Disclaimer - I am not a beer person. I don't even like beer. To me all beers at the LCBO taste the same, beery and I never understood the whole North American obsession with beer.
The first time I came with friends from out of town no less because they heard of this place. I would have never gone myself (see note above). They ordered beer, I ordered a cider I think and we shared some food which was good but not I would say extraordinary. Better than typical bar food for sure but I'm guessing people come here not necessarily for the food. What made an impression on me though was the interior (never been to a brewery before) and the choices of beer available.
I made a mental note and suggested to a friend to come try it out as someone that appreciated beer much more than me could possibly give an objective opinion on the beers. So last summer after visiting the Pan Am games, we decided to walk up to the brewery late afternoon and found a table on the patio. My friend ordered a beer, me a cider and ordered some food to share. They had a variety of beer called Jutsu and my friend tried hers and said I had to try it. Since I was at a beer brewery, I figured what have I got to lose? At worst, I waste $7. The description for Jutsu describes it as fruity, citrus, melon. I'm like whatever. Every wine bottle label I've ever read says the same things. So maybe I had too much sun that afternoon or I was drunk from my one cider but I actually tasted the things in the description! This isn't beer. It's beer mixed with fruit juice. My waiter assured me that it's just beer with the usual hops, yeasts and grains and it's no accident and like any good recipe, there is an ingredient list but the proportions are unique and different recipes lead to different results. So my very first beer that didn't taste like beer.
Tip - order the fried chicken.
Disclaimer 2 - I'm still not a beer person. I don't like 99% of beers. To me almost all the beers at LCBO taste the same. I'm so glad that the LCBO carries so many different kinds of craft beers that don't taste just like beer.