for alex's birthday last weekend i organized a round of brewery tours/tastings, followed by dinner at a pub. it is pretty difficult to plan fun group activities in the winter, but i think that a good time was had by all. i am going to post the schedule of events so that people can see what we did, and will also comment on the beers that we tasted. i think i have discovered some new favorites!
WHAT I PLANNED
2:30pm
Brick Brewery – Red Baron Lounge
181 King Street South
Waterloo, ON N2J 1P7
$5 per person, closes at 3pm.
3:30pm
F&M Brewery
#135 - 355 Elmira Road
Guelph ON
519-824-1194
Tour takes 15 mins, $5 per person includes samples.
4:30pm
Wellington Brewery
950 Woodlawn Road West
Guelph ON
519-837-2337
Tour must be booked at least a week in advance, costs $10.
We were there for samples only.
5:15pm
Grand River Brewing
295 Ainslie Street
Cambridge, Ontario
519-620-3233
No tour available, but we can get samples.
6:30pm
Lion Brewery Restaurant (Malt Room)
59 King Street North
Waterloo ON
519-886-3350
Dinner and more beer tasting (pay as you drink
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!
2:30
we arrived at the Red Baron Lounge after getting slightly lost, and realizing it is only about 3 blocks from our house :). this place is run by Brick Brewery, and it was definately the best place we visited. for $5 you can sample 8 different beers, and they serve them in nice glasses in a lounge with tables and chairs. the place is only open from 12-3. in terms of beer quality, portions and price, this place was fantastic. i will probably go here again, especially since i can walk here. 8 small glasses of beer here is about equal to 2 pints, and all of the beer i had was really good. my fave was the J.P. Brickman Pilsner.
we got into a bit of a rush, as we only had 1/2 hour to drink our 8 samples. i was DD so i kept it to three, and then we headed to Guelph for our next stop.
3:40
we arrived slightly late at the F&M Brewery in Guelph. it is located in a industrial looking plaza near the west end of Guelph. at F&M we met up with the rest of our friends. we had a tour of the brewery which took approximately 15 mins, and then we were given samples. it didn't seem to be that organized, in that the number of samples given was very low, no one seemed to be in charge of pouring the samples, and i'm not sure that everyone even HAD samples. but they did provide us with snacks, so that was cool. the tour and samples cost $5 each, but i think they should charge less. also, we had to drink out of small plastic cups, which wasn't as nice. the staff was definately enthusiastic, and it was one of the only places that actually offers tours.
4:30
we drove just around the corner to the Wellington Brewery (also in Guelph). there was a bit of a kerfuffle, as i had phoned them to inquire about tours and they told me you need to book at least a week in advance. i am not that organized :) and so we were only there for tastings. unfortunately, only 1 person was on the premises and she was unaware that we were coming. it worked out ok though, as it wasn't busy in there. were were escorted into the lounge where we had 5 free samples (i think they normally do a tour here and charge $10). we all liked the welly logo, should have bought some t-shirts or a glass from the gift shop. alex looks a lot like the duke of wellington, he posed with him to our delight! they gave alex a free plastic cup with a lot more than a sample since it was his birthday! we then had a short tour of the brewery. i suddenly realized we were WAY behind schedule, so i herded people to the door so we could head to our next stop.
5:45
We arrived at Grand River Brewing slightly later than anticipated. this brewery is housed in the old Galt Knife Factory. i was actually very disappointed in this brewery. i had difficultly when trying to arrange a tour, i found the contact person at the brewery was not very accomodating. when we arrived, the tour operator told us it was "too late" and we could not have any samples. as we drove there specifically to visit the brewery, and we were expected, i was hoping that they would stay open even 10-15 mins later to accomodate us. we were sent away without tasting any of their brews, but we did leave with a sour taste in our mouths! i think it is a new place though, so hopefully they can improve their customer service and work out the kinks.
6:30
We arrived at the Lion Brewery Restaurant in the Huether Hotel in Waterloo. This was our final stop for the evening. This place serves a number of beers made on the premises and at the nearby Gold Crown Brewery. we ordered a number of pitchers of Huether's Premium Lager, Adlys Ale, Wuerzburger Lager and Black and Tan. Adlys Ale was my favorite. we enjoyed these brews with our dinner, and toasted to alex's 30th birthday.
organizing this tour was a good experience, though i did have to do a lot of detective work on the internet, and phoning around to learn the real deal. a number of breweries in the area do NOT offer tours, and so it is best to phone ahead in order to determine if they offer tours or tastings, and what the cost might be. i also found that we had to get started fairly early, as most places were closed by 6 on Saturday, and Brick closed at 3! a great resource for organizing something similar is the Ontario Craft Brewers website. they provide listings of breweries and contact information as well as a list of brewery events.
cheers!
