Shacklands makes it one street, three breweries

I make a kind of a big deal about both Rainhard Brewing and
Junction Craft Brewing both being located on Symes Road.
But I neglected to mention Shacklands Brewing was going to
be there, too. So three breweries, one West Toronto street...

During the past couple of months, I have stated here several times that I am kind of awed by the fact that Barrie, Ontario, a city of just 154,000 people has three top-end craft breweries - Flying Monkeys, Barnstormer and now Redline. So basically, one craft brewery for every 50,000 people.

Granted, you also have to remember that industry giant Molson had a 520,000-square-foot brewery there from 1974 to 2000. Molson's took over the plant built in 1971 for Formosa Springs Brewing, a little independent that produced an almost-okay beer. (The story of Formosa Springs began in 1870 and is far too convoluted to get into today.) But that Molson plant is probably best known for being busted as Canada's largest illegal marijuana grow-op outfit back in 2004. That, of course, had nothing to do with Molson but rather the subsequent property owners. Still, you could say it was a little ironic that people were enjoying some "Bud" in a former Molson facility.

But back to my point. While Barrie does have three craft breweries, at some point in the Summer of 2017, one West Toronto street will be home to three craft breweries.

Ahhh, yes, Shacklands Brewing opened up on
Saturday at 100 Symes Road, the same building
which has housed Rainhard Brewing since 2014.

That's right - one street called Symes Road. It's not even a particularly big street. The southern-most portion of it, which turns 90-degrees away from the road's previous direction and is firmly rooted in industrial lands, is a tiny little stretch, maybe two football fields in length. As explained (ever-so-eloquently) in this space 11 days ago, it is presently home to Rainhard Brewing and will next Summer be the new address of Junction Craft Brewing.

After I wrote and published the perhaps-not-so-eloquent-in-retrospect piece, Rainhard piped up on Twitter that it was a nice read with some solid photos but it was worth noting that the addition of Shacklands Brewing will make it "One street, three breweries."

And the weird part was that I actually knew that. I took that picture at the top. I tried walking in there, thinking it was somehow connected to Rainhard, simply because I couldn't see their entrance from the far end of the building. (I eventually found Rainhard by... well... walking to their actual door.)

And what are "shacklands" exactly? Well, it was a term
used in 1900-era Toronto when immigrants would build
small shacks on the edge of their properties while using
weekends and holiday to build their main, permanent
homes in the middle of the property. Here, a scene of
shacklands is depicted by artist Lawren Harris' piece
"January Thaw, Edge of Town." Today's art lesson...

And even when I just dropping some Rainhard brews off to Rib Eye Jack's Ale House's GM Steve, I pulled up the Shackland pic on my phone and asked him who or what they are. Steve knew of them (because if it has anything to do with craft beer, Steve always knows) and told me it was to be a new brewery, specializing in Belgian styles and other eclectic brews such as Farmhouse ales and sours.

But even armed with that info, I still forgot about Shacklands when I wrote the piece on Brock Street Brewing and Junction Craft getting new homes, as well as sharing the goods on the Rainhard beers I scored from my road trip. And this is despite the fact that Shacklands and Rainhard share the same building at 100 Symes Road. The building was last operated for decades by Houghton Canada which makes industrial lubricants, such as hydraulic fluids, lubricating oils and grease, industrial cleaners, etc. Frankly, maybe it's just me but I far prefer the upper-scale lubricants coming out of 100 Symes Road these days.

Shacklands held their "soft opening" on December 10 at
noon while their Grand Opening will be held January
21st, 2017. Bring cash as credit-debit isn't set up at the
brand new brewery just yet. I tell you, by the time that
Junction Craft gets set up this Summer in their new
digs, Symes Road becomes a one-stop-shopping zone!

The reason Shacklands is coming up today (other than my previous omission) is that they held their soft opening Saturday at noon. The brewery, owned by now-former-homebrewer Jason Tremblay and business partner Dave Watts, has for the past few years been contract-brewing out of Innocente Brewing in Waterloo and, hey, soon-to-be next door neighbour Junction Craft. The new brewery has long been a dream for Tremblay who has been "an avid homebrewer for nearly 20 years and a stay-at-home parent for the past 10 years."

Their Grand Opening will be on January 21, 2017 which unlike Saturday's opening will not coincide with building buddy Rainhard's Christmas Party. So there should be a pretty decent crowd of craft beer lovers, as well as a likely smattering of area politicians, who will be constantly referring to small pieces of paper in their hands or their phones to remind them where they are, what the business does and why they think that's so great. ("Wait? This is a brewery? I thought Shacklands built sheds...")

I am not looking to crap on anyone's baby here but it is
getting alarming how often craft brewers are pandering to
the micro crowd. In this case, I am talking about Shawn
and Ed's Brewing's LagerShed Original Lager, which is
far too close to a micro for my liking. But the Dundas guys
are not the only ones doing this. Many craft breweries are
giving in to the urge to crank out a mild one for the masses

Suffice it to say, I will likely be at their Grand Opening (weather permitting) just so I can ask the politicians if they can name the four main ingredients in beer. And yes, "water" counts. As well, by next Summer, Symes Road can expect to see a lot of me. Three breweries, one street? That's like putting a BBQed steak on a plate in front of me.

