Polkapolooza Craft Beer Tour 2017 - Day 4 Take the Long Way Home

Polkapolooza Day 4 had 8 great stops!

  Things start better when you wake up to a homemade breakfast. While most of our trip started with a stop at Tim Horton's, on Day 4 of Polkapolooza, our good friends Verena and Richard made sure we left Barrie with our stomachs full of awesome. Staying with fellow beer geeks made for a late night, but walking into the kitchen and seeing fresh waffles, whipped cream and back bacon to go with a hot cuppa joe is the perfect wake up call. Sitting around the table, we relived some of our moments from the night before, talked about the days ambitious trek home and the capper for the evening. Saying good bye and loading all the Day 3 purchases and Beer Saint gifts into the car, we hugged it out and solidified plans for a summer adventure at their cottage, with brewery visits planned of course.  


Always make time for Redline!

The stops of the previous day were supposed to have included one of Ontario's fastest growing and highly praised breweries and I was delighted to see that Redline Brewhouse opened at 10 a.m. so we could hit them up before we left Barrie. It was a quick stop, time was a real problem all day and I will endeavour to make more room in the schedule for a pint when we return later this summer. Be on the lookout for Clutch, a Pale Ale not to be missed.

First time here, but not the last!

  Next up was a brewery we hadn't been able to hit despite numerous trips up north. The Collingwood Brewery was unfortunately closed on the days we had visited previously and after driving through the wind swept roads to the town of the same name, we made another "drop in and run" visit for a few beers to take home. Greeted warmly and offered a tour, we had to decline because of our deadline of needing to be home by a certain time to meet up with Mom and Dad. I will again carve out more time when we return this summer to enjoy the patio and the hospitality.

The spot for beer and food in Collingwood!

  Just up the main drag in Collingwood is Northwinds Brewhouse and Kitchen and it was supposed to be another in and out stop on this jam packed day. But, as we have learned, you go with what the day brings and as we perused our selections and went to pay, Jason made his way to the counter and the talking began. Northwinds have been a pretty constant participant in my live shows on Instagram and while we chatted about beer, their expansion into another location and Ontario Craft beer in general, I was once again blown away by the passion and generosity of so many people we met on tour. He gave us our beer on the house and even went in the back and grabbed a couple of their delicious Rainmaker IPA, which had just come off the line. Wishing we could stay for some of their amazing food, we had to make our way a little further up the road for the first meet up of the day.

A beer saint in action!

  When we were having breakfast at Rich and Verena's, I received a message on Twitter from another friend I haven't met yet and she wondered if we had time for a pint when we stopped at Side Launch Brewing before leaving the city for the drive home. Always a pleasure to meet new friends, I messaged Joanne back with a hearty "Hell Yeah!" and told her we would let her know when we were close by.

Time for a pint with a new friend

  Arriving at this gleaming and huge brewery, we saw our new pal already there and grabbed a few pints ourselves and settled in to exchange stories and talk beer. Joanne is a recent transplant to the city and she filled us in on her experiences so far. We engaged, as we often did on this trip, in the fun get to know you questions and sitting in the reigning Canadian Brewery of the Year, it was a great break before the long and winding road south. Joanne and Kat each had the delicious Dark and I couldn't help myself and had one of my favourite Wheat beers in the world. Fresh, it was even better if that's possible and I savoured every drop. Saying goodbye with another promise to meet up when we return for a longer visit, we hung out at the bar talking all things Side Launch for a bit longer before making our way out to the Polk-mobile for the next leg of our trip.

What a wheat beer!

  As we drove, Kat helped me consult the OBN map and I realised our time really being compressed by our stopping and visiting with folks. I was fully prepared to run in and out of most breweries as we had done last year but something had changed and it was pretty awesome. Meeting people and having time to chat about beer and other things was the best thing about this year and I was willing to make sacrifices on the amount of stops we could hit because it should always be about people and not just beer. Trimming the planned tour a bit, we headed for Guelph and a quick 3 stop visit before the push to home.

Getting our Welly On!

 Up first in this growing Ontario town was actually the initial stop on last year's Polkapolooza, the newly expanded Wellington Brewery. Again, we planned a run and gun stop but engaged in another wonderful conversation and had to reluctantly turn down a tour of the brewing space. "Another time" became the words I used most this day and despite the quick nature of this visit, we left happy in our hearts with a smile that kept growing.

