On Tuesday evening, brewers from across Ontario gathered at The Gladstone Hotel for the 10th Annual Ontario Brewing Awards, celebrating the best the province has to offer, as chosen by a panel of judges.

Beer makers who had entered their beers for consideration in 25 different categories milled about the Gladstone's event space, serenaded by a probably-a-bit-too-loud classic rock cover band, rubbing elbows with various beer drinkers and interested media, and anxiously waiting to see who would take home top honours in the field, which this year included a homebrewing category as well.

Last year we introduced you to Barry Stein and Barry Bernstein, the co-founders of Still Waters Distillery, Ontario's first micro-distillery. Back then the Barrys were distilling an award-winning vodka while patiently waiting for the day that they could unveil their small-batch distilled whisky to the world.

On Saturday April 27th, that whisky will finally hit the crucial three-year mark which is required by Canadian law in order to sell whisky and Still Waters will release the first few casks of their single malt whisky for retail sales.

Given that beer is playing such an integral part in the cultural renaissance happening in the Junction thanks to Junction Craft Brewery, The Indie Alehouse, and the plethora of new bars that have sprung up to rejuvenate the area's nightlife, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before some folks making the harder stuff showed up, too

Enter the Toronto Distillery Company, the first new distillery in Toronto since before prohibition and just the latest alcohol-related start-up that's embracing the once-dry neighbourhood's DIY sensibilities.

If you've been drinking beer in and around Toronto with any regularity in the past couple decades, you've likely had a beverage brewed by one of the province's oldest craft brewers, Great Lakes Brewery. Family owned and operated since 1991, Great Lakes has been brewing beer in Etobicoke for over 25 years.

Originally founded in 1987, the brewery was purchased by Peter Bulut Sr. in '91 and moved to its current location at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard, a building that originally served as a factory for Faberge Perfumes Limited. The building was designed by Canadian firm John B. Parkin and Associates and actually won a Massey Medal for architecture when it was built in 1950. After 63 years and a quarter century of service as a brewery, the facilities are certainly a little worse for wear, but they're still highly functioning and churning out more innovative craft beer than ever before.

The best pubs in Toronto are a handful of unique locales that reflect the city's increasingly complex tastes in beer, our preference to support local talent as opposed to franchises, and the value that a sense of community can bring to the after-work-pint-and-a-bite experience.

Sure, they're the kind of places where the staff is engaging, and the menu and drink list is carefully considered, but they're also places that harken back to the origin of the word "pub" to the public houses of old that fostered a sense of community and reflected a city's culture. They're the kind of places you might feel as comfortable spending a late night as you would a thoughtful Sunday afternoon or maybe even bringing the kids on Saturday.

Chicago's Goose Island Brewery is on its way to Toronto. Scheduled to arrive on LCBO shelves later this Spring, this cult-brewery from south of the border has been flexing its distribution muscle since it was acquired by Anheuser-Bush InBev a couple of years ago.