A Beer Tour of Elora and Guelph

This article was written by Jonathan a guest contributor, an experienced freelance beer writer, beer consultant, and homebrewer based in Toronto, Canada. As an Advanced Cicerone®, BJCP judge, podcast host, and specialist in beer, fermentation, and food, he brings extensive knowledge and expertise to help readers better understand and appreciate the world of beer. Be sure to visit Jonathan's blog to discover more of his insightful beer guides, tasting tips, and educational content.

The town of Elora is one hour and forty minutes drive from Toronto. Or so it is claimed. Anyone who professes to have driven a respectable stretch of the highway 401 without stopping, has a selective and flawed memory. Or they are just liars. Eventually it was my turn to grind to halt, but then we sat there. Nothing moved. And then it did. Only for a sliver of time, then stopped again.

False promises. The creeping need for a bathroom, coupled with my inconvenient position of being three lanes over and surrounded by transport trucks, made the situation increasingly frustrating. Eventually, through painstaking Frogger-like maneuvering, I managed to exit the highway and was spit out into the countryside.

There is a phenomenon called velocitization. It occurs when a driver migrates from 110km/h on a highway to say 80kmh, or worse, 60kmh on a regular road and everything feels so slow. Becoming acclimatized to the higher speeds, said driver often misjudges their actual speed. I was now experiencing a phenomenon that I am coining reverse-velocitization. Sixty kilometers per hour felt fast, eighty felt racecar fast. The inconvenient detour had certainly extended my travel time, but this was more scenic anyways. I navigated the backroads with surprising ease and finally pulled into glorious Elora. It’s like entering a limestone wonderland.

Elora is a historic village, centered around the gorge and grist mill. The mill was built in 1832, went through various transitions, and now operates as a Hotel and Spa. My understanding is there is a plan to integrate condos into the mill, or perhaps integrate the mill into condos. Sigh. A town of this caliber begs for exploration, and explore I would, but first I needed to get some beer.

Elora Brewing Company

Elora Brewing Company is in a lovely spot on the main street. Brick and wood and more wood, with ample patio space for admiring the Post Office, Library, and Macdonald Square Park. Not to
mention Canada’s oldest flatiron building. I selected a flight of four and sat down at the patio, ready to get my nose deep in the glasses to the amusement and confusion of both patron and passerby. I had to drive to Guelph right after, and as such, my sampling was responsibly restricted.

Their lager is clean, grainy and slightly floral. It’s good, and pretty much what it’s supposed to be. There should not be a lot of license, and frankly there is not much room for license in a beer like this. Anyone can drink this, and anyone should. There isn’t a lot to think about, and nor should there be.

The Schwarzbier however is conundrum in a glass. They always are. It looks like a stout, it kinda smells like a stout at first pass, but not at second pass. Aromas of toffee, molasses, bread crusts, chocolate and roasted grains leapt out the glass. The flavour is much the same, smooth and clean with those chocolate toffee notes, faint roasted grains and restrained supporting bitterness. A medium body and a no stout like astringency, ending in a finish that is smooth and clean and leaves a touch of chocolate lingering.

The West Coast IPA was, well, a West Coast IPA. Dank, Piney, citrusy. Checking all the boxes, but with a hint of rose petal for good measure. The flavour latches on to the aroma, with an assertive bitterness taking hold. Malt is supportive and neutral and the finish is nice and dry with some lingering bitterness. Classic.

Finally, I tried the Queen of the Quarry, which I had been patiently coveting the entire time. A Nectaron hop showcase with notes of dried pineapple and passionfruit, all on top of a slight skunky, but not lightstruck, dank character. This is actually a pretty complex beer and really should be enjoyed in better glass, and allotted more time and attention.

I finished up, got some cans to go. And set out to see the town and metabolize. The gorge is a sight, the bridges are nice, and the mill is a trip through time. The whole place is lovely to put it mildly. A good number of the stores seem to be aimed at people who don’t actually live there. I clearly don’t either but I’m not a browser, nor do I feel the need for vintage buoys or wooden ducks, so I remained outdoors.

Sidenote: If you are willing to drive a few minutes out of town, about halfway to Fergus, you may visit the county Museum and Archives. Sounds exhilarating, I know. But importantly, the
Museum once served as a “poorhouse”, at a time where it was believed that hard labour could remedy the disease of pauperism (not my words), reminding us that no society is without a dark
past.

The drive to Guelph was short and easy, but boy had I picked a location in which to stay. I think my belief was that since it was close-ish to Wellington Brewery, I could finish the day, go back to the room, read a bit, go to Wellington and return. I was basically in the middle of a shipping lane. I was on the ground floor too. This is by far the worst floor in any hotel, and honestly I don’t think they should even exist. Now that I think about it, this hotel might not have even had a second floor.

Fixed Gear Brewing Company

My inclination to walk everywhere was superseded by a preference to actually arrive at my destination, so I checked in and unpacked, which consisted of putting my backpack on the chair, arranged a ride and headed to Fixed Gear Brewing. They have two locations. I intended on visiting the tasting room, probably because the name sounds cooler, but somehow ended up at the Canteen. I’m 90% sure this was my fault. Either way, I might have lucked into the better of the two, but I have no idea. It was closer to my third stop, to which I was stubbornly determined to walk, so I guess it all worked out. The set up is cool, it’s in an old CN Rail building which has been repurposed into office space for cutting edge new businesses, again not my words.

The first two beers I tried were accessible and pretty plain. There was nothing wrong with them, they just did what they were supposed to. The pale ale was a bit thin, but importantly, it was not just a small IPA.

