The Bar Towel

S. St. Jeb wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2024 10:16 am

distr0 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2024 5:51 pm 2 more closures I heard of from the GLB podcast this week:
Humble Beginnings in Ingleside
Flyby brewing in Trenton

Ha! These two would be on my list of “don’t recall hearing of them before”.

Same here

Lake of Bays merging with Merit

https://lakeofbaysbrewing.ca/pages/pr

distr0 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 5:14 pm Lake of Bays merging with Merit

https://lakeofbaysbrewing.ca/pages/pr

Unexpected combo but why not. Hope things stay as-is in Hamilton as I enjoy Merit's taproom and it's a regular visit.

What a strange pairing!

Hopefully the only change is better access to Merit stuff in the LCBO and taps across the province.

Am I the only one who likes Lake of Bays beers, and their restaurants too? lol.

Two quite different breweries, hope they both do well going forward.

El Pinguino wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 10:59 am Am I the only one who likes Lake of Bays beers, and their restaurants too? lol.

Two quite different breweries, hope they both do well going forward.

Nope. Stumbled on it once a few years back when I was up that way and it was very enjoyable!

El Pinguino wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 10:59 am Am I the only one who likes Lake of Bays beers, and their restaurants too? lol.

I've never been to their restaurant(s) but have not enjoyed their beers over the years. I presume they've improved?

lister wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 11:17 am

El Pinguino wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 10:59 am Am I the only one who likes Lake of Bays beers, and their restaurants too? lol.

I've never been to their restaurant(s) but have not enjoyed their beers over the years. I presume they've improved?

I think LB beers have improved. I never thought the quality was poor, just a bit bland and not true to style. I think their recent beers have been truer to style, and their low and na beers in particular are pretty decent.

Still, a weird merger for sure. Since LB has a decent sized sales force, I'm wondering if his is a step towards building a portfolio outside of their main brand.

El Pinguino wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 10:59 am Am I the only one who likes Lake of Bays beers, and their restaurants too? lol.

Stopped in to the Huntsville location a last winter and the beers had definitely improved over previous years IMO, still skewing towards accessible. Food was a mixed bag - one dish was excellent, and one was pretty not great.

Between Two Fermenters

Special One-Off Episode
An Ontario Merger – Lake of Bays and Merit

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0dLFPY ... sQqj5CHokg

Aviary / Longslice looking to sell itself:

The company I work for has for a long time sourced their beer kegs from Big Rock in Liberty Village. I just got a message that Big Rock will be closing operations in Liberty Village in February. Consequently, our taps will be from Leftfield in the future. I always thought the core lineup from BR was a bit meh, but some of their one-offs were decent.

That's a definite improvement.

BartOwl wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 11:44 am The company I work for has for a long time sourced their beer kegs from Big Rock in Liberty Village. I just got a message that Big Rock will be closing operations in Liberty Village in February. Consequently, our taps will be from Leftfield in the future. I always thought the core lineup from BR was a bit meh, but some of their one-offs were decent.

From time to time I stopped into the BR tasting bar on the ground level, which was a nice spot for a quick beer or two before catching the GO train at Exhibition. But since LFB opened, I hadn't been back.

I always thought Big Rock's Ontario push was a bit odd, never seemed to catch on despite a fair amount of investment.

It felt like a push that came maybe 5-10 years too late. Nothing about them stood out by the time they arrived, they felt like a middling player in a saturated market.

I feel similar things about the Goose Island Toronto location.