Stout time

   Just around the corner is Stone Hammer brewing and it was a no brainer to stop in here despite the closing window to get home in time for the evening's activity. But I hate to miss a chance to revisit a stop from last year and I knew their stout would be a big hit with Kathryn when we could actually start trying all the beer we were accumulating. It's in a plaza with a craft distillery too, so double your fun if you're out in Guelph on a beer run soon.

Really miss my pals from Royal City

  The third and final stop on the truncated drive through Guelph was Royal City Brewing and it pained me to not be able to stop in for at least a flight. Many of the beer fests we hit in the last year would find me spending all my time hanging out with the good people from this brewery and enjoying the beer. But we had to be home to head out on the days final trip with my parents so we grabbed a few treats for later and left with the knowledge that we can come back soon and relax with friends for a pint.

Looking for some fun

 We arrived home with a few moments to unload, freshen up and get on the road with my folks for the days final stop. Mom had been trying to come up with a way to spend some time with us on the trip and while she is not a beer drinker herself, she has always been game for an adventure or new activity. When she saw that Bell City Brewing in Brantford was hosting a guided paint Night, she asked if they could buy us all tickets to go and try it out. Never one to miss out on a beer related anything and eager to see my pals at the brewery, not to mention a little quality family time, I was all too happy to accept this thoughtful birthday present. Dad drove and when we arrived, it was the legendary Kevin who was manning the bar and keeping the libations flowing. I brought him a few beer saint gifts from the tour so far, including the much sought after Twin Pines from Sawdust City and he was surprised and happy to see that Double IPA of awesome in his hands. We grabbed a few pints and after Dad tried a few sips of the stout and IPA without much success, I was blown away when he fell in love with their Belgian style Ale, Lenoir. Never would I have thought that the first craft beer my Corona loving Dad would like would be this bubble gum, banana and orange peel beauty but here he was sipping away and loving it.

One of my favourites!

  The painting was about to begin and we took our seats around a table while our instructor handed out the paint and started the lesson. It was far more entertaining than I had envisioned and as the paintings took shape, we were all impressed that it looked pretty good despite our complete lack of talent in this art. Paint Night did a great job of walking us through each step of the painting, encouraging and cajoling us to be creative and feel the canvas take shape as the beer and conversation flowed. I was so impressed with being able to actually create a painting and it will not be the last time we have this experience.

Polk and Paint

 

Stouts for Kat

Mom and Dada having fun with paint...and a good beer in Dad's hand!

  Kevin kept the pint glasses full and as we finished up, brought me a box of Beer Saint gifts of his own from the back. Bell City has long been a big supporter of everything I do and I will keep them dear to my heart every time I look at our creations. What a way to end Day 4 and as we drove home, I thanked my parents for not just the night, but for their unwavering belief in me and constantly being there when I needed them. I am a very lucky man to have such wonderful parents and while I don't say it near enough, I love them so very much.

Finished product. The lady is an artist at heart

These two make my heart happy!

  This day was such a variety of experiences that it was a great showcase for what this tour was supposed to be about. So many Ontario Craft brewers have events every week at their taprooms, friends meet up for a pint and families come together for a night out where good beer is made. The 8 stops of Day 4 were all staffed with knowledgeable and friendly staff and it was a great birthday eve spent with the ones who make my life better every day. Thanks to Craft beer, I am here to tell the tale and my actual birthday loomed with a return trip to one of my favourite areas in the province and two of my "hometown" brewers. But that story will have to wait, see you soon...





Make your next beer run a little more epic

 Break your routine and Explore everything Ontario Craft Beer has to offer.

You will be happy you did.

Cheers!

  Polk

 



Polkapolooza Craft Beer Tour 2017 Review - Day 3 Heading North with Friends

   

On the road again with the Polkaroo`s!

When I planned the first Polkapolooza last year, I was really just starting to explore Ontario Craft beer and had no idea what I was doing. Our trip north was, however, quite memorable and I wanted to do it again this year, only a little bigger and with some of our friends who live in up the 400. (Side note : The 400 series highways, for our international friends, are the main roadways connecting the Province of Ontario. The 400 is the main route north to Barrie and beyond.) Our day started with a stop at Timmies and a little consult of the OBN map before we roared off into the early morning with a song in our hearts and craft beer in our sights.
 First up was a great launching point just around the corner from Canada's Wonderland, the largest theme park north of the 49th.