WHAT I PLANNED
2:30pm
Brick Brewery – Red Baron Lounge
181 King Street South
Waterloo, ON N2J 1P7
$5 per person, closes at 3pm.
3:30pm
F&M Brewery
#135 - 355 Elmira Road
Guelph ON
519-824-1194
Tour takes 15 mins, $5 per person includes samples.
4:30pm
Wellington Brewery
950 Woodlawn Road West
Guelph ON
519-837-2337
Tour must be booked at least a week in advance, costs $10.
We were there for samples only.
5:15pm
Grand River Brewing
295 Ainslie Street
Cambridge, Ontario
519-620-3233
No tour available, but we can get samples.
6:30pm
Lion Brewery Restaurant (Malt Room)
59 King Street North
Waterloo ON
519-886-3350
Dinner and more beer tasting (pay as you drink
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!
2:30
we arrived at the Red Baron Lounge after getting slightly lost, and realizing it is only about 3 blocks from our house :). this place is run by Brick Brewery, and it was definately the best place we visited. for $5 you can sample 8 different beers, and they serve them in nice glasses in a lounge with tables and chairs. the place is only open from 12-3. in terms of beer quality, portions and price, this place was fantastic. i will probably go here again, especially since i can walk here. 8 small glasses of beer here is about equal to 2 pints, and all of the beer i had was really good. my fave was the J.P. Brickman Pilsner.
we got into a bit of a rush, as we only had 1/2 hour to drink our 8 samples. i was DD so i kept it to three, and then we headed to Guelph for our next stop.
3:40
we arrived slightly late at the F&M Brewery in Guelph. it is located in a industrial looking plaza near the west end of Guelph. at F&M we met up with the rest of our friends. we had a tour of the brewery which took approximately 15 mins, and then we were given samples. it didn't seem to be that organized, in that the number of samples given was very low, no one seemed to be in charge of pouring the samples, and i'm not sure that everyone even HAD samples. but they did provide us with snacks, so that was cool. the tour and samples cost $5 each, but i think they should charge less. also, we had to drink out of small plastic cups, which wasn't as nice. the staff was definately enthusiastic, and it was one of the only places that actually offers tours.
4:30
we drove just around the corner to the Wellington Brewery (also in Guelph). there was a bit of a kerfuffle, as i had phoned them to inquire about tours and they told me you need to book at least a week in advance. i am not that organized :) and so we were only there for tastings. unfortunately, only 1 person was on the premises and she was unaware that we were coming. it worked out ok though, as it wasn't busy in there. were were escorted into the lounge where we had 5 free samples (i think they normally do a tour here and charge $10). we all liked the welly logo, should have bought some t-shirts or a glass from the gift shop. alex looks a lot like the duke of wellington, he posed with him to our delight! they gave alex a free plastic cup with a lot more than a sample since it was his birthday! we then had a short tour of the brewery. i suddenly realized we were WAY behind schedule, so i herded people to the door so we could head to our next stop.
5:45
We arrived at Grand River Brewing slightly later than anticipated. this brewery is housed in the old Galt Knife Factory. i was actually very disappointed in this brewery. i had difficultly when trying to arrange a tour, i found the contact person at the brewery was not very accomodating. when we arrived, the tour operator told us it was "too late" and we could not have any samples. as we drove there specifically to visit the brewery, and we were expected, i was hoping that they would stay open even 10-15 mins later to accomodate us. we were sent away without tasting any of their brews, but we did leave with a sour taste in our mouths! i think it is a new place though, so hopefully they can improve their customer service and work out the kinks.
6:30
We arrived at the Lion Brewery Restaurant in the Huether Hotel in Waterloo. This was our final stop for the evening. This place serves a number of beers made on the premises and at the nearby Gold Crown Brewery. we ordered a number of pitchers of Huether's Premium Lager, Adlys Ale, Wuerzburger Lager and Black and Tan. Adlys Ale was my favorite. we enjoyed these brews with our dinner, and toasted to alex's 30th birthday.
organizing this tour was a good experience, though i did have to do a lot of detective work on the internet, and phoning around to learn the real deal. a number of breweries in the area do NOT offer tours, and so it is best to phone ahead in order to determine if they offer tours or tastings, and what the cost might be. i also found that we had to get started fairly early, as most places were closed by 6 on Saturday, and Brick closed at 3! a great resource for organizing something similar is the Ontario Craft Brewers website. they provide listings of breweries and contact information as well as a list of brewery events.
cheers!
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