A wise woman once told me that a relationship needed to built on a solid foundation to be able to survive the bumps and rough roads life will throw at you and that without that solid base, things will never be stable. As I look back on my life in beer, I can see the building blocks, the foundational breweries that helped make everything I know and love about craft beer possible today. This is about the places and pints from 2014 and 2015 that shaped my mind and palate as I stepped away from macro lagers and into the light of a new, tastier day.
In no particular order...
1. Grand River Brewing
There are two beers that form the basis for almost everything that comes after and one of them was the Curmudgeon English IPA, a bready toasted malt pint that brought a new, but not overwhelmingly different feel to my glass. It was a fuller, more nuanced beer than I was used to and it was the first time I went back and bought more of a beer after we had tried it at our weekly get-togethers to split beers and chase badges on UnTappd. They had a few more offerings at the LCBO that caught my eye and for a time were my favourite brewery. Sadly, their quality began to decline precipitously and they were finally sold to Magnotta and no longer produce anything of significance. But for a time...
2. Beau's All Natural Brewing Company
I remember when I finally made the trip to Beau's brewery in the summer of 2016 and how it felt like I was visiting a high holy place of beer. So many of my introductions to various beer styles and adventurous ingredient choices in said styles came from Beau's, their seasonal 4 packs and seemingly endless releases at the LCBO made them an easy choice to be one of my most sought after UnTappd check-ins, you never knew what crazy idea they'd come up with next. They were quite ahead of the game and while they have since been sold to Steamwhistle and been reduced to a far smaller footprint, the memories of what was will always be special to me.
3. Great Lakes Brewery
When it comes to building the foundation of beers in my life that changed everything for me, we find our other pillar in GLB's Pompous Ass English Ale. This one combined with the previously mentioned Curmidgeon to slowly pull my palate out of the macro Lager drudgery and elevate it for what was to come. The seasonal rotation of Tank Ten beers, mostly the delightful IPAs, taught me that beers come and go, but the good ones were something to be looked forward too and sought out when they returned. They always had something interesting and the core one two punch of Canuck and Pompous always found its way into my glass. It's been a long, great trip with my friends from GLB and as they continue to grow, they remain committed to the high quality and outstanding consumer experience that brought me in so many years ago.
4. Cameron's Brewing Company
There was always something special about going to Cameron's brewery, something new to put into my growler, a dry hopped Tripel that remains one of my all time favourite beers, to the Deviator Doppelbock and oh, so many Barrel Aged beauties. Cask nights were another new thing for me at this Oakville Brewery and they were the first place I made a friend inside the industry, my buddy Mike who helped me navigate a lot of what I was learning about craft beer in the mid 2010's. They have continued to grow and change with the times, even adding an IPA (or 3) to their lineup, but remaining true to their mission of bringing only the best they make to the world. Forever a fan.
5. Nickel Brook Brewing
From a small U-Brew shop on Drury Lane that became a beacon of Craft beer to a shiny new taproom and another location in Etobicoke, Nickel Brook had been with us since the beginning and so many of the things I love to drink continue to come from. It might surprise you to hear that I was not a fan of most of their offerings in the beginning, I couldn't handle IPAs at all and would wonder why Nickel Brook was all piney and bitter until the world of my palate finally caught up and I discovered my intense, burning love for Headstock West Coast IPA. Bourbon Barrel slow sippers, sour and mixed fermentation pints all came to my glass from NB and the continuous innovation and creativity as the market changed has kept me coming back. But more than that, it has become like the old neighborhood bar I used to frequent, I feel at home when I make my way to Nickel Brook.
There you have it, 5 foundational breweries in my life, although I will say there are a few more that deserve honorable mention to be certain. Mill Street, Lake of Bays and Wellington played smaller roles in what became the nonsense I do now, the fun I had in those days built everything worth anything.
Perhaps next we will get into 5 Foundational beers and dive a little deeper into Polklore...
Polk
