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Toronto Breweries, Brew Pubs, Bottle Shops

Was surprised to find Kensington Brewery closed today when I tried to visit. Upon researching further, they were recently bought by Mascot Brewery. On their Instagram, they announced just a few hours ago that the Kensington location will reopen in the near future after renovating. Phew!
 
Some discussion about Bellwoods in the 950 Dupont thread:

950 Dupont St (@ Dovercourt, renovations)

Not sure to what extent they're going to be renovating here, but I saw some work on the interior walls. I remember several years ago there were rumours of Bellwoods Brewery opening here but nothing materialized afterwards for that. The glass warehouse is occasionally used for events, most...
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca
 
JasonParis said:
And there's BlogTO today headlining that "Toronto's waterfront is up in flames!" I won't even link it as they don't deserve the clicks.
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And Amsterdam Brewpub posted on IG about the fire and thanked the response by Toronto Fire Service. They are apparently open tonight
 
I'm a teetotaler, so I've been pleased by the recent boom in non-alcoholic beer, especially among craft breweries.

Still, I'm stunned by the sheer number of new breweries popping up, seemingly every month in Toronto.

Have we reached the peak of the craft beer boom, or is the industry going to continue to grow?
 
christiesplits said:
I'm a teetotaler, so I've been pleased by the recent boom in non-alcoholic beer, especially among craft breweries.

Still, I'm stunned by the sheer number of new breweries popping up, seemingly every month in Toronto.

Have we reached the peak of the craft beer boom, or is the industry going to continue to grow?
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I'm also happy that there's a good variety of NA beer now too. Guinness 0 really kicks that up a notch (oddly, seems like it's only available at LCBO).

There have also been brewery closures (e.g. Peoples' Pint), and others moving out of the city (e.g. Muddy York). I'm not familiar with the business side of things, but I imagine it's expensive to get into and tough to compete in the craft beer industry.

That said, I plan to brew my first small-batch homebrew over the holidays. :)
 
A handful of breweries have changed hands or even shuttered across Ontario, but mostly outside of the city. Local changes IIRC, Halo was sold to by Bevi Birra (local bottle shop) and Laylow is leaving their location and attempting a popup/event model. Rumour is a number of breweries in the GTA are ready to sell or even shutter, so we'll see how sales trend into 2024.

A few breweries are doing veery well and bunkering down on their model or expanding, such as Bellwoods absorbing next door, or Left Field taking over the 3 Brewers location in Liberty Village. On the flipside, you have breweries like Collective Arts who mis-understood tax code contracting production at Steam Whistle and now owe tons of back taxes to the government, and are pivoting to less one off releases even to the point of pulling out all of their brewing equipment from the satellite Toronto location.
 
Napalm Frog said:
On the flipside, you have breweries like Collective Arts who mis-understood tax code contracting production at Steam Whistle and now owe tons of back taxes to the government, and are pivoting to less one off releases even to the point of pulling out all of their brewing equipment from the satellite Toronto location.
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Seriously?? That seems like something that can only backfire - shut down brewing capacity at your satellite in the much bigger market, denying the local beer enthusiasts interesting, non-mainstream experimental beers that generate buzz and build your reputation. Dumb move.
 
Towered said:
Why???
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A mix of rents costs, and a pivot to focusing on the arts/culture scene that they had been fostering in their place. Unsure what this means for the beer.

Towered said:
Seriously?? That seems like something that can only backfire - shut down brewing capacity at your satellite in the much bigger market, denying the local beer enthusiasts interesting, non-mainstream experimental beers that generate buzz and build your reputation. Dumb move.
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Part of the problem with one offs is that a lot of the time stock can linger, only selling like hot cakes the first week of release. With limited space and a focus on freshness, this can be a detriment. But, that should be more applicable a brewery much smaller in size than Collective Arts.
 
Per a post on their Instagram feed on December 28, Brickworks Ciderhouse restaurant will close on January 1. It seems they will still be producing.

Also, Muddy York's East York location is open until February 17, per IG (and directly speaking to them). (Edit: originally they though they would close at the end of 2023)
 
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