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 |
New glasses and 355ml. Lug Tread |
Meeting your heroes is always a good thing. |
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! |
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 |
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... |
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! |
Huge thank you to Matt for meeting us after hours! |
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
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
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