Is your summer beverage routine starting to feel a little been there, done that? Shake things up with a Hamilton Halton Brant stock up. Staff at our region’s craft breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries are a creative crew with delicious new drinks always in the works. Branching out your beverage game is as easy as starting with something you love and letting that inspire a fun new choice. Here are some fun suggestions to try.
Love craft beer? Try craft cider.
Stop in for a tasting at The Carlisle Cider Company, Tall Post Craft Cider, Howell Road Cider Co., or West Avenue Cider House. You’ll quickly discover why Ontario’s craft cider market is booming. Crisp, dry and refreshing, hard ciders are an ideal summer sipper.
Typically drink hard cider? Opt for a fruit-forward craft beer instead.
If you already love the crisp, fruity flavours of hard cider, maybe it’s time to broaden your horizons with beer. This season’s crop of sour beers is sure to please cider fans. Grain & Grit Small Batch Beer’s Dog Days IPA with Mango, Guava and Raspberry has a delicious grapefruit flavour with hints of tropical fruit and raspberry. Their Fresh Faced Sour Lager is bright, clean and fruity with flavours of pineapple, lemon and orange bitters.
Barrel Heart in Dundas specializes in farmhouse saisons aged in wine barrels and fermented on whole Ontario fruit, creating elegant brews with the refreshing acidity that cider lovers appreciate. Shawn & Ed Brewing Co., also in Dundas, offers their Salted Lime Cerveza that brings bright citrus notes to a crisp lager. Orange Snail Brewers in Milton embraces the tart and bitter with their Guava Sour—a refreshingly sharp ale, and their Escarpment Wheat, brewed with bitter orange peel and coriander.
Tend to stick to the city sipping scene? Taste what’s happening in the country.
Hamilton Halton Brant is happening when it comes to urban craft breweries, but our region is also home to some very rocking rural breweries and cideries. For a pint that tastes like pure country, pull up a chair on the patio overlooking the acre-long pond at Flux Brewing Co., enjoy the gorgeous orchard views at Howell Road Cider Co., or sip your way through a flight with an on-site hops farm in the background at Steelwheel Brewery. On the outskirts of Burlington, Backed by Bees crafts their mead from the raw honey produced by on-site bee hives.
Always buy at the LCBO or The Beer Store? Escape on a weekend-long tasting tour.
If shopping for your favourite beverages has started to feel like just another errand on your long to-do list, Hamilton Halton Brant’s True Brew Path is calling. Grab some friends, nominate a designated driver, and hit the road for a day of touring and tasting at amazing craft breweries, cideries and wineries.
Used to sipping wines from California? Give an Ontario winery a swirl.
You don’t have to drive all the way to Niagara to get excellent Ontario wine. Visit Ridge Road Estate Winery in Stoney Creek to enjoy a delicious cheese board paired with a flight of the winery’s wines. Leaning Post Wines in Winona has a delightful tasting patio where you can sip their reds, whites, sparkling and experimental wines. Andrews Farm Market & Winery in Milton has been perfecting its robust collection of fruit wines, dessert wines and signature red and white wines for over three decades.
Not willing to give up your summer gin and tonic? Stir things up with a fresh Ontario take on your gin.
Mann’s Distillery in Brantford is slightly gin obsessed! Mann’s Tasting Bar and Cocktail Lounge is the perfect place to find your next favourite gin, with options like White Tea Gin, Grapefruit Gin and their traditional London Dry Gin.
