great Lakes getting their 25th series in the LCBO, but the rest of their special products are not available here.

For sure, GLB would be in my top 5, but we only see a small portion of what others talk about here. Same with Nickel Brook, Black Oak Cameron's, etc. Note I realize that some of these are not, strictly speaking, in the GTA.

From where I sit, a top 5 would probably look like (no particular order):

Beau's
GLB
Muskoka
Monkeys
??

TheSevenDuffs wrote:

rejtable wrote:It strikes me that there are really two geographies for this discussion... Toronto and Not-Toronto.

Almost all of the best stuff happening in this thread is pretty much only available in the GTA.

I think the difference really comes down to Bellwoods. If you are in the GTA, you probably have Bellwoods ranked #1 (or at least #2). What other brewery would you consider Toronto-centric? (in other words, would not be expected on a top 5 list from anyone outside of the GTA)

It's not just Bellwoods -- it's the brewpubs including Indie, House Ales / Volo, and Granite.

But ... I think that's a relatively common thread in much of North America. Brewpubs have built-in audiences for their product, frequently cater to nerds with off-beat styles, and don't have to worry about selling 1500 litres of that brett-aged quad that people only drink by the 200ml glass.

Jason

andrewrg wrote:I think Amsterdam and Great Lakes can, for the purposes of this thread, be considered GTA. How often do their limited release/one-off beers make it out of Toronto? A lot of them show up at an event, or at a couple downtown bars. The regular lineup of GL and Amsterdam is really nothing to get excited about.

I see your point on GL, but I would think that their new beers that made it to the LCBO in 2012 (25th Porter, 25th Saison, 25th Black IPA) along with the staples are probably enough to get them in every top 5 list. The Project X stuff would be the difference between people in the GTA ranking them 1 or 2, versus others probably ranking them near the bottom of their top 5 though.

JasonTremblay wrote:It's not just Bellwoods -- it's the brewpubs including Indie, House Ales / Volo, and Granite.

Indie Ale House and Granite aren't all that good, so although I agree with your point that they are Toronto-centric, they still won't surface in many top 5 lists of people in the GTA, especially given that these people have access to Bellwoods, Great Lakes Project X beers and possibly House Ales.

House Ales is probably worthy of a top 5 spot for those who frequest Volo, so I will give you that one.

Another observation of mine: had this thread been started a year ago, you likely would have seen Flying Monkeys on a lot of top 5 lists. Now they barely even get a mention at #5 on most of these lists.

In my opinion, FM really took a step backwards last year and I hope we see better things from them in 2013.

I've got no issue with the brewhouses/brewpubs in terms of a Toronto/non-Toronto discussion. Of course we expect more localized access for those.

TheSevenDuffs wrote:Another observation of mine: had this thread been started a year ago, you likely would have seen Flying Monkeys on a lot of top 5 lists. Now they barely even get a mention at #5 on most of these lists.

In my opinion, FM really took a step backwards last year and I hope we see better things from them in 2013.

i 100% agree with this and whats weird is that it seems they took a step backwards in a year that they brewed what is now ontario's #1 beer on ratebeer

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/flying-mon ... ut/192943/

Indie Ale House and Granite aren't all that good

Strongly disagree. Granite making best English-style beers in Ontario, period. (Grand River a close second.)