Okay, back to Rib Eye Jack's GM Steve who told me once, long ago, "Just because it's craft beer doesn't necessarily mean it's good beer." (And, by extension, just because it's macro, it doesn't mean it sucks - I was very impressed by Molson's 1908 Historic Pale Ale.) As TV funnyman Stephen Colbert would say, with that statement, Rib Eye Steve laid some serious "truthiness" on me

But this is territory that I am entering warily. I've always considered myself a Beer Geek rather than one of those full-fledged Craft Beer Douches who are so cleverly and accurately mocked on both TV sitcoms and "Funny or Die" skits. Believe me when I say that's a fine line none of us want to cross.

Let's call this Redemption In A Single Glass. Shawn and
Ed's Brewing's BarrelShed No. 1 Amber Ale was a really
outstanding red-wine barrel-aged brew. You got the wood
on the aroma instantly with some spiciness on the tongue.

That point was recently hammered home for me when Beer Writing Buddy Robert, aka Drunk Polkaroo, invited his rye-drinking brother Mike to sample beers with him in a series of hilarious videos. At one point, Mike barked, "Where are you getting all these smells from? All I smell is beer!"

So straddling that fine line between geekery and douchery, on Instagram, I recently called out a beer made by Dundas outfit, Shawn & Ed's Brewing. It was their Original Lager. To me, it tasted far too close to a macro lager. Graininess on the nose, some malt on the tongue... not much else. I noted (not too meanly, I hope) that I understood their desire to brew a beer that would appeal to the macro drinkers. I can name no less than a dozen other craft breweries who have done the same - that is, put out a pale lager or blonde ale that simply had me asking, "Why bother?" I get the macro audience they are trying to appeal to but brewery guys and gals, let's not forget the craft audience you already have.

Do I expect every craft beer to have the hop punch of Great
Lakes and Amsterdam Breweries collaborative Life Sentence
Triple IPA? Of course not. This is not a perfect world. And
speaking of this, Beer Bro Glenn just dropped a half-dozen of
these bad boys in my lap. It's a somber reminder that I am just
a man, standing in front of a hop-laden glass, saying, "You are
the tasty beer of my dreams." The romance never dies here...

That said, I do recognize that the brewers used better ingredients and took more time with that lager than a mass-produced one. So that is very much appreciated. And with this next beer, it's pretty clear that the brewery knows its craft audience all too well. I am talking about Shawn & Ed's BarrelShed No. 1 Amber Ale, a delicious 6.5% blood-red brew that was aged in a red wine barrel. Despite the fact I am not a fan of wine, there is no denying the extra flavour boost that barrel-aging can add to an amber ale. I got both wood and berries on the nose, as well as some breadiness and nice light spice on the tongue. So while I will take a pass on their lager, I will be back for more of this one. I have always maintained that every beer has its audience and well, count me in for this one.

Okay, moving along to the gift of beer since we're in that holiday season. Beer Bro Glenn was a visitor to Donny's Bar and Grill yesterday and as usual, he did not come empty-handed. No sirree, Bob, (who?) in his grab-bag from Great Lakes Brewing was six Thrust! An IPA, another six of their Life Sentence Triple IPA, a collaboration with Amsterdam Brewing and finally a bomber of GLB's Solstice Imperial Stout.

Great Lakes' Hanlan Point Coconut Coffee Porter is a
stark reminder that GLB's Tank Ten series cranks out
more than just delicious IPA after IPA. What can I say
except that this is one fermenting vat that never fails us.

I will get to all three in due time (so, like, next time) but today, I want to talk about Great Lakes' Tank Ten series. All we all know, GLB cranks out some phenomenal IPAs out of their legendary Tank Three - Thrust!, Octopus Wants to Fight, Lake Effects, Maniacal Hopshop, Karma Citra, Citradiction Extra Pale Ale and this year's Sunnyside Session Ale. And here's the thing - each of these, despite being the same IPA or session ale style, are different and unique. It's uncanny, really. But every once in a while, Brewmaster and Evil Scientist Mike cleans out that vat and goes in a different direction. Such was the case with their Hanlan's Point Coconut Coffee Porter, a collaboration with the good folks at Toronto's Bar Hop. Purchased late in the Summer, I wanted to save this for the colder Winter months but I simply could not. It sounded too tasty as I love coconut, coffee and porters - not equally, mind you, as coffee will always have the edge in this grouping.

Next up, I will be looking at the brews dropped at Donny's
Bar and Grill by Beer Bro Glenn, as well as talk about a
Manantler Imperial Stout with his mug right on the label.

Once again, with its magical and mythical powers, Tank Ten did not disappoint. The 6.5% Hanlan's Point was rich, deep coffee on the nose (good coffee, not Folger's in your cup) while on the tongue, more coffee, bitter chocolate, a pinch of vanilla and yes, at the end, a little dried coconut. Delicious!

Next up, we will be looking at those very GLB beers that Glenn delivered me (from Oshawa to Burlington through the snow, I might add) with a special look at what makes this year's Life Sentence Triple IPA a little different from the 2015 version. And with all this cold and snow, is there a better time to dive mouth-first into that Solstice Imperial Stout? Oh, I think not, my friends. For now, however, I have to brave my way through all this snow to buy groceries. And for once, there's no need to stop for beer as my fridge is bursting at the seams. Well, it's not like I bother to write "Beer" on my shopping list anyway. Not gonna forget that. Toilet paper, yes, that actually could happen. Hell, it has. I don't wanna talk about that time. But beer? Get real. But guys and dolls, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...