Brewer's Backyard brings beer to the Brick Works

I love virtually everything about living, working, and drinking in downtown Toronto, with the possible exception that I have no backyard to drink beer in during hot summer afternoons.

Thankfully, Cass Enright, the proprietor of The Bar Towel, has a solution. This month, Enright launched The Brewer's Backyard, a series of six events taking place on Sundays and holiday Mondays at the Koerner Gardens area of The Evergreen Brick Works.

The events will feature local craft beers paired with a selection of food from local restaurants and food trucks and offer yard-less people like me an opportunity to loaf around outdoors and drink beer — all while chatting with some of the best brewers in the province.

The first of the series, "Queen Victoria's Secret" took place last week on Monday, May 21st and featured beer from Great Lakes Brewery and sandwiches from Fidel Gastro's.

Up next is "The Father's Day Triathlon: Beer, Bikes and BBQ" on June 17th, an afternoon that will feature beer from Amsterdam Brewery and food organized by Death Row Meals, an organization that brings together some of the top talent in Toronto's culinary scene for pop up dining events.

Father's day will see a barbecue-focused collaboration from Zane Caplansky of Caplansky's, Jennifer Johnson of Fisherfolk, Rossy Earle of SupiCucu, and Aman Patel of Indian Rice Factory.

The event will also serve as the after party for the Brick Works Ride The Ravines event, a 25-kilometre ride through Toronto's Bikeway Network in support of accessible cycling in the GTA.

This event series is the second venture from Enright in the style of a Bavarian beer garden, having previously partnered with The Stop Community Food Centre to bring 15 Brewery Market events to Wychwood Barns, just south of the smouldering crater of the so-called St. Clair Disaster.

Incidentally, since the partnership was dissolved, The Stop likewise opted to continue to offer beer garden events and kicked off The Stop's Beer Garden series this past weekend with beer from Muskoka Brewery and Indonesian pulled pork tacos from Hot Mess Hall.

Whatever the reason for the split, Toronto beer fans are clearly the beneficiaries since we've now got not one but two series featuring craft beer and local food in great outdoor settings. Now I just have to hope that neither of them mind when I take my shoes and shirt off...

The Brewer's Backyard events will run from noon until 4 p.m. in the Koerner Gardens area of the Brick Works. There is no admission fee, but food will range from $5 - $10 and a beer will cost you $6.

The remaining afternoon events will take place on June 17th, July 2nd, August 12th, September 23rd and October 8th.

Lead photo courtesy of Brilynn Ferguson