Toby's Pub - College St.

[Cass]

I saw this today on Toronto Star and was struck about how rare it is to see writing/journalism about pubs anymore, outside of Blogto stuff. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed like there used to be a lot more in the Toronto Beer Week era days.

https://www.thestar.com/life/food-and-d ... 2449e.html

[BigBob]

When I hear "Toby's" I think of the burger joint of days gone by but clearly this is something different.

[Cass]

When I hear Toby, I think of this. I seem to remember it was a somewhat unique draft beer in the mid-90s when I was in university...

[S. St. Jeb]

When I hear Toby, I think of this. I seem to remember it was a somewhat unique draft beer in the mid-90s when I was in university...

2851618915_ebb010a87b_c.jpg

Wow, I had quite forgotten about this one.

[BartOwl]

Toby was my favourite beer back in the day, before I knew about craft. That was back during my first year of university. Thanks for bringing back some memories.

[Tapsucker]

Toby was the gateway beer! On to Conner's, Upper Canada, Creemore, Brick...

Kind of like what Tankhouse was at one point before it became undrinkable.

Funny, it was a short while ago I had a beer with a decidedly 'non-craft' beer person. As they sipped a Galactic at the Granite they commented on how they once had a Tankhouse and it turned them off the entire category. Sipping the Galactic they said they would definitely start to explore again. Who'd a thunk?

[midlife crisis]

Toby was the gateway beer! On to Conner's, Upper Canada, Creemore, Brick...

Kind of like what Tankhouse was at one point before it became undrinkable.

It sure was! It was the only non-crap on tap at the Queen's U. grad house in the early 80s, for example, before Conner's or U.C. even existed. My memory of it would be closer to Newcastle Brown (or maybe Left Field Eephus, to be more charitable) than Tankhouse though. Of course, we are talking 40 years ago so my memory could be completely unreliable, too!

[Tapsucker]

Toby was the gateway beer! On to Conner's, Upper Canada, Creemore, Brick...

Kind of like what Tankhouse was at one point before it became undrinkable.

It sure was! It was the only non-crap on tap at the Queen's U. grad house in the early 80s, for example, before Conner's or U.C. even existed. My memory of it would be closer to Newcastle Brown (or maybe Left Field Eephus, to be more charitable) than Tankhouse though. Of course, we are talking 40 years ago so my memory could be completely unreliable, too!

I wasn't suggesting it tasted anything like Tankhouse, just that it served a similar role in leading people away from macro at the time. Newcastle brown is a pretty apt taste comparison, but I might also suggest Waterloo Dark.

[BigBob]

It did seem very exotic at the time, perhaps largely because one had to venture into Toronto to find it. I often wonder if I would like it as much if I had a chance to try it all these years later.

[Cass]

I often wonder if I would like it as much if I had a chance to try it all these years later.

I think about that very thing from time to time about the beers that I first had when I was getting into beer, namely the slate from Upper Canada. Those and the unique beers from the old Niagara Falls Brewing - Eisbock, Maple Wheat, Kriek, Olde Jack - I wonder what I would think of them today.

[midlife crisis]

Yes, the ones you mentioned, plus Conner's Best Bitter, the original (Maclean brewed version of) Wellington County Ale ... I think we would probably say that they lacked hops. That is the easy answer. But part of me thinks I would like them still, and that "traditional English-style pale ale" has again become a kind of underserviced corner of the market.

[Tapsucker]

I often wonder if I would like it as much if I had a chance to try it all these years later.

I think about that very thing from time to time about the beers that I first had when I was getting into beer, namely the slate from Upper Canada. Those and the unique beers from the old Niagara Falls Brewing - Eisbock, Maple Wheat, Kriek, Olde Jack - I wonder what I would think of them today.

Gritstone baby!

[midlife crisis]

Yes! Gritstone was great. Or that is my recollection at least. It would be fun to try it now.

[BartOwl]

If I recall correctly, Michael Jackson described Gritstone as half English brown ale, half Belgian brown ale. Like Creemore, it used a yeast strain that was inconsistent. I think for both Creemore and Gritstone you could describe it as good or excellent depending on the batch, so that is a complement. The variability made for some fun.

[midlife crisis]

Did they use the same (or a similarly inconsistent) yeast for their lager, too, whose name escapes me? I remember it as being all over the map, sometimes quite enjoyable in a muddled, "crafty" (i.e. not clean or highly attenuated) kind of way.