New Growler Policies to Serve You Better!

William Street Beer Co. has been utilizing the popular 1.9L Growler format for nearly three years and a great many of you are super enthusiastic about this eco-friendly format for taking high quality draught beer home with you. We have recently also introduced a 1L version for those with a smaller appetite for Cobourg's Premium Craft Beer.

We are making some changes to how we organize our Growler Program in order to ensure the best delivery of product for you. We want to decrease costs to you, support the most ecologically responsible format and, finally, ensure that the beer that you enjoy is as fresh and delicious as possible. To that end, please review the New William Street Beer Growler Policies.

1. ALL GROWLERS PURCHASED FROM OUR BREWERY ARE YOURS TO OWN / KEEP / REUSE / CARE FOR. THEY ARE NON-REFUNDABLE
2. We will fill / refill all standard 1.89L growlers to order. We will also fill 1L growlers. While we are okay with filling growlers from other breweries, we will ensure that it carries our logo before it leaves.
3. We will not fill sizes other than those above.
4. We ask that all growlers presented for fill be cleaned in an effective manner. In fact, we reserve the right to not fill growlers that have not been adequately cleaned because it compromises product quality and could infect filling equipment. Please see below for instructions.
5. We will not fill cracked or damaged growlers.

Best Practices for Growler Enjoyment

1. Enjoy your growler fresh. If you wish to keep the beer for more than a couple/few days, cans are a better option for you.
2. Once you open the growler you have a limited amount of time to enjoy it's intended quality. Share it with friends! Call the neighbours! Once the lid is off and air is introduced, the beer will begin to lose freshness. Fresher is better!
3. Once the growler is empty, rinse it twice with hot water and allow it to drain in your sink or drying rack. That's clean enough. We will sanitize it before we fill it.
4. Resist the urge to put the lid back on it. Let the growler breath until it get's back to the brewery.
5. Please bring it back for frequent refills! Growlers are more eco-friendly than cans and they give you the best format for enjoying brewery fresh craft beer!

Please don't hesitate to pop into the brewery (or email info@williamstreetbeer.com) if you have questions. Cheers!

Welcome to the NEW William Street Beer Co.

We are very excited to announce that we are now open at 975 Elgin St. West in Cobourg. Our new location has been selected and designed to provide Northumberland's Craft Beer Enthusiasts with one of Ontario's finest destinations. When you visit you can expect:

Self Serve Refrigerated Retail Store
Step through the orange door into our new self serve retail store. Your favourite William Street brands are displayed from floor to ceiling in individual and convenient bulk formats. Although, you might need a sweater, the climate is perfect to keep your beer at peak freshness!

Growler Filling Station - COMING SOON

Tap Room
Belly up to the bar and enjoy a flight of freshly poured sample glasses or a full serving of fresh draught beer in our tap room. We also offer a rotating menu of local flavours to compliment your beer selections.

Our Tap Room also provides you with a ringside seat to our production facility. For better or worse, you can witness the brewing process as it happens and and learn first hand how your Local Artisan Beer is brewed, fermented, finished and packaged.

WARNING - SPLASH ZONE! Guests in the first few rows might get wet!

BrewHouse Tours
Tours of our production facility are available by appointment. Please contact for details HERE

Special Events
The William Street Tap Room is available for meetings, parties etc. Please contact for details HERE

Hours
For your convenience, William Street Beer Co is now open 7 Days a Week!
Monday - Saturday 11am - 7pm
Sunday 12pm - 4pm

We are looking forward to seeing you soon!

Cobourg's Premium Craft Beer Has a New Home!

We've really been enjoying this notion that we are keeping a secret. It's only been made more fun by the fact that nearly everyone already knows! Why no announcements? Well, I've always found it a bit underwhelming when people announce big changes several months ahead of time. I really wanted to drop it at the last minute. Well, we are there. With no further drama:

"William Street Beer Co. is excited to announce that we are moving operations to 975 Elgin St. West. Although we have been served well by our former location at 412 William Street, we have been forced to embrace a need for more production space and more refined guest spaces. Therefore, we made the decision to drift North."

"In our new location, we will be able to provide a broader spectrum of products in our retail store, as well as a fully functioning tap room licensed for 12oz servings. In addition, we will be serving a menu of locally sourced food items, specifically designed to showcase everything that makes Northumberland County (and it's talented artisans) great."

There are a great many people to thank and a thousand other exciting details to share. The important thing is this: We are committed to making world class beer and sharing it with friends in a comfortable environment. We want to foster a sense of community where locals and tourists can belly up to the bar together and revel at the quality of what Northumberland County offers.

Effective immediately, we are no longer open at 412 William Street.

We will be announcing our first day at 975 Elgin St. shortly, but we expect that it will be around November 15th.

Thank you all for your ongoing support!

Cheers,

Sean

The William Street Family is Growing!

William Street Beer Co. is very excited to welcome two new talented professionals to the brewing team! Both recent graduates from the Niagara College Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Program, these two are committed to elevating our product lineup to world class levels!

Head Brewer Karen Belfry

Karen Belfry is a native of Campbellford and was excited to return to Northumberland County to pursue her passion for brewing great beer. In the role of Head Brewer, she will assume responsibility for all production related issues, recipe development and quality assurance. Karen tends to favour flavourful malt forward brews such as rich porters and stouts for the winter months and refreshing Belgian styles for the warmer months.

