E-Malt.com News article: Canada, ON: Left Field Brewery finally ready to open its own brewery

It won’t be long before craft beer is brewing in Leslieville, Ontario, Inside Toronto reported on January 10.

After months of preparation and renovations, Left Field Brewery (LFB) is gearing up to produce its very first (test) batch of suds early in 2015.

The baseball-themed craft brewery housed in a 100-year-old former brick factory at 36 Wagstaff Dr. will also include a retail store and a tap room where people can taste the different types of beer LFB produces.

Six-year Danforth East residents Mark and Mandie Murphy have been working non-stop for close to a year to transform a 6,000-square-foot space into a their state-of-the art beer-making facility.

The extensive renovation involved removing several walls, sandblasting the entire interior of the building to reveal the original red brick walls, wood ceiling and steel beams, upgrading and re-pouring the concrete floors and installing proper drains among other things.

The cavernous space really started to look like a brew house after a shipment of beer-making equipment including three fermenters, a mash mixer, lauter tun and a kettle/whirlpool arrived from Abbotsford, British Columbia in early November.

The three-vessel brewery also includes a 300-square-foot walk-in cooler as well as an area for canning, kegging and bottling.

“It’s great to see everything in place and connected,” Mandie said during a recent tour of the space.

“It’s been quite an adventure. We’re very fortunate the residents of Ivy Street are so accommodating with lots of trucks and equipment in the laneway.”

Mark, who graduated from the very first class of Niagara College’s brew master program, is thrilled to see his hard work come to fruition.

“Now, it’s here. It’s crazy. … Our dream is finally coming true.” he smiled.

“There’s nothing like this in the east end. We’re looking forward to working and playing close to home.”

The new brewery, which produced and sold its first keg in March 2013, is set to open to the public early in 2015.

For now, Left Field beer is brewed at Grand River Brewing in Cambridge, Ontario and Barley Days Brewery in Picton, Ontario. Left Field is available at 80 bars and pubs across the Greater Toronto Area.



14 January, 2015