Canadian Supplies

[DrunkenCanuck]

What's the best place to get fruit puree from in Ontario? I want to try my hand at a fruit beer but I know this is probably the best way to get enough volume to infuse into a beer without doing all the work to pasteurize a bunch of fruit myself.

 

[Peam]

@apimyces keep an eye out on all the regular online shops

@drunkencanuck I believe Tavistock Hops is going to distribute all their homebrew packages through Rob now. I'll try and find out for sure when I see him later today. Of course I'm sure you can deal directly for larger quantities

 

[DrunkenCanuck]

@apimyces keep an eye out on all the regular online shops

@drunkencanuck I believe Tavistock Hops is going to distribute all their homebrew packages through Rob now. I'll try and find out for sure when I see him later today. Of course I'm sure you can deal directly for larger quantities

Yeah, they started selling Tavistock Hops last year I think, but the website still lists them as sold out, likely due to them not having as much product in their first few years. A few guys I have talked to at the KW homebrewer get together's that Rob has put on (I went to the bottle share at SFBC a few months ago with my maple ale, seemed to go over alright) and was at the sour beer talk with Kevin Freer from Block 3 a few weeks ago. Some of the guys there said they were growing hops and they were getting a lot more pellets and better growth out of their hop plants by year 3, so I reckon that this will be the case with Tavistock Hops, they should have a better supply this year. It's hard when you can't grow outside for half the year, you need more product to keep up with the demand.

I am still playing around with beer ideas right now as to what I want to do next, I might do a California Ale now, followed by a winter beer or a mead. My weizenbock should be coming out of the final phase of fermentation at 20 Celsius in two weeks so I will be bottling 2 gallons and kegging the rest.

 

[Apimyces]

Almost all the suppliers I've looked at only sell pellets. The few that sell whole leaf either don't sell any from the UK, or just First Gold and Boadicea. To be honest I'm looking for seeds and I already have some from the two of these, I'm looking for some of the more recent cultivars now.

 

[DrunkenCanuck]

Almost all the suppliers I've looked at only sell pellets. The few that sell whole leaf either don't sell any from the UK, or just First Gold and Boadicea. To be honest I'm looking for seeds and I already have some from the two of these, I'm looking for some of the more recent cultivars now.

Tavistock Hops would be able to sell you whole leaf hops, depending on if they have what you want. You'd have to email them and ask, and see if there is a way to get them shipped to you because as far as I know, there are only two places selling their product and they are both here in Ontario.

 

[quijiba]

Does anyone know where one could find First Gold (Primma Donna) hop rhizomes/plants in Canada? Would love to have some, but would like to avoid the hassle of import permits.

If you can find someone to ship them from the US, you don't need import permits. I've imported hops several times without any issue (even though it literally said hops right on the package), you just need to convince someone to send them.

 

[Apimyces]

You most certainly do need an import permit (and phytosanitary certificate) when getting hops from the US. Live hop plants, I mean. Either customs didn't look at it, or they presumed it was hop cones, don't know. But I looked at AIRS again this morning and saw those requirements again, so I'm certain that it's not permitted. Who did you get yours from...? Great Lake Hops doesn't ship to Canada as far as I know, so that'd require fetching stuff across the border myself or paying brokers to deal with that. I don't know of many other american rhizome suppliers that have interesting variety diversity.

For whole leaf hops, Tavistock has Rakau, Cascade, Glacier, Centennial, Newport, Hallertau, and some unknown heritage. At least according to their website, unless you mean they have more?

I'm looking for UK-grown whole hops, anyways. Pioneer, Herald, Pilot, Minstrel®, and Archer®. Especially the first three.

 

[meesterparker]

Shortfinger in Kitchener is local for me, and they are amazing. I recommend.

 

[DrunkenCanuck]

Shortfinger in Kitchener is local for me, and they are amazing. I recommend.

That's who I use. Rob does the Lord's work for us homebrewers, and he is a really nice guy. Looking forward to the ability to pay by the gram in store that he wants to do.

