Smithhavens Brewing Company

The Haven Brewing Co. in Peterborough is one of the town's treasures. The brewery specializes in Belgian and German beers, which, at the moment, is rare in Ontario. When conversing with the brewer, it is immediately apparent that he takes justifiably deep pride in his craft, and is passionate about using feedback. Some of the Havok series of bottled beers are double fermented, which means a second addition of yeast at bottling time, which adds extra carbonation and reduces the sweetness of the beer. The Belgian Ale is an exuberant ode to traditional beer with a creative flourish: The crispness of the finish is pure tradition, while the fizz of the finish is both surprising, yet perfectly in tune with the personality of the beer. The Belgian Blond Ale has a wonderful golden wheat colour and scent; while the Crabby Abbey, a Belgian farmhouse ale, is a light sour -- tart enough to earn the title, but not tongue-tinglingly tart. The German contingent, consisting of a Dunkel, a Marzen (amber), and a Schwarzbier (dark lager) cover the darker colours of the beer spectrum. Subtle flavours and fragrances characterise both the dark wheat beers: The roasted notes float unobtrusively among the wheat flavours, making each sip a pleasurable exercise in catching and cataloguing the elusive flavours. The Amber ale, with its gorgeous golden-red colour has a correspondingly malty flavour. Though, once again, in keeping with the character of the brewery, the flavours are subtle, and reward the drinker that mindfully caresses each sip. Haven Brewing Co: Enjoy the artfully produced simple pleasures of life.

Stop here! Great staff, great beers, socially aware, kid and dog friendly, games available. They do a great job with the historic European styles, the Schwartzbeer is great. I expect they will branch out a bit but I hope they start true to the roots, they do a good job with the yeast forward brews.