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The Kensington Brewing Company arrives on Augusta

Posted by Derek Flack / March 25, 2011

33 Comments

Kensington Brewing CompanyThe Kensington Brewing Company is Toronto's newest craft brewery. Founded by Brock Shepherd of Burger Bar, the first 30-keg batch of the brew is set to become available at the restaurant next week — just in time for spring. On offer will be the company's flagship beer, Augusta Ale (fittingly abbreviated as AA).

"It's a west coast style pale ale... a hoppier beer, but it's designed to appeal to a fairly wide audience — though probably not fans of Labbatt Blue," says Shepherd in appraisal of his product, which is currently being brewed at the Black Oak Brewing facility, but will operate out of a microbrewery at Burger Bar before year's end.

When asked what his inspiration for the project was, Shepherd tells me his obsession with craft breweries played a huge role, but that the neighbourhood after which his beer is named shouldn't be taken for granted. "All of our beers will relate to Kensington, and the market's unique culture." It's no surprise then that KBC's other beers will be named after nearby streets. Along with the Augusta Ale, look for the brewery to offer a Baldwin FisheyePA, Nassau Nectar, and some seasonal one-offs that have yet to be determined.

For now, KBC will only be offered as draught at Burger Bar, but Shepherd plans to get it into other restaurants and eventually into bottles and cans.

For updates and more information, check out the Kensington Brewing Company's website and Facebook page.

Discussion

33 Comments

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CockaRoac / March 25, 2011 at 03:15 pm
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So...is this beer going to taste like dreadlocks with a hint of patchouli and skunk?
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mike in parkdale / March 25, 2011 at 03:16 pm
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One day, every neighborhood in Toronto will have it's own local brew pub.... except Parkdale :(
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mike in parkdale replying to a comment from CockaRoac / March 25, 2011 at 03:18 pm
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I'd rather have Blue.

And why's he gotta pick on blue? Out of all the mass market lagers, it's got more character than most.
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Matt C. / March 25, 2011 at 03:19 pm
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I'm looking forward to the Who The Hell Goes To Blue Banana Porter.
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M-PC / March 25, 2011 at 03:21 pm
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Bottles and cans, just clap your hands, just clap your hands…
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jubs / March 25, 2011 at 03:21 pm
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no - they've got it all wrong - start with a facebook page, then marketing, then events, THEN then beer. they're doing it backwards by starting with the beer first.
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Derek replying to a comment from mike in parkdale / March 25, 2011 at 03:25 pm
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Well, there's this:

http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2010/12/is_parkdale_about_to_get_its_own_brewery/

Or is that what you were jokingly referring to already?
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Don'tBeLikeMike replying to a comment from mike in parkdale / March 25, 2011 at 03:30 pm
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Defending Blue? Are you serious?
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mike in parkdale replying to a comment from Derek / March 25, 2011 at 03:33 pm
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*touches nose and squints*
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mike in parkdale replying to a comment from Don'tBeLikeMike / March 25, 2011 at 03:35 pm
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I'm not really defending it, I'm just saying there's a whole lot of lager out there that FAR worse than blue (Laker, Steelback, Coors Light, PC etc)
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Fred replying to a comment from mike in parkdale / March 25, 2011 at 03:41 pm
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Steelback is def the worst, hands down.
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the_lies replying to a comment from mike in parkdale / March 25, 2011 at 03:52 pm
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Because Blue is a huge dsitributor of crappy beer. The fact that you'd ratehr have blue shows you're nto a fan of beer, btu advertising and cheapness.
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mike in parkdale replying to a comment from the_lies / March 25, 2011 at 04:09 pm
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I'd rather have Blue than "taste like dreadlocks with a hint of patchouli and skunk"

I was replying to a comment, and using the beer mentioned in the article.

learn how to follow along
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Glug / March 25, 2011 at 04:23 pm
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I look forward to trying this beer...

Anyone who drinks mainstream beer has a narrow/small beer palate, that's all.
Nothing wrong with it, if that's what you like.
Look at all the clowns drinking PBR.
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Jonathan Claypots / March 25, 2011 at 04:33 pm
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Too bad the branding is crappy.
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beer_farts replying to a comment from the_lies / March 25, 2011 at 05:43 pm
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Were you drunk when you wrote this?

I'm not disagreeing with you about the crappyness of monster-breweries, you're right there, it's just the spelling mistakes... wow.

It's the written version of slurring and hiccuping while you speak.

