Top 5 craft breweries in Toronto

Craft breweries are all around in Toronto, but there are a few that really stand out from the rest. They’re great places to sample fresh beer brewed right at the source, as they typically have taprooms where you can try the latest recipes and even rare limited edition beers. Many of the best breweries have great food options to go along with their crispy beer, as well as bottle shops where you can purchase their products to go and take them home. Here are some of Toronto’s top craft breweries. 5 - True History Brewing Head to St. Clair West to find this charming neighbourhood brewery serving up huge mugs of frosty, lighter beer with heaps of Eastern European influence. At True History, you can get a "mliko pour," which is a style of pouring that mostly fills the glass with creamy foam, with a small amount of liquid beer at the bottom. While it might sound a little counterintuitive at first, it's a tradition that's savoured by many who are happy to find it here. Their No Thoughts schankbier clocks in at a sessionable three per cent, and their hefeweizen called There's Always Money in the Banana Stand is a more typical go-to at five per cent with a slightly bolder flavour. For a crowd pleaser, there's the smooth German-style pilsner with a name to match: Just a Pils. 4 - Burdock Brewery This brewery started out with a space near Bloor and Dufferin that to this day still doubles as a music hall, but now they've also expanded to open another location in Kensington that also encompasses a tavern. They focus a lot on lagers and ales, but they're also well known for their signature Tuesday saison and Ducks IPA. They're also never afraid to tinker with experiments like wine-beer hybrids or even pickle-flavoured seltzer. Their North Star Canadian lager is inspired by a German pilsner and is made with all-Canadian grown and malted barley, and is light but still flavourful and well-rounded. 3 - Bellwoods Brewery Ossington is home to this bustling brewpub that's been in business since 2012, and now also has an outpost on Hafis Road. They tend to brew beers that are more aromatic and hoppy, or crisp and clear, while also dabbling in barrel aging and fruited beers. They're well known for their sours, with their Jelly King being one of the more ubiquitous sour options in Toronto. Their beers have fun names like Cat Lady, Wizard Wolf and Witchshark, with equally funky flavour profiles. Watch out for collabs like a Wood Woods double IPA that's a joint effort with Wood Brothers Brewing that resulted in a beer drenched in fruity flavour that gives that effect of sipping on a smoothie. 2 - Left Field Brewery Locations in Leslieville and Liberty Village supply the city with fresh craft beer in a very wide variety of styles, including lots of rotating limited edition brews and collabs. This is Toronto's only baseball-themed brewery, which encompasses everything from the names of the beers to the theming of the space to the ballpark-style eats at their huge two-storey Liberty Village brewpub. Order a flight for a taster of four beers on the menu. Their Ice Cold Beer is a classic refreshing light beer, the Replay is a punchy and tart raspberry hibiscus wheat beer, and their Eephus is a textbook malty oatmeal brown ale. 1 - Godspeed Brewery At this industrial open air brewery at Coxwell and Gerrard, you’ll find everything from ales to lagers to saisons with a unique blend of influences pulling from Japanese and Viennese traditions. They're known for winning awards and working with international master brewers. That means you might find yourself sipping a green tea IPA or a yuzu saison as easily as a classic Czech-style pale lager. Their house Pivo on draft is a great go-to at the pub space, roasty and medium-bodied but still easy-drinking. [wp-simple-poll id='53634']