Beer Sisters

After 13 months we’re seeing the first bottles from Avling Kitchen & Brewery’s wine inspired barrel program, and they’re stunning. Ripe for Brett beer geeks like us are the side by side Spinning Yarn bottles. Each is the same blend of various brews but aged in two different puncheons for distinctive flavours. You want to see just how much a barrel can do? Try these side by side. There are two blends: A and B. We decided to create separate blends because of the diversity we fo...und in our puncheons; we wanted to explore the different ways in which our barrel culture could express itself. They are siblings, but not twins: while they have much in common, they have different identities and will chart different courses. Blend A has an aroma of pineapple and melon, with undertones of strawberry and . And Blend B has notes of honeydew and white grape, less acidity and some floral and farmyard notes. Grab yours via their online bottle shop or walk up retail window at their #leslieville #brewpub. See more

#ICYMI Tara and I are proud to be the Editors of The Growler Ontario and our latest (and first issue as editors) is being delivered to craft breweries and newsstands this week! No less than 19 new craft breweries have opened in Ontario since our spring issue. Get the goods on all of them in Beer to the Ground by Jordan St. John, and in our comprehensive listings of 290 Ontario craft breweries. To survive, craft brewers have navigated an ever-changing market, and we asked fou...r experts to predict what changes will last in Ontario beer culture when the pandemic passes. Erica Campbell of Society of Beer Drinking Ladies writes on the future of festivals, Mallory Jones co-founder of Matron Fine Beer on the future of beer retail, Tiffany Alexis Davey, co-founder of High Season, on the growing importance of social media, and Tej Sandhu co-founder of MERIT Brewing Company on breweries making themselves over as high-end depanneurs. Racial injustice is on our radar like never before, Robin LeBlanc explores how five Ontario craft breweries are working to create more equity and diversityand offers up beer recommendations from each of them. Renee Navarro virtually sat down with the owners of Flux Brewing Company and Red Tape Brewery to find out just how much it sucked to try to open a brand new brewery in the midst of a pandemic. Finally, there’s no doubt that as drinkers we’ve been forced to change our habits. So check out Ben Johnson’s home-drinking tips just in time for a new round of lockdowns across the province. Get your copy, you can buy single issues or subscribe here, https://the-growler.myshopify.com//the-growler-ontario-fou Or you can find Ontario’s only craft beer guide at these local breweries across the province: Avling Kitchen & Brewery Bandit Brewery Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. Bellwoods Brewery Big Rock Brewery Black Gold Brewery Black Swan Brewing Co. Brew Donkey Brothers Brewing Company Brew Microbrewery Brunswick Bierworks Camerons Brewery Caps Off Brewing Co. Microbrasserie Cassel Brewery Charlotteville Brewing Company Clifford Brewing Co. Compass Brewing Cowbell Brewing Co. Crooked Mile Fairweather Brewing Company Falcon Brewing Company Furnace Room Brewery Gateway City Brewery Granite Brewery Gillingham Brewing Co Grain&Grit Beer Co. Great Lakes Halo Brewery The Indie Alehouse Jack Ass Brewing Kensington Brewing Company Lake of the Woods Brewing Company Left Field Brewery Longslice Brewery Manantler Craft Brewing Co. Muddy York Brewing Mascot Brewery Natterjack Brewing Co. Nickel Brook Brewing Co Old Flame Brewing Co Paris Beer Co The Publican House Brewery Red Barn Brewing Company River Road Brewing Sawdust City Brewery Second Wedge Brewing Co. Sons of Kent Spark Beer Spearhead Brewing Company Stonehooker Brewing Co. Square Brew Co. Together We’re Bitter Town Brewery Tuque de Broue Brewery Upper Thames Brewing Wellington Brewery Whiskeyjack Beer Company

Happy #pandemicHalloween from our families to yours... Tara and I live on the same street, a cul de sac, that’s hard to access and never busy with trick or treaters except for the 20 kids that live here. So this year we did a socially distanced Halloween parade around the street, with neighbours setting out treat bags (and even beer for the grown ups) and families moving to different houses so we could all be apart but together. It was magic, and we all loved it so much we may just kick #trickortreating off this way every year. Thanks to @therealconor for organizing.

#FollowFriday: Meet Seguin Sailors. He's a relatively new brewer, but his enthusiasm and passion for the work have him making up for lost time. He now brews both at home and professionally @MuskokaBrewery, with dreams to grow in both areas. A member of Moose Cree First Nation, Seguin calls Muskoka his home and has spent his life balancing the two identities. "I've never really felt like I belonged in either group. My mother is Moose Cree and my father is German. I sometimes ...feel like I am essentially too native to be white or too white to be native. I've felt racism from both groups." As life has pulled him further from his Indigenous roots, he's felt an increasing interest in reclaiming them. Learning how to connect to this identity in a way that feels authentic to him is a hope Seguin has for becoming involved in the Indigenous brew community. #ontariocraftbeer #brewer #craftbeerlife #keepbeercurious #muskokabrewery #torontobeer #craftbeerdiscovery #drinkgoodbeer #beergirl #instabeer #brewmaster #beerdiversity #indigenousbeer #indigenousbrewer #craftbeerdiscovery

