Bellwoods Brewery explains how Jelly King became Toronto's go-to summer drink

Ever since I came of legal drinking age, there's seldom been a Toronto summer that hasn't unofficially kicked off with the satisfying fizz of a bottle of Jelly King, Bellwoods Brewery's much-loved sour beer, being opened.

It sounds like something out of an old-school Coca-Cola ad, but I promise they're not paying me to say it. In fact, when I say exactly this to Bellwoods founders Luke Pestl and Mike Clark, I sense that the strength of my passion for the drink catches them a little off guard.

It shouldn't, though. Since the brewery officially launched Jelly King in April of 2016, it's sort of become Toronto's unofficial drink of the summer. Yes, it's available year-round, but all things being equal, Jelly King just doesn't hit the same when it's consumed indoors.

Indeed, Jelly King, the hoppy, fruity, sour beer that's seen a slew of iterations over the years, from different fruit flavours like Passionfruit, Orange Guava, to the ever-popular slushies on the Ossington patio, is perhaps at its absolute best when consumed with one's toes in the grass at the brewery's eponymous park.

There's simply something about Jelly King, with its formidable 500 ml. bottles, colourful labels and tart, punchy flavour, that speaks to a city which, despite being enshrouded in winter weather for about six months of the year, lives for summertime.

On an inappropriately rainy April day, I had the chance to sit down with Luke and Mike in a booth at Bellwoods' Ossington brewpub over a slushie to discuss Jelly King's enduring legacy and what's next for the brand. People always tell you not to meet your heroes, but in this case, I have to disagree.

Bellwoods Brewery founders Mike Clark and Luke Pestl. Photo by Fareen Karim.

A king is born

Though the Bellwoods was founded in 2012 after Luke and Mike, who met while working as brewers at Amsterdam Brewhouse, Jelly King didn't arrive on the scene until a few years later,

"We were interested in sour beer when we first started, and probably for like, the first three, four years we were open, we were experimenting with them in two different ways," Mike says, which can succinctly be described as "the long way" and "the short way," but neither was without its drawbacks.

The long way, as you may have guessed, takes a long time, while the short way, making kettle sours, uses enteric acid, which produces a smell that Luke equates to "baby puke." Not exactly the refreshing summertime sipper they were envisioning.

So, eventually, they got to work exploring ways to make their own dry-hopped sour, a process that took around three years to perfect, before the duo settled on a winning recipe. 

In April of 2016, coincidentally, a decade before this very interview took place, the first Jelly King — a fuzzy peach candy flavour — was unleashed on the city.

Jelly King's iconic label was designed by Toronto's Doublenaut Studio. Photo by Fareen Karim.

After a few releases, the brewery tapped Toronto design studio Doublenaut to create the now-iconic kaleidoscopic label. Mike describes the relationship between Doublenaut and Bellwoods as "synergistic," and, with the studio behind a vast majority of Bellwoods' instantly recognizable branding, I'd say he's right.

Ten years and 91 varieties, including different flavours and non-alcoholic versions, later, and Jelly King is just as popular, if not more, than it was when it first launched. Mike and Luke both agree that, while Jelly King and Bellwoods are inextricable, the sour beer has almost taken on a life of its own.

"We've got a lot of brand momentum," Luke says. "We started to notice, even travelling, that people recognize the brand Jelly King without even knowing what brewery it was from."

The reign continues

Jelly King's reign over the city is far from over. Next in the line of succession is a line of Jelly King alcoholic seltzers set to drop on May 14, 2026: just in time for the May long weekend.

Take it from a Jelly King acolyte like me, Jelly King and May 2-4 go together like cookies and milk.

Bellwoods' new Jelly King seltzers launch May 14. Image courtesy of Bellwoods Brewery.

"We were developing these fruit-based seltzers, and really, we're having a lot of trouble figuring out how to brand that, and realize that it was the same thing how we approach Jelly King and flavour profiles, going for like, a really juicy fruit profile," Luke explains.

"So it just made so much sense when, I think Mike suggested originally, it was like, why don't we just call it Jelly King. It was sort of like an 'a-ha' moment."

The seltzers will be available in flavours distinct from their beer counterparts — tropical, pink lemonade, tangerine grapefruit and raspberry lemon — but are products of the same philosophy that produced their hoppy forefathers.

If anything, the introduction of the new seltzers is a step closer to Jelly King world domination, opening the quintessential Toronto summertime experience of cracking a cold one open to a whole new population of gluten-free and beer-avoidant individuals.

Just picture it: a Toronto lorded over by his royal highness, King Jelly of Bellwood. Chills.

At the very least, Toronto residents can sleep easily knowing that our beloved Jelly King isn't going anywhere, anytime soon. Now, if only the sun would stick around long enough for us to actually enjoy one.