Fionn MacCool's on The Esplanade

BrewBenefitTO 2013 presented by DishCrawl Toronto

Last Sunday, on April 7, 2013, we saw some fine weather here in Toronto and it was the perfect backdrop for our first ever Brew Benefit! Over 140 eager beer lovers descended upon the Esplanade and Front St area to explore local Ontario craft beers and sample some fabulous pairings at six hot spots in the area! A portion of the proceeds was in aid of The Stop Community Food Centre. The Stop works to increase access to healthy food for low-income people in the city's west end. They do so in variety of ways, including but not limited to, their drop-in meal program, food bank, community cooking and gardening programs.

Amsterdam Bicycle Club was the meeting hub where beer lovers were greeted with a map and drink tickets and to ensure their energy levels were high, they received some KIND Snacks as well. The delicious fruit and nut bars (especially the ones with chocolate) were gobbled up or stored away in back pockets for sustenance at a later hour. Armed with their treasures groups of old friends and new acquaintances set off to explore the area on a self guided beer crawl.

It's hard to say which route many took but at the end of the day, most were able to hit up all 6 spots in the span of three hours...or so we've heard! Some decided to enjoy the sunshine and laze around on the patios for a bit too long and then were busy playing catch up to ensure they got a sampling of each of the 12 fantastic brews on feature! We heard that many guests really enjoyed the $5 dishes on offer at certain spots!


Amsterdam Bicycle Club featured Amsterdam Brewery's Big Wheel and Boneshaker
along side some Popcorn shrimp and Nachos.

Scotland Yard featured Mill Street Brewery's Tank House Ale and Vanilla Porter which paired well with the Quebec style poutine and Scotland Yard's famous nachos

Great Burger Kitchen featured Beaus All Natural Brewing Company's Lug•Tread Lagered Ale and Beaver•River I.P.Eh. and ofcourse their famous beer braised chicken poutine.

Bier Markt featured Spearhead Brewing Company's Hawaiian Style Pale Ale and Belgian Stout alongside their Slow smoked BierBQ brisket. Fans were in for a treat because Dimitri van Kampen, President and Founder of the Spearhead Brewing Company was greeting Brew Benefit participants and sharing some secrets!

Berber Social featured Great Lakes Brewery's Crazy Canuck Pale Ale and Orange Peel Ale and there was no shortage of food choices here! Featured dishes included the Fingerling potato chips, Mac n cheese and Fish taco. This was a popular spot at the end of the Brew Benefit! We were thrilled that Berber Social opened especially for us on a Sunday!

Fionn MacCools featured Duggans Brewery's No.9 IPA and No.5 Sorachi Lager. Chris Duggan, one of the famous Duggans brothers, was there to ensure that fans were rewarded with some special t-shirts! Those were quite popular!

Everyone had a blast and many can't wait for the next Brew Benefit we hear! A big thanks to all the fantastic staff and owners at each of the 6 spots and our fantastic volunteers, we couldn't have done it with out you! A big thank you to everyone who came out to support Brew Benefit, our media partners and the delicious breweries on feature! We look forward to eating and drinking with you all very soon!!

Photos are posted on Facebook (great pictures by Chow Productions Inc!!) so feel free to tag yourself or follow us on Twitter for up to date information on our next event and promotions from our partner restaurants.

Fionn MacCool's Red Deer - Good Beer deserves Great Food

Come down to Fionn MacCool's Red Deer and try our NEW MENU!

Prime Pubs Draught Masters - 7 - Alan Managan WINNER!.mov

Video footage of our Prime Pub's 'Draught Masters' competition, held Thursday May 13th 2010, at Fionn MacCool's on the Esplanade in Toronto.

The competition included competitors from various Prime Pubs locations, testing bar tending abilities and the bar keeps charisma. Alan Mangan of Tir nan Og, Kingston, became the Prime Pub's Draught Master of 2010!

Prime Pubs Draught Masters - 5 - Lauren Lynch.mov

Video footage of our Prime Pub's 'Draught Masters' competition, held Thursday May 13th 2010, at Fionn MacCool's on the Esplanade in Toronto.

The competition included competitors from various Prime Pubs locations, testing bar tending abilities and the bar keeps charisma. Alan Mangan of Tir nan Og, Kingston, became the Prime Pub's Draught Master of 2010!

Times Square Entertainment

Times Square Entertainment Featuring Rick Levine and his Times Square Entertainment Dance group is seen at several interactive parties in the Toronto Area
Sample entertainment demos shown including Chris Cool

Newmarket crowd

While Waiting for WL to come onstage...