Top 10 Breweries in Ontario for 2023
For the third year in a row, we kicked off our new year of BAOS pods by rounding up our picks for the top 10 breweries in the province of Ontario. Cee and I always have a blast looking back and celebrating the best breweries in the province from the previous year. In 2023, Ontario saw some phenomenal new breweries open their doors, while some legendary breweries unfortunately closed their doors for good. There were even some breweries that had been around for a few years that we tried for the first time in 2023. While the top 10 list is not ranked in any particular order, we did again name a brewery of the year. We also awarded some honourable mentions, and looked back on our top 5 Ontario podcasts of the year!
Listen to the episode audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app, watch the full video below, or read on!
As always, these are the top 10 Ontario breweries as chosen by Cee and me, based on our experiences from breweries we visited and/or tasted from in 2023. We visit and drink from a lot of breweries, but we can never get to them all. We fully recognize that there may be other breweries we didn’t get to that are worthy of a mention. Let us know if there’s a brewery you think we missed, and we’ll try to make sure we get to them this year!
Tooth and Nail Brewing Company
Ottawa
Year after year, Tooth and Nail continue to make some of the most consistent, on-point, traditional, true-to-style beer in the province. Among a broad range of styles across the spectrum, Vim & Vigor remains the gold standard for German-style Pilsners in the province, and if you’re visiting the taproom, their Fortitude Oatmeal Stout on nitro is an experience to savour. We couldn’t have a top 10 without them.
Town Brewery
Whitby
Town is the quintessential community hub brewery and they represent the best that the Durham region has to offer. They’ve got fantastic branding, several brands in the LCBO, and from fantastic lagers, to piney west coast, to serious haze, big stouts, and everything in between, they make outstanding beer. In 2023, they opened their waterfront Pump House beer garden, and with ever-changing designs, they’ve also got some of the best merch in the game.
Willibald Farm Distillery & Brewery
Ayr
We’ve been fans of Willibald for years now but we finally were able to make our first visit to the farm in 2023, and their onsite experience is unparalleled. A massive covered patio on the farm serves pints and a delicious array of food (we recommend the sausage and peppers pizza). We’re big fans of their See Thru Helles Lager, and we loved the Chatterbox IPA back in the summer. They also have a huge lineup of seltzers, ready-to-drink cocktails, and spirits, including inventive styles like their Gingerbread Gin.
Fine Balance Brewing Company
Kingston
They just celebrated their third birthday this past fall, but Fine Balance has been a brewery to watch since year one. While sometimes flying under the radar, they brew big haze on the level of some of the most hyped breweries in the province, not to mention some big pastry stouts, too. They also make some truly refined top-tier lagers, an excellent hefeweizen, and a constantly rotating line of gelato sours. One of our favourites, though, is their flagship Oats & Cream IPA. In the last few years, Kingston has grown to become a great craft beer destination, and Fine Balance is definitely worth making your first stop.
Third Moon Brewing Company
Milton
Third Moon has probably been the most hyped brewery in the province since they opened in May of 2020. While their focus is still largely around thick hazy IPAs and big adjunct-laden stouts, three and a half years in, their lineup has expanded to include lagers, smoothie sours, killer lower ABV offerings like their flagship pale ale, Rise, insane barleywine blends, and even a massive doppelbock. We’ve been fans since the jump, but in the last couple of years, they’ve gotten impressively more refined and consistent, cementing their spot on this list for the third year in a row.
Counterpart Brewing
Niagara Falls
This is one we feel a bit sheepish about, having only really properly discovered Counterpart in 2023. When we had Greg on the podcast back in February, we were wondering how we’d gone so long without talking or hearing about them as one of the best in the province. From their exceptional beers across the style spectrum to their insanely good food program, and just the whole taproom experience, we’re blown away that they aren’t talked about more amongst the most hyped breweries in the province. A standout beer for me was the dry-hopped Kölsch, Full Circle, that we had on the podcast recording. Let’s hope we see that grace their lineup again soon!