The oatmeal stout was a mouthful. A mouthful of roast and bittersweet chocolate along with a bit of coffee and just the right astringency. Bitterness was perfectly balanced, the finish was dry with some lingering roasted grains.

I had been eying the double IPA, and so I requested one. I have a bit of secret and private competition happening with double and triple IPAs by the way. Well it’s not so secret now that I’ve told you, so there it is, cat’s out of the bag. Doubles can be incredible and sneaky, or they can be obvious and angry. Triples are mostly bad, gasoline bad. I have been on another secret quest to prove that a great triple IPA is possible. I’ll let you know when and if I prove that one. That’s not the point right now. The alcohol on this double was not subtle, but it wasn’t a fusel bomb either, so I was in a bit of a conundrum, and I’m not sure I ever came to a solid opinion. The nose was pineapple, passionfruit, citrus, and the above mentioned booze. The beer felt slightly underattenuated, holding back what could have been face ripping bitterness, and giving it a fuller and smoother mouthfeel. Almost pillowy, but not quite. This part was interesting for sure. I can’t give it a ribbon, but I would drink it again.

The star player here, to reiterate, was the oatmeal stout, and it would have been even more beautiful on a damp rainy day, which it was unfortunately, but mostly fortunately, not.

Brothers Brewing Company

I fulfilled my destiny and walked to Brothers Brewing. I like walking. You see more by walking, and you get lost more, which is sometimes wonderful, and sometimes not. Being a rather quick walker, I never really believe the travel times indicated by the map apps, but somehow this was longer than indicated. It was an odd walk too. Pushing through the aluminum siding bungalows and such brought me into an area full of big Georgian and Victorians, old stone churches, and a general atmosphere of pleasantry. At one point in time I found myself on, hopefully unused, railway tracks. I kept a keen lookout for strange woodsfolk or wolves who spoke English, and eventually landed in downtown Guelph and found Brothers Brewing. The dimmed lighting and
dark wood gives the impression that one could walk in at noon, leave 9 hours later and be shocked that it’s nighttime. The eclectic design includes an upright piano and a shelf of board games and of course a few tandem bicycles to reinforce the power of their logo. There is no footrail which always makes me uncomfortable, but the big chalkboard announcing the available beers made me soon forget this.

Tropic Thunder was first. The nose is citrus stone fruit and resin. Crackery supporting malt and adequate bitterness, all in a medium-light bodied cool and refreshing downer. I do prefer to allow the big 3 to do all the work (hops yeast and malt that is), but I also appreciate thoughtful and careful flavour additions to beer, and so I moved on to the Total nut job. Man, this was a big flavour bomb. The nose was a big mix of toffee, pistachio and hay. The flavour was pistachio, toffee, and light milk chocolate with some gentle roast. It was decidedly malt balanced, mildly astringent, and slightly bitter with a medium-full body. Pistachio and milk chocolate lingered into the finish. Delicious.

It’s Never Really Over. That was the name of the pale ale and my final beer here. The descriptor was kiwi and cantaloupe, and that it was. Sadly it was over.

Royal City Brewing Co.

I walked over to Royal City, which involved crossing the bridge and maneuvering through a more industrial part of town. It was a very lively brewery, pretty well stocked with patrons for the time of day, and with a board full of lovely offerings to boot. Royal City by the way, is Guelph’s nickname. Guelph came from “Guelfo”, the Italian for the Bavarian “Welf”, as in the House of Welf, from which came the House of Hanover, from which came King Goerge IV, for whom the city was named. Hence, Royal City.

They had a pretty big beer menu, and so I employed my usual strategy of ordering a few standards on which to benchmark, and some non-standards, exercising impressive restraint. If I do say so. A pale ale, an NEIPA, a British style session Ale, and a Maibock seemed sensible. I should have had the stout but I didn’t. The pale ale was lovely and lively. Clean citrus and a bit of pineapple, with a very slight tartness. The Suffolk St. Session Ale was very well executed. A nice layer of toasted bread crusts and light caramel topped by the minty, firm hops typical of the style. The maibock was very well done. Malt forward and with that restrained alcohol that can make these beers dangerous. The NEIPA was a bright tropical bomb with a shorter than expected, but perfectly dry finish.

I made it back to the hotel to decompress for a bit, with the plan to go over to Wellington Brewery for a bite to eat and some lovely beer and then call it a day. Wellington has played a special role in my beer journey. In my much younger years, while my colleagues, let’s call them, were drinking mass-market lagers, I was partial to yeasty Belgians, and complex craft ales. I had a special affinity for Wellington’s Iron Duke, which I recently discovered has been resurrected. Unfortunately Wellington’s taproom closes rather early, and on the day in question they were hosting a private event anyways. Disappointed, I needed a new plan and so I headed back to the Wooly Pub.

The Wooly Pub

This is a lovely place and frankly I fell in love with it immediately. It has the warm feel of a classic pub. The wood bartop and multiple beer engines just warm the heart. Mine anyways. The beer
menu is diverse and full of lovely suggestions. The food was good, the atmosphere warm and welcoming, and the Wellington Arkell Best Bitter on cask almost made me forget my missed opportunity. The server noticed me eyeing the pastry stout, and recognizing my apprehension towards committing to a full serving of such a high ABV beer after a full day, offered me just a taste, on the house. What a wonderful ending to a wonderful day.

The Beer Tour of Elora and Guelph was provided by Jonathan from The Beer Taster’s Notebook, who shared his expert knowledge and passion for local breweries, beer culture, and the art of tasting.

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