Between Two Fermenters

In 1933, the Sleeman name vanished from Canadian brewing. Fifty-one years later, an aunt John hadn't spoken to in 15 years showed up with a recipe book, an old bottle, and one demand: bring it back. Troy sits down with John Sleeman, the Founder and Chairman of Sleeman Breweries, founder of Spring Mill Distillery, and 2022 appointee to the Order of Canada. But this isn't the story you'v...

Everyone else is dry-hopping the heck out of everything. Brandon Judd is still asking whether it's drinkable. Troy sits down with Brandon Judd, Brewmaster at Avling Brewery - Toronto's brewery, restaurant, and rooftop farm all under one roof in Leslieville. Brandon's path to beer ran through freelance journalism, restaurant bartending, and Toronto's early craft scene at Indie AleHo...

From the Between Two Fermenters Archives, one of our favourites.... Peter Bulut first appeared on Episode 1, helping set the tone for this show dedicated to preserving the stories, voices, struggles, and triumphs of the Canadian craft beer industry. Now he’s back for a deep, unscripted conversation about nearly four decades in beer, leadership, family legacy, hard lessons, and the relentless spiri...

From the Between Two Fermenters Archives, one of our favourites.... In this episode of Between Two Fermenters, host Troy Burtch is joined by the dynamic Catherine Oppedisano,  VP of Marketing at Steam Whistle Brewing . From a memorable one-night shift with Great Lakes Brewery in 2012 to spearheading major brand revivals across Ontario’s craft beer landscape, Catherine shares her inspiring journey...

From the Between Two Fermenters Archives, one of our favourites.... On this episode of  Between Two Fermenters , Troy Burtch is joined by someone who’s had a profound impact on his life – a mentor, pioneer, and dear friend: Ron Keefe, founder of Toronto’s family-owned  Granite Brewery . If you heard  Episode 15  with his daughter Mary-Beth, you’ll know how much the Keefe family means to Troy. Ron...

From the Between Two Fermenters Archives, one of our favourites.... “My beers are the portfolio of my life.” In this episode, we’re thrilled to welcome Luc ‘Bim’ Lafontaine, the mastermind behind Godspeed Brewery, a “neighbourhood brewpub with an international reputation”, located at 242 Coxwell Ave in Toronto. Bim’s reputation as a world-renowned brewer precedes him, standing shoulder-to-shoulder...

Between Two Fermenters is taking a little summer break. We're taking the month of August off... you could say we've gone drinking... hitting up our favourite pubs around the province. While we're taking a few weeks to recharge, we're not leaving you hanging. Over the next four weeks, we'll be revisiting some of our favourite episodes from the archives. Whether it's one you...

Not every brewery closure is a eulogy. Sometimes it's just a brief intermission... but rarely.  Troy sits down with Carl Pratt, Co-Founder and brewer behind Beaches Brewing Co, the brewery that spent over a decade as a fixture on Queen Street East in Toronto's Beach neighbourhood. Carl's an accidental brewer - a self-described map nerd who traded a GIS career for weekend homebrew batch...

In a province obsessed with what's new, Erica McOustra has spent her career perfecting what already exists - and that's a much harder job than it sounds. Troy sits down with Erica McOustra, Brewmaster at Steam Whistle Brewing - the first woman to hold that title in the brewery's history. A Danforth kid who left university after first year, fell into homebrewing to save money, and never...

Most people in the beer business talk about legacy. Andrew Oland actually carries it. As the sixth-generation President and CEO of Moosehead Breweries - Canada's last major brewery still owned by Canadians - Andrew is the great-great-great-grandson of Susannah Oland, who started brewing on a family farm in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in 1867, the same year Canada became a nation. Six generations, 1...

Some places earn their reputation one pint at a time, and True History Brewing on St. Clair West (Toronto) is exactly that kind of place. Co-founders Matt Tompkins and Adam Shier have quietly built one of the most singular brewery experiences in the city - rooted in German and Czech lager tradition, housed in a soaring former 1920s cinema and designed around one simple idea: make you want to stay...

Tash Sundup has been quietly running one of Toronto's best craft beer pubs for over 25 years, and nobody's ever really told his story. The visor-wearing, sandal-loving, pug-admiring owner of Bryden's on Bloor sits down with Troy to talk about how a philosophy major from York University accidentally became one of the most respected licensees in Ontario's craft beer community.   From...

