Half the best beer in this city is being poured somewhere you’d drive past without looking twice. A century-old machine shop off Wellington West. A unit in a Canotek business park with a roll-up door (if you know, you know). Ottawa hides its breweries, and that’s part of the fun.
So this is the current edition of the best craft breweries in Ottawa: fifteen worthy craft beer destinations across the Capital Region, every one checked against its own website the week this went up, sorted by where you’ll actually find them. Each entry gets the neighbourhood and the beer the place is known for, because “great local IPA” helps nobody standing at a taproom counter.
Nobody’s ranking these. There’s a good reason to go to all fifteen.
Just How Big Is Ottawa’s Beer Scene?
Bigger than most people think. Ottawa Tourism reckons the city holds over four dozen independent breweries, though that count includes contract brands and taprooms alongside the places actually brewing on site.
Flora Hall’s Dave Longbottom put it to the Ottawa Business Journal this way: “there’s a clear appetite for this type of beer. It’s not going away.”
Two rules got a brewery onto this list. It had to be verified open as of August 2026, and it had to brew its own. That’s it.
The Hintonburg Cluster
Three breweries inside one neighbourhood, which makes this the obvious place to start if you’ve only got an afternoon.
1. Tooth and Nail Brewing Company — Hintonburg
Address: 3 Irving Ave
What to Drink: Rabble Rouser (American IPA, 6.8%) or Fortitude (stout, 5.4%). The lagers are the quiet flex: Vim and Vigour pilsner, Premio kellerpils, Fog Ducker at 4%.
Vibe Check: Century-old machine shop, brick, low light, pinsa coming out of the kitchen.
Why It Made the List: Valour, its farmhouse ale, took bronze at the 2023 World Beer Cup in Nashville against more than 10,000 entries from 51 countries. Matt and Dayna Tweedy also keep about half the tap list on lager. Not many breweries this size have the nerve.
Insider tip: Hoppy hour is $2 off draught, Monday to Friday, 4 to 6. The brewpub doesn’t open until 4 on weekdays, so lunchtime walk-ups get the retail store instead.
2. Braumeister Bierhalle — Hintonburg
Address: 175 Carruthers Ave
What to Drink: Route 21 Märzen or the Biergarten Blonde. Rheinwasser if you want the Kölsch, Fastenbier if you want something with weight behind it.
Vibe Check: German beer hall, communal tables, one of the biggest beer gardens in the city.
Why It Made the List: Nowhere else in Ottawa is doing this. Four German styles, done properly, with bratwurst and schnitzel from the kitchen instead of the usual taproom burger.
Insider tip: Closed Mondays. The patio is the whole point from May through September, and it fills fast on a Thursday.
3. Beyond the Pale Brewing Company — City Centre and the ByWard Market
Address: 250 City Centre Ave, plus a second taproom at 21 George St What to Drink: Pink Fuzz, the grapefruit wheat ale that’s been the brewery’s calling card for years. Clean Cut is the year-round easy one.
Vibe Check: Industrial, dog-heavy patio, sixteen taps and a BBQ kitchen.
Why It Made the List: They’ve been at it since November 2012, early enough to have helped kick off the current wave of Ottawa brewing. City Centre is the original room. Pick George Street if you’re already downtown.
Insider tip: Both rooms open at 11 a.m. daily and run to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Very little else on this list works as a late-night option.
Downtown, Chinatown and the Market
4. Flora Hall Brewing — Centretown
Address: 37 Flora St
What to Drink: ‘Cor blimey, not many do this right, but the English Ordinary Bitter at 3.5% if you want to understand what the brewery is about. The Oatmeal Stout and the West Coast IPA are the other two house anchors.
Vibe Check: Restored building, high ceilings, full kitchen, quieter than the room’s size suggests.
Why It Made the List: The most decorated brewery in the city. At the 2025 Canadian Brewing Awards it took gold for its English Pale Ale, gold for a Foeder Aged Chocolate Stout, and silver for a Foeder Aged Margarita Gose, all from a side street off Bank.
Insider tip: Doesn’t open until 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Weekends start at noon.
5. Spark Beer — Chinatown
Address: 702 Somerset St W
What to Drink: Cloudland, which won gold in the wood-aged category and Best in Show at the 2024 Ontario Brewing Awards. Otherwise the hoppy end of the list, or whatever sour is pouring.
Vibe Check: Small, bright, pizza coming out of the oven, regulars at the bar.
Why It Made the List: Andrea Gormley and John Sproull opened in January 2020, the worst possible timing, and the brewery has won something at the Ontario Brewing Awards every year since 2021. Sours get four months minimum, barrel releases up to eighteen, with malt from Mississippi Mills and hops from Houblons Pontiac.
