Industry Alcoholic beverage Area served Toronto, Ottawa Owner Labatt Brewing Company Founded 2002 | Number of locations Toronto, Ottawa Products Beer Headquarters Scarborough Parent organization Labatt Brewing Company | |
 | ||
Profiles | ||
Joel manning mill street brewery barley wine and seasonal 2010 avi
Mill Street Brewery is a brewery in Toronto, Canada that is a part of the global Anheuser–Busch InBev empire. During its first decade of operation, as an independent brewer, Mill St. won several awards including Golden Tap Awards for Best Toronto Microbrewery ('04-'08) and Best Toronto Beer (for Tankhouse Ale: '04-'07), and was named "Canadian Brewery of the Year" at the Canadian Brewing Awards in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It lost its status as an independent craft brewery in 2015 when it was purchased by industrial brewer Labatt Brewing Company, which in turn is owned by the global brewing giant Anheuser–Busch InBev.
Contents
History
The brewery was founded in December 2002 in Toronto by Steve Abrams, Jeff Cooper and Michael Duggan. The brewery was named after its original location at 55 Mill Street in the historic Distillery District, the former industrial complex occupied by spirits maker Gooderham and Worts. In early 2006, all large-scale brewing was moved to a bigger facility in Scarborough, Ontario, and the Distillery District location reopened in October, 2006 as a brewpub. The brewpub features 14 Mill Street beers on draught, including seasonal and other special/one-off releases. In 2007, co-founder Michael Duggan left, believing that new investors were more interested in profit than in quality.
In 2011, the company leased a historic grist mill building adjacent to the Chaudière Falls in Ottawa and converted it into a brewpub. The building is owned by the National Capital Commission and most recently housed The Mill (Old Mill Restaurant), a restaurant that closed in 2007 and a 140-year-old former grist mill. Also in 2011, Mill Street also became the first craft brewer to open a bar/restaurant in a major Canadian airport. The Mill Street Airport Pub is located in Terminal 1 (domestic) near gate 20 of Toronto Pearson International Airport.
In Spring 2013, The Beer Hall opened adjacent to the original Brewpub in the Distillery District. The site includes a fully operational still, where the first Canadian-produced bierschnaps is made from beer brewed on site.
On October 9, 2015, Mill Street was purchased by Labatt, which is itself owned by brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev. As part of the purchase agreement, Labatt agreed to invest $10 million into brewing operations to help expand into Quebec. Due to the takeover, the Ontario Craft Brewers no longer considered Mill St. to be a craft brewer and removed Mill St. from its membership. Similarly the Ontario government will no longer provide the financial support and marketing initiatives that are available to independent craft brewers in the province.
Product line
In addition to its award-winning bottled brands listed in the Active Beers sidebar, Mill Street also makes a number of specialty beers available on draft, including: