Mill Street is renowned as one of Canada’s favourite beers, named after its original location at 55 Mill Street in the Distillery District. Now ten years old, Mill Street is a pioneer of Canada’s young microbrewery industry. The Distillery was a natural fit for Mill Street’s craft beer production, as a neighbourhood once known for its spirits and beers. As the Distillery has evolved and grown, so has Mill Street transformed; Mill Street brews over 25 varieties of beer, many of which are shipped across the country and some still exclusive to the Distillery.
The site of Mill Street Brew Pub is the former industrial complex of Gooderham & Worts, the massive 1930s whiskey distillery. Gooderham and Worts was one of the largest distilleries in the British Empire and one of the main suppliers during the Prohibition. This distilling operation became so large that it moved to Winsdor, and even built a tunnel beneath the Detroit River to move more product to the United States. This left the buildings of the Distillery empty and obsolete until Toronto decided to revamp the area. Mill Street got involved at the beginning of the Distillery’s restoration, and was one of the original two tenants alongside Balzac’s Coffee Roasters.
Today, all of Mill Street’s large-scale brewing occurs at a facility in Scarborough. While the Distillery District inspires many of Mill Street’s well-known beers, such as Tankhouse and Stock Ale, the Brew Pub only brews specialty beer that cannot be found at the liquor store. These exclusive brews are available on draught or in kegs, including Betelguese, Pilsner, Maple Ale, Spring Bock and Don Valley varieties.
Mill Street Brew Pub exclusively produces speciality beers, including this season’s favourites: Maple Ale, Distillery Ale, Lemon Tea, Spring IMP, Minimus Dubbel, and Ampel Weiss
Mill Street Brew Pub remains an experimenting ground; With 14 different taps available, the Brew Pub has the ability to brew any beer that is ordered. This is a great way to test different beers and understand what people enjoy drinking. In fact, Mill Street’s Lemon Tea Beer started as a small batch, experimental beer. Lemon Tea Beer was so well liked at the Mill Street Brew Pub that it is now sold in cans and shipped across Canada.
Mill Street will soon be offering beer schnapps for the new beer hall
For the first time since its bulk production moved to Scarborough, Mill Street will expanding its distillery operations by producing beer schnapps. Mill Street will be unveiling two stills imported from Germany to distill beer schnapps, a product that no other Canadian is producing. Mill Street’s new beer hall will be home to the beer schnapps operation, and will pay homage to the former distilleries that occupied the historic neighbourhood.
The first Canadian brewery to produce beer shnapps, Mill Street will be opening its new distillery facility this month
Mill Street Brew Pub offers brewery tours that delve into the details of quality beer production. In order to brew beer, four ingredients are required: Malt, water, hops and yeast.
Malt adds colour and flavour to beer
Mill Street brews straw, caramel, and dark malts, which are mixed and matched to create various colours and levels of sweetness
Most beers are made from barley, a versatile cereal grain, while malt refers to the process done to this seed. Barley seeds are first soaked in water until they begin to sprout and germinate, allowing sugars and starches to come to the forefront. Baking or kilning the barley stops the germination process and results in different styles of malt. When the barley seeds are baked for a long time, a darker colour is produced. Beers made from dark malt have a toasted, bitter flavor. Malt that is cooked for shorter periods result in a beer that is lighter in colour and less intense. After the malt is mixed for a brew’s specific recipe, it is funneled into a machine that grinds the malt into a fine, coffee-like texture. The malt is pumped through a tube that carries it to be mixed with water.
Water makes up about 90% of beer
Malt is mixed with water to create a sticky & sweet solution, which can be sterilized and flavoured
Water is a very important ingredient and, depending on the style of beer, the water used can be either hard or soft. The technology to harden or soften water did not exist hundreds of years ago, and beers were completely defined by different regions with different water softness and mineral content. Mixing the malt with water creates a sticky, sweet substance known as wort, and strips the starch and sugar from the malt. This solution is boiled to both sterilize and add flavour.
Hops is a preservative that adds flavour, aroma and bitterness to beer
Hops balances the sweetness of malt and adds bitterness to beer
The main flavour addition is hops, which is added either early or late depending on the bitterness desired. Other flavours can also be added to the beer at this time, such as the genuine Balzac’s coffee beans that are added to every batch of Mill Street’s Coffee Porter. The effect of hops is to provide beer with bitterness and aroma, as it balances the sweetness of malt. Many people aren’t aware that hops works primarily as a preservative, which keeps beer alive longer and allows it to taste better when not refrigerated. Historically, the British needed to brew beer with plenty of hops, in order to send to their troops overseas in India. Today, people crave and love bitter beers for being full of flavour and high in alcohol.
