After an abortive attempt to visit Lansdowne Brewery, we ended up here instead. And the choice could hardly have been more serendipitous: last week I praised Muddy York for maintaining 12 active taps to give patrons more choice: I have to repeat that praise here. At the time we visited, they had 13 beers available. And here's the wonder: of the seven or so we tried, there wasn't a bad one in the lot, and several were very fine indeed.
- "Mr. Pink" - Ginger Hibiscus Pale Ale. The worst we tried - and at that, I'd drink it again because it was pretty good. Teetering on the edge of being a sour, I could kind of get the ginger and hibiscus - but there were other interesting things in there as well. Strange but tasty.
- "Dundas West Coast" - West Coast IPA. Lovely, mild, and citrusy, a very nice IPA. (I prefer my IPAs mild - I admit not everyone does. They also have a double IPA if that's your thing ...)
- "Smoke on the Porter" - Porter. We were warned to drink this last because it was so smoky it would overwhelm everything else. None of us got that. Definitely smoky, but not overwhelmingly so, a very nice porter.
- "Stouty McStoutface" - American Stout. If you like stouts but want them a bit more lightly flavoured, this is the one for you. Very nice, if a bit mild to my taste.
- "Night Mist" - Imperial Stout. Excellent Imperial Stout - very good.
My friends also tried "Wizard of Gose" and loved it.
My only complaint would be that the kitchen was closed until 8:30 because of a private event, so we were unable to have a full meal as we'd hoped. They did provide us with a "Ploughman's Platter" (meat, bread, cheese), but it was more of a tasting thing than a meal and a bit expensive for what it was. Most nights you shouldn't have a problem - we just hit them when there was a special event.
photo: The bar and tanks
photo: Bandit's sign
photo: The beer list when we were there
photo: The bottle shop fridge