Toronto Winter BrewFest: Which Craft Beer From Ontario & Quebec’s Best Breweries Do YOU Choose?
If you love craft beer you definitely need to visit the annual Toronto Winter Brewfest! It’s an amazing showcase of craft breweries from throughout Southern Ontario and Quebec. There were even a couple of brews that snuck in from across the border …
Toronto Winter Brewfest provides the perfect opportunity to try some of the latest trends in craft beer, mixed with many of the standards we already know and love. All while getting the inside scoop from “Beer Experts” and the brew-masters themselves.
What’s A Beer Expert?
A really fun addition to the Toronto Winter Brewfest was the wondering Beer Experts. More than just beer connoisseurs, these super helpful experts were available to answer any beer-related question you could throw at them. They were more than happy to discuss what you liked and didn’t like about beer, provide some recommendations, and help you find the perfect brew.
My buddy and I LOVE craft beer. We were likely some of the more difficult people for the Beer Experts to work with simply because we enjoy trying all types of craft beer. We enjoy sampling, comparing notes, and the experience of trying something new. So when we asked a Beer Expert for a recommendation for something unique and really good, our expectations were pretty high. Not only did the expert point us toward an really great brew (called Thriller from Stalwart Brewery – a chocolate double porter at 7.5%), he even purchased the sample for us, and returned a few minutes later to hear what we thought about it. All around amazing experience!
It’s Not just About The Craft Beer
An event called Toronto Brewfest must be all about the craft beer, right? Turns out that’s only partially true.
While craft breweries are definitely the focus, there was plenty on-hand for those non-beer drinkers in the crowd. From games (corn-hole anyone?) to food trucks, kombucha taps to the hard liquors, there was quite literally something for everyone.
Southwest Ontario Craft Breweries
Here are the 30 Craft Breweries representing Southern Ontario (and 2 from The States):
Elora, Ontario, Canada
Leslie Street, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
839 Runnymede Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2017 Niagara Stone Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
864 Drury Lane, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
100 Symes Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Beamsville, Ontario, Canada
107 Dunlop Street East, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
1 Saulter Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
671 Montreal Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
5860 Mavis Road, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
70 The Esplanade, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
130 Edward Street, Saint Thomas, Ontario, Canada
13 MacSteven Drive, Picton, Ontario, Canada
675 Development Drive, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Creemore, Ontario, Canada
Blyth, Ontario, Canada
128 Sterling Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
150 Symes Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
36 Wagstaff Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
431 Bayview Drive, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
207 Burlington Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
165 Geary Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Thornbury, Ontario, Canada
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada
7 Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
299 Augusta Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
21 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
283 Northfield Drive East, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- 3 Brewers
- Bench
- Block Three
- Blood Brothers
- Collective Arts
- Cowbell
- Creemore
- Elora
- Flying Monkey
- Goose Island
- Henderson
- High Park
- Innocente
- Junction
- Kensington
- Left Field
- Maple Beer Co.
- Market Brewing
- Mill Street
- Nickel Brook
- Oast House
- Prince Eddy’s
- Railway City
- Rainhard
- Redline
- Revel
- Saulter St
- Spearhead
- The Exchange Brewery
- Thornbury Village
United States Craft Breweries
- Founders Brewing Company, MI
- Two Roads, CT
Northeast Ontario & Quebec Craft Breweries
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, another 19 Craft Breweries representing Northern Ontario and Quebec brought some of their finest to tease your tastebuds:
715 Principale Street, Casselman, Ontario, Canada
Pembroke, Ontario, Canada
5510 Canotek Road, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
10 High Street, Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada
850 Industrial Avenue, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
250 City Centre Avenue, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
501 Lacolle Way, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
2750 Iris Street, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
81 Auriga Drive, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
Timmins, Ontario, Canada
Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada
Haliburton, Ontario, Canada
Orléans, Ontario, Canada
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
121 Dufferin Street, Perth, Ontario, Canada
562 Chemin du Petit-Bernier, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada
455 Boulevard de la Gappe, Gatineau, Québec, Canada
3755 Boulevard Matte, Brossard, Québec, Canada
101 Schneider Road, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
- Beau’s
- Beyond the Pale
- Bicycle Craft
- Big Rig
- Broadhead
- Calabogie
- Cassel
- Dominion City
- Haliburton Highlands
- Orléans
- Perth
- Small Pony Barrel Works
- Square Timber
- Stalwart
- Stray Dog
- WhiskeyJack
Quebec Craft Breweries
- Brasserie du Bas-Canada
- Domaine Berthiaume
- Les Trois Mousquetaires
For me, one of the highlights of this event was the ability to pop by any tent and talk to the actual craft brewers. Their excitement for the unique brews they brought, and their clear passion for their crafts was contageous.
One of my top recommendations from this event was Haliburton Highlands Brewing. They were friendly, passionate and super knowledgable. What really caught my attention was their Coffee Porter – mostly because I don’t enjoy drinking coffee or the bitterness normally associated with beer made with it, but was assured that this one would be different. This craft beer was very smooth on the palate, something they attribute to using a cold-pressed process, with delicious hints of chocolate and caramel. Definitely order one of these the next time you get the chance (you can thank me later)!
Do you have an annual festival you love? Let me know in the comments!
Be sure to comment below and let me know which of your favourite local craft brews I need to try next!
P.S. IF YOU’D LOVE TO DISCOVER A LIFE WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, GRAB THE FREEDOM SEEKER’S PASSPORT HERE!
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Resources
Here is a list of the resources mentioned in this post:
Haliburton Highlands Brewing – Home of the amazing Coffee Porter
Toronto Winter Brewfest – The spot to grab your tickets for next year
Freedom Seeker’s Passport – Download my FREE step-by-step workbook to finally ditch your desk and see the world!
Thanks for all the great information. Sounds like a great time
It really was a lot of fun Selena, and very insightful too!
I love a good craft beer when we are traveling. I hope to do more traveling and tasting this year!
Pearl Haskins recently posted…Where is the best place to buy pool chemicals? – 4 Ideas and the Pros and Cons of Each
That is definitely a big part of the fun for me too!! I even managed to squeeze in a craft beer festival during my last trip to Las Vegas 🙂
oh i love the Toronto’s Winter Brewfest. I make it a point to go on a craft beer tour every year, so so good.
Couldn’t agree with you more Chad!! Cheers
This is such a great event! Love the notion of supporting local – thanks for the great exposure! 🙂
Always nice to be able to support the local businesses whether at home or away!
So many to choose – and yet not able to get there!
I’ll save a glass for you next year, Andrea!
Here in our country, we can find places or breweries like this. We need to buy from BAR or Liqour store.
That used to be the case here too, but I’m very glad we have these events now!
Here in our country, we cant find places or breweries like this to buy beer. We need to buy from BAR or Liqour store.
Hi
TORONTO WINTER BREWFEST
I would like to accomplish additionally voyaging and tasting this year. I make it a point to go on a specialty lager visit each year, so good.we can discover spots or bottling works this way.
So very true! I agree that visiting the places and learning from them is a great experience .. .almost as great as tasting their creations!
I have never been able to visit it, but I would love to come once. I hope this is that year, it looks like an awesome event.
JAke recently posted…SRAM Omnium Crankset Review
Definitely a great event! Hope to see you there next time Jake!
thanku so much for sharing the great information. Its really very useful for me.
So glad you received some value from this post. Thanks for commenting!