Matthew L.
Yelp
Oast House Brewers is a craft brewery that opened in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada in 2012. It was founded by friends Cian MacNeill, Kevin Somerville and Mike Berlis. MacNeill had previously spent time working as a winemaker/sommelier and had experience at d'Arenberg Winery in Australia as well as Tawse Winery in the Niagara area. When the three realized that there was no quality beer in the area, they came up with an idea to start a farmhouse brewery. In 2011, a big red barn dating back to the late 1800s became available and the trio jumped at the opportunity. The name 'Oast House' was chosen as an agricultural reference to a traditional oast house, which is a small building dedicated to drying out hops. The brewers at Oast House are 100% dedicated to bottle-conditioning, the application of native yeasts, the use of naturally filtered artesian well water, barrels from neighbor wineries, and the planting and use of local hops.
My wife and I visited Oast House Brewers in April 2016. We were on a sightseeing trip to Niagara Falls for four days. Several people had told us to head north and check out Niagara-on-the-Lake for its huge winery scene, but we also heard that breweries were starting to pop up as well. We dedicated a day for visiting wineries and breweries and Oast House was our fifth stop of the day. We really liked how the brewery was a repurposed old barn. The interior was really cool! We sampled several of their offerings including: "Barnraiser Country Ale" (pale ale), "Sweet'n Sow'r" Bière de Mars, Saison Farmhouse Ale, Bière de Garde, Bourbon Coffee Milk Stout, Russian Imperial Stout with Dark Plums, and Eisbock with Icewine Grapes. Everything was excellent! We ending up purchasing bottles of Barnraiser and Sweet'n Sow'r to take home, along with a jar of pickled hop shoots. We will definitely return the next time we're in the Niagara area!