Tuesday 16th of September 2008 was a splendid day for Dumpdiggers. Tim Braithwaite and Rob Campbell drove north to Barrie Ontario to meet Peter Chiodo, the entrepreneur behind the success and steady growth of the Robert Simpson Brewery.
Peter Chiodo makes the best beer north of the number seven highway - Confederation Ale. The master brewer has evolved a signature malting and fermentation process; unlike the big breweries, Peter lets his microbrew temper in steel vats and mature for forty days before bottling. Dumpdiggers appreciates the quality of this refreshing beverage, but that's not what brought us to 107 Dunlop St at 11am that Weds morning. The Robert Simpson Brewery is located right in the heart of old .jpg)
Robert Simpson was the 1st Mayor of Barrie in 1871 and he was a master brewer. Before he entered politics, he'd been brewing beer for almost thirty years, so he was an expert in brewcraft and business and stoneware bottles. In his lifetime he would have commissioned thousands of bottles, yet only two remain.Tim Braithwaite is Canada's premier stoneware beer collector and posses a Robert Simpson bottle - but his piece was made in 
It's well known that Simpson moved north to
The Simcoe Steam Brewery was a terrific success and Robert Simpson became a man of great importance in the community.
This stoneware beer bottle precedes Simpson's later success in glass. It was made when he was still just a young man, twenty eight years old, trying to survive in a big city with lots of competition. It was made by an unknown Toronto pottery shop in the late 1840s, and I reckon that means it was fashioned somewhere along pottery road in the Don River valley, but that's pure speculation on my part. The clay container is certainly worthy of display in any Toronto or Barrie museum, especially considering Robert Simpson himself probably filled it with beer almost 160 years ago.
Peter Chiodo was absolutely thrilled to be able to see and touch and connect with the namesake of his enterprise, and he learned a lot from Timbits. These two experts learned a lot from each other.
Brewery tours are such fun!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! So much for knowing about the places I have lived.....
ReplyDeleteThe photo posted here is actually that of Robert Simpson, the man who foudned Simpson's departmetn store in Toronto in 1872. He was a Scot who cem to Canada in 1855 opened his first dry good store in Newmarket, Ontario.
ReplyDeleteSimpson's was Eaton's great rival in Toronto, where the 2 stores battled head-to-head across the street form one another ant Yonge and Queen. Simpson's was acqured by Hudson's Bay Compmnay in 1978. Simpson's original 1895 store is The Bay's Queen St. flagship today.