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I like beer is all / March 25, 2011 at 05:59 pm
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More entrepreneurs fewer critics. Unless you have value to add to the convo. I look forward to trying their beer at least once. After that, its anybodies guess : P
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gr1 / March 25, 2011 at 06:22 pm
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MICRO WHO?
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S / March 25, 2011 at 06:32 pm
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Please, don't drink and ride your bicycle.
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Josh / March 25, 2011 at 07:09 pm
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Craft Brew is to Main Stream for Kensington!!!!
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JD / March 26, 2011 at 06:16 am
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Its too bad, really - the comments above. The beer "market" in Toronto and Canada is changing, slowly, slowly, expanding from lagers like blue. BUt if you go anywhere in the western US or pacific northwest, you find these powerful IPAs, with full force of hops and bitterness, and I (sadly) guarantee that this new AA from Kensington will only hint at the hops, out of deference to its need to sell to this local market. I can already tell from the way he described it "it's a west coast style pale ale... a hoppier beer, but it's designed to appeal to a fairly wide audience." Appeal to a wide audience, means "uh, we have to sell it and we couldn't sell it if it was over- the-top hoppy like we would like to make" So, it'll be another Headstrong, or Hoptical, or Hop Head, or whatever. Tame. Even the Duggan's 9 just barely climbs up onto a certain plateau (for those of you who know their stuff - I'm talking Stone, Lagunitas, Racer 5, Dogfish, Victory, Avery, etc). I know the Canadian brewmeisters are drawn to these spectacular beers, and I suspect they are capable of producing something with a powerful front aroma, bitter follow, and bright finish. I just think they can't sell them up here. Hell, we can't even buy the ones I just listed up here. ANYwhere. ANYwhere. Maybe Volo. Its sad - pathetic, really. BUt maybe this is a small sign of positive change. I'll give AA a go, for sure, and applaud Kensington for taking any step forward. It is clear that they are up against a stiff resistance from their marketplace.
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Andreas / March 26, 2011 at 07:19 am
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Let's give Brock a chance, shall we. He's passionate about craft beers and if anybody can make a go of it, he will. I am looking forward to a taste test.
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Jesse / March 26, 2011 at 08:37 am
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I love the idea of locally-made beer, but the logo is a mess. Someone needs to help them with branding.
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John / March 26, 2011 at 09:15 am
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Sounds great! The more locally produced craft beer the better!!
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ed / March 26, 2011 at 12:36 pm
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let's give the beer a try b4 all sorts of assumptions are made.
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Alvin replying to a comment from JD / March 26, 2011 at 01:04 pm
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The beers you mentioned are just as hoppy as American hoppy beers actually. Sorry, but what you've said here is entirely untrue. I've had many hoppy american beers like Sierra Nevada, magic hat #9, Liberty Ale, Sam Adams etc etc and I've had plenty of hoppy Canadian beers and there's not much of a difference. The fact that the beer isn't going to be as hoppy as say Liberty Ale doesn't mean it will be tame as Liberty Ale is so hoppy it's a turnoff to a lot of people I know. There's certainly a market for those types of beers here in Canada, however, I know I love them. I don't think it's a matter of stiff resistance from the market, bt an unwilligness on the majority of Canadian brewers to broaden the market, to take a chance and show people that hoppy beers are good. It's expensive to do so and success isn't guaranteed.
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Jamie / March 26, 2011 at 07:41 pm
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I hope he is better at beers than burgers.

Its not just a dig at him. I really hope the beer is good as I go there often solely for the craft beer.
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BrewDOG / March 28, 2011 at 12:04 am
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Had the AA - it's okay, nothing special. i don't see how it's labelled as a brewery when it's only a contract beer.
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HipsterDoucheBag / March 28, 2011 at 12:44 am
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Wow, it's amazing how many assho1es read this blog. It just ain't TO unless there's a bunch of insecure zero's hating on somebody trying to do something cool.

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Japhet replying to a comment from JD / March 28, 2011 at 05:49 am
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And just as many people don't want a beer that's too aggressively-hopped.
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Brock / March 28, 2011 at 08:53 am
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The next batch of Augusta Ale has a different hop profile. The first was a test batch.
And for Hop Heads we will have some on cask that will be dry hopped.
The contract brewing is only temporary, as the article mentioned.
I hope you all enjoy it, we will have some at Burger Bar by the end of the week.
Follow us @drinkgoodbeer, if you wish.
Thanks for all your comments.
Brock
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Chris Schryer / April 6, 2011 at 11:53 am
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I've now had both batches of AA, and can promise that the pints I had yesterday were
a) much closer to the mark than the first test batch
b) plenty hoppy for a PALE ALE. Note: not an IPA.

That Brock is brewing with Paul Dickey should be credibility enough. That the beer is actually excellent will ensure that credibility lasts. Can't wait for more!
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jeff replying to a comment from Alvin / July 16, 2011 at 11:12 am
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Alvin, none of the american beers you mention compare to the beers the poster you replied to mentioned. Hence the reason they taste similarly hopped. Unfortunately we're twenty years behind the US in craft brewing. Canada doesn't have the population to support that kind of market.
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