Beer and cheese are a heavenly pairing. Watch our video for Tara's tips on how to build the perfect cheese platter, and our tips for pairing beer with fromage. https://youtu.be/xVqjHSjgi1s

Want to Grow Your Palate? Check out our video on Craft Beer VS Craft Cider we show you how to taste, pour & evaluate each one from our experience judging both of them professionally. https://youtu.be/DNZn9oAriQ0... #craftcider #hardcider #applecider #occa #ontariocraftcider #apple #gutenfree #ciderlover See more

Caesar Sundays! Dress it up or down, add a splash of beer, straight-up vodka, or make it a virgin. What we love about #Caesars is the sheer flexibility of the clamato juice our go-to base is always Walter Caesar we like the Spicy mix the best. ... Need some recipe inspo, check out our Witbier Caesar recipe: http://www.foodanddrink.ca//mag/en/Summer2020/FDSU20.html Oh and be sure to tell us us how you like your Caesar. #beercocktail #clamato #cocktailculture #craftbeer #ontariocraftbeer #ontariocraftcocktails #caesar

Want to Grow Your Palate? Check out our video on Craft Beer VS Craft Cider we show you how to taste, pour & evaluate each one from our experience judging both of them professionally. https://youtu.be/DNZn9oAriQ0... #craftcider #hardcider #applecider #occa #ontariocraftcider #apple #gutenfree #ciderlover See more

Caesar Sundays! Dress it up or down, add a splash of beer, straight-up vodka, or make it a virgin. What we love about #Caesars is the sheer flexibility of the clamato juice our go-to base is always Walter Caesar we like the Spicy mix the best. ... Need some recipe inspo, check out our Witbier Caesar recipe: http://www.foodanddrink.ca//mag/en/Summer2020/FDSU20.html Oh and be sure to tell us us how you like your Caesar. #beercocktail #clamato #cocktailculture #craftbeer #ontariocraftbeer #ontariocraftcocktails #caesar

#Sponsored: Watch inspiring lectures from #disrupters in the craft beer industry at next week's Brewer's Journal Canada 2020 Virtual Conference. Brewers Lectures Live will run from Tuesday Sept 22nd to Friday Sept 25th a ticket for ALL lectures is just $15! Or you can order a Mystery Beer Pack from Craft Brand Co,, which includes your ticket for $45 for a sixer. Grab yours here: https://brewerslectures.com/ Most important the global speaker lineup is pretty killer: ... Tuesday September 22nd 3:00 PM to 5:50 PM EDT Marcus Baskerville (Weathered Souls Brewing) Josh McKinney (Ekos) Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery) Kevin Lane (Fermentis) Greg Zeschuk (Blind Enthusiasm Brewing) Jeff Mello (Bootleg Biology) Wednesday September 23rd 11:00 AM to 12:50 PM EDT Rochelle Dunlop (Afro Caribbean Brewing) Brad Windecker (Orchestra Software) Chris Pilkington (Pohjala Brewery) Kyran Flett (Canada Malting Co.) Wednesday September 23rd 3:00 PM to 5:20 PM EDT Celeste Beatty (Harlem Brewing) Richard Preiss (Escarpment Laboratories) Rob Fink (Big Drop Brewing) Wakelin Fulford (Lakeside Process Controls) Joe Vogelbacher (Sugar Creek Brewing) Thursday September 24th 11:00 AM to 12:50 PM EDT Ren Navarro (Beer. Diversity.) Crystalla Huang (RedDot Brewhouse) Dave Frizzell (Precision Fermentation) Janet E. Lightner (Boundary Bay Brewery) Thursday September 24th 3:00 PM to 4:50 PM EDT Paul Jones (Cloudwater Brewing) David Freer (O Street) Alan Wood (Rally Beer) Jim VanderGiessen (Pro Refrigeration) Friday September 25th 11:00 AM to 1:50 PM EDT Anja Van Zyl (Hey Joe Brewing) Steve Grundy (Top 5 Solutions) Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela (Brewsters Craft) David Graham (Lervig) Wayne S. Roberts (Blade Creative) Jim Koch (Samuel Adams) Each lecturer will speak for 20 minutes, with a 10 minute break between presentations, and all content will be posted as reruns for later viewing.

