It’s been a while, and I figured that you would like an update survey of some product highlights on the local scene. I put the call out to 6 establishments and received a call back for a phone interview from the following local brewers and distillers.
Local brewers and distillers shaping the region’s drink scene
Westport Brewing Company is located on the water in Westport overlooking Upper Rideau Lake is a relaxing and cozy pub with indoor and outdoor deck seating overlooking the lake. This local brewer continues to draw fans with its lineup.
Their popular summer beer is Upper Rideau Blonde Ale, at 4.7%abv, it is a clean and well balanced light ale with a sweet, malty aroma; Beaver Pond Trail Brown Ale, is a medium, roasty brew with hints of coffee and chocolate, finishing dry at 5%abv; and Dock Days IPA, 6.9%abv, a hazy golden IPA with a bold citrus and floral aroma, smooth mouthfeel and pleasant sweetness, dry finish with minimal hop bitterness.
Their restaurant seats 34 outside on the deck and 60 inside, with a range of dishes to please most palates. They also serve sampler beers, and on Saturday/Sunday they have live music from 2 to 4 PM!
Perth Brewery, another of our local brewers and distillers, is now under new management but continues to put out a wide variety of favourite and new seasonal brews.
Their seasonal Fall brew will be a small batch Märzen which is a German amber lager, named for the German word for March, traditionally brewed in the spring and aged through the summer, with a rich, toasty, bready malt flavor, moderate body, and a balance of hop bitterness and malty complexity. Historically served at Ocktoberfest in Munich, it ranges in color from deep gold to copper and is known for its smooth, clean finish and pairings with German foods like sausages and pretzels.
Their most popular brews remain Last Duel Lager, a light beer everyone loves; Easy Amber, a lighter style ale appealing to most palates; Calypso IPA, a lighter style IPA that is not your West coast extreme spruce taste you get in some of the BIG IPA’s.
They have three non-alcohol brews to meet increasing public demand for these products. Play, a crisp and refreshing lager with only 45 calories; IPYAY! IPA, another lighter style, low calories beer; and Unleashed Amber, their 90- calorie amber in a similarly lighter style.
Top Shelf Distillers in Perth, one of the better-known local brewers and distillers, continue with old and new products since they started several years ago and I featured them in an earlier edition. They produce classic spirits, moonshines, and liquors.
They launched in March 2014 with Vodka and Gin. Once they got going, they started producing and ageing corn and rye-based Whisky and launched Reunion Moonshine.
Since establishing themselves in the sweet space with flavoured dessert and cream liquors, one of their favourites is their butter tart moonshine. I recommend it in the Reunion mini jugs that is even better than the LCBO release in the regular bottles. It has more range and depth of flavours!
In response to public demand and popularity, they have increased the variety of dessert style products: check it out at https://topshelfdistillers.com/collections/dessert-liquor. Also check out their most popular products: https://topshelfdistillers.com/collections/all.
If you don’t see some other local brewers and distillers here that you like, it is not because I didn’t call them, but that they did not get back to me for an interview. Maybe next time they will so that word can get out to our wider regional readership about the old and new products they are producing.
Cheers!
Brian Preston – The Travelling Sommelier
brianpreston@hotmail.com
613.272.3129
The Travelling Sommelier column is a regular feature in our print/digital edition.