Who knew beer was such a big part of Ontario’s history? Well it is … er … was. Waves of settlers, first English, the Irish, then German, each brought their brewing traditions here. At Black Creek Pioneer Village you can see the historic brewery for yourself and learn how beer was made. I recommend taking one of the tours.

Canada's only working historic brewery

The tours are offered twice daily and they are a lot of fun. Each person on the tour is receives a “character card” about a real person from our brewing history. The characters might be famous brewers (do “Molson” or “Carling” ring a bell?), famous politicians (ever heard the name “George Brown?”), or temperance figures, who opposed the drinking of alcohol. The cards make nice souvenirs, or can serve as postcards.

See how beer was made.

The tour guides show you how beer was made, and you learn a lot about the social history, too. For example, who knew that Bloor Street was named after a brewer. The ingredients, and the basic processes used to make beer have not changed really, but in the Black Creek Historic Brewery, you can see everything, and it’s easy to understand the steps. You can’t see that in a modern brewery: all you see, really, are pipes and giant tanks. When you tour a regular brewery, you just have to take their word for it what happens inside the equipment. That also makes modern breweries less interesting for children.

One of the tour guides at the Black Creek Historic Brewery

A highlight is tasting the beer right from the oak barrels at the end of the tour. It’s different, it’s interesting, and many people really like it. Don’t worry: for the kids there is root beer. The tour is definitely interesting for all ages. Afterwards you can buy a “growler” of beer to take home, or go next door to the Brewery restaurant and enjoy a chilled beer with delicious locally sourced cuisine. I recommend the root vegetable chips: best I ever tasted.

If you are curious to know more, you can check out our sister blog, the Black Creek Growler, for news about the brewery, or – even better – go see it for yourself. And bring the family!