Insider tip: Gormley told OBJ they “felt like we were part of the neighbourhood almost immediately,” and it shows. Weeknights it’s a real community hub, mostly people who live within ten blocks.
6. Lowertown Brewery — ByWard Market
Address: 73 York St
What to Drink: Their El Camino Mexican lager is popular, highly crushable, and crafted in collaboration with the neighbouring El Camino restaurant; crisp, light, and great with a lime. If you like it a bit boozier (5.8%) and hoppier, try their Timberslide IPA, packed with tropical fruit and tangerine aromatic notes, balanced by a moderate bitterness.
Vibe Check: Big Market brewpub, in-house smoker, full-band karaoke on the schedule.
Why It Made the List: The rare Market character hangout that brews its own and takes its food seriously. Ribs, brisket and chicken all come off the smoker in the building. Oh, and their patio is perfect for any time-of-day drinking when the weather cooperates.
Insider tip: Open to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Thursdays are open mic, so pick your night depending on whether that’s a feature or a problem.
The East End Industrial Parks
Nobody’s idea of a night out, until you realize this is where most of the actual brewing happens.
7. Dominion City Brewing Co. — Gloucester
Address: 15-5510 Canotek Rd
What to Drink: Without a doubt, their Sunsplit IPA (available at LCBO but a little pricey, worth it), currently pouring as a double dry-hopped Superdelic version. Trouble in the Fields is a lager built on heritage corn. If you’re on a winter stout kick, Between Two Evils is a super rich must-experience, but a sipper at 10%.
Vibe Check: Working brewery in an industrial park, taproom bolted onto the front.
Why It Made the List: We love this brewery. Our own Ottawa Tourism describes them as brewing with hyper-local ingredients, and the tap list backs it up. Building a lager on heritage corn takes a real sourcing decision behind the scenes.
Insider tip: Canotek is a business park, so weekday evenings are dead quiet and weekend afternoons are when the room has any life in it.
8. Bicycle Craft Brewery — Industrial Avenue
Address: 12-850 Industrial Ave
What to Drink: Happy Robot IPA or the Bicycle Pilsner. The Juan Almonte jalapeño pale ale is the one people argue about, and there’s a gose version of it.
Vibe Check: Small taproom with a kitchen, near the Trainyards.
Why It Made the List: They’re nineteen releases deep into a Barrel Series now, including Apricity, a Belgian golden strong aged in wood. Not many breweries this size bother running a barrel program that long.
Insider tip: Opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, which is earlier than almost anywhere else on this list. Sunday it’s noon to 6.
9. Overflow Brewing Company — Alta Vista
Address: 2477 Kaladar Ave
What to Drink: Roger That, the lager, or Landlocked if you want the IPA. Crosswalk is the dry-hopped pale.
Vibe Check: Industrial strip off Heron, taproom that’s louder than the address suggests.
Why It Made the List: While half the province chases haze, Overflow keeps its core on lager and pilsner. Then there’s the numbered series of one-offs, which is where they get weird.
Insider tip: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Their phone number is 613-695-BEER, which tells you roughly what you’re walking into.
Orléans
10. Stray Dog Brewing Company — Orléans
Address: 501 Lacolle Way, Unit 4
What to Drink: IPA enthusiasts must hit Shaggin’ Wagon. This New Englander has won multiple awards, including an Ontario Brewing Award, and is by far Stray Dog’s highest-rated and most popular beer.
Vibe Check: Bring your dog. Lots going on here. They have trivia nights (always fun), live music, and a suburban crowd that knows each other.
Why It Made the List: It’s as much an events room as a taproom, which is exactly what a suburb wants from its brewery.
Insider tip: Saturday is the only day it opens at 11. Sunday through Tuesday it shuts at 7, so the window is narrower than you’d think.
11. Broadhead Brewing Company — Orléans
Address: 1680 Vimont Ct, Unit 106
What to Drink: The Blueberry Blonde is the one they’re known for. Tangerine IPA, Northeast IPA, oatmeal stout and a straight pilsner nicely round out the rest of their brew lineup.
Vibe Check: Production brewery first, taproom second.
Why It Made the List: One of the few places here running proper tours. Fifteen dollars gets you the walk-through and four samples.
Insider tip: Free next-day delivery anywhere in Ottawa. If Orléans is a stretch, the beer will come to you instead.
