Dominion City Brewing Make it Easy to Support Local
These are strange times. Difficult for everyone in so many ways. Small businesses are suffering a lot right now. Breweries have been allowed to remain open (in Ontario and Quebec), and they’ve all had to make changes to the ways they get their products to customers in these unprecedented times. One brewery in particular has been ahead of the curve in Ontario when it comes to adapting to the changing circumstances, and they’ve really been industry leaders in getting beer to customers while protecting their staff and the public. That brewery is my hometown fave, Dominion City Brewing.
The team at Dominion City have long been some of the kindest and friendliest people you’d be lucky enough to meet in the industry, and if you ever needed an example of how proactive they are, this is it. They’ve been quick to react to public health updates and were one of the first in the province to offer a drive-thru pickup service, where you place an order online, show up at their northside bay door, give them your order number, and they’ll place the beer in your trunk. Fully contactless transaction.
They were also one of the first in Ottawa to offer local beer delivery (free for orders over $40), which is another way they are making it possible for customers to get their beer while fully enabling social distancing.
Their province-wide delivery service continues to be one of the most affordable in the province at only $10 delivery for orders over $40.
At the time of writing they have closed their walk-in retail store and are selling entirely contactless through online orders:
Drive-thru pickup at the brewery
Local delivery within Ottawa
Province-wide delivery via Canada Post
They’re also collecting donations for their local food bank, with an easy option for customers to add a donation to their online order at checkout. As they always have, Dominion City continues to make it an easy choice to support local.
Not to be forgotten is that their beer continues to be outstanding. Here are a few of the gems I picked up from my recent drive-thru order.
Two Flags
IPA - 6.2%
Dominion City Two Flags.
Two Flags is Dominion City’s flagship IPA. Along with their Town & Country Blonde Ale it was one of their first beers to be canned. It’s brewed with 100% locally grown Cascade hops from family farms in Ontario and Western Quebec. I hadn’t had it in a couple of years so I was long overdue for a revisit. It’s got a full on West Coast vibe with a crystal clear copper-orange pour, and caramelized pineapple on the nose. The malt base gives it a backbone of cooked brown sugar. Up front you get pineapple, mango and grapefruit pith alongside pine with a peppery tingle. Superbly balanced with a nice bitter finish. This is a classic I’m glad I revisited.
Darkest Hour
Czech-Style Dark Lager - 5.0%
Dominion City Darkest Hour.
This is a style I really dig during this transition season when the weather gets a bit warmer but there are still a lot of cooler, gloomy rainy days. They’re light and easy to drink while still providing that comforting roastiness. Darkest Hour has mild coffee bitterness, a roasty background and a slightly nutty flavour with a touch of malty sweetness. The mouthfeel is both light and slightly creamy which gives it a frothiness like a well pulled espresso.
Sunsplit
IPA - 6.5%
Dominion City Sunsplit.
Dominion City’s first New England-style IPA. It showed up when haze was still relatively new on the Ontario scene, and it quickly became my absolute favourite of their semi-regular lineup. It has a gorgeous bright yellow pour with thick, fully opaque haze and a white frothy head. The nose is a bright tropical fruit salad of mango, peach, and pineapple. The mouthfeel is soft and frothy, almost creamy but still light and fluffy. It’s exploding with that same tropical combo of fuzzy peach, mango and juicy pineapple, and finishes with minimal bitterness. It remains one of the best and most consistently good New England-style IPAs in Ontario.
Giants of the North
Imperial Stout - 10%
Dominion City Giants of the North.
This little can might seem unassuming but it is flavour packed! There is a massive amount of decadent additions including maple syrup, cacao nibs, vanilla, almonds, and milk sugar. Not surprisingly it is almost bracingly sweet, but also velvety smooth and packing layers of flavour from all ingredients. It’s superbly rich, like liquid chocolate. The mouthfeel somehow manages to carry a sticky maple quality, a silky smoothness, and an almost powdery aspect as if it was sprinkled with cocoa powder or icing sugar. It’s slightly nutty with a bitterness of dark chocolate. Despite its richness and hefty 10% ABV, it doesn’t drink overly heavy or boozy. It’s a decadent treat! Also, I wish more imperial stouts were packaged in the eminently more manageable 355ml format.
So there you have it! Keep supporting local in whatever way you safely can, and particularly the businesses that make it easy and safe to do so.
A quick shout out to two Hamilton breweries that have made the difficult decision to close operations entirely during this crisis, Grain & Grit, and Fairweather Brewing. Keep them in your thoughts, and consider rewarding them with your business when they open their doors again.
Stay home and stay safe friends!
Photography by Nathan Does Beer.
Our friends Hops & Bros on the importance of buying local.
Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.