It is very rare for a beer to stick with me for a long period of time. Even beers that I enjoy, I move on from in a day or two. That wasn’t the case when I visited Sir Monty’s Brewing Company, in Courtice, Ontario, more than a week ago. From the first sip of Sir Monty’s Amber Marzen, I was hooked and I haven’t been able to get this adaptation of an Oktoberfest beer out of my head since.

Luckily for me, I happened to drop in just as Owner/Brewmaster or ‘Top Dog’, according to his business card, Adam Perrin was working on his latest recipe. He graciously took some time to tell me about the brewery.

The first thing I had to get to the bottom of (other than the Marzen) was the name and logo. Perrin began to tell me a tale about how his great, great grandfather owned a little pub outside of London. “There was a stray dog that used to come in that they named Monty,” said Perrin. “All of the regulars loved this dog. When my great, great grandfather passed away he left the pub to the dog as a joke. The dog ‘ran’ the pub and it got so popular that the dog was voted in as mayor of the small town and ‘ran the town’. Then, the Queen heard about this and decided to knight the dog, hence Sir Monty.”

Of course this was a complete B.S., but the way Perrin tells it, it’s almost believable. The truth is that Monty was the family pet who passed away four years ago. With young children, Perrin wanted to help them get through it. “We needed a label and a name so we came up with Sir Monty: the dog, the hat, the whole thing.” When they opened in July of 2017, Monty was front and centre.

Aside from being a great storyteller, Perrin is doing some great things with beer at Sir Monty’s. Getting back to the Marzen, it was originally brewed for Sir Monty’s 2017 Oktoberfest celebration. Perrin decided to test it out at a party he was having a few weeks earlier. It turned out to be so popular that he had to brew another batch because much of it was gone after the party.

While not a true Marzen because of the addition of British hops and more amber colour, Sir Monty’s Amber Marzen has now become one of its five core beers along with a Blonde, IPA, Red Ale and Milk Stout. “We began with five simple pour beers to determine the market,” recalls Perrin. “Once everyone enjoyed those, we started messing around with others. With the five core beers I wanted them to be accessible so that there was something for everyone. With the experimental stuff, I want them to stay true to our style with a twist.”

One of those beers he messed around with just happened to be a Bacon Stout, which has become immensely popular. After first brewing it, he advertised it’s release on social media. It was the only time there has been a lineup to get into Sir Monty’s.

“The Bacon Stout is really odd but it has been super successful,” added Perrin. “When we were building the pub, we went through the menu. Stuttering John’s upstairs (Sir Monty’s shares a menu with restaurant Stuttering John’s) is a smokehouse menu and we starting kicking around ideas for a style of beer that would be good with smokehouse food. In March, I went on vacation to Epcot Centre in Florida. While I was there I had a Maple Bacon Stout. As soon as I tasted it I said ‘That’s it!’ I contacted the brewery and found out how they did it. One of the ways was whipping 15lbs of bacon in the fermenter, so that’s exactly what I did.”

Things like the Bacon Stout and equally popular New England IPA, a collaboration with Bowmanville-based Brewers Pantry, have helped in Sir Monty’s early success. They are now even in the process of looking to expand beyond just their brewpub.

To do that Perrin hopes to continue hosting events (which they do each month with weekly live music nights), participate in local beer festivals and work on collaborations with other breweries. With all of that, he will continue to brew his core beers and experiment with other styles. “Because we are so interactive with our regulars, they bring in recipes and things for us to taste. We try to get inspiration from that and put our own spin on it. The key for us has been successfully walking the line of brewing what we love and what our audience loves.”

Cheers!

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