The Brewery Market

My first thought when stepping into the Brewery Market space at Wychwood Barns was, “This is quaint.” For a beer event, the Brewery Market occupies a rather small space and only showcases one craft brewer on any given weekend. Started by Cass Enright, founder of local beer forum The Bar Towel, the idea was to replicate the atmosphere of a farmers market, where people can talk directly to the producers. He told me when the Brewery Market was first announced that he didn’t want to appeal to the beer geeks, but draw in people curious to learn more about beer and craft beer in particular. This partially explains the size of the Brewery Market – it’s not easy to learn about beer when you’ve got a large group clamoring for the same thing.

This past Sunday brought Cameron’s Brewing to the Wychwood Barns along with some of their sessionable beers. In bottles they had the Lager and Auburn Ale (which I tried for the first time in a while two weeks ago and really liked), but the real treat was a special cask of dry-hopped and unfiltered Auburn Ale (renamed Captain Cloudy for the day). Three pizzas were being made in a wood-fire oven by the great folks from The Stop – a veggie, salami and walnut-pesto. Considering the prices ($5/beer, $8/pizza, no entrance fee) and the chilled-out atmosphere (picnic tables, casual Sunday conversations, nice music selection at a moderate volume), the Brewery Market is great if you’re looking to just pop in for a quick lunch with a pint or if you want to spend a lazy Sunday drinking great beer. The cask was an extra-special treat – the bitterness in the end was not as evident without the carbonation, but the unfiltered beer brought out a lot more complexity and flavours. The pizza was also spectacular and recommended for fans of thin, crispy crusts.

I don’t mean to make the Brewery Market sound like a small event – planning out the eleven weekends and getting everyone involved must have been quite a feat. Compared to other beer events it is obviously on a different scale, but the longer I spent at the Market the more the micro-size appealed to me. It was intimate and casual, a welcome change from larger events that attempt to draw out the masses. If this is evident of the new type of event that Toronto will be seeing, I’m all for it. One of the great parts of drinking Ontario craft beer is that it supports a community business, so I love that the Brewery Market brings a sense of community to a beer event.

There are still five weekends to enjoy the Brewery Market:

• August 14 – F&M
• August 28 – Indie Ale House
• September 11 – Great Lakes
• September 18 – Grand River
• September 25 – Beau’s

Not a bad spread – some of the greatest breweries in Ontario right now and the debut of Toronto’s latest brewery. Get out to the Brewery Market and support local craft beer and community organizations.

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