Corey Fairs hails from Aurora and comes to Cobourg by way of Niagara. He is a double threat as he combines his brewing experience and education with a healthy culinary resume. We are excited to promote his efforts on the plate as well as in the pint. While working for one of Niagara's premier farm to table restaurants, he was afforded the opportunity to collaborate with area farmers, vintners and brewers to create exciting experiences for guests. Just think what he will be able to do in Northumberland?

It really is an honour to welcome these two gifted young professionals to Northumberland and to our team. Please take some time to visit the brewery, get to know these new additions and make them feel welcome.

Cheers,
Sean

Win Hip Tickets from William Street Beer Co. #WheatKingsandHipThings

William Street Beer is excited to announce that we are giving away two tickets to the Tragically Hip concert in Toronto on Wednesday, August 10th! On July 30th, we will be releasing a fresh batch of Wheat King IPA and a portion of sales will be donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. In addition, we will also be accepting donations in our retail store. https://donate.sunnybrook.ca/braincancerresearch

 In order to enter you must:

1) Post to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter a photo of your favourite Hip album, photo, memorabilia etc. Also, feel free to include a Wheat King IPA or any other William Street element in your photo.. Be creative. The most engaging photos will be selected as finalists!
2) Be sure to tag @CobourgBeer as well as using the hashtag #WheatKingsandHipThings
3) Also be sure to Share your photo aggressively!

We will be selecting and posting the 10 most creative and most widely viewed images on Monday, August 8th. We will then randomly draw from those 10 for the ticket winner.

NOTE - We Really want a Hip fan, who wants to attend the concert, to get these tickets. That's why we are not announcing the winner until 10am on Wednesday, August 10th.

 As always, no purchase is required and you must be of legal drinking age to enter.

Good luck!

A Nice Problem to Have...

William Street Beer Co. launched operations in April of 2014 and since that time we have worked very hard to maximize our production volume in order to meet local demand. Although we have reached a level of production which allows us to rarely sell out of beer during our typical Wednesday through Saturday week, it is still a very limiting scenario. People often remark that "it's a good problem to have".

I often joke about the irony that I, a former sales trainer and marketing consultant, have yet to have
the opportunity to launch any external sales initiatives. Our licensee business has been limited to incoming requests only, and we have just begun to discuss further distribution opportunities. There just has not been enough beer.

To that end, William Street Beer is excited to announce the pending arrival of our new 10hl brewhouse and fermentation vessels. We have always made a commitment to utilizing professional brewing equipment, but our scale has been very small. Our capital investments for 2016 will allow us to gradually increase our production by more than 350% by summer of 2016. What does this mean for the William Street brand?

• Improved product availability for bars, restaurants, hotels etc.
• A greater selection of consistently available brands at our onsite retail store
• Ability to support and take part in more local and regional events
• Potential to explore new sales channels such as Beer Store, LCBO and Grocery
• Improved equipment, along with the incorporation of locally grown ingredients, will allow for further improvements in product quality and consistency
• Increased retail hours at 412 William Street
• The hiring of local talent to help produce and sell Cobourg's Premium Craft Beer to a much larger market

We have been overwhelmed by the excitement of our friends and customers as we have worked on this project. I am excited to open the space up for tours of the new facility as soon as possible. These are great new toys and I can't wait to share them with you.

There are a few things you should know...

1. Despite an interruption in production, we worked our butts off in an effort to have sufficient product to serve you through the switchover. The retail store is business as usual!
2. We love your kind words, great product reviews and support! If you visit a local eatery which doesn't yet carry William Street Beer, perhaps mention that you would like to see it. That helps us a great deal.
3. We want your feedback as well! Which products would you like to see in the store every day of the week? Where else would you like to be able to buy it? This is Cobourg's brewery as much as it's ours. LMK at sean@williamstreetbeer.com

Thank you again for your ongoing support and we look forward to serving you (more beer in more places) in 2016!

Cheers,

Sean

From Plant to Pint: William Street Beer Goes Local!

William Street Beer Co. has always worked very hard to focus on local ingredients whenever possible and to partner with other fabulous local business operators. In that spirit, we are very excited to announce that we have recently signed a mutually beneficial exclusivity agreement with Valley Hops with the intent of utilizing only Northumberland grown hops in our core brands by the end of 2016.

Hops are the product of a flowering vine that are used in brewing as a flavouring and stabilizing agent. Most Ontario Brewers secure their hops in a pelletized format through multinational distributors. The worlds most prolific hop growing regions are in Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and the US Pacific Northwest. However, Northumberland County provides great conditions for a number of exciting hop varieties.

Some of you may have had the opportunity to try our Harvest Ale, which was brewed with Brandon Bickle of Valley Hops using only freshly harvested wet Cascade cones from the Valley Hops farm North of Port Hope. That simple ale was one of our most highly lauded successes for one reason. We used fresh ingredients from our own backyard, grown with the utmost of care by experienced farmers. Their attention to detail is astonishing.

We are looking forward to offering that same farm fresh, local flavour twelve months a year in all of our core brands and, as our operation grows in scale, offering that same fresh flavour to beer lovers all over Ontario.

There are more 2016 announcements to come, but this is one of the most exciting.

Happy New Year!

Sean

Sean and Brandon brewing with Locally Grown Cascade Hops in early September 2015