The Bar Towel

In the paper today...
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/brew/ ... story.html

Sounds interesting; a small operation starting with three different ales. Hart Brewing was before my (drinking) time, but hopefully it leads them in the right direction.

Always good to hear about more brewing happening in the Ottawa area! Too bad it would be tricky to get out there for most people (including myself).

We stopped by the Old Mill Pub in Ashton on the way to the cottage and on the way back. It is a favourite country pub of a older friend who hails originally from Newcastle. The staff was very friendly and made our kids (4 and 6) feel very welcome.

The brewery will be doing a total of 4 different beers. Currently they have both the Ashton Amber and Ashton Cream Ale with a blonde or pilsner to follow in a couple of weeks. The fourth isn't decided yet but a brown ale seems like a possibility.

The beers closely follow the old Hart Brewing recipes, except for substitutions of grains that are more difficult to get now than then.

My impressions are that the beers are well made and will cater to a wide audience. There is nothing that is going to blow your socks off but the ales are sessionable and fit with the feel of this long established pub.

Now that I know how close it is to home, I'll be making the trip out to this pub a few times a year for a good meal and to check how the brewery is doing.

Woo Hoo. Good news. Thanks for this. Always looking for new places in and around Ottawa.

I used to work for the Hodgins. I couldn't imagine a better group of dudes to take over a brew pub.

I'll have to make the trek out that way!

BTW.. initial reports about the beer from the local homebrewing organization in the area have not been positive. Lets hope things improve.

Durf, Carleton Place is farther from Ottawa than I thought. I assume the beers are only available on site?

I haven't seen them around town as of yet. So yeah I'd assume it's only on site.

Carleton Place is about 45 minutes from downtown Ottawa.

In the original article, they expressed interest in starting a bottling line in the future.

You can give the cream ale a try at paddy's pub, on Bank, they are still going through the licences to get it up to Quinn's.

They don't know if they are going to do bottles, but growlers might be a possibility.