On Tuesday we confirmed a tip that Creemore Springs is moving into the spot on Victoria Street vacated by Duggan’s Brewery last April. Now another tipster has led us to a story in the Creemore Echo with the details. Apparently, the Duggan’s brewing facilities will be kept intact, but won’t be churning out Creemore Springs lager (the formula requires water from Creemore, and it’s a bit of a trek). Instead, it will become an “experimental lab” where test beers for Six Pints Specialty Beer Company—Molson’s craft beer division—will be cooked up and made available to the public.
Limited edition beers will be available in bottles on site (there’s a small bottling plant in the basement of the building), plus there will be a small “tasting lounge,” where people can come off the street, sit at a table or on a couch, and buy one pint of whatever is being brewed. That’s it, though—it’s not a pub, just a place to stop in and taste the latest.
The rest of the building will feature two large areas—one, accessible from a different entrance off the street, will be a sort of “beer museum.” Visitors, as well as employees and clients undergoing training, can wander the area [tentatively named “The Beer Academy] and experience several interactive exhibits telling the story of good beer… The other room will be an events room, available for rent.
The basement, meanwhile, will apparently serve as office space for Six Pints. We have to admit: we’re a little disappointed that the new location won’t house a pub or restaurant (considering Duggan’s came equipped with both). Still, we can sort of understand why. The space is huge, and we can imagine it’s difficult to get the numbers to work out. Then there’s the pesky matter of having a brewery competing with the bars it sells beer to. As the company’s communication director, Karen Gaudino, told the Echo, “There are too many of our clients in the area, and we don’t want to step on their toes.”
• A Toronto Base (Sort Of) For Creemore Springs [Creemore Echo]
This seems like such a disappointing (and I must admit, oddly confusing) use of a really cool historic building with brewing facilities already in place. Duggan’s was usually busy, I just got the impression they didn’t have the cash to really fix the place up right and keep the food and beer consistent. I was hoping that Molson’s money could at least be used to create a decent pub here to feature Creemore’s (one of the better Molson products) and some other specialty brews. But even that won’t be the case. Too bad.
December 18, 2011 at 8:56 am | by Gary