In 2020, Daft Brewing opened up in an old garage in Kingston’s midtown Williamsville neighbourhood. From its inception, Daft’s owners wanted to create fun, innovative beers, as well as a relaxed community spot for beer lovers to congregate.
Five years later, Daft Brewing has become a hot spot for its iconic beers, homemade pizza, and fun.
Photo caption: The Daft team – Damien, Addie, Rylee, and Adam.
While the taproom always carries a rotating selection of IPAs, dark beers, and lagers, Daft has become known for its sours. Sour beers balance sweetness with a shock of acidity. The flavourful tang in a sour beer can come from a variety of ingredients, including fresh fruit. One of Daft’s summer offerings this year was “Merman,” a raspberry lemonade sour created in collaboration with Black Dog Hospitality Group. Merman features a blast of fresh raspberry and lemon tempered with lactose, which adds a bit of sweetness to the sour. (Daft always uses fresh fruit – never commercial fruit extracts – in its fruit-based beers.) Then there’s “Da Funk,” a mixed culture sour (one that uses a mix of bacteria and yeast) that has been aged in French red wine barrels. Even non-wine drinkers can appreciate how the subtle red wine and oak aromas elevate this classic sour. Daft’s on-tap sour selections change regularly.
Different types of beer require different rest times before they are served. IPAs are best served fresh – two to three weeks from start to finish. That means if you’re at Daft and you see brewmaster Addie start a new batch of IPA, you can be certain that if you return in a few weeks, the IPA on tap is at its peak. Lagers benefit from longer time in the brewery tank to develop their flavour, anywhere from three weeks to a couple of months. And sours vary, depending on their ingredients and the process used. Daft’s “Da Funk” sour is aged at least a year, so the beer can soak up all the funky goodness from the wine barrels in which it’s stored.
Photo caption: Brewmaster Addie at work.
Not a beer connoisseur? Not to worry. Daft’s staff can explain the different types of beer and their flavours. (They also have cocktails and locally made non-alcoholic beverages on tap.) Sours – which Daft is known for – can appeal to people who don’t like the taste of “traditional” beers. As well as the beer made on-site, Daft carries a variety of kombucha and iced tea (made by Artizen Craft Beverage Co. in nearby Perth).
In 2024, Daft started making Neapolitan-style pizza. Their food menu continues the brewery’s tradition of having fun names for seriously delicious offerings. And like their beers, Daft pizzas range from the classic to the adventurous. They include “Ya Basic” (red sauce, fior di latte, confit garlic, basil, and garlic oil), “Slytherin Bite” (red sauce, mozzarella, hot calabrese, candied jalapeño, hot honey, and parmesan), and “Daftly Dill-icious” (garlic butter, dill sauce, dill pickle slices, mozzarella, parmesan, and dill weed). In addition to the regular offerings on the menu, there’s always a new special pizza every month.
Photo caption: Head chef Rylee shows off Daft pizzas “Ya Basic,” “Daft-ly Dill-icious,” and “Slytherin Bite,” hot out of the oven.
And while you always have the option of buying a selection of canned or bottled Daft beers to take home, what makes this place special is the casual, community atmosphere you can only experience by pulling up a chair and being part of the Daft experience. “The fun is being face-to-face with our customers,” says Daft’s owner Adam Rondeau. And that tenet has turned Daft into a happening event space, with regular weekly activities from euchre and trivia to comedy and burlesque shows. Drag Bingo takes place the second Thursday of the month, hosted by beloved Kingston drag queen Rowena Whey. And every Saturday, Daft runs a “Catch the Ace” raffle, with proceeds going to Martha’s Table, a neighbourhood service that offers nutritious meals and community supports for those in need.
Photo caption: Rowena Whey at Drag Bingo.