Windows for days

Lake Wilcox Brewing opened up last year and is housed in a huge facility with loads of room to grow. Meeting us as we entered was one of the owners, Ray and he was only too happy to share their story, give us a tour and of course, sample some of their beer. An absolute gem of a brewhouse and taproom, it is perfectly located minutes from the highway for cottage goers and a nice place for mom or dad to hang out while the kids are at play.

Lots of room to expand!

 A new pint glass found its way into my hands along with 6 or 7 beers and we bade farewell with plans to stop in again on our way up north this summer.

Morning flights...doing it right!

Thanks for the new glass and the tour Ray!

Barrie was in our sights and we made our way to our friend's Verena (Sunshinetravelcat on Instagram) and Richard's (fish_trails on IG) house to meet up and combine forces for the rest of our day. These two Beer Saints have become good friends as we got to know each other online and once when we visited north in the fall and we were very happy to accept their invitation to stay the night at their house so we could enjoy all their town had to offer. Thankfully for a tired Polkaroo, Verena drove to our 2nd stop on Day 3, off the beaten path at Muskoka Brewery. Plus, she had packed sandwiches, which were a blessing after a few days of fast food stops.

The return of the Polkaroo!

A favourite of mine for their Winter Survival pack (Polkie Award winner 2016) and of course Twice As Mad Tom Imperial IPA, we made our way here to meet up with our other Barrie pal, Brett (ifindbeerenjoyable on IG). We sampled a few of the latest Kettle releases before Jack came over and offered to give us a tour of the brewery, which we found out was in full production mode.

Huge Production facility running full tilt

   A stop in the enormous fridge yielded a dream of delicious Ontario Craft beer just waiting to head out on the road and I will be honest and say I could have sat in there all day hanging out with the skids of Mad Tom!

Checking out the fridge...so much Muskoka beer!

Excited barely covers it as we made our way to the enormous Muskoka production floor and marvelled at the speed and efficiency of the team hard at work getting your beer to you from up here. Jack proceeded over to the canning line and pulled some of the freshly packaged Legendary Oddity for us to try once we got back to the taproom and we all were transfixed watching the bottling line crank out a metric tonne of Detour, their session IPA that fuels many a party down around my house.

Detour for day.

Past some barrels and a perfect Muskoka photo op, we had to say good bye before we decided to set up camp for the night as the kindness they offered was making it hard to leave. Some gratis beer and swag was a parting gift and we bought a few more beers to say thank you for everything.

Sit a spell and have a beer.

  Just a ways down the road comes the home of one of Ontario's best named beers (Long Dark Voyage to Uranus stout) and a contender for beer of the year on many lists (Twin Pines Double IPA).

Hello old friend.

Gravenhurst's own Sawdust City are hailed by many as one of the best this province has to offer and I would be among those touting them. Putting out great beer seems to be in their DNA and we arrived for a pint and some beer chat in their very cool taproom. My glass was soon graced with that aforementioned amazing double IPA, Twin Pines and Kat's was filled with that ridiculously thick and tasty stout. 

Just so damn good!

Our friends had flights and pints and we talked about some of our adventure so far as well as planning for the night ahead. Grabbing some more beer for "research", we once again hit the road back to Barrie and what turned out to be a wonderful evening.

Get into this fridge and stock up.

  We were getting hungry and thirsty, so it seemed logical to head to one of the best for both when in Barrie, Barnstormer Brewing and Distilling.

Some of the best beer and food on the tour.

Recently announced expansion plans to Midland means this brewery will continue to grow and crank out amazing beers at a prodigious rate. Met by the gregarious Brad, he hung out and talked craft beer and made sure our glasses were never empty for long. The food was unreal and it was paired with equally good beer. A new nitro line had been recently installed and I am a sucker for anything on nitro, especially a stout or porter.

Nitro rocking a stout baby!

A few IIPAs and stouts later and we were taken in the back for a tour before we left. The tanks are all named after famous female aviators and I must admit that while I am not a hard liquor kind of drunk, I fell in love with the cool saxophone looking distiller.

Saxophone distiller?

When we received our dinner bills, the beer had been removed and we were left speechless at such generosity. It made everyone feel like a million bucks and we again raided the bottle shop for some beers to purchase as a sign of our gratitude. A definite must stop if you are in town, Brad is a beer saint par excellence.

Brad is simply the best! Cheers my friend!

