In the land of steamship cruises, windswept pines and plenty of pints, it’s a Muskoka and area brew tour on the Ontario Craft Brewers Central Northern Craft Beer Trail and visits to some of our favourite brewers.
Who doesn’t love a story from Stephen Leacock about Mariposa. Leacock’s summers were spent in Orillia, and his regular visits to Jefferson Short’s barber shop provided lots of local gossip of Mariposian mishaps, merriment, mysteries and misgivings So a Couchiching sampling of Sunshine sketches of a Mariposa Marzen seemed like an ideal Southernmost start to our grand tour.
Out of over 1200 beers reviewed Sawdust City out of Gravenhurst is our most sampled brewery* as well as one of our favourites, and there’s good reason why. New beers all the time and most of them are super suds for sure. And the annual COMDB pilgrimage to Muskoka Oktoberfest provides the opportunity to check out the new brews on the shelf and on tap.
Whether we’re going back to the future with Lone Pine, or a much more questionable journey with the eclectic Long Dark Voyage to Uranus, the SC team keeps us guessing.
Most recently we enjoyed a Hilary Goes to the Moon on tap. Their Q was a patio pint. Great beers with an indoor party place as well as a parking lot patio.
Just a bit North West of Gravenhurst is the largest beer spa in the world. That’s right, in the world. And your host is Clear Lake Brewery.
Clear Lake has some tasty core brews and we’ve sampled them all. There is the occasional unique new brew on tap and we have enjoyed a few of those too.
Their small but capable kitchen looks out onto the patio which in the winter becomes a skating rink, so you can lace them up and then enjoy a cold one as you cool down on a cold day. You can’t get much more Canadian than that.
West of Oriliia by Coldwater is Quayle’s Brewery. Farm fresh they tell us and we have sampled a few of their brews and thoroughly enjoyed them. There is an interesting story behind the name of their Big Chute IPA.
The big chute marine railway is actually a rail lift at lock 44 at Port Severn that transports boats on a inclined plane from Georgian Bay to Severn River and the only lift of its kind still in operation in North America.
When it comes to lacing them up few if any did it better than Bobby Orr, and his hometown Parry Sound is the home of Trestle Brewing. Maybe you’ve visited the 1,000 Islands before, a pretty tour for sure. Chump change compared to the 30,000 islands that Trestle boasts.
Like many brewers,Trestle pays tribute to local landmarks and legends with their beer names like Boneyard Bay (a Pick of the Pics feature brew) and South Channel.
Cut across shorty and we’re heading East to Huntsville and getting our bearings with Canvas and their astrolabe logo.
Their Thunderhead IPA was brewing up a storm with another tasty IPA on the Horizon.
Heading South to Lake of Bays and I remember stopping in for a Barrelhouse beef brisket in a basket, a vegetarian’s nightmare, with a creamy dream of a nitro cream ale on the side. One of their core brews Switchback was our first LoB review and was identified as a “go to pilsner”, getting a super suds rating.
Eastbound and down, and it’s Osh Kosh by gosh, yep Boshkung Brewing Co. in the greater metropolitan area of Minden. Their Kungaroo English IPA had a kick to it and hit the spot. Their pilsner Two Putt was a foreign concept to us cranky old men, we figured a two putt was something only professional golfers could achieve. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying their golf themed pilsner.
Just up the road, we recently had some high times at Haliburton Highlands new facility. For all you Tiny Tim fans you will be thrilled to know that HH has the largest collection of ukeleles in Canada! Lunch was a grown up grilled cheese that was cheesier than our Editor’s jokes,** and a tasty Cali Common.
Over to Bancroft Brewing, just south of Maynooth and east of Wilberforce and north of Gunter. You know right there. And that’s where we struck gold with their Prospector’s Ale, a great English Style Pale Ale.
Here are the top 5 things to do when visiting Fenelon Falls.
5. Hike to the Fenelon Falls and have a beer after.
4. Let the missus visit the various antique shops and boutiques while you have a beer.
3. Go to the farmer’s market and buy something that goes well with the beer you will have after visiting the farmer’s market.
2. Watch the boats go through Trent Severn Lock 34 while having a beer.
- Visit the Fenelon Falls Brewery and have a beer.
If you are under 19 substitute the word Kawartha Ice Cream for beer.
Now a trip to the near North Pole and Santa’s Village, you guessed it Bracebridge. It only seems fitting to finish our tour where we started, in the Muskokas and with the namesake Muskoka Brewery. Their Winter Beard Nitro stout gave us a latte to be thankful for, and their Nightfall made my day. Just two of the many great MB brews we have enjoyed.***
These breweries continue to create new and amazing beers and we sometimes have trouble keeping up, but it’s not for lack of trying.
Just a sampling of some of the great craft beers, breweries and bars that Ontario has to offer on the Ontario Craft Brewers Association Central Northern Beer trail.
For us cranky old men we may often follow the trail less travelled but no matter, for us the beer is the journey.
Cheers.
*Editor’s Comment: 41 Sawdust City beers reviewed to date.
**Editor’s Comment: Like the majority of your reviews, that was uncalled for.
***Editor’s Comment: 28 Muskoka Brewery beers reviewed to date.
Hey, next time feel free to drop in and say Hi to us over here at Quayle’s Brewery! We’ re only a few minutes away from all these other great breweries!
Hey Quayle’s. we have sampled a few of your excellent brews, apologies for not getting you in there before, but we have added you now. Thanks for reaching out and next time we are in the area we will be sure to drop by. Cheers.