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst
The most established and the most accessible brewery in this year’s Top 10. Sawdust City is one of those breweries that anyone who’s into craft beer in Ontario knows, no matter how long they’ve been in the scene, and no matter where in the province they’re from. They have a huge list of flagship brands, from Little Norway Pilsner, to Gateway Kölsch, to Golden Beach Pale Ale, to our personal fave, Lone Pine West Coast IPA, and their one-off beers span the style spectrum from the traditional to the most insane hyped styles you can think of. If you’re ever in cottage country, their taproom experience at the Saloon is unparalleled. We seriously can’t say enough good things about Sawdust. They’ll always be one of our faves.
Badlands Brewing Company
Caledon
Badlands is the Ontario brewery that we are shamelessly the biggest fanboys of. They are self-described as an “IPA factory that sometimes makes other beers”, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that no one does IPAs quite like them. To quote Bebo of Third Moon on an episode of our now-defunct Instagram Live show The Chinwag, “Troy makes the best haze in the world”. Coming from the brewer of Third Moon, you know that’s not small praise. They were our Brewery of the Year for 2022, and are still unquestionably making some of the best beer in Ontario and beyond.
Rorschach Brewing Company
Toronto
Rorschach is the brewery that we regularly refer to as the best “Innovation Brewery” in the province. Anyone can throw chocolate bars, lactose, or fruit puree in a beer, but it’s another thing entirely to do that with real intention and to ultimately make the beer taste good. That’s what Rorschach does better than anyone in the province. Look no further than their Decadence series of dessert stouts. If they drop one themed after a cherry coconut chocolate bar (which they have), you can bet it’ll taste just like one, and it’ll be a delicious dessert stout. Lots of breweries are willing to push the boundaries of traditional brewing, but far fewer do it with the kind of deliberate intention and exceptional results that Rorschach does and we love them for it.
Godspeed Brewery, 2023 BAOS Podcast Brewery of the Year
Toronto
Who could argue with this? Godspeed is one of those breweries that we have to constantly ask ourselves, “How are we so lucky to have them right here?” You’d be hard-pressed to make a case that there’s a better brewer in the province than Luc “Bim” Lafontaine, just as you’d be hard-pressed to find a better Czech-style lager outside of Pilsen. From the exceptional lagers, to the truly in a league of their own smoked beers, to the collaborations with legendary breweries like Pilsner Urquell and Czechvar/Budvar, it’s not an exaggeration to say that there’s no one in the country doing what Godspeed does. Literally everything they brew is exceptional, but our personal faves are the Sklepník Plzeň-Style Pale Lager, and Bůh Originální Ležák (Special Edition Pale Lager).
Honourable mentions
We’ve honestly got it really good in Ontario. So good that it’s actually pretty tough to even pick just ten best breweries in the province. So like in 2022, we have five honourable mentions to award this year!
The Hidden Gem Award
Flux Brewery - Scotland, ON
Gone But Not Forgotten
Barncat Artisan Ales - Cambridge
Best New Brewery
True History Brewing - Toronto
Best Discovery
Sparrow Brewing & Roasting Company - Cambridge
Best Bottle Shop
Durand Coffee & Bottle Shop - Hamilton
Top Five Ontario Podcasts of 2023
Something new we did this year was look back on our favourite Ontario-focused podcasts of the year. These were some of our favourite conversations with some of coolest people in Ontario’s craft beer scene. If you’re new to the pod or you’re playing catch-up, these are some great ones to dive into!
Episode 121: High Grade with Ram McAllister and Brent Milcz of Fairweather Brewing
Episode 127: The Gateway Destination with Jen Tamse of Beertown Public House
Episode 130: We Strongly Dislike Lagers with Evan MacDonald of The Wheeled Brew
Episode 150: Triple Pop with Andrew Silver of Fine Balance Brewing Company
Episode 152: The Milk Men with Adam Shier and Matthew Tompkins of True History Brewing
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.