It’s been quite a ride since we started the Brewery Market last May.  We hosted 15 events at the Wychwood Barns, sampling dozens of delicious Ontario craft beers and raising over $30,000 to help The Stop Community Food Centre.  But now it’s time for a change.

Unfortunately we won’t be hosting Brewery Market events at The Stop’s Green Barn this summer.  Instead, the beer series that we started will be continuing on in a new form, as The Stop’s Beer Garden.  We’re glad to see that beer is going to continue flowing at the Barns on Sundays this summer.  However, we are not involved in it this time around and we wish them the best.

Luckily for all the craft beer fans in Toronto, the Brewery Market is not going away and we’re going to be doing some exciting new things this year.  Firstly, we are thrilled to announce that we have created a new spin-off series called the Brewer’s Backyard, to be held at the Evergreen Brick Works this summer.  The Brewer’s Backyard, similar to the Brewery Market, will feature different Ontario craft breweries, unique food and one-off beers in the gorgeous setting of Koerner Gardens within the Brick Works.  You can find out more about this series at its own website here.

But that’s not all.  The Brewery Market will rise again this year, but in new and different locations in Ontario.  We are in the midst of looking at interesting spots in Toronto (and around the province) to hold unique Brewery Market events.  Stay tuned for more details, but if you represent or know of a location that would make for a great Brewery Market, please email us.

We sincerely thank you for your enthusiasm and support at the Brewery Market this past year.  We hope to see you at the Brewer’s Backyard and other Brewery Market events this summer and beyond.  Keep our website bookmarked and follow us on Twitter for the latest news.

Well, with our amazing Pints of March in the books, that completes our Brewery Market winter series, with a total of 15 events taking place from May 2011 to March 2012.  And what a ride it’s been!  We’ve featured some of the best breweries in Ontario, including Flying Monkeys, Denison’s, Amsterdam, Indie Alehouse, Great Lakes, Cheshire Valley, Kensington, Black Oak, Grand River, F&M, Muskoka, Cameron’s, Granite and Beau’s.  Over the course of our series we hoisted pints of everything from wheat beers to imperial stouts, in the process raising over $30,000 to help support the great initiatives of The Stop Community Food Centre.

We’re so thrilled at the support we’ve received from the St. Clair West community (what disaster?) and drinkers across the city.  We’ve were called “Toronto’s answer to a Bavarian beer garden” by The Grid and one of 7 ways Ontario’s beer scene improved in 2011 by the Toronto Star.  We sincerely appreciate your support.

Now on to the summer!  We’re excited about bringing back the Brewery Market this summer.  Stay tuned to this site and follow us on Twitter for the latest announcements.  We hope to see you soon!

If you are a brewery and would like to participate in the Brewery Market this summer, drop an e-mail to info@brewerymarket.com.

In anticipation of the Pints of March on Sunday, we created a fun promotional poster to celebrate the event.  We hope you like it, and looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

This weekend we have a special new addition to the Brewery Market – live music! We are happy to welcome two local artists who will be playing throughout the afternoon: Amy Nostbakken and Adale Dahli.

Both artists will be part of the Big Smoke Festival, happening at the Magpie Tavern later in January.  But first they’ll be at the Brewery Market!  They’ll be playing outside in the garden, very casual and busker-style.

So come check them out and enjoy some tasty Great Lakes and Cheshire Valley brews and food.  Brew Year’s Day at the Brewery Market is on 1-5pm on Sunday, January 15th at The Stop’s Green Barn at the Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street.

The Brewery Market makes another winter appearance this Sunday with a special event entitled Brew Year’s Day.  And since we are in the heart of winter (although the weather doesn’t necessarily indicate this) we are featuring only stronger alcohol beers to keep us warm!

This Sunday’s event features two returning breweries: Great Lakes and Cheshire Valley, and they are bringing some real treats for us to celebrate Brew Year’s Day.  Cheshire Valley is bringing two brand new beers: English Barley Wine and Strong Scottish Pale Ale.  Both beers will clock in at the 8.5% – 9% a.b.v. range.  And Great Lakes is bringing three beers: Apocalypse Later (an imperial black IPA at 10.2%), Dude Where’s My Czar? (a vanilla bean flavoured Russian imperial stout at 11%) and A Waste of Men (a variation of an old ale at 12%).

Due to the strong nature of these beers, they are great winter warmers but also very powerful.  And as such we’ll be serving them in smaller glasses than we usually do.  They’ll be intense and flavourful but definite sippers!

From a food perspective, we’re happy to welcome back Buddha Dog to bring their delicious dogs to the Brewery Market.  We’ll have regular Buddha Dogs, plus Chili Dogs, Vegetarian Chili, Artisanal Marshmallows and Hot Chocolate.

