Hello, craft beer fans! We’ve got a hidden gem for you. Slate Island Brewing Company is a small craft brewery on Lake Superior’s North Shore, about a two-hour drive east of Thunder Bay or a five-hour drive north of Sault Ste. Marie. Operating since 2021, it offers a rotating collection of great craft brews, a tap room and a view of Lake Superior that is endlessly beautiful. Here are some top reasons to pay a visit to Slate Island Brewing Company.

1. The Beers are Delicious

Local ingredients go into the making of Slate Island’s beers, including pristine Lake Superior water. “When we use honey in some of our processes, we try to source it as locally as possible. In the fall, we’ll make a maple beer that has maple syrup in it, and we’ll get that out of St. Joseph Island,” says brewery owner Brian Doig, referring to an island community south of Sault Ste. Marie. What’s the fan favourite? “Our Experience North kölsch is by far our best seller,” says Doig. “It has more of a universal appeal for the people who are not diehard craft drinkers—it has a nice taste but it’s crafty enough so it also appeals to the craft beer drinkers. It’s just a very easy-drinking gold ale and a well-rounded beer.” Another popular brew is the Slate Island Red. This ale is medium-bodied and offers a blend of specialty malts to impart caramel, toffee and buttery notes. Currently in the testing stages: a hard cider.

2. You can’t Beat the Location

Terrace Bay is a small and friendly community right on the shores of Lake Superior in Northwestern Ontario’s Superior Country. There you can find incredible opportunities to soak up all the natural beauty of the big lake, rocky shorelines, islands, the boreal forest, soaring cliffs, deep gorges and mesmerizing waterfalls. It’s truly an outdoor playground for those who like to hike, fish, camp, boat, explore and hunt—as well as those who are happy to kick back and relax, paint or snap pictures in a tranquil natural setting.

Slate Island Brewing Company is centrally located on the main street in a local plaza, overlooking the lake. While the site was formerly a 5,000-square-foot Canada Post office, Doig just knew it would have a great second act as a craft brewery. “It had all the necessary kind of elements. It had three-phase power for the kettles for the brewing process, it also had a loading dock, and it had the whole area at the front counter which makes an amazing tap room,” says Doig. Simcoe Plaza has a lively blend of retail shops, businesses and restaurants, with lots of parking too. The brewery hosts community events too, so you may find yourself visiting during dart night or the Books & Brews book club.

And the Slate Islands in the name? Those are some small islands (a bona fide archipelago) about 12 km (7.5 miles) offshore of Terrace Bay and visible from the mainland. A Provincial Park that’s classified as “natural environment” (i.e., no visitor facilities) and only accessible by water, these islands are remarkably beautiful, historic and geologically interesting…and home to a woodland caribou population and many species of unique plant life too.

3. There’s a Dream-Come-True Backstory

“What’s the best way to put it? Kind of like a midlife crisis!” jokes Doig. With an engineering background and 25 years spent in IT, he says he was looking to do a “total 180-degree turn.” After years of dabbling in amateur brewing and enjoying beer tours, he took the plunge and got the process started in 2017. “I thought I’d dip my toes in the water and see where it would lead.” After lots of research into different types of brewing equipment and processes, he opted for a BIAC brewing system, which stands for “Brew In A Conical.” Doig says he liked the simplicity of the system. “We didn’t have to transfer from tank to tank—it was all done in one system, everything from the boiling to the fermentation to the clarifying. It does everything all in one tank,” he says. “It reduces [the possibility of] contamination and it also reduces the amount of equipment that we need in order to brew.” After completing the training and obtaining the necessary provincial and federal licenses to open a microbrewery (including a COVID-induced delay), Slate Island Brewing Co. opened on March 17, 2021…just in time for a lockdown. They pivoted to take-home orders, but opened again when they got the go-ahead, and have been slowly building their business ever since. Today, Slate Island beers are available on-site at the brewery taproom in Terrace Bay, of course, and also at venues in neighbouring North Shore communities including Marathon, Schreiber, Rossport and Thunder Bay.

 

4. It’s on the Lake Superior Ale Trail

If you love craft beer and the beauty of Lake Superior, the Lake Superior Ale Trail is a must-do. This self-guided tour includes 20 interesting craft breweries located in Lake Superior communities in both Canada and the United States. As you and your designated driver make your way around the world’s largest freshwater lake (a true inland sea) you can check out the breath-taking scenery and visit some small cities and towns to discover northern-style beers of every description. (If you have a coffee lover in your party, you may want to consider the Lake Superior Java Journey too. The route around the lake helps you realize just how enormous Lake Superior is: approximately 2,092 km (1,300 miles)—wow! There’s a Circle Tour App to help you plan your trip too.

5. That View is Something Else

The tap room is an inviting spot, but for true-north beauty, be sure to kick back on a comfy bright red chair on the patio. “You have a beautiful view of the Slate Islands and the lighthouse right across the way,” says Doig, plus you can do a little people-watching while you sip and chat too. The red-and-white lighthouse is a 50-foot (15 m) replica of the original on the Slate Islands. Bar trivia: the Slate Island Lighthouse is the highest elevated lighthouse on the Great Lakes, at 224 feet (68 m) above sea level.

Be sure to plan a visit to Slate Island Brewing Company in Terrace Bay! Slate Island Brewing Company is located at 9 Simcoe Plaza, Terrace Bay, Ontario, on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Visit their Facebook Page for current hours.