Most people never think twice about the glass in their hand, or the one they're "taking" from their local pub. Dan Silva does - and then he shows up unannounced with 24 custom ones to prove it. In this episode of B2F, Troy sits down with Dan Silva, Co-Owner and VP of Sales & Procurement at Zenan Glass - Canada's largest glassware and ceramics decorator for the beverage and fo...

In this episode, Troy sits down with Mike Laba and Chris Goddard - co-founders of Craft Brand Co., and the new owners of Blackburn Beer Company in Niagara Falls. Two of Ontario craft beer's most restless minds, Mike and Chris have spent the better part of two decades putting together two of the more interesting careers in the Canadian beer industry.  They get into their origin stories on oppos...

In this episode, Troy sits down with Chris Conway, General Manager of Old Credit Brewing Co. in Port Credit, a guy who traded in a PhD for a one-barrel brew system in a gastropub kitchen and never looked back. With stints co-founding Folly Brewpub in Toronto and building Landwash Brewery into one of Newfoundland’s fastest growing craft breweries, Chris is a builder and an operator. Someone who und...

In this episode, Troy sits down with Dan Johnston, VP of Sales at Equals and the man driving the bus at Collingwood's Side Launch Brewing Co. Known for his infectious energy, deep community roots, and a career that has taken him from the bars of Melbourne to the boardrooms of cannabis and back again to craft beer, Dan is one of Ontario's most recognizable faces in the industry - and one of...

In this episode, Troy sits down with Alex Diamandas, Regional Sales Manager at Yakima Chief Hops (YCH), to explore the world behind one of beer’s most important ingredients: hops. From collaborations like  Continental Rift  and  Karma Cryo IPA  to experimental Flight Series releases, GLB has worked closely with YCH over the years and this conversation pulls back the curtain on how those hops go fr...

In this episode of  Between Two Fermenters , Troy sits down with a true pioneer of Ontario craft beer:  Jim Brickman , founder of Brick Brewing. Long before hazy IPAs, tall cans, and hundreds of Ontario breweries, Jim took a risk on a simple idea - that Canadians might want something different from the handful of macro lagers dominating the market. In 1984, he opened Ontario’s first modern post-Pr...

In this episode, Troy sits down with Mandie Murphy, the marketing mind, industry advocate, and co-founder of Toronto’s Left Field Brewery. Widely respected for her leadership and voice in Ontario craft beer, Mandie shares her journey from corporate marketing to building a purpose-driven brewery rooted in community, independence, a love of baseball, and doing so alongside her partner in business an...

In this episode of Between Two Fermenters, Troy Burtch sits down with Cam Fryer, co-founder of Royal City Brewing, a passionate beer industry veteran whose story has seldom been told. From early days hauling kegs at Great Lakes Brewery to studying German history and falling head-over-heels for classic European beer culture, Cam’s path into brewing feels both intentional and serendipitous.  The con...

This week on Between Two Fermenters, we’re joined by two longtime friends, collaborators, and absolute heavyweights of Ontario craft beer: Steve “Bebo” Pilotto and Chris Steininger from Third Moon Brewing.   Before Third Moon became one of the most talked-about breweries in the province, Bebo was a homebrewer turning heads with hazy IPAs, and Chris was a GLB superfan lining up for releases, haulin...

On this episode of  Between Two Fermenters,  we   welcome a strong voice in global beer education - Mirella Amato.  Mirella is a trailblazing beer educator, sensory expert, author, and judge who has shaped beer appreciation worldwide, making history as the first and only Canadian to hold both the Master Cicerone and Grand Master BJCP Judge titles.   Reconnecting after nearly a decade, Troy and Mir...

2025 was a year of sharp turns and constant adjustment in the beer industry and early signs suggest 2026 isn’t here to slow things down. In this short kickoff episode,  we  reflect on the past year, the uncertainty ahead, and what it means to keep showing up in an industry that never stops changing. No buzzwords, no hype, just an honest check-in on beer, brewing, and the people behind it. Whether...

This week on  Between Two Fermenters , Troy is joined by Dr. Dan Malleck, Professor and Chair of Health Sciences at Brock University, author, and one of Canada’s leading experts on alcohol policy and regulation.  With decades of research into the history of booze, prohibition, and temperance movements, Dan brings crucial context to today’s debates around alcohol regulation. From the lingering lega...

Raise a pint - Between Two Fermenters hits episode 50! To mark the milestone, Peter Bulut, Owner and President of Great Lakes Brewery, joined the show.  Peter first appeared on Episode 1, helping set the tone for this show dedicated to preserving the stories, voices, struggles, and triumphs of the Canadian craft beer industry. Now he’s back for a deep, unscripted conversation about nearly four dec...