I'd like to try my hand at a gluten free beer, but I have no idea where to buy the ingredients.

 

[chuckufarlie]

If any of you are in the GTA, especially the West end, where do you bring your CO2 canisters to get refilled.

I know Toronto Brewing does exchanges, but I think you have to buy their branded CO2 bottles to do that. Any recommended gas suppliers?

 

[stansoid]

I always brought my stuff to camcarb for refills when I was in the GTA, but that is in North Toronto. Do not recall good downtown options for such stuff.

 

[cidertimebaby]

Was browsing OBK for kits and noticed they had their Belgian strong dark ale 5 gallon extract kits down to $32.99 from $51.49. Pretty good deal, they include 12lb of LME. That amount of LME runs you $50 if bought on its own and doesn't even include the steeping grains and hops. So yeah I went ahead and ordered a few of these Got OG of 1.072 brewed to 24 litres

There's also the Belgian Golden Strong and Tripel IPA around the same price which are also both 12lb LME / 8.5% ABV kits

 

[Manoau2002]

I just made a few orders from a few different Canadian homebrew supply shops to get parts I needed for a kegerator setup and some brewing supplies. Haven't received the orders yet but Toronto Brewing and Noble Grape (out of halifax) shipped out the stuff same day as ordered and provided good communication. Toronto Brewing even called me to insure my order was correct. For those who use canned kit beers - I haven't come across better prices then Noble Grapes for Coopers or Muntons kits. They charge 19.99 a can and have a wide selection as oppose to my local homebrew shop that charges 28.99 a can and only carries the most basic kits. They charged 15 shipping to Saskatchewan for the 5 cans I ordered and I didn't have to pay PST so I saved quite a bit. (I am all for buying local and would if it was a couple dollars more - but when the price is 50% higher and the selection is limited you got to do what you got to do)

 

[elreplica]

I just made a few orders from a few different Canadian homebrew supply shops to get parts I needed for a kegerator setup and some brewing supplies. Haven't received the orders yet but Toronto Brewing and Noble Grape (out of halifax) shipped out the stuff same day as ordered and provided good communication. Toronto Brewing even called me to insure my order was correct. For those who use canned kit beers - I haven't come across better prices then Noble Grapes for Coopers or Muntons kits. They charge 19.99 a can and have a wide selection as oppose to my local homebrew shop that charges 28.99 a can and only carries the most basic kits. They charged 15 shipping to Saskatchewan for the 5 cans I ordered and I didn't have to pay PST so I saved quite a bit. (I am all for buying local and would if it was a couple dollars more - but when the price is 50% higher and the selection is limited you got to do what you got to do)

Noble Grape is a great store (chain)to deal with...Everwood Avenue as well...

 

[trav77]

I just made a few orders from a few different Canadian homebrew supply shops to get parts I needed for a kegerator setup and some brewing supplies. Haven't received the orders yet but Toronto Brewing and Noble Grape (out of halifax) shipped out the stuff same day as ordered and provided good communication. Toronto Brewing even called me to insure my order was correct. For those who use canned kit beers - I haven't come across better prices then Noble Grapes for Coopers or Muntons kits. They charge 19.99 a can and have a wide selection as oppose to my local homebrew shop that charges 28.99 a can and only carries the most basic kits. They charged 15 shipping to Saskatchewan for the 5 cans I ordered and I didn't have to pay PST so I saved quite a bit. (I am all for buying local and would if it was a couple dollars more - but when the price is 50% higher and the selection is limited you got to do what you got to do)

Check out Prairie Brew Supply. They're located in the city that rhymes with fun. Good selection and I've always had good service. They're a lot closer to you in Moose Jaw.

 

[Apimyces]

Nice, Noble Grape. Leaf hops, and the DME's 1.8kg costs the same $/lb as OBK's 50lb. Happy to discover that store.

 

[elreplica]

The Grain Barrel out of Lunenburg NS is a new player in the market. Rob's working hard and has competitive prices (associated with Everwood) and will work hard to help you meet your needs.