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Brews News: Steam Whistle to contract brew Fat Tire

Oops, there goes the motto.

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Oops, there goes the motto.

Steam Whistle, the first name that comes to mind when a tourist is asked to name a Canadian craft brewery, has spent 20 years brewing a single Czech pilsner recipe with the motto, “Do one thing really, really well.”

That slogan six-pack became obsolete a year ago when they started brewing really, really well a Munich-style lager. Von Bugle was the first beer brewed at the company’s new facility in Etobicoke, but not its last, as an American intrusion of Muddy York, this time welcome, is afoot.

Steam Whistle has a licence to brew in Toronto one of the most popular craft beers in the United States, Fat Tire amber from New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Col. Distribution of the Steam Whistle-brewed Fat Tire begins in April in the same custom-shaped brown bottles and cans used by New Belgium. All three beers will be brewed using water trucked to Toronto from Caledon.

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Tim McLaughlin, vice-president of marketing, said that won’t be the end of new “consumer-focused” beers brewed by Steam Whistle now that a second brewery, a 20-minute drive from Steam Whistle’s downtown Roundhouse brewery, provides growth-friendly capacity. The translation for “consumer-focused beers” I believe is proven popular craft beers from other countries brewed and sold in Canada under licence.

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It also frees up space at the Roundhouse, which is across from the Rogers Centre and down the street from Scotiabank Arena. Tourists and sports fans can’t miss it and this spring will have more reason than ever to drop in.

Steam Whistle has taken the former packaging area and created a German-style beer hall which can accommodate 1,000 people standing. They’ll be pouring the three brands they brew, plus craft cider and wine.

The Roundhouse biergarten won’t be an only child for long. The company plans to expand the concept to other cities, leaving me to dream of a Steam Whistle biergarten at the old Wonderland Gardens site in craft beer-challenged west London.

That would be doing something really, really good.

FOILED: Cans from Steam Whistle soon will have a different look with the addition of a recyclable foil purity seal on the top. “Our purity seal ensures that your can remains free of potential contaminants it may pick up during shipping and storage before you buy it,” McLaughlin said. The seal-topped cans are rolling out to retailers now, but this doesn’t mean you can commit the sin of drinking straight from the can. Pour in a glass, people.

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NEW AND NOTED: Two new breweries and two different paths to reality. In Norfolk County, Hometown Brew Co. is combining its bricks-and-mortar location with zip lining at Long Point Eco-Adventures this spring. On a downtown sidestreet in St. Thomas, Fran and Rick Dunseith are opening Caps Off Brewing Co. taking their homebrewing hobby to the public. It’s expected to have a soft opening this month with a grand opening in July.

Kellogg may have done craft beer fans a favour when it abandoned its London cereal factory. Quitting on London gave rise to Powerhouse Brewing, now open in the factory’s former power plant. But when a small brewery in Quebec brewed an IPA using Froot Loops, Kellogg was not amused and told Farnham Ale and Lager it was a trademark infringement. The batch produced 1,200 cans and sold out in less than an hour, and, unless Kellogg gets into the beer business, won’t be brewed again.

Sad to see it go, Mountain Lager by Side Launch of Collingwood is leaving retailers and entering semi-retirement as a taproom exclusive. If you’re looking to stock up with a road trip to Collingwood, Side Launch also has a new beer to mark International Women’s Day (March 8) brewed by the ladies of Side Launch. It’s in cans and by the glass in the taproom.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.

wayne.newton@bell.net

Twitter.com/WayneWriteOn

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