A Toronto Beer Tour Birthday

This weekend I had the most fun taking my parents around the city to celebrate my father's birthday a bit belated (it was in September, but considering they have a busier social calendar then I do I was lucky to schedule them in at all I think!)  As it was in honor of my father and he is a fan of trying different beers I planned a tour of the city stopping at a number of the wonderful breweries we are lucky to have around us!

Our day on Saturday started off on the 501 Queen Streetcar heading to The Beer Academy.  I had the opportunity to try some of their offerings at a craft beer event held earlier in the fall and wanted to see what they had to offer at their Victoria St. headquarters.  While a private booking kept us from the tour, we didn't feel we missed out too much as we each chose a flight to suit our tastes and we were still able to check out and appreciate the beautiful space.  I was quite pleased as I got to sample their pumpkin beer, a fall must have in my books!

From The Beer Academy we continued our way down Queen St, and we were entertained by a humorous TTC driver which is always a great surprise! We found ourselves at Bellwoods Brewery, a place I had brought my parents previously so it was a guaranteed hit.  We once again found ourselves enjoying our beer on the patio under the heaters as it was packed inside (as usual!) but it was still a wonderful stop and my dad got to pick up the amber ale he had missed out on buying last time around.

After finding the drinks had left us a bit on the hungry side I decided it was time to search out a memorable snack, something my parents had not yet experienced.  I brought them to Hodo Kwaja for some walnut cakes which went perfectly with some hot tea and coffee to warm us up.

Adequately filled I continued in the pursuit of beer and bringing my parents to yet another new part of the city and this found us in the Junction, which of course meant Junction Craft Brewing.  On our way here I had to convince my parents I knew where I was going as I led them into the industrial area that is the home to this brewery, but once we arrived they were quite pleased as again we chose a selection of beers to create flights.

The final stop of the day found as around the corner from Junction Craft Brewing at Indie Ale House where we tried some new selections with a bite to eat.  I was in heaven as each item we ordered had goat cheese included and you can never go wrong with goat cheese.  My dad was a little thrown we he went to take a drink of one particular beer and its' taste resembled that of a stiff rye and ginger.

All in the all the day was fantastic, and if you are travelling around the city you can never go wrong with the awesome $11 day passes that are good for 2 adults on the weekends!  Planning this trip was also an excellent practice in flexibility for me.  While I had planned the whole day on a schedule I was sure to have a couple extra options in my back pocket as well alterations to the plan.  Luckily we did not need them and the day could not have gone smoother!  If only I could make a living planning outings like this for anyone who wants to visit the city....now that I think of it, if you are looking to enjoy Toronto drop me a line and I could just create your own personalized experience!