  It was time for pit stop back at the home of our friends and then a quick jaunt over to the downtown location of the Flying Monkey's Craft Brewery. Walking into the colourful bar room, we were met by the final member (we thought) of our Barrie crew, the amazing Danielle (fionaface on IG). The talk turned to beer and travel as our friends Brett and Danielle were soon to leave on a much needed trip to the islands and we all reminisced about trips south when the snow is flying here in Canada. My pint was an easy choice but a little hard to order. Juicy Ass IPA was delicious and I hope the bartender knew I respected him as a person first.



A beauty IPA from FM!

 Before we knew it, the clock was approaching 10 p.m and I realised we could not make it across town in time to meet up with another internet friend waiting for us at the third Barrie brewery, Redline Brewhouse (we would go there in the morning.
I messaged Hago (Great White Garage on YouTube) and told him we would have to meet up another time before a thought struck me. I asked Verena and Rich if they minded some company when we got back to their place and they were happy to accommodate my somewhat strange request. I asked Hago if he'd like to join us for a little beer and chat and to his credit, he was right on with that. We arrived back at the house and minutes later so did our surprise guest, armed with beauty beer from Redline. 

The one and only Hago!

I had brought my bottle of Samuel Adams Utopia for everyone to try and we sipped and savoured that big boozy treat before I cracked open three great IPA's from Ontario and one from Quebec for all to share and talk about.

A fun treat made to share with friends.

We laughed and shared stories long into the night and when it was finally time to say goodbye, I knew that not only had I made a new friend, but that Verena, Rich and Hago had started one of their own. It was pretty amazing to share beer all day with people and finish it with a new friend who was the perfect way to cap an outstanding day. I went to bed with a smile and a chuckle when I thought of how dark my life used to be. I didn't want to meet people or go anywhere and now I was driving all over the province, making new friends and cementing plans for future adventures that I know will be even better because of the good people I have come to know.

  Day 4 was looming with another ambitious route that would take us home the long way and into a night of art and beer...but that is a tale for yet another day.

Make your next beer run a little more epic
Break your routine and Explore everything Ontario Craft Beer has to offer.
You will be happy you did.
Cheers!
Polk

 

Polkapolooza Craft Beer Tour 2017 Review - Day 2 Running down the 401

  Waking up in our hotel in Ottawa after an amazing first day for the 2017 Polkapolooza tour, I felt like I was still dreaming. While we had a long drive ahead of us, the feeling of how much the Ontario Craft Beer community means to me was very real and very touching. As with all our stops, we enjoyed the breakfast and perused the Ontario Bev Net map to plan our day. Many local breweries do not open Monday, but our first stop is open 7 days a week and come summer, brewing great craft beer 24/7. 

Stop in at Beau's is a must

I have long been a huge fan of Beau's All Natural Brewing in beautiful Vankleek, Ontario for their innovative and aggressive pursuit of so many different styles. Back when I started my journey and we didn't have the proliferation of craft beer at the Liquor or Beer stores, I could count on Beau's to show up every couple of weeks with something new. Their 10th anniversary last year was full of great things and if you follow me on social media, you know I am a full on Beau's fan boy. So it was a no brainer to make the 45 minute drive east of Ottawa to pay homage to this giant of Canadian Craft Brewing.

New glasses and 355ml. Lug Tread

Meeting us there was our pal from Montreal who had made a few of the stops the day before, Mike. Walking in, we were greeted warmly and given a 4 pack of pint glasses as a present from the enthusiastic Beau's staff. We talked a bit about our tour and my personal journey in craft beer before the tastings started and the smiles grew large.

Meeting your heroes is always a good thing.

A chance to wander in a guided tour is always available if you stop at the brewery and we took full advantage, even getting the chance to say thanks to one of the good people responsible for creating the beer I love so much. We had to part ways far too soon and as we retraced our steps, we headed to a tiny town with a great little brewery contained within.

Caught Mrs. Polk looking!

Nicolas from Tuque de Broue had been in touch with me in the weeks before Polkapolooza took shape to let me know that while they were usually closed Mondays, he would gladly meet up with us so we could check out what he, his family and team had built in Embrun over the last few years. Always accepting of any invite to visit, we arrived with high hopes and open minds and were immediately greeted with his smile and energy.

Nicolas, what a guy!

