Our trip to Canada included a lot of time for trying local beers. There are lots of options that I never heard about, so it was really good to be adventurous and choose a pint by its name (my first choice was Moosehead – is there anything more Canadian?)

A great place to taste the local brew is the Old Distillery District – there are lots of nice bars around, and it’s a nice pedestrianised area to just walk around and chill. In Kensington we stopped for a beer at The Embassy, a great bar with a very impressive selection of local and international beers.

Helpfully, they always indicate in the menu whether a beer is local or imported, which is great if you’re looking to try the local fare.

But the beer highlight of our trip was the Steamwhistle brewery tour. You get to see how they make their beers, taste some hops (not great) and you also get a very generous amount of free samples. The brewery is conveniently located by the CN Tower so it’s quite easy to get there.

You pay $10 for the tour plus a souvenir glass, $15 for the tour and a six pack (we chose that) or $26 for the tour plus a twelve pack. Great value for money! Our tour guide was really enthusiastic and really loved her job – it was really fun!