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Daft Brewing x Frontenac Cycle Collaboration

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We at Daft Brewing are proud of the success of Pedal Pedal Pedal Push, our 2nd annual collaboration with Frontenac Cycle. This collab allowed us to donate $1071 to support Cycle Kingston. We already can’t wait for the 3rd edition in June 2023.

This collab has grown each year, with Pedal Pedal Pedal Push, a delightfully balanced pale ale, being dreamed up by our brewer Addie on our pilot system. The beer proved to be an instant hit and we knew immediately we would be doing the next batch in our big tanks! 

“Pedal Pedal Pedal Push is really good,” said Graeme of Frontenac Cycle, “I don’t know if you can write that on your own blog, but it’s a delicious beer.”

Just try and stop me from writing it on our own blog. There are no rules to hold me back here.

The collaboration between Frontenac and Daft extends beyond just making a really really really ridiculously great beer. Every year the fine folks at FC organize a big group bike ride and we work together to design limited edition Daft Brewing x Frontenac Cycle swag as part of the festivities.

“One of the partners at Daft, Greg, is hugely into biking,” Daft Brewing CEO Adam Rondeau explained about the origins of this collaboration, “It’s safe to say that over the years his ass has taken quite the pounding… from his bike seat.”

Proceeds from sales of Pedal Pedal Pedal Push went to support Cycle Kingston, a registered charity that promotes and encourages cycling in Kingston, Ontario through education and public outreach. You can learn more about their organization here.

“I would like to thank both Daft Brewing and Frontenac Cycling for their support,” said Neal Scott of Cycle Kingston. “With their help we were about to raise just over $1000 to support cycling right here in Kingston.”

Circle the first week of June on your calendars so you are ready for our 3rd annual Daft x Frontenac Cycle collab!

“Over the Top” – Double IPA

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“Stop critiquing me, okay? I’m a human being! I’m not a piece of art!”
– Terry, The Other Guys

Introducing Over the Top, a Double IPA made in collaboration with Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre. 

Modern Fuel is a long running cultural non-profit facilitating the presentation, interpretation, and production of contemporary visual, time-based and interdisciplinary arts. For this release, Modern Fuel created what are sure to be the best looking labels that you will ever see come out of Daft. A portion of all proceeds from sales of Over the Top will go directly to Modern Fuel. You can learn more about them here.

“Over the Top is the perfect name for this release,” explained CEO Adam Rondeau, “because it captures the essence of what a Double IPA is all about. This beer is a piece of art that welcomes critique, unlike our brewer Ryan who, although not a piece of art, needs to be critiqued. Many refer to him as a piece of something, and it aint art.”

Made with a financially irresponsible amount of Southern Passion and Idaho-7 hops, this juice bomb is very citrusy and tropical fruit forward with hints of passion fruit, guava, coconut, and zesty tangerine. Over the Top gives off a sunny and floral fragrance that will help transport you from our current dreary, rainy days and impending winter back to the nice warm summer. You’ll still be physically stuck in the cold dreary days, but you’ll forget that for a bit at least. 

“This DIPA, or Double IPA, has a heavy malt bill and clocks in at 8% ABV, which gives Over the Top a large body,” explained Daft Art Connoisseur, Nathan, “To balance that out our brewing team pumped up the IBUs. The bitterness and high alcohol balance each other well, creating a juicy and not overly bitter beer with a hazy appearance.”

Over the Top is available now on tap and in to go bottles from Daft Brewing. Grab it now and have yourself an over the top experience. 

“True Level” – Fiesta Gose

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“What are you doing?” – Rick
“Do you want your shelf level or not?” – Morty
“And if I say yes, you’re gonna provide that for me with that?” – Rick
“Yes. See the bubble?” – Morty
“I’m familiar with the bubble Morty. I also dabble in precision, and if you think you can even approach it with your sad, naked, caveman eyeball and a bubble of sh*t air, you’re the reason this species is a failure, and it makes me angry!” – Rick
“You’re drunk.” – Morty
“You want to put up a shelf, put up a shelf. You want to experience true level? Do you?” – Rick
– Morty’s Mind Blowers, Rick and Morty

It’s back! True Level, our Fiesta Gose and one of our original releases, is returning..

The True Level recipe is one of Head Brewer Ryan’s pride and joys, and one of the few beers CEO Adam Rondeau acknowledges he can be proud of.