As always, the Brewery Market runs from 1-5pm on Sunday, January 15th at The Stop’s Green Barn at the Wychwood Barns, located at 601 Christie Street.  And as always, proceeds from the event go to support The Stop Community Food Centre – through our events in 2011 we have raised over $25,000!  So bundle up and we hope to see you on Sunday.  Be sure to follow us @brewmarket to stay on top of the latest event information.

Today in The Toronto Star, Josh Rubin re-capped “7 ways Ontario’s beer scene improved in 2011“.  And we were thrilled to see Brewery Market on the list!

Josh said, “A new weekly series of meet-the-brewer events at Wychwood Barns, called Brewery Market, provided Toronto-area beer lovers a festive atmosphere in a lovely outdoor setting”.

It’s been a great year for the Brewery Market, as we’ve had 13 events thus far, raising over $25,000 for The Stop Community Food Centre and providing beer lovers a chance to enjoy some great food and beer treats.

Our first winter event on December 18th was a huge hit, and we’ve got another one coming up on January 15th with Great Lakes and Cheshire Valley.  Entitled “Brew Year’s Day”, this event will feature a number of exclusive, stronger brews to keep us warm for the afternoon.  More details will be announced soon!

Our second event of the winter season, entitled ‘Twas the Beer Before Christmas, is coming up this Sunday, December 18th and it’s shaping up to be a great one.  In honour of our colder Canadian winter, we’re going to embrace it head-on with great beer and delicious food while we stay warm and enjoy the season.

On the beer side, we are happy to welcome back the Indie Alehouse to the Brewery Market.  The Indie Alehouse was our featured brewery on August 28th and they are joining us again, but this time with some extra special treats.  Exclusively brewed for the Brewery Market, Indie will be debuting Christmas Spiced Porter in honour of  the holiday season.  The Christmas Spiced Porter is brewed with gingerbread spices and will definitely be a delicious brew for the time of year.  Alongside this Indie is also bringing their Breakfast Porter, Belgian IPA and Hoppy IPA, all great beers to keep us warm on Sunday.

We’re going to shake things up on the food side of things this weekend.  First up, we’re going to have a Chinese hot pot for warming sustenance.  Plus, we’re thrilled to welcome Buddha Dog to the Brewery Market for the first time, and they will be on-site making their delicious hot dogs.  And lastly, we’re going to have artisanal marshmallows that you can fire-roast yourself – on one of our two fire pits!

If that’s not enough to keep you warm, we’re also going to have blankets to wrap ourselves up in as we enjoy this great beer and food, all in support of The Stop Community Food Centre.  So get bundled up and celebrate winter with us!  As always, the Brewery Market runs from 1-5pm in The Stop’s Green Barn at the Wychwood Barns, located at 601 Christie Street. Stay on top of the latest updates by following us on Twitter. We hope to see you there!

We’re very happy to announce the brewery lineup for our winter series at the Brewery Market.  We’re going to have some fun with these events as we bundle up and have some great beers and food through our Canadian winter.

We will have three special events during the winter season:

December 18th: Entitled ‘Twas the Beer Before Christmas, this special festive Brewery Market will see the return of the Indie Alehouse. Indie (a brewpub coming soon to the Junction) will be brewing some special beers for the Brewery Market.

January 15th: This one will be called Brew Year’s Day, and will also feature a couple of returning breweries – Great Lakes and Cheshire Valley.  As this will be the middle of winter they will both will be bringing a number of special, higher alcohol beers to keep us all warm.

March 18th: To close our winter season, this event entitled the Pints of March will feature a new brewery to the Market, Spearhead.  You can expect some interesting goodies for this Brewery Market as well.

So mark your calendars for our winter dates, and stay tuned for more details!

The Brewery Market makes its new season debut this Sunday, October 23rd with a special edition “late harvest” version of Oktoberfest.

This week are are featuring three breweries: Black Oak, Cheshire Valley and Kensington Brewing – all three having their brands brewed at Black Oak’s facility in west Toronto.  They will each feature a different beer: Oaktoberfest from Black Oak, Out of this World Galaxy Pale Ale from Cheshire Valley, and Augusta Ale from Kensington Brewing.

But the multiple breweries aren’t the only thing we’re doing a little differently to celebrate our fall season – we’re also switching up our menu a bit.  Instead of the usual pizza, we’re going to have some German-inspired cuisine to commemorate traditional Oktoberfest.  Out of the wood-bake oven we will be featuring bratwurst with sauerkraut, plus pretzels with mustard from the Saturday Farmer’s Market.

As always, the Brewery Market runs from 1-5pm at The Stop’s Green Barn at the Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street.  We hope to see you there!