Granite Brewery: Toronto, ON

After spending a glorious year on Canada's east coast in Halifax, NS, my fiance and I made the 1900km trek back to Ontario. We loaded up the Envoy with our entire life and set off. Just east of Montreal we noticed a huge storm approaching and within minutes we were fully sucked into a wind cluster. I have never been so scared in my 25 years on this planet. I turned to Jessica after we were safely out of harm's way and mentioned I needed a beer.

Well, the second day back in Ontario and a new house in Toronto, we took the TTC over to the Granite Brewery on Eglinton. Halifax also had a Granite, in fact, the Halifax located superseded the Toronto landmark. Brother's Kevin and Ron Keefe own these respective pubs and brew traditional English Ale. As mentioned in the first post on the Halifax Granite, Toronto's brew pub offers Peculiar Ale, India Pale Ale, Best Bitter Special, Best Bitter, Keefe's Irish Stout, Summer Organic Ale, Barley Wine and a Raspberry. All delicious. I believe that when we attended, the Best Bitter Special and the IPA were the only two offered cask conditioned. Beauty!

Walking into the Granite you notice a large bookcase that extends the entire length of the right wall. Encyclopedia's, novels, history books and other reading material fill the shelves along with empty growlers. This room features some bench seating and square tables that can accommodate probably 30 patrons. It has old carpeting which adds to the rustic appearance of the pub.

The bar is located on the left side of the front entrance. It is a beautiful, long, curvy bar with stained glass etchings embedded in the wood above. The hand pumps for the cask ale are visible and the other tap handles all face out for customers to parose. In front of the bar are many round wooden tables that seat two. Above the tables is a large green wooden canoe suspended with wires.

Continue pass the bar and you come to the brewing area. Full length windows provide customers to catch a glimpse of the equipment. Continue into the back area of the pub and it transforms into a restaurant/dining area. Further to this is a back patio and front sidewalk patio.

The pub is a must visit for beer lovers/pub lovers if you ever make it to Toronto. On top of excellent beer you need good quality food. The Granite won't let you down. Not the best in the world, but good standard pub grub with a few highlights. You won't be disappointed.

The Granite also features a store that sells growlers (1.89 litres/a jug), hats, books, glassware and t-shirts. Free underground parking available as well.

245 Eglinton Ave East
Toronto, ON
www.granitebrewery.ca
Cheers