“True Level is the perfect name for this beer, because similar to how Morty experienced true level for the first time and felt like the rest of the world was now crooked, after I drank this for the first time I wondered how I could ever go back to drinking the rest of the swill Ryan produces.” Adam explained in regards to the inspiration for the name.

True Level, the first beer in Ryan’s Umami Series (followed by Slow Ramp and Keep Summer Safe), is a sour wheat beer made with Aji Amarillo Pepper, pink Himalayan sea salt, tequila oak, and fresh lime peel. 

The result is amazingly delicious and refreshingly tart beer with deep complexities that allow you to experience the full range of the five basic flavours- sour, salty, bitter, sweet, and umami. 

“You get a nice burst of limey citrus on the front-end that quickly transitions into subtle notes of pepper and oak and finishes with a hint of saltiness and mild spice.” Daft Sommelier Nathan explained, “The wide spectrum of flavours are surprisingly very well balanced and don’t overpower each other. This sour has a nice complex body and a crisp finish.” 

Whether you have experienced True Level before and are amped that it is back, or have never tried it and wondering what the nonsense you just read means– come on down to Daft Brewing and level out with a pint. Also available in our bottleshop or for home delivery at https://daftbrewingstore.square.site/s/shop  

“Middle Out” – British Mild

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“We’re going to win even if I personally have to go in the auditorium and jerk off every person in the audience”
“That’s a lot of jerking”
“And we only have ten minutes to present“
“So we’re f*cked aren’t we?”
“Yeah even if he’s jerking 2 at a time there’s what? 800 guys in the room? So that’s 400 times whatever the mean jerk time is.”
– Silicon Valley

The scene gets even more ridiculous from there. Watch it in its entirety here

Introducing Middle Out, a British Mild and the winning beer from Daft’s first annual Thirsty Games homebrewing competition that was judged all the way back in September. Because at Daft, we believe in doing things efficiently and fast.

Middle Out was created by Trevor Armstrong, a member of the Durham Homebrewers Club, and now officially the most competent brewer to ever brew here at Daft.

“I would just like to apologize to Trevor for subjecting himself to a day of brewing with Ryan”, CEO Adam Rondeau had to say. “He really is doing God’s work by putting up with someone so much less skilled than he is.”

Middle Out is a traditional British Dark Mild, with a glorious brown hue. It is malt forward but finishes light and easy. Clocking in at 3.5% ABV, this beer is very sessionable meaning that you can easily crush pints on our patio all summer long.

“The first thing you will notice with Middle out is that it’s not as sweet as most dark beers.” explained Daft Sommelier Nathan, “On your first sip you will get a lot of malt character upfront, followed by subtle notes of plum and dried fruit and a hint of tobacco. Those flavours don’t linger long as it finishes with a nice crisp finish.”

Middle out is available now in the Daft Brewing taproom. We are also offering it to go from the Daft bottle shop or available for free local delivery at https://daftbrewingstore.square.site/s/shop 

COVID19 – Hand Sanitizer Production Summary

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Daft Brewing used its resources, expertise and a tremendous amount of help from the community to provide hand sanitizer to people and businesses in need during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work has been highlighted by the Whig, Queens School of Graduate Studies  and featured in Queens Alumni. In total, Daft was able to produce 2163.97 L of hand sanitizer. Through 13 different batches, from March through July, we were able to produce all of our sanitizer on-site, using our own still and fermenting equipment.

At the onset of this project we decided to prioritize donations to the medical field and front line personnel. In total, over 250 individuals, groups and businesses received hand sanitizer from Daft. The response was overwhelming. We also received over 280 requests simply through our website and over 400 formal requests in total.

This project wasn’t cheap. Daft Brewing initially invested over $5,000 in the first three months of the pandemic, along with supplying the labor and equipment for getting the project off the ground. Following this, a successful GoFundMe campaign was launched which raised $2,483 from 38 generous donors! This money was used to ensure that we could continue manufacturing through the summer months.

The $2,483 was used to ensure continued production and the majority of the funds went toward materials such as glycol and isopropyl alcohol. The chart below shows approximately how the funds were used.

Lastly, we want to directly thank everyone – business and individuals, who helped make this possible. The truth is that none of this would have been possible without the constant support of the community at-large. Below is a list of some of the people/groups that jumped on-board immediately and ensured the success of this program.