When we buy beer we're always looking at two things: the canned on date, and the ABV. These days we're thirsty for all the session ales which we define as 4% ABV and under. Most of us drank quite a bit more booze during lockdown and for some of us that continued right into this hot, sticky summer. Now that the (first) summer of COVID is winding down, we're here with our HIT LIST of Low ABV Ontario Craft Beers to help you cut down on your booze intake. https://beersisters....com/blog/low_abv_ontario_craft_beers Swapping a low-alcohol craft beer for your go-to 6% ale will also help you cut calories, and keep things classy as you move back into over-productive fall mode. So what is "low-alcohol?" For us, it's got to be 4% or below. And it seems Ontario brewers agree because plenty of of them are turning out session, nano, micro or petite beers in a wide range of flavours and styles. From ordinary bitters, to Berliner Weisses, to Light Lagers, to Session IPA's. #lowabv #lowalcoholbeer #sessionale #sessionbeer #lightlager #kettlesour #gose #berlinerweisse

Just eight days away from the due date -- these two are excited for their new sibling to get here. Don't get too comfortable baby -- cause mama's not. We're planning a homebirth. We had our first two at home and really cherished the experience. Peri was born in a birthing tub on our apartment's patio, and Lochlan came so fast that Crystal's husband caught him before the midwife arrived. The question this time is what beer should I drink right after the birth? Please send r...ecommendations! For Peregrine it was Duchesse du Bourgogne, and for Lochlan it was Great Lakes Thrust (appropriate given the two-push delivery). P.S. this photo was taken in month six things are looking a LOT different in the belly region now... #ontariocraftbeer #homebirth #safedelivery #covidpregnancy

Soaking up the last vestiges of summer with our littles.

#FollowFriday. We first met Sarabeth Holden on Gerrard Street when she spotted Crystal and asked if we were The Beer Sisters. She and her husband, Sean, were in the throes of planning her new brewery and it's a model we haven't heard of before, listen up: The first of its kind, Red Tape Brewery is a bespoke brewery, making small batches of beer that cater to the taste, style, and menu for each client and their event. They imagine brewing special beers for special occ...asions, from weddings, to anniversaries, to company milestones. In addition to bespoke brewing, they'll have their own brews for sale at their retail store and taproom located at 159 Main Street in Toronto. The idea for bespoke brewing was born along with the couple's son Raymond: "Our families are located far from Toronto, so we wanted something special for them to open when we let them know of his arrival. Sean brewed Celebration Saison, an orange ginger saison," says Sarabeth. "And I designed the labels before giving these bottles to family and close friends across Canada and the US. The night of January 11, 2018 was filled with the sound Celebration Saison opening across the land as our family and close friends received the news of Raymond’s arrival. It was truly memorable as photos came in of ecstatic faces enjoying Celebration Saison. We wanted to create a memorable experience for anyone celebrating a milestone, which is why we decided to create Red Tape Brewery." #redtapebrewing #familyownedbiz #familyownedbrewery #bespokebeer #torontobeer #ontariocraftbeer #craftbeerstagram #brewerylife #breweryowners #buildingabrewery #torontodrinks #tofoodies See more

What's your ultimate #backyardbeer? Crystal loves dry, lower alcohol saisons with peppery flavours -- The Second Wedge Brewing Co. High Grass (with a lemongrass twist) is one of her go-to's. Tara digs JUICY IPA's, in the backyard, and in front of the TV thank you very much. ... Let us know what you're sippin' on this last weekend of summer. And pick up High Grass @LCBO stores near you. #secondwedge #saison #ontariocraftbeer

We're winding up these last weeks before #backtoschool with some cold treats with the kids. We're making non-alcoholic beer floats with Henderson Cream Soda and old timey flavours from the Pop Shoppe. Tara went for our tried and true vanilla ice cream beer float, which works with stout, porter and brown ale our fave beer ever in this mix was a porter mixed with sarsaparilla for a rootbeer esque twist.

What are your fave low ABV (below 4%) Ontario beers? I lobe Rainhard Brewing Co. Daywalker, Left Field Brewery Gigante - but looking for more!

#FollowFriday: Meet Mark Solomon @up_north_brewing on Instagram. He's a proud member of Henvey Inlet First Nation, who works in Post-Secondary education and is an avid homebrewer with a dream. That dream is to open a small brewery with hopes of building community and sharing some laughs. Mark is passionate about bringing visibility and community to the handful of Indigenous people working in beer in Ontario, so he started Indigenous Brew Day. It's an event (right now a ...virtual one) that brings together Indigenous people working in beer to share experiences with each other, allies and their communities. "Indigenous peoples and alcohol have a complex and layered relationship," says Solomon. "This day cuts through that and allows Indigenous people in beer to be Indigenous without the baggage." The next virtual #IndigenousBrewDay is September 20th, follow @up_north_brewing on IG, or DM him there for more deets. See more

Check out our summer newsletter: 5 Ice Cold Summer Beer & Cider Punches to Make Now - https://mailchi.mp/5f/5-ice-cold-beer-cocktails-to-make-now

Thirsty? Mix up a Raspberry Hibiscus Cider Punch in this summer's Food & Drink mag: http://www.foodanddrink.ca//mag/en/Summer2020/FDSU20.html This bubbly cocktail is low on sugar and high on floral and fruit flavours. Pink ombre ice cubes (dreamed up by Tara by mixing boiling water with hibiscus flowers) create cascading ribbons of colour through the punch as they melt for a hyper-colour effect. We mixed raspberry vodka with @PommiesCider, sparkling water and sprigs ...of mint for a glass of tart, tangy, fizzy goodness. : @nlnbegley See more