Talking about the trials and tribulations of building and growing a brewery, making beer and being part of the community were covered as we sampled and marvelled at the delicious beer coming out of this small eastern Ontario town. We spent over an hour just sharing stories and it is easy to see why Tuque has become such a hit with the local community. Nicolas has invested not just his money, but his passion and love for this town into his work and it shows. We left with some beer to try at our leisure and promises to return again later this year. Not enough thank you's in the world for this stop on the tour. Make it a priority to visit Embrun, it will leave you feeling inspired and happy you did.

Almost makes me want to move to Embrun

 

Finding a brewery that you didn't know existed...beauty

  The next stop was one of the most surprising and pleasant of the entire week. Located in Cornwall, Rurban Brewing is an island of good beer in an area that used to require a road trip to get something not macro. Nothing close by and one I found when I consulted my OBN map, I knew we had to see what the first brewery in this city in almost 100 years was all about.

Lots of options at Rurban

  An impressive amount of beer available, we were met with open arms and a tour of their facility by owners Andy and Karen. Former teachers, they moved back to their hometown and have filled a much needed niche in this small town. More and more I began to feel like I could live in these places we were visiting and it was in part due to the good beer, but mostly due to the people who were making it. These two stops illustrated what we were hoping to accomplish with this week, getting people outside their usual routine beer runs and exploring all that Ontario had to offer. I loaded up a six pack and we reluctantly made our way back out to the highway for another hour or so.  

Thanks Andy and Karen.



Love the building

  Our next two stops were quick run in and grab the beer due to a pressing need to head home as the last major winter storm was burying the Hammer under a metric tonne of snow. (or so we were led to believe, it really wasn't that bad)

  A picturesque stop among the Gateway to the Thousand Islands, Ganaonoque Brewing was just about to close when we popped in.

   I grabbed one of everything in the fridge and snapped a few pictures before we headed on down the 401 to the home of The Hip and Mr. Donald S. Cherry. Kingston houses a stop we had made during our trip to Tabernac last summer and I had to make peace with only being able to stop in for a few take home beers at Stone City Ales.

I wanted to stay for a pint so bad...

Beautiful and humming with activity on a Monday Afternoon, I was hesitant to leave without having a pint, but the ominous warnings of what turned out to be a non existent snowmageddon had us worried about making it home on time.
  As we grabbed a quick dinner in the drive-thru, I realised we would not be able to make it to one of my most desired stops on Day 2, Bowmanville's Manantler Brewing.

Manantler is the bomb!

While I had come to terms with having to trim my overly ambitious trip due to time constraints, I was really upset that we wouldn't be able to stop in and visit this particular spot because of how much fun these guys were on our Durham tour with the Beer Saints. I reluctantly asked Kat to let them know we would have to miss them and resigned myself to heading home, antler-less. Within minutes my gloom turned to happiness as Matt from Manantler sent us a message saying to let him know when we were close and he would meet us at the brewery even though they were closed. 

Huge thank you to Matt for meeting us after hours!

Elation and exuberance fuelled the next hour on the road and I was feeling like a million bucks as we pulled in and met Matt out front of the brewery. Handshakes turned to hugs and we toured around the  brewpub with a joy that only great Ontario Craft beer can bring.

Maybe we could live in Bowmanville. I'd be at the bar daily.

  Matt gave us a few samples and we happily bought some bottles to take home for more "research". I can't stress enough how much I want thank Matt for giving up some of his own time on a Monday night so we could visit and cross them off our list. This may have been our last stop on day two, but it really tied together a day spent meeting new people and trying to get a sense of what Craft beer can mean in a small town with little contact to the bigger population centres. I left the day before with high hopes and found them met and then exceeded at almost every stop.
  The day was coming to a close and after 13 hours and almost 900 kilometres in search of craft beer, we rolled into the "snow storm of the century"...which turned out to be about as much trouble as a heavy rain in June. Traffic slowed to 70 km/hr. but didn't stop. We laughed at the dire warnings from our over protective families and enjoyed the leisurely pace as we crossed the bridge and the familiar sights signalling home came into view. Pulling into the Manor and unloading the spoils of our trip led to a sample or two and a few precious moments hanging out with the somewhat perturbed Jinx.   There was little time to do much but clean up, put away the beer and try and catch a little sleep. Day 3 loomed large and it was another ambitious drive that was staring us down in our quest to explore Ontario, this time up the 400 North, where friends, new and old awaited.
But that is the tale for our next chapter...

Make your next beer run a little more epic
Break your routine and Explore everything Ontario Craft Beer has to offer.
You will be happy you did.
Cheers!
Polk