Bellwoods Brewery

Above: PA Gross’ Lithographic Bird’s Eye View of Toronto (1876), from Vanishing Point

The Garrison Creek’s influence on early brewing and the development of our downtown neighbourhoods is an often-unappreciated but highly relevant piece of Toronto’s history.

One of the many beers we’re piloting at the moment - Lost River Ale – is named after the hidden waterway that shaped our park system and continues to flow beneath us.

Few people realize that the red-brick heritage building at 905 Queen Street West, Farr’s House, is named after a brewer. Aiming to take advantage of the Garrison Creek’s then-pristine water, John Farr opened Farr’s Brewery in 1817 just south-west of Trinity Bellwoods Park. The brewery played a key role as a meeting place in the Upper Canada rebellion of 1837 but eventually fell into obscurity after closing in 1890.

While the brewery had contributed to westward settlement in the Garrison lands, it was the ensuing rapid development that polluted the waterway, prompting local officials to begin burying the creek in the late 19^th century.

We were fascinated to find out that Christie Pitts, Dufferin Grove, Trinity Bellwoods, MacGregor Park and Stanley Park – essentially the entire downtown-west park system – owe much of their position and existence to the path of the now-buried creek. You can check out the Vanishing Point site for more information – pretty cool.

Back in the present, we have a few batches of Lost River bubbling away privately and look forward to sharing it with you when Bellwoods Brewery opens to the public. As to what kind of ale Lost River will be, you’ll just have to wait…

If any of you find a few pages from John Farr’s recipe books lying around, please let us know, as it would make for a great historical one-off brew