Yeast is fermented to add alcohol to beer
The purpose of yeast is to add the alcohol content to beer
Finally, yeast is added to the process to eat up the remaining sugar, add the alcohol content, and to contribute some carbonation. The majority of beers are brewed with either ale or lager yeast. Ale yeast is fermented at a warmer temperature, so it can be enjoyed warm. This type of yeast does not eat up the sugar as efficiently and produces a beer that is more complex. Lager yeast is fermented cold and is best served cold. Lager distills more sugar and creates a beer that is more refined, refreshing and crisp. A lager is so delicate that even light can affect its flavour profile, which is why lagers are produced in dark bottles. The next step is fermentation, which takes place in temperature-controlled tanks to ferment beers at different temperatures. Finally, the beer is filtered, carbonated, and ready to be enjoyed.
Post written by Alex Franceschini on May 8, 2013.
Nickolas works mainly in oils, mixed media on canvas and board, from small sizes right up to 8 feet by 4 feet of still life, florals, figurative works, portraits, landscapes, abstracts and sculptures in fired clay and stone carvings. The forty year old man works as a painter every day in his art studio in the Distillery, inside the Case Goods Building at 15 Case Goods Lane, up on the third floor, Studio 303. His other great passions are music and fashion. Nickolas sings and recites poetry at open mic. and karaoke nights in downtown art clubs.
Just inside the front gate of the Distillery District is one of the best restaurants in Toronto. 
The Mill St Brew Pub actually has two patios, and on hot summer days there’s usually a waiting list to get a spot on either of them! You must call ahead here, but that won’t help sun worshipers because they don’t take reservations for the patio. Follow the restaurant on Twitter 
This is the biggest and perhaps the best patio in the Distillery District, and its connected to one of the best seafood restaurants in Toronto. If you ever hear of a Hollywood movie star being spotted at the Distillery District, nine times out of ten the pictures will show them dining in Pure Spirits. It has that rep. And this patio has the most capacity – there are over three dozen tables outside under umbrellas. This restaurant is very active on Twitter and you can follow along 
Distillery District’s Toronto Christmas Market officially opens. Hosted by Citytv’s Frank Ferragine, the opening ceremonies start at 6 p.m. and feature appearances from Santa Claus, the Christmas Angel and a special performance from Steven Page.
stuffers like pine scented candles or decorative sticky notes to contemporary jewelry designs.
space packs a powerful punch; Distill is a trendsetter, popularizing items like owl pillows and Toronto-themed charm bracelets.
wine for 2011. This traditional winter brew ($11.95) originates from England and has a malty flavour accented with hints of dried fruit and toffee. This long-aged brew also has a long shelf life, so you can buy a couple and store–why not? You may find yourself craving another taste of 2011 in ten years!
ranging from $1.50 – $6, 000. From watches to stainless steel purses to photo albums made out of bent up California license plates, this is a store where you’ll be able to find something interesting for men, women and children.
wreath requests. Their 2011 wreath designs are a simple and understated–yet stylish–take on the traditional Christmas wreath ($75).
host a decadent holiday party. Specializing in artisan cheeses, terrines, oils and other delicacies, A Taste of Quebec is Toronto’s source for the very best terroir products of Quebec. Its worth discussing the business of selling things to shoppers at Christmas and what the consumer expects from retailers in this historic venue. Several 
the trick. This chain with leather tassels ($110) is a quality piece which can be styled into countless incarnations.
The medicine pouch necklace ($130) is another stunning, one-of-a-kind piece.
At the tender age of 18yrs, Lauren Howe was crowned the 
Wearing her sash and crown, Lauren spent thirty minutes with Farid Omar explaining exactly how she wants to use her platform and her title to raise money and awareness for the plight in Somalia that so many young people are not even aware is occurring – there was more press for Amy Winehouse dying than the thousands suffering slow agonizing deaths in east Africa, for example.
While hanging out at the pool, the staff at 
Lauren Howe’s segway tour of The Distillery ended at a unique photography services store; at 
Lauren is going to get free publishing from Pikto – Jessie holds a blank book. Lauren will fill it and replicate hundreds of copies. She will use it to display all the great pictures from this ‘summer of her life’. There will be a lot of photos taken next week, August 1 – 5th, when she’s down competing in Houston Texas at the Teen World competition. Down there, and all across the southern United States, people take teen pageants very seriously. Whether she wins or loses, Lauren will have a stack of pictures to add to her memories from Toronto and her Miss Teen Canada World crowning achievement. It will be a good book.
For of course I used to work as a grip in the Toronto film industry and we shot a scene from The James Mink Story in this room. For three days in the summer of 1995 it was staged to look as it did in the 1800s. James Mink was played by Lou Gossett Jr and Peter Outabridge was a young villain who abducts Mink’s beautiful daughter (Rachel Crawford) to sell her into slavery in the deep south. So it’s really a personal story for me when I look around at this place and see how much better my own media contribution to society is now that I get to chronicle a visit from 2011 Miss Teen Canada – World to an amazing world class restaurant, instead of setting flags and lamp diffusers and humping sandbags… a personal anecdote. Some might argue that telling James Mink’s story in any capacity outweighs a visit by Lauren Howe to Pure Spirits, and I wouldn’t disagree, but so far I think people are enjoying this particular post so let me finish.