  • AFCO
  • Anonymous donors
  • Bread and Butter
  • Brewculture
  • Collinson Custom Building and Carpentry
  • Don Brooks of Cooper Equipment
  • Fielding Tire
  • G.S. Manufacturing
  • Herc Rentals
  • KIMCO Steel
  • KinsBrae Packaging
  • Levac
  • Noble
  • Novelis
  • Parade of Paints
  • Silicrest Storage
  • Tim Rows
  • Top Shelf Distillers
  • Tri-Art Manufacturing
  • WESCO

We would also like to take a moment to specially thank Lindsay Waffle, who took on the responsibility of organizing the distribution and communications with all the groups that received hand sanitizer.

Thank-you for working with us to help the community!
– the gang

“Coolcoolcool” – Dry Hopped Pilsner

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“Just stopping in the middle of nowhere and getting out of the car? Cool. Coolcoolcool.”

– Jake Peralata, Brooklyn 99

Releasing today at Daft Brewing – Coolcoolcool, our Dry Hopped Pilsner

“Coolcoolcool is the perfect name for this beer,” CEO Adam Rondeau explains. “The discomfort Jake feels when he rattles off this catch phrase reminds me of the same feeling I get whenever I ‘get to’ taste another one of Ryan’s new beers.”

Coolcoolcool, also known as Crispi Hoppi Boiiii in official company documents (ie scrawled on the walls of the brewery), is a traditional German style pilsner made with 100% pilsner malt with saaz hops added to the boil. This creates a traditional pilsner base before Head Brewer Ryan adds his Daft magic: Coolcoolcool is dry hopped with Styrian Dragon hops, a brand new hop out of Slovenia. These hops are the first to come out of the region that are tropical and fruity like a hop from the pacific northwest, but also add the earthiness of a noble hop.

“Coolcoolcool is very light and crisp, making it the perfect summer sipper” Head of Packaging, Nathan, explained about this latest release, “There is a herbal and grassiness taste at the forefront of the beer that smoothly transitions into a subtle citrus and tropical flavour making it very refreshing on a hot summer’s day.”

“Make sure you write in there how crispy this beer is,” Assistant to the Regional Brewer, Addie, shouted across the brewery, “It’s the only detail that matters.” So just to be clear for everyone, this is a crispy boi.

Coolcoolcool is pouring from the Daft taps starting today and is available in the bottle shop for those looking to get crispy from the comfort of their own homes. Make sure to stop by soon because it is not coolcoolcool how quickly it will be gone.

“Mooncake” Saison

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“Chookity Dookity”
– Mooncake, Final Space

Available today in limited supply at Daft Brewing – Mooncake, our small batch Saison.

Mooncake is a French style saison brewed with Canadian 2 row and Munich malt, which results in a beautiful golden colour. The beer does not contain any wheat, much to the surprise of head brewer Ryan Dhillon who created the recipe and made it himself. “Shit, I thought I added that.” said Ryan after checking the recipe. 

“This is the kind of keen attention to detail that I’ve grown to expect out of Ryan.” Owner and CEO Adam Rondeau said. 

Mooncake is a light coloured, dry beer, with a moderate hop backbone. The star of the show, however, is the yeast. Ryan uses this French saison yeast to produce complex earthy, clove, and black pepper flavours. After a few sips you can pull out the delicate underlying notes of dried fruit and banana. Mooncake was aged on lees for five months to help develop the underlying complexity to the flavours. You’ll be hard pressed to find another saison quite like this.

“The more you drink it, the more delicate flavours you can pull out.” Nathan, Daft’s star bartender when they are open to the public, chimed in. “The first thing you will notice is clove and spice. Eventually you can feel a bit of alcohol warming in the back of your mouth and in your chest. After a few drinks I get more banana and black pepper.”

“This again? Just tell them I liked it or something, I don’t care.” Lindsay, Ryan’s wife, responded with exasperation when asked to offer her thoughts.

Mooncake is available today from the Daft Brewing bottle shop. Supply is limited so make sure to come in quick, as it will be gone from our shelves soon. This is a beer you can either drink fresh or age at home to allow it to become more complex with time.

Try Mooncake today, you’ll be over the moon.