Steam Whistle Brewery

We recently stopped into Steam Whistle Brewery, located in a historical railroad depot in downtown Toronto.

Steam Whistle only makes one beer, a pilsner made with the traditional four ingredients (malted barley, hops, water and yeast). On tap, especially at the brewery (you cannot get fresher beer than that!), the pilsner is bready, yet light and fresh with a light, hoppy bitter finish.

The brewery is easily found near the CN Tower and Rogers Centre (aka SkyDome).

The tasting bar where you can sample the beer.

The taps (one of many)...

We love how the brewery integrated itself into this historic landmark without destroying its integrity. We also appreciate the number of environmentally friendly initiatives (including using wind power and deep lake water cooling to run the brewery).

Even the equipment is energy-efficient...

We picked up a few bottles to have at home... although the beer had some of the bready quality as at the brewery, some of the freshness was gone. Still, overall a decent beer, about $13 CAD for a six-pack (this beer is not sold in the U.S.). Cheers!

Steam Whistle Brewing is located in The Roundhouse at 255 Bremner Blvd in Toronto, Canada. Tours run everyday, every 30 minutes from 1pm.

Clipper City Brewing Company

Producing beer since December 1995, Clipper City Brewing Company has become a beloved business in Baltimore. We were eager to tour the facilities during our recent trip to Maryland. On select Saturdays of each month, Clipper City runs 2 tours for only $5 (which includes a souvenir glass plus 5 generous beer tastings).

We got there a few minutes early and sampled a couple of beers prior to the tour.

Left: Small Craft Warning Uber Pils (7% ABV): A hoppy, dry easy drinking pilsner. With 7% ABV, this pils more on the stronger side.

Right: Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale (7.25% ABV): Our favourite of the Heavy Seas lineup and one that is more readily available, this is a hoppy, big IPA. You can't go wrong choosing this beer.

The Clipper City bottling line...

Further down the line...

The fermenting tanks

Red Sky at Night (7.5% ABV): A drinkable Belgian saison-style beer. This is a tasty beer with good hops and a yeasty spiciness.

The Big DIPA (10.6% ABV): A rich, earthy and hoppy Imperial India Pale Ale that we have seen on tap at a few bars in the New York area. While at the brewery, the staff mentioned this would be available in 22oz 'Bomber' bottles.

We also tried the special Clipper City MarzHon and Oxford Organic Raspberry Wheat Beer (fermented with real raspberries). Although the Heavy Seas Peg Leg Stout was not available for tasting at the time, we picked up a six pack to go. These are great additions to the Clipper City and specialty Heavy Seas lines.

Clipper City Brewing Company is located at 4615 Hollins Ferry Rd., Baltimore, Md.

{Cheers} Local NY breweries - Captain Lawrence and The Defiant

On a recent Saturday afternoon, we left NYC to visit two local breweries with a couple of friends.  The first stop was Captain Lawrence Brewing up in Westchester County (in Pleasantville, NY) and then a trip over to The Defiant Brewing Co. in Pearl River, NY.

 

This was my first visit to Captain Lawrence since last summer (and my wife's first visit ever).  I've previously been there to taste samples of some of their excellent rotation of beers and to pick up growlers for parties.  The brewery makes several all year-round brews, including the Liquid Gold, Xtra Gold (a personal favorite), Freschester Pale Ale, Smoked Porter and Imperial IPA.  This time they also had one of their seasonals, the smooth, roasty Espresso Stout.  Visitors to the brewery can sample them all (sometimes they have cask beer) and the pricing on the growler fills to go will make you want to visit more often.

The brewery recently released their new batch of Golden Delicious, their Belgian-style Tripel aged in apple brandy barrels (an expensive treat but it's a dessert in itself) and Nor'Easter, a bourbon-barrel aged winter ale brewed with elderberries.  I'll be back for these along with stopping by for the release of one of their rare wild ales (which sell out fast).

When we finally got to Defiant Brewing later in the afternoon, we were in time for their weekend barbecue.  We ordered the sampler platter to pair with their various beers -- Porter, Medusa IPA, The Horseman's Ale, and Long Shadow Stout (this appears to be new).

  We had no problem finishing the platter of BBQ ($22) in the photo above -- after all, there were four of us.  The sampler included brisket (our favorite), juicy pulled pork, ribs, rich Porter baked beans, homemade pickles, pasta salad, and cornbread.

However, the highlight of the trip to Defiant was the corked and caged bottle of Resolution #3 ($9), an aged Belgian-style ale brewed with Champagne yeast and described as having white wine notes like a Pinot Grigio.  Although some of the carbonation seemed to dissipate quickly, it was a refreshing beer to end the day.

Captain Lawrence Brewing is located in Pleasantville, NY.  Defiant Brewing Co. is located in Rockland County in the hamlet of Pearl River.  The breweries are both located within walking distance of Metro North and Jersey Transit stops, respectively.