Brews News: Craft brewers hit sour summer notes

July 6, 2024

A sour mood among craft brewers benefits fans of tart, fruity beers.

Railway City in St. Thomas is joining in, offering a summery strawberry lemonade and an event that highlights it, Lake Erie bass and jazz. Seafood, Sours and Swing takes place on July 27.

At Storm Stayed in London, friends are coming over to celebrate Sour Fest 2024. In addition to its own sour creations, Storm Stayed will have guest taps from six other breweries, including All My Friends and Prince Eddies from Prince Edward County, Counterpoint from Kitchener, Fairweather from Hamilton, Rorschach from Toronto and Wishbone Brewing from Waterford. Sour Fest takes place on July 13.

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Sour beers don’t sell as quickly as IPAs and lagers, but they’re very popular in the summer.

BEERLAB MEETS SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Five years ago, Beerlab London took the leap from garage brewing to opening a brewery in the city centre. The seemingly endless roadworks and other problems in the city centre might have put some off, but not the Denim Brothers – Nick Baird and Adil Ahmad – who run the lab.

Now they’re going one step further and opening a new brand called Supply and Demand Beer and Pizza.

In a video post, the Denim Brothers assure their fans that their philosophy of innovation and experimentation will not change.

NEW AND NOTED

Storm Stayed launched a lemon shandy called Solar Cycle, which comes in 473ml cans – a first for the Wharncliffe Road brewery. Solar Cycle has an ABV of 3.2 percent and costs $3.50 per can.

Railway City’s shandy is Cosmic Citrus, brewed with yuzu and grapefruit with 2.5 percent alcohol.

In Stratford, McCarthy’s Radler is the soft drink of choice at Black Swan Brewing. It is mixed with strawberry lemonade and has an alcohol content of 3.5 percent. The name is a tribute to the first business, McCarthy’s Bicycle Repair, that operated in what is now the brewery.

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Formosa Springs is back in business. The Bruce County brewery is offering three brands, including Red Baron, its former flagship. A canned draft beer and a light beer complete the initial offering. (Photo by FORMOSA SPRINGS)

Red Baron, a pale lager once popular in Canada, is back in stores as part of the relaunch of the formerly dormant Formosa Springs. The recipe for Red Baron was written long ago by craft pioneer Brick Brewing in one of Formosa Springs’ many ownership changes. Reopened under local ownership in the village of Formosa in Bruce County, the brewery store offers three brands in cans. In addition to Red Baron, there is Formosa Light and Formosa Draft.

The task of breathing life into a lifeless building is almost complete, as the harborside Port Stanley Brewing prepares for its debut. The brewery’s restaurant, Riva, had an unofficial opening on Canada Day weekend. The owners renovated the Dominion of Canada Building, which once served as a customs house for cargo arriving by ship. It was built in the 1920s and is a heritage-listed building.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.

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