Duggan's Brewery Opening Soon

There is an 'opening soon' notice in the window at 75 Victoria Street here in Toronto, which is exciting news for craft beer fans. The building once housed the Dension's Brewing Co. where brewer/owner Michael Hancock produced a number of German beers for on-site consumption, including his Weissbier and Dunkel.

I received a call on the weekend from someone in the industry who said the building, which was for lease, was snagged up by Michael Duggan, the award winning brewer at Cool and recent champion of Volo's Ontario Cask IPA Challenge for his Number 9 IPA.

A phone call to Duggan confirmed that he did indeed take on the lease and he plans to have the building open soon. "Yes it is true and we hope to start brewing this week and open in 3-4 weeks," he stated. He also confirmed that it will be a restaurant/brewery tied house with a retail store and it will go by the name Duggan's Brewery.

"I am going to try to have 8 beers on tap all the time, trying being the key word. I'll have the #9, a Pale Ale and seasonal products like an Oktoberfest, Pilsner, Weiss and more," Duggan said. "I like the idea of rotating seasonals, so I'll be rotating the line-up four times a year." There will also be casks available, which is great news for fans of real ale.

So there you have it, the tanks that have been collecting dust for all these years will finally be getting polished and put to their intended use.

Duggan is also getting prepared for the launch of his Number 9 in bottles, which if all goes well could be released come late September.

Duggan as many readers of this blog will know, was one of the founding members of the Mill Street Brewery. Since leaving Mill Street Duggan has brewed for Cool and Robert Simpson (Flying Monkey's) and is quite the accomplished brewer, to say the least.

This is great news for the Ontario brewing scene and for those of us living here in Toronto. More information will be posted as it becomes available.