The Bar Towel

How come no one's pointed out that the Parkdale Bomber is just undiluted Cool?

Cool's made to 7ish% strength and then diluted post fermentation (or so i've been told by a very good source)

There's apparently another Duggan's beer that is not really a Duggan's beer. just someone else's recipe. wish i could remember the name.

Interesting...and a bit strange.
I like the Bomber more than many of their other beers, so I don't really care how/who makes it.

El Pinguino wrote:Interesting...and a bit strange.
I like the Bomber more than many of their other beers, so I don't really care how/who makes it.

just not sure why you'd advertise it as a Duggan beer if it is indeed just Cool at brewery strength.
we get it that he's contracting out of Cool. But when your "brewery" (for lack of better terminology) is your last name, then I'd expect the recipes to be your recipes and not a flagship lager that's been on the market for decades.
kind of deceitful, in my opinion.
just like opening a brewpub when it's pretty obvious that a good % of the beer at the brewpub are not brewed on premises. kind if false advertising.

never understood the fascination with Duggans. everything i've had from them has been sub-standard. i don't mean for that to come across as harsh as it does but it is what it is.

I always liked the porter that he had at the old location. It wasn't on at the new brewpub. I don't think I'd use the term substandard but it's generally pretty safe, middle of the road styles and interpretations.

atomeyes wrote:

El Pinguino wrote:Interesting...and a bit strange.
I like the Bomber more than many of their other beers, so I don't really care how/who makes it.

just not sure why you'd advertise it as a Duggan beer if it is indeed just Cool at brewery strength.
we get it that he's contracting out of Cool. But when your "brewery" (for lack of better terminology) is your last name, then I'd expect the recipes to be your recipes and not a flagship lager that's been on the market for decades.
kind of deceitful, in my opinion.
just like opening a brewpub when it's pretty obvious that a good % of the beer at the brewpub are not brewed on premises. kind if false advertising.

I couldn't agree more with everything you've said. Don't see myself stopping by any time soon.

jeremyg wrote:never understood the fascination with Duggans. everything i've had from them has been sub-standard. i don't mean for that to come across as harsh as it does but it is what it is.

they were a very important brewery in our city's beer development.
them and Mill Street.
in my opinion, both of their relevance starts and stops 10+ years ago. neither have moved forward beer-wise and sell sizzle (or, in Mill St's case, give away swag and probably payola) instead of steak.

i also cannot figure out why Mascot chose Duggan to, erm, "brew" their beer for them. it's as if he has cache. and, to a certain extent, i guess he does. not sure how well his brewpub does and i think some of his beer are on tap around the city. but there are other people out there to pair up with.

jeremyg wrote:never understood the fascination with Duggans. everything i've had from them has been sub-standard. i don't mean for that to come across as harsh as it does but it is what it is.

I generally agree with this, but as atomeyes explained, they are kind of a legacy brewery. I didn't have the opportunity to try any Duggan beers until long after their heyday, but I can understand why the weissbier or #9 IPA would have been popular in a craft beer desert such as Ontario, circa 2004-05. They haven't really done much else since then, though, so the relevance of the brand is dwindling.

While we're on the topic of old breweries that have dropped from memory and are repackaging old recipes - Hockley was doing this earlier in the year and it kind of rustled my jimmies. That is, putting their amber ale into bombers, re-branding it with a hokey made-up legend and then marking the price up. The only new beers they've put out in three years are a pair of blonde ales (one of which they've already abandoned), and now they need to resort to cheap marketing tricks? Why not just, I don't know, brew something new?

It makes me sad to see that place stagnate... I know they've never been all that highly renowned in beer geek circles, but their dark ale was still one of the beers that got me into craft.

TheSevenDuffs wrote:

atomeyes wrote:

El Pinguino wrote:Interesting...and a bit strange.
I like the Bomber more than many of their other beers, so I don't really care how/who makes it.

just not sure why you'd advertise it as a Duggan beer if it is indeed just Cool at brewery strength.
we get it that he's contracting out of Cool. But when your "brewery" (for lack of better terminology) is your last name, then I'd expect the recipes to be your recipes and not a flagship lager that's been on the market for decades.
kind of deceitful, in my opinion.
just like opening a brewpub when it's pretty obvious that a good % of the beer at the brewpub are not brewed on premises. kind if false advertising.

I couldn't agree more with everything you've said. Don't see myself stopping by any time soon.

I second this.

What I don't understand is that Michael seams like a nice guy and has a great brand. Why not try harder?

Their place is super convenient for me, so I stop by fairly often.
I had been hoping they'd start doing up some really fun, creative beers in their basement brewing operation...but nothing yet. I get that "could try harder" feeling too.

Now they are promoting live jazz / music nights etc....that's fine, but I'd rather see more focus on the beer. It's a nice spot....but they need to ramp up their game, no matter where any of their beers are being brewed.

alsiem wrote:I always liked the porter that he had at the old location. It wasn't on at the new brewpub. I don't think I'd use the term substandard but it's generally pretty safe, middle of the road styles and interpretations.

I keep saying to them: "Bring back the Porter. It was your best beer and then it disappeared inexplicably."

Is Duggan's also Mascot Brewery? Does Mascot Brewery brew at their downtown location or do they just contract brew at the Duggan's brewpub and rebrand other Duggan's beers...

A picture of them brewing on their instagram looks like it's a Duggans... can anyone fill me in?

https://instagram.com/mascotbrewery/

groulxsome wrote:Is Duggan's also Mascot Brewery? Does Mascot Brewery brew at their downtown location or do they just contract brew at the Duggan's brewpub and rebrand other Duggan's beers...

A picture of them brewing on their instagram looks like it's a Duggans... can anyone fill me in?

https://instagram.com/mascotbrewery/

let's back it up.

Duggan was the consultant for Mascot.
i can pretty much assure you that Mascot's beer are not being brewed on west Queen West. hell, how many of Duggan's beer are being brewed at west Queen West?
Mascot doesn't have a taplist online, so can't tell you what's up. but i'd assume any Mascot beer is brewed at Cool.

atomeyes wrote:

groulxsome wrote:Is Duggan's also Mascot Brewery? Does Mascot Brewery brew at their downtown location or do they just contract brew at the Duggan's brewpub and rebrand other Duggan's beers...

A picture of them brewing on their instagram looks like it's a Duggans... can anyone fill me in?

https://instagram.com/mascotbrewery/

let's back it up.

Duggan was the consultant for Mascot.
i can pretty much assure you that Mascot's beer are not being brewed on west Queen West. hell, how many of Duggan's beer are being brewed at west Queen West?
Mascot doesn't have a taplist online, so can't tell you what's up. but i'd assume any Mascot beer is brewed at Cool.

Checked untappd. They have a pilsner and a Hefeweizen. The pilsner is probably a Duggans Cool-brewed brand. The Hefe seems to be brewed at the Duggan's pub (what Cool brand could be the Hefe?). They have at least taken a picture of them brewing at Duggans: