Folly Brewpub - Brew Pub Review

Folly Brewpub
928 College Street

Folly Brewpub is on College, near Dovercourt. I was disappointed looking at the menu and asked the waitress if they had any stouts or porters, or if they'd be doing any in the near future? She said they specialize in "German-style beer," and that apparently meant "no." They've bought into the "sours" thing with three on the menu ("Managing Expectations: Guava," "Managing Expectations: Apricot," and "Rasperries & Provocations"). They had quite a few other of their own brews on tap: an IPA, a Wheat Beer, a couple saisons, a "kviek," and a couple Pale Ales (plus the sours). Since they did flights, I immediately ordered one - at Folly, what you get in the flight is pre-ordained. You get "Field Day" (wheat beer), "Rhizome" (farmhouse ale), "Imposter Syndrome" (IPA), and "Dovercourt" (Pale Ale). I didn't hate the wheat beer - which is actually surprising and probably doesn't bode well for fans of wheat beers because I usually don't get past the first sip. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm didn't increase much for the other beers: they're not bad, but none inspired me.

The space is nice: reasonably large, despite the glassed off stainless steel vats at the back. The selection of whiskies is genuinely awe-inspiring: they must have about 100. Surprisingly weak on the Japanese stuff - my recent trip there made me aware of just how good Japanese whisky is these days, and they only have two or three available. Nevertheless, it's an impressive selection.

The food menu isn't particularly deep, but everything we had was quite good. I had a Chorizo sausage that came out in a flaming porcelain pig (the flame was powered by alcohol). The sausage was very good (very spicy, which I enjoyed), and accompanied by an excellent mustard. Friends had fries and poutine, also good.

As mentioned, I'm not much of a fan of the styles of beer they do, but my coworker who is a fan of sours was over the moon about their Guava. And the food was very good.

photo: The beer menu when we visited

the printed menu with about 10 beer selections

photo: The incredible selection of whiskies

About 100 whisky bottles behind the bar at Folly

photo: The vats at the back of the building, with a tour group

a woman in a very awkward pose taking a photo of one of the vats around her

photo: bottles for sale

A selection of bottles for sale in the fridge at the front of the bar