Argus Brewery

While in Chicago to celebrate my 30th birthday, my partner and I ambitiously trekked out to the Argus Brewery for a tour. This involved traveling to the end of a train line, hopping a bus, and then walking for a bit--totally worth it.

We arrived at a historical building, with a small notice indicating that we should ring the bell for the brewery tour. Upon ringing, a wildly friendly bloke ushered us into a small reception area and we joined a handful of other intrepid beer fans waiting for the tour to begin and sampling a fine pale ale to pass the time. Once we were all assembled, the "brewery historian" (best job ever?) guided us outside and told us about the brewery building's past. It turns out that Argus is housed in a former stable for the Schlitz Brewing Co., a fact that Argus' owners were unaware of when they decided to set up shop there.

 

After a brief discussion, the tour headed inside, to the brewery's cozy tap room. Once there, we were all provided with a pint glass and instructed that if it was empty, that was our own fault. The tap room was well appointed--covered in cool stuff, much of it bearing the Argus logo, as well as a pool table and shuffleboard.  Our hosts informed us that they thought the best way to tour a brewery was to get comfortable and to familiarize ourselves with the beer first, so to that end, we spent over an hour in the tap room sampling generous measures of five of Argus' regular offerings: a wheat ale brewed for Jarrett Payton (son of Walter), a nice marzen, the pale ale we'd already tried on entering, a "Chicago common", and the obligatory craft IPA. As well, they had a keg of an experimental dry stout that was none too shabby. To my mind, the pale and IPA were the best, though I thought the common and marzen were also quite nice. The wheat ale was a "take it or leave it" brew, as far as I was concerned. To both of our surprise, my spouse (normally only a pale lager tippler) really enjoyed five out of six beers, and was particularly enamoured with the marzen. She even liked the pale ale, though, predictably, the IPA was a bit too much for the ol' girl.

Once we were suitably lubricated and had spent some time chatting with our hosts and fellow patrons, the tour began in earnest. Having toured a silly number of breweries, the beer-making process portion tends to feel the same everywhere, though our guide was admirably well-informed, open to questions, and most importantly, instantly likable. Also, the tour was made more interesting with the inclusion of a handful of the type of amusing anecdotes that you only seem to get from people who really care about their work and want to share it with others.

Highlights of the tour included a look at the brewery's historic and still functioning freight elevator, which had wooden rails and had once been used to hoist horses, and a very cool Chicago police carousel horse whose hindquarters had been fashioned into beer taps.

If you're in Chicago, the Argus Brewery tour is not to be missed. For $15, you get a nice pint glass, a belly full of good suds, and a pretty interesting little tour. Leave the car at home and clear your schedule!

Yukon Brewing--Brewery Tour

I found myself in Whitehorse this past week with my wife, many of my in-laws, and some old friends. We flew up to the Yukon for my brother-in-law's wedding, but a secondary purpose of mine was to check out Yukon Brewing, the Territory's premier craft brewery.

Tucked away in the northwest corner of downtown Whitehorse, Yukon Brewing is housed in an unassuming little structure. A handful of family members and friends joined me for the tour. We paid $10, which got us a twenty minute tour of the brewing facilities and then a tasting of YB's eight year-round beers.

The tour itself is similar to most that I've been on, in that it contained some information on the brewing, bottling/canning. and labeling processes, given while walking through the back-of-house space. As a fully operational brewery, there was a lot of work going on around us, which made for a pretty interesting experience. The tour was led by a reasonably knowledgeable and enthusiastic young woman who was happy to answer our questions and to elaborate as requested.

On top of the brewery facilities, we also got a little information about a vodka distillery on site and where Canadian whiskey is currently being made, but which is not yet ready for production.

YB uses all natural ingredients and no preservatives, which makes for a shorter shelf life, but, to my mind, a more interesting process. We sampled YB's Chilkoot Lager, Deadman Creek Cranberry Wheat Ale, Yukon Gold English Pale Ale (which I previously reviewed), Yukon Red, Bonanza Brown, Ice Fog IPA, Lead Dog Olde English Ale, and Midnight Sun Espresso Stout, the best of which I'll review over the next few days. Most were quite good, a few were ordinary, and there was one, Ice Fog, which really wasn't up to snuff. We also got to try a diluted sample of their vodka, distilled with raspberry, rose hips, and sage.

For ten bucks, I'd have liked more beer than the eight miniscule little tasters that we were given. However, everyone was tremendously friendly, and keen on beer. If you're in Whitehorse, you should definitely take this tour.

Quidi Vidi Brewery Tour

The Quidi Vidi Brewery benefits from a really scenic location. It's housed on a "gut" where a stream meets the Atlantic Ocean, in Quidi Vidi Village, a small fishing village which I thought was just outside of St. John's, Newfoundland, but I have subsequently learned is actually a part of the city. It is easily the most attractive setting for a microbrewery that I have ever visited. It's just a quick cab ride from downtown St. John's or, if you time it right, it's near a bus route. The Brewery itself is located in a re-purposed fish packing plant.

The green building in the background is the brewery.

Such a beautiful setting!

My wife and I toured the Brewery during our honeymoon. The tour was led by a knowledgeable and engaging tour guide. We began with a tasting--six small samples, which, unusually, went from darkest to lightest. While we sampled the wares, we were provided with a brief overview of the history of the brewery and of the brewing process. The whole spiel was flecked with lots of local colour, which made it all the more interesting. The tour proceeded into the cannery; however, we never did make it into the brew house, which was a bit disappointing.

From a charm and setting standpoint, the Quidi Vidi brewery tour was excellent. Additionally, they provide you with samples of a wide array of tasty beers. However, in terms of actually checking out the brewery set-up, the tour could have been richer.

Stay tuned to Stout Man over the ext couple of days for reviews of two of Quidi Vidi Brewing Company's excellent brews.

Black Creek Historic Brewery

Black Creek Historic Brewery is located in the Halfway House Pub in Toronto's Black Creek Pioneer Village. The brews made on site and for sale there are distinct from the commercially available brews under the Black Creek name.  At the brewery, unfiltered 19th Century-style brews are interpreted by the brewmaster--a very interesting guy with an infectious enthusiasm for beers and brewing.  There are some pretty cool things about Black Creek: it might be Ontario's smallest microbrewery and it occasionally produces an Estate Ale, a "100 meter" beer, using barley and hops grown in sight of the brewery.

Hops!

Barley!

While at the brewery, I sampled a few different ales: a brown ale, an stout, and a best bitter.  Each was only mildly carbonate, cloudy, and quite delicious.

If you're in Toronto, interested in history, and dig beer, I highly recommend a trip out to the Black Creek Pioneer Village and its Black Creek Historic Brewery.

BREWERY TOUR: Mill St. Brewery

It's time for a new feature here at Bitter World.  Every now and again, I think it'd be nice to get out and visit the breweries where the beer I love is lovingly crafted.  Take a tour, learn a little something.  Then, I'll write about it.  For you.  To read.

The Mill St. Brewery is located in Toronto's oh so trendy Distillery District, where they've been churning out frosty suds for the better part of a decade.  The tour is FREE, which is amazing.  While waiting for people to arrive, prospective tour-takers are assembled in the brewery's retail shop, where small cups of Mill St.'s four everyday brews (tanknhouse, organic, stock ale and coffee porter) are available to sample.

Once the appointed hour has arrived, a guide leads the group into the brewery for the brief tour.  The tour contains some information about the Distillery District, the brewery itself and the beers produced.  However, a large chunk of time is devoted to the beer-making process.  Personnaly, I would have liked the focus to remain on Mill St. and its beers, but the beer lesson made the tour accessible to all.

For a free tour, I'd say my expectations were exceeded.  There were free samples, an informative tour leader and some quality information.  Sure, the tour was short and it was a bit basic, but it was FREE.  You can't beat that!  Definitely take a trip down to Mill St. if you're in the Toronto area.