This is the first installment in a new blog series that will allow you to get to know some of GLB’s partners, the people we love to work with, from suppliers to collaborators to licensees.
By Derek Harrison
Over the next few months, we’d like to introduce you to a number of the businesses in the Great Lakes extended family. Even though we missed Pi Day (March 14th), today we’re featuring our friends and Etobicoke neighbours at The Pie Commission.
With their original location just around the corner from the brewery, Pie Commission has been the perfect lunch spot for the GLB team since they opened their doors in 2013 with their Bloody Good Pies (meat pies). They’ve continued to lure us in over the years with their signature Beef ‘n Beer pie as it’s made with our Red Leaf Lager.
I asked owner Patrick Blessing how his relationship with GLB got started, and he gave all the credit to Pie Commission Chef Owen Sokoloski:
“Owen said GLB is just around the corner, why don’t we go drop off some pies and see if they’d consider working with us,” said Blessing. “We were in a shitty location on the Queensway and we hadn’t even sold a single pie yet, but GLB welcomed us with open arms, said yeah let’s make a pie together, we’ll tell everybody about it. Just so welcoming. It was a really nice experience and we’ve had a great relationship since.”
Now with a second location at 887 Dundas West in Toronto, you can get #FreshGLB on tap while you sit down to power through one of Pie Commission’s signature or seasonal pies.
“Today I love the beer, and the branding is amazing, but it started out as just a neighbourly thing. I hadn’t even had a single Great Lakes beer before then. Now we have Pompous Ass on tap at our second location, and it’s our only tap.”
Patrick is actively seeking a third Pie Commission location and has also just began offering delivery from their Queensway location, so it’s only getting easier to get your hands on one of their pies.
The Pie Commission will also be serving pies on site here at GLB on Saturday April 2nd right out of our retail store to coincide with the Brewery Collectible show. Join us at the brewery for your first pint-and-a-pie of spring!
