Stonehooker is just slightly outside my self-imposed limits of my "Toronto Brew Pubs and Beer Bars" map - as Toronto Transit doesn't reach beyond the 427 in the west (without an extra fare), I set that as a western limit. Stonehooker, for better or worse, is 3 km outside my perimeter. If you're interested in the origins of the name, see this wikipedia entry - or the historic brochures they hand out at the brewery.

Stonehooker is on Lakeshore Road East in Mississauga - despite the name of the street, it's still 400 m from the lakeshore. But they have a huge grassy area out front with dozens of picnic tables that makes an enormous and lovely "patio." The menu is limited and meat-heavy. The beer selection is very good, with a really wide variety of beers on tap - including a couple stouts and porters even in August (and more in the fridge for purchase for home consumption). Several of the beers available are, as the waitress said, unusual. The "mango and Vanilla sour" comes to mind. But I like unusual beers, particularly when they're well executed - as they are here.

We ordered the Pimento Cheese Dip with corn chips, which was quite nice. I had a flight, including the Cherry Lemonade sour, the Arriba stout, the previously mentioned "Mae West Mango," and the Mad Capreol Porter. I wasn't in love with the porter (nothing wrong with it, just didn't float my boat), but the other three were both interesting and good (it's easy enough to be one without the other), so I was pretty impressed. I also brought several bottles from the fridge for later consumption. Definitely recommended.

photo: Stonehooker's large outdoor space on Lakeshore Drive photo: my flight of beers photo: the fridge, with a wide selection of beers for take-away