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.
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.
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 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 Winery in Milton has been perfecting its robust collection of fruit wines, dessert wines and signature red and white wines for over three decades.
Always opt for wine? Try a beer with a strong vineyard vibe.
Wine drinkers who think beer’s not their thing may be surprised at the taste that awaits with today’s creative takes on craft brews. Merit Brewing in Hamilton’s Wild Years 2022 underwent mixed fermentation before being conditioned on Muscat grape skins from Fielding Estates. Naturally conditioned in bottles since November, Wild Years displays bright white wine aromatics of bright citrus and peach with a dry and refreshing finish.
Not willing to give up your summer gin and tonic? Stir things up with a fresh Ontario take on your gin.
Collective Arts Distilling in Hamilton and Mann’s Botanical Spirits in Brantford are slightly gin obsessed! In addition to creative concoctions like its Cucumber, Lemon and Thyme Gin and Rhubarb and Hibiscus Gin, Collective Arts offers a wide range of canned gin cocktails that are also delicious. 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.
