Ides 59: Corktown Dry Irish Stout

Not long after Robert Henderson opened the first brewery in Toronto, others began to spring up all over town. In some cases, whole neighbourhoods were shaped by the breweries that operated there. One such area is Corktown, on the east side of town.

An influx of famine-fleeing Irish immigrants founded the Corktown community. Some speculate that the name Corktown stemmed from the cork used by the glut of  distilleries and breweries that popped up in the neighbourhood, but it’s just as likely that many of the new immigrants originally hailed from county Cork in Ireland.

These newcomers found work at the Don Brewery (now condos) and the Dominion Brewery (now home of the Dominion Pub), or at one of the 140 taverns run by Dominion Brewing.

Much of the beer culture we enjoy in the city today can be traced back to these early days, and to salute the Corktown community, we brewed this Irish Dry Stout, showcasing bitter, roasted malt character, while going down crisp and clean.