A Craft Beer Tour of Kingston
Kingston is home to eight craft breweries, three of which are conveniently housed in the same building, with the remainder spread out across the city. I tasted my way through all eight, and while walking the entire tour was less than feasible, a few of the taprooms are grouped closely enough so as not to force the taster to become the full time employer of a rideshare driver.
Riverhead Brewing Company
631 Fortune Cres, Unit 10, Kingston, On
Riverhead is located at basically the north-east edge of the city. The brewery is open and bright, with that slight industrial feel common with a good many of its peers. The river theme is front and centre, with canoeing paraphernalia, canoe paddle signage, and a wooden tab and slot moosehead adorning the taproom. The bar top setup is small, and didn’t seem like the most convenient place to sit, but a few high tables offer an excellent vista with a direct line of sight into the fermenter tanks. There is plenty of seating here, I just have my preferences.
Riverhead offers a tight and clean beer menu, a trait that flows through into the beers. The Vienna lager is a little more bitter than the amber ale which is a slight shift in the space-bitterness continuum, but the IPAs were fresh and aromatic and deftly navigated both the ABV and bitterness range. There are no sours, no stouts, no barrels and no mixed fermentations. Just good clean beer. The standout is the blonde ale. Most blondes tend to be quicker to produce lager alternatives, and many are brewed with little care. The first thing I noticed was a complete absence of DMS. DMS, or dimethylsulphide, is the elusive off-aroma that plagues many a malty beer. It smells a bit like canned corn, or cooked cabbage. A level far below perceptibility is ideal for most beers, and especially blondes, but this goal seems to be rarely achieved. Until now.
Spearhead Brewing Company/Skeleton Park Brewery/Signal Brewery
675 Development Drive, Kingston, On
Spearhead is due south from Riverhead, and again caters to a specific area and requires motorized transport. The building hosts Signal and Skeleton Park as well, and I have learned this is a function of a recent consolidation.The area is decidedly industrial. The taproom is beside a storage facility, across from an auto glass shop, and backs on the railway tracks. Parking is not an issue. Seating should not be a concern here either. The patio is large, the taproom itself has plenty of seats and the multisided bartop is sized to host quite a few thirsty guests. There were sixteen beers on tap, but nothing dark. Unless the visitor is of the “stout or get out” persuasion, there is something here for everyone. The beer here is to spec, with some finishing slightly less dry than I would have anticipated, but none taking any massive creative license. The Skeleton Park bohemian pilsner is extremely well done, right down to the signature hint of buttery diacetyl.
Spearhead Inc is the result of the 2023 amalgamation of Skeleton Park, Spearhead, and Signal.
Kingston Brewing Company
34 Clarence St, Kingston, On
Opening in 1986 and housed in a former telegraph office, Kingston Brewing Company is the city’s oldest pub. Half your mind may expect to find elderly gentlemen in tweed discussing the finer qualities of cricket, while the other half may expect to see the slo-pitch team eating chicken wings. Conveniently, both would be natural. With the awning in full bloom, the facade is decidedly eatery, or drinkery perhaps. Retracted, the burgundy paint offers the impression of a shop not intended for locals. The abundance of beeriana coupled with the dark wood, and obvious age of the building gives a sort of English pub meets Old Spaghetti Factory. Something for everyone. Sadly they do not offer nor accommodate taster sized pours or flights, which makes it difficult to even approach a full evaluation. A trip to the bottle shop and a few weeks of thoughtful consumption has left me in the position where I can now declare that they make good, fresh, quality beers, and none of them disappoint. The taproom highlights are the cask ales, of which there are two. At least there are two beer engines, and at the time of my visit both were in operation. Red Rooster is their anniversary ale. A dark ale, with a hefty 8% ABV, and deep fruity esters, it was a true delight, although I must say a full pint is a lot for this beer. I followed it with the dragon’s breath, a bitter. Its lovely, as most carefully brewed bitters are. Served at cellar temperature, it went nicely with the pickled egg I trepidatiously ordered.
Something in the Water Brewing Co.
275 Princess St. Kingston, On
Something in the water has a Toronto location, so it is a brewery with which I am familiar. The ambiance is sort of like an ice cream shop and the big open garage door invited in the warm summer breeze accent the loose slap of Harley motors. The locations are co-home to Ghost Taco and with quite a number of options and the ability to mix and match, there is no need to go hungry. There is something about Something in the water that ensnares one’s attention. They manage to delve into the strange and curious, without losing sight of the plot. Their selection of beers to which flavours have been added are interesting, drinkable, and seemingly well planned. The core line up features solid execution and pleasant results. The lagers are clean and fresh, the IPAs are aromatic and firm, and they have executed a dark lager with authority. That is not an easy task in my opinion. With just the right amount of roast to keep malt sweetness at bay, it is as drinkable as it is detailed. The sours are better balanced than most single fermentation tart beers, and their light offerings manage not to wash out all the flavour. The curious beers, as they fittingly categorize them, change regularly. I have yet to be let down by any of them, but the Brifeasta Irish Red was curious indeed.
Daft Brewing
768 Princess St. Kingston, On
Daft Brewing is just up the street from Something in the Water. The first impression, with the concrete floor, graffitied walls, open front, and balcony was something akin to a 90’s dance club, but with fermentation tanks. There is a lot of neon in here. The kitchen closes “Portland’ early during the week, but they do have a hefty food menu. Service is fast and attentive and the tap list is impressive, enforcing the idea that this is in fact a craft brewery. The rows of barrels on the balcony, or possibly its a catwalk, is encouraging. And rightly so. The beers are well done, a consistent theme in this city, but the barrel aged sour here stands out. While the drinker may be able to plow through a pint or flight with purpose, time slows down when you hit this one. There are complexities that barrel aging contributes which humans can’t quite pin down. And that’s the beauty of it.
In a truly Daft move, I lost my photos of this brewery.
Fine Balance Brewing Company
677 Innovation Drive, Unit 4, Kingston, On
Out in the east end, across the river, lives a brewery who probably deserves a standalone article.
Fine Balance is an outstanding brewery. The bright open space, with its pastel colours, white tap handles, and lighter wood, is an invitation for afternoon imbibing. Pulling one of the best examples of a pilsner this side of the Atlantic, and via sidepour no less, the freshness just leaps out the glass. The IPAs and pale ales are beyond aromatic, and the consequence of either an extremely well thought through hopping regime, or some sort of seventh sense. The fruity hops in their double IPAs adeptly balance out the perfumy alcohol without hiding it entirely. The sours dial back the acidity just enough to make them gentler on the tongue, and then come the stouts.
They have one keg fridge. This is standard, and it’s not an issue so long as a bit of forethought is applied. Order the stout first as it’s the beer to have last, and let it sit until ready. They make several imperial pastry stouts and two were on tap during my visit. A pastry stout, or any stout whose flavour is derived from anything but the big four and the barrel, can have an artificial, almost chemical edge to them. These stouts are real, and they are spectacular. Among the best imperial stouts I have ever had, the Coco Craze had just enough coconut to live up to its name without dominating, and the Choco Loco was just an incredibly intricate work of art.
With eight breweries across six settings, a complete tour of Kingston’s craft scene is not only possible but fairly effortless. While there may be standouts, which there are, none disappoint and I am happy to be able to write a full piece without omission.