The Bar Towel

I finally got around to checking out this fine establishment yesterday evening. I was very pleased with my experience there and would love to get back sometime very soon.

The beers available range from local craft stuff to European macros, and some good imported stuff. Fullers ESB, London Pride and Porter, Hacker Pschorr Braumeister Pils, all of Grand Rivers stuff, and St Amboise Oatmeal Stout and Pale Ale are some of their options amongst a number of other things. The menu is very tantalizing and generally items are priced fairly and on par with a decent night out without TOO large a hit to the pocket book. It is the theme and decoration of the place that is really amazing. The place just screams New Zealand. All sorts of cool looking stuff all over the place, with some very classy and inviting other elements thrown in. There are two bars, one at one end of the building, and the other as part of a lounge area in the back. Lots of space in between to eat. The service is very friendly and helpful, many of the employees have Kiwi accents so I can only assume it is almost a family run establishment.

The guy who owns the place is really cool too. We got to talking and he was impressed that I'm so into craft beer given my age and that I'm a student. I really recommend this place, especially since it's the best place we've got now in Waterloo Region since the Castle has closed.

St. Ambroise on tap or in bottles?

On tap! They've also got the Mcauslan Griffon Pale Ale on tap, and they list the Griffon Brown but it wasn't there for my visit.

And... Len ordered a good portion of Premier's lot of Fullers 'Mr. Harry" which is due to arrive soon. Yikes!?!, I might have to switch off the Plowman's for a session or two

Yeah, great place. Only been there a couple of times - fair ways from home - but really liked it. Apologize for hijacking another thread, but this pub and fresh Grand River from the retail store would make Galt (of all places!) about the third best beer community in Ontario, IMO.

midlife crisis wrote:Yeah, great place. Only been there a couple of times - fair ways from home - but really liked it. Apologize for hijacking another thread, but this pub and fresh Grand River from the retail store would make Galt (of all places!) about the third best beer community in Ontario, IMO.

Interesting assessment, though I do agree it is quite the oasis for craft beer in what is even more so than ever, a desert since the closing of the Castle. But I must ask, what would be the two spots ahead of it?

JesseM wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:Yeah, great place. Only been there a couple of times - fair ways from home - but really liked it. Apologize for hijacking another thread, but this pub and fresh Grand River from the retail store would make Galt (of all places!) about the third best beer community in Ontario, IMO.

Interesting assessment, though I do agree it is quite the oasis for craft beer in what is even more so than ever, a desert since the closing of the Castle. But I must ask, what would be the two spots ahead of it?

Ottawa, and then Toronto in a distant second place.

SteelbackGuy wrote:

JesseM wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:Yeah, great place. Only been there a couple of times - fair ways from home - but really liked it. Apologize for hijacking another thread, but this pub and fresh Grand River from the retail store would make Galt (of all places!) about the third best beer community in Ontario, IMO.

Interesting assessment, though I do agree it is quite the oasis for craft beer in what is even more so than ever, a desert since the closing of the Castle. But I must ask, what would be the two spots ahead of it?

Ottawa, and then Toronto in a distant second place.

Well I was thinking more along the lines of specific areas rather than large cities, given that Galt is just a part of Cambridge. Though I guess this opens up another question, behind Toronto and Ottawa what would be the next best city for beer in Ontario. Surely anything in Waterloo Region such as Cambridge can't come anywhere near 3rd spot .

You'd be surprised Jesse. Take London for example. A city of over 460,000 people. It should have several establishments that serve craft beer. Sadly, there are only a few, with one not even really in London, but in Ilderton, a small town 10 minutes north of London. So there are only two places in the entire city to get a good beer, and they are only three blocks from each other, and are both downtown. So unless you are in the central part of the city, you are out of luck.

What strikes me as odd is that the two places that do serve craft beer, seem to be doing very, very well. I don't go to the Keaton as often as I used to as they have basically turned into a night club for UWO students, but I go to Chaucer's at least once a week. Besides having excellent Czech and German food, the beer selection is always plentiful and rotating. I went in today and found Carolus Noel, Van De Kaiser Blue, ANker Boscilous, O'Hanlons Port Stout, Chimay Blue, Rochefort 10, 8, and many more bottles. A pretty good selection, and one that disappears quickly.

I know a gentleman who owns a place called the Black Pearl, which is in the north end of London. He has tried to put on craft beer several times. He has had Okanagan Pale, Railway City, Creemore, Steamwhistle, and a few more. Nothing crazy, but even standard fare such as this ends up not selling, and he is left wondering how.

Strange I know. But it tells you at least that even in large cities, the craft beer movement can be a slow one indeed.

That is unfortunate, the situation you describe in London. Although I'd kill to try anything on Chaucer's bottle list, as a good bottle list is something I've never experienced, not even at the Castle (granted their bottle selection was OK, never more than a handful of LCBO stuff though). The Kiwi's tap selection also isn't rotating, or most of it at least. It is sad though that a city with almost half a million people like London only has a couple good places.

But consider that KW now only has .5 of a good place for decent beer. The Huether in my mind only counts as half a good place, given the half-ass nature of the place (note, that shot comes from MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS of the place, try not to be offended anyone). Cambridge, and Galt especially are more or less autonomous from KW despite the whole 'tri-city' thing.

Anyways, this Craptario dead horse has been flogged long enough, I get depressed after discussing it for too long .

Jesse,
It is a long process that seems to be at a low ebb. Though I haven't been in in a while try Jane Bond and Bhima's Warung. They both have had a decent lineup in the past.

I'll be by the Kiwi for lunch next week, after I stop by Grand River to get some growler fills. I'll report back on my thoughts upon my return.

im heading to the kiwi tonight with some asipring beer geeks, am very much looking forward to it and ill post my reveiw tommorow

Only two places in Ontario better than Galt at the moment (leaving aside Toronto and Ottawa) are Guelph and Peterborough, and not by much. I am being completely serious. (I'm talking about just the communities themselves, not the ability to drive somewhere else -- obviously the whole Niagara Region is much better if ease of driving across the border is one of the criteria, as is Windsor).

Windsor sux.