As the weather gets colder the temptation to stay in with a snifter of barleywine sets in. That’s fair, but we also love a good winter-season beer event. Here are three good ones coming up in Toronto.
Great Lakes Christmas Market
As Ontario craft breweries work to break out from their niche and grow market share above (roughly) 10%, I really like to see the creative things they’re doing to become hubs for their communities.
Hosting a Christmas market seems like a tailor-made way to accomplish this goal. Several breweries have jumped into the game, but Great Lakes looks to have one of the most comprehensive events planned. At their brewery, on December 8, they’ll have everything from Bavarian eats, to a tree lot, to craft local vendors selling stocking-worthy creations.
Indie Alehouse Stout Night
Are you a fan of the strong, dark stuff? Ready to unwind after a long year? Indie Alehouse has you covered with their seventh annual stout night on December 21.
The ticket page comes headed with the disclaimer: “This event is not for the “light” beer drinker.”
The tasting options will cover an impressive spread of beer markers from across the province with breweries like Barncat, Blood Brothers and Bellwoods right to Eastbound, Great Lakes and Godspeed all represented.
Admission is just over $20 (including a welcome beer) and additional drink tickets are $2.50. Note that it’s cash only and there is no ATM on site — and the location is the new Indie production space in (where else?) industrial south Etobicoke.
Hoppy Holidays by Drink Inc
Finally, Drink Inc will be back at the Berkeley Church event space on Queen East for their Hoppy Holidays event. There’s a long list of drink vendors, including breweries like Beau’s, Big Rock, Muskoka, Oast House, Nickel Brook and The Exchange. Hoppy Holidays has already sold out, so this might be one of the only ways for you to get in!
The best part is that we have several pairs of tickets to give away. Head over to our Instagram post about the event for details on how you could win.
Lead photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.
