Daily Journal
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Breweries
Toronto, Ontario Mon. 10/13 0 mi
It was Canadian Thanksgiving with some friends of Danny's and Sol's. The friends were all women from the
Phillipines (Sol's native country) or Thailand (some of them barely came up to my waist!).
Natalie had her
palm read by Somalee, a 30 yr old woman from Thailand. Danny, Somalee, and I then went to pick up Ken at the airport.
Toronto, Ontario Tue. 10/14 25 mi
Ken took off to visit his sister in St Thomas. Late morning, Danny took us to
Mill Street Brewery,
located in the Distillery District of Toronto, where we met Michael Hancock, friend of Danny's brother, Kai.
Michael is the founding brewer and owner of Denison's Brewing Company that brews Weissbier and Dunkel. We also met
Adam, brewer at Mill Street, who gave us a tour of their brewery. Adam is a former coffee roaster. Had some
lunch there and then headed over to
"C'Est What?". On the way to the pub we stopped at a camping store and made a few
purchases, including banana luggage! At "C'Est What?" we tried a pumpkin beer that was really good.
They had about 37 beers on tap and we tried quite a few of them. We had dinner there but this place was not one of our
favorites. Went back and just hung out at Danny's for the rest of the evening watching TV with Sol.
Bracebridge, Ontario Wed. 10/15 120 mi
We decided that it was time to get back on the road again, so we took off for the north - destination: Lake Muskoka area.
Stopped in Barrie to visit
"Robert Simpson Brewery". They have a beautiful brewery, and the beer was ok.
"Antigravity" was their version of a
light beer. They only has 2 on tap to sample so I tried those and bought a really cool bottle opener (for the
beer paraphanalia collection). Went across the street to "McReilly's Irish Pub" and had a good lunch of
fish & chips. Tina, and the 2 Richards who happened to also
be enjoying an afternoon brew were very entertaining. Not sure how often 3 out of 5 people sitting at the bar are named Richard!
The owner was nice enough to give me the Robert Simpson glass (in addition to the one purchased across the street).
Barrie was a quaint little town and would be worth a visit back to explore Main Street. After lunch we zoomed up to
Bracebridge to get to
"Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery" before the 5pm close. We arrived at 4:55pm, just in time to sample
the 5 beers they had available. Bought a 6-pack but again was not that impressed by any of the beers.
Their tasting samples were actually poured from bottles instead of taps. From there we decided to check in to
a room before heading out for some dinner. The threat of rain was getting greater. Found a room
and ran into a couple who recommended "The Purple Pig" for good beers and good food at
a good price. We spent the evening at the "Pig" meeting locals, drinking brews, even
dancing a little. It was karaoke night so we got to enjoy (or be tortured by) by those brave souls!
Met Mac, a guy who was married to his 5th wife. He suggested a drive north through Algonquin
Park on the way back. He thought we might even get to see some moose. We met Jennifer (and her sister),
who had never been on a motorcycle before, so I took her for her first ride ever. She loved it, in
spite of the rain which had just begun. Francois, a local dry waller, asked me
if I needed a drywall job! Apparently it was a dare amongst the group of guys he was with whether or
not he had the guts to ask me. Headed back to the hotel because we couldn't find another place open even
though it wasn't even midnight yet.
Toronto, Ontario Thu. 10/16 284 mi
Slow start but managed to get packed up and walk across the street to "Nick's" for
breakfast (recommended by Mac). Had a good breakfast and started for Algonquin Provincial Park. The
weather was definitely the coldest yet but with a few warm-up stops it wasn't too bad. The first
stop was at a public library in Dorset. The scenery was beautiful and it was nice biking terrain, although a car turning left
almost smacked into me! I entered the
Park from the west on 60 and it took about an hour to meander through. Lots of lakes and still folks
fishing but very isolated and it already looked as if winter had snuck in - there were times when I
thought the clouds were yelling out "snow is on the way"! There were a lot of moose/deer crossing signs
but never saw the real deal. Finally turned south towards Peterborough. I found
"The Old Stone Brewing Co" around 3pm and this turned out to be
one of the top three that we visited. I had another
pumpkin beer (this was the best one) and all of the beers they had on tap were good. Chatted with
another guy that had an interest in microbrews. Wish I could've spent more time here but we had
a dinner engagement in Toronto. Headed out around 5:30 and decided since it was on the way to stop at
County Durham Brewery.
They didn't have any tastings but the owner was kind enough to unlock the door
and let me use the bathroom. Turns out they brew the beer for "C'est What?". Arrived back at Danny's
at close to 8pm and had 15 minutes to get ready for dinner. Took taxis to
"Cafe Volo" to meet Michael so
we could try his beer and enjoy some dinner. The group consisted of Danny and Sol, Ken, Michael, Natalie, and me.
It was a great little corner place with excellent service and good food. Michael's brew, Dunkle Lager,
was outstanding! Even Ken, who would normally drink wine with an Italian meal, stuck with the beer.
I have no clue what time we arrived back at Danny's but I went to bed and never moved.
Contact me at: rick.rickfletch.com
Copyright © 2008, Rick Fletcher