The West End
12. Clocktower Brew Pub — Westboro and New Edinburgh
Address: 418 Richmond Rd (Westboro) and 422 MacKay St (New Edinburgh)
What to Drink: Reap & Sow Kölsch at 4.6%, or Chimney Sweep Black Stout. Break of Day is the hazy, Snarling Bully the English bitter.
Vibe Check: Proper pub, two rooms, the Westboro patio is the largest in the neighbourhood by their own account.
Why It Made the List: Brewing since 1996, and it bills itself as the longest established full-service craft brewery in Ottawa. The New Edinburgh room has been there since 2002.
Insider tip: The two rooms have different personalities. Westboro is where the patio is, New Edinburgh is where you go for a quiet pint. Check which address you want before you drive.
13. Whiprsnapr Brewing Co. — Bells Corners
Address: 14 Bexley Pl, Unit 106
What to Drink: Whatever came out this week. They put out something new most weeks, so the tap list is a moving target.
Vibe Check: Husband-and-wife operation, small room, pizza out of the kitchen.
Why It Made the List: They’ve been brewing out here since 2014. Turn up most weeks and there’ll be something on that you haven’t had before, which almost nowhere else in the city can promise.
Insider tip: Closed Monday and Tuesday, and it shuts at 5 on Sunday.
14. Big Rig Brewery — Kanata
Address: 103 Schneider Rd
What to Drink: Alpha Bomb IPA is the bomb, and you will find it on many LCBO shelves across the province.
Vibe Check: Large-scale brewery with a tap room, retail store and a casual food menu.
Why It Made the List: Brewmaster Lon Ladell started it in 2012 on a ten-barrel system, and it now calls itself the largest craft brewery in the capital.
Insider tip: The taproom keeps short hours. Tuesday to Friday it’s noon to 7, Saturday noon to 4, and it’s closed Sunday and Monday.
Across the River
15. Brasserie du Bas-Canada — Gatineau, Quebec
Address: 455 boul. de la Gappe, local 103, Gatineau. Second location at 95 boul. de la Technologie, local 114.
What to Drink: HYPA, their rotating series of double dry-hopped IPAs, with each release showcasing a different hop combination. Beer fans eagerly await every new edition.
Vibe Check: Quebec microbrasserie, tasting room and shop, francophone crowd.
Why It Made the List: Ottawa drinkers already cross the river for this one. Tack it onto an east-side run and the bridge takes ten minutes.
Insider tip: Closed Sundays, and it doesn’t open until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Weekends start at noon.
Worth the Drive: Beau’s, in Vankleek Hill
Address: 10 Terry Fox Dr, Vankleek Hill, about 80 km east of the city
What to Drink: Lug Tread is Ontario-famous, the lagered ale everyone in eastern Ontario knows by sight. Barn Burner if you want the amber, Wonder Crush or Juiced AF (my fave here) for hazy IPA.
Vibe Check: Village brewery with a farm-country setting and a taproom open seven days.
Why It’s Here: It isn’t an Ottawa brewery and shouldn’t be counted as one. It’s also the best hour you’ll spend driving east, and the taproom is open every day of the week, which nothing on the list above manages.
Insider tip: Friday and Saturday are the long days, 11 to 8. Sunday it’s 11 to 7. Make it a day rather than a detour.
FAQ: The Best Craft Breweries in Ottawa, Answered
How many craft breweries are in Ottawa?
Ottawa Tourism puts it at over four dozen across the region, a count that includes contract brands and taprooms. Fifteen in Ottawa and Gatineau are verified open and brewing as of August 2026.
What’s the best neighbourhood for a brewery crawl in Ottawa?
Hintonburg. Tooth and Nail on Irving and Braumeister on Carruthers are both a short walk off Wellington West, with Beyond the Pale’s City Centre room a longer walk from there.
Which Ottawa breweries serve food?
Most of them. Tooth and Nail does pinsa, Braumeister does bratwurst and schnitzel, Beyond the Pale runs a BBQ kitchen, Spark and Whiprsnapr both do pizza, and Lowertown smokes its own ribs and brisket in the building.
Which Ottawa brewery has won the most awards?
Flora Hall took two golds and a silver at the 2025 Canadian Brewing Awards. Tooth and Nail holds a 2023 World Beer Cup bronze, and Spark’s Cloudland won Best in Show at the 2024 Ontario Brewing Awards.
Can you visit a brewery near Ottawa on the Quebec side?
Yes. Brasserie du Bas-Canada runs two tasting rooms in Gatineau, on boulevard de la Gappe and boulevard de la Technologie, both a short drive over the bridges.
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We checked every address, tap list and set of hours here in August 2026. This category has a shorter shelf life than anyone would like, so phone ahead if you’re making a trip of it!
