The Bar Towel

Apparently it's opening today.
http://www.momandhops.ca/radical-road-b ... y-toronto/

I'm eager to see the space. no idea how they will be able to operate a brewery and a brewpub in that space. looks like it's under 2500 sq ft and doesn't have tall ceilings.

Almost forgot about these guys! That's pretty far east, thankfully I play softball out there sometimes though...a reason to drink.

El Pinguino wrote:Almost forgot about these guys! That's pretty far east, thankfully I play softball out there sometimes though...a reason to drink.

Far east? Really? Can't wait til Bim opens his location.

You play in the beaches league?

DeMarco wrote:

El Pinguino wrote:Almost forgot about these guys! That's pretty far east, thankfully I play softball out there sometimes though...a reason to drink.

Far east? Really? Can't wait til Bim opens his location.

You play in the beaches league?

Having walked out there from King & Spadina, it's pretty far. Best tasting Sidelaunch Wheat ever though!

I noticed Radical Road last weekend when I was in Descendant Pizza.

DeMarco wrote:Far east? Really? Can't wait til Bim opens his location.

Haha. And 'far east' from what - Mimico? Everything's relative, just hopefully your parents weren't!

I walked by Bim's and looking into the big glass storefront the counter stone slabs never move, looks like no recent activity. However Left Field always makes a nice stop, with interesting locals.

lister wrote:Having walked out there from King & Spadina, it's pretty far. Best tasting Sidelaunch Wheat ever though!

That is a nice walk, it takes in a lot of good Toronto streetscapes. I sometimes walk over to the Queen bridge just to look out over the Don river and the city in all directions from that point, looks great at night.

lister wrote:

DeMarco wrote:

El Pinguino wrote:Almost forgot about these guys! That's pretty far east, thankfully I play softball out there sometimes though...a reason to drink.

Far east? Really? Can't wait til Bim opens his location.

You play in the beaches league?

Having walked out there from King & Spadina, it's pretty far. Best tasting Sidelaunch Wheat ever though!

I noticed Radical Road last weekend when I was in Descendant Pizza.

we also have Pizza Thick a bit west of Descendant. also great, and it has Death in Venice gelato (best gelato going in the city)

atomeyes wrote:we also have Pizza Thick a bit west of Descendant. also great, and it has Death in Venice gelato (best gelato going in the city)

Cool! Probably won't get back out to Leslieville until next summer but will definitely check out Pizza Thick next time.

Pizza thick has really good ice cream too, not just gelato.

I'm at radical road right now. They have three beers on:

Sling Shot - a California common which they say it's the flagship. It's fine, I guess. Not my style, so I can't really pass judgement. I don't notice any flaws in it, other than what I normally taste as flaws in a CC. Again, not my thing.

Shoreline saison - A saison. Fine, but not great. Nice and dry, but lacking a little body. Would probably be better with a little age on it.

Yuzu Pale Ale - a pale ale with yuzu. This one is pretty nice. Falls much more on the fruity side.

The place seats 18 at tables and 8 at the bar plus stone standing room by my count. There's no patio right now, no clue if that's in the plans. It's a nice little space, balancing cozy and modern.

The brewery appears to be a couple of maybe 1 barrel pots. Not really industrial scale.

The food looks and smells good. Reasonable prices too, some day I'll come back for dinner. Honestly, this feels more like a small restaurant that happens to make their own beer than a brewery.

Craig wrote:
The brewery appears to be a couple of maybe 1 barrel pots. Not really industrial scale.

The food looks and smells good. Reasonable prices too, some day I'll come back for dinner. Honestly, this feels more like a small restaurant that happens to make their own beer than a brewery.

yeah. really makes me wonder about the business plan. no idea how these nanobreweries plan on staying open when they're paying leslieville rent and Ontario taxes and wages.

i wish them no ill will and i don't know the people. i just hope they had a business plan.

and their taplist looks really uninspiring. no need for me to rush out and try it.

atomeyes wrote:

Craig wrote:
The brewery appears to be a couple of maybe 1 barrel pots. Not really industrial scale.

The food looks and smells good. Reasonable prices too, some day I'll come back for dinner. Honestly, this feels more like a small restaurant that happens to make their own beer than a brewery.

yeah. really makes me wonder about the business plan. no idea how these nanobreweries plan on staying open when they're paying leslieville rent and Ontario taxes and wages.

i wish them no ill will and i don't know the people. i just hope they had a business plan.

and their taplist looks really uninspiring. no need for me to rush out and try it.

Also having no knowledge of their business plan, I wonder if they're just trying to be a restaurant and making their own beer to eke a little more profit out of it?

Also, the bartender said they're heading back to the LCBO soon, so I suppose it's probably an avenue to make & sell trial batches.

Craig wrote:

atomeyes wrote:

Craig wrote:
The brewery appears to be a couple of maybe 1 barrel pots. Not really industrial scale.

The food looks and smells good. Reasonable prices too, some day I'll come back for dinner. Honestly, this feels more like a small restaurant that happens to make their own beer than a brewery.

yeah. really makes me wonder about the business plan. no idea how these nanobreweries plan on staying open when they're paying leslieville rent and Ontario taxes and wages.

i wish them no ill will and i don't know the people. i just hope they had a business plan.

and their taplist looks really uninspiring. no need for me to rush out and try it.

Also having no knowledge of their business plan, I wonder if they're just trying to be a restaurant and making their own beer to eke a little more profit out of it?

Also, the bartender said they're heading back to the LCBO soon, so I suppose it's probably an avenue to make & sell trial batches.

they're contract brewing their large batches somewhere else. i assume they're doing the same with their flagship beer. no real $$ to be made in contracting, but i guess that if the majority of your sales are coming in house, then sure, you can make money.

there are countless discussions that validate that there's (almost always) little fiscal point brewing batches that are less than 800 litres.

Very nice guys - I hope to try their new place out soon and wish them every success, though unfortunately the location is a bit on the "way east" side for me too.

Craig wrote:Also, the bartender said they're heading back to the LCBO soon, so I suppose it's probably an avenue to make & sell trial batches.

They've had an LCBO listing before? I don't recall.

S. St. Jeb wrote:

Craig wrote:Also, the bartender said they're heading back to the LCBO soon, so I suppose it's probably an avenue to make & sell trial batches.

They've had an LCBO listing before? I don't recall.

Two of them actually. Canny Man was a smoked wee heavy in a black paper wrapped 750ml, which was decent, and The Wayward Son was an underrated golden ale aged in pinot barrels and came in a boxed 750ml. I'm pretty confident they brew at Black Oak.

Pretty sure I still have a bottle of Canny Man in storage...it wasn't my favourite when I first had it though.
The Wayward Son I did quite enjoy.