Badlands Brewing is, at this moment, the favourite “local” brewery for this writer. After about half a year or so of weekly deliveries from Badlands, a little crew from Toronto decided to finally check out the brewery itself, up in middle-of-nowhere-farm-country (sorry) Caledon.
If you’re thinking of heading to Badlands to enjoy some delicious pours of beer, here’s what you can expect. But first, how can you get there from downtown Toronto?
Getting to Badlands Brewing from Toronto, without a car
From downtown Toronto, jump on the GO Train (Kitchener line) and get off at either Mount Pleasant or Brampton stations. From there, a 30-ish dollar Uber ride will get you to Badlands.
If you happen to drive, there’s a more-than-decent amount of parking on site.
The space
For colder and wetter weather, there’s a greenhouse to huddle in while enjoying the delicious brews, but on good weather days, the outdoor space provides plenty of seating – and a variety of seating options.
If you’re not a huge fan of the sun, the partially covered patio is likely your seating of choice.
The picnic tables in the grassy area are also provide some umbrella shade.
Along with the patio seating, there’s an outdoor bar – this being where you can head up and order your drinks and food. They accept cash, debit, and credit (but prefer cash/debit).
The beer
The outdoor space is perfect on a good weather day, but you’re coming here for the beer. When we visited, there were (if I recall correctly) around eight different beers on tap. That said, as I write this, there are currently 10 selections on tap. Badlands typically brews mostly IPAs, so that took up most of the taps (but not all)! The IPAs tend to be around the 6.5% range. Based on the beers one can get via delivery, expect some weeks where double IPAs would take over some of this tap list.
No question, beer dorks love Badlands. On apps like Untappd, it’s almost unheard of to see any of their beers hovering below a rating of 4/5. If you enjoy easy-drinking IPAs (not the old-school super bitter ones), you’ll have yourself a fantastic drinking day at Badlands.
The food
Yes, there’s food on-site! The day of our visit, there were a couple of options for smash burgers (that are accompanied with a decent portion of fries). Order up at the bar, and it will be delivered to your seat not too much later. The fries are tasty for sure. The burger won’t blow your mind, but definitely works to keep you fueled while at Badlands.
The entertainment
Other than laughing at quips from your fellow beer dorks, Badlands usually has musical entertainment as well. Check the Badlands website for full details on the live music line up. The Saturday afternoon we were there featured a decent duo (that took online requests as well)!
Other things to mention
Is Badlands kid friendly?
Definitely. I didn’t bring my Downtown Kid, but easily could have. There were little ones playing around – with toys scattered around as well. It truly had a family feel when we were there.
What’s the washroom situation like at Badlands?
Granted, not super easy for them to do, likely, but the washrooms are essentially two porta-potties (and, on our visit, they were without running water to wash up.) So, not super fantastic – and really the only kinda-negative of our visit. I would definitely not let this one point make you not come out and enjoy the brewery. Maybe come armed with sanitizer.
Is trekking to Badlands from Toronto worth the visit?
If you’re really into enjoying fantastic craft beer, then yes! As mentioned above, even if you don’t have a car (or want to enjoy all the brews without any worries) it’s a 20 or so minute Uber/cab ride from Brampton GO station (and around a 15 minute ride from Mount Pleasant GO station). In fact, even if you do have a car, I’d recommend leaving the car at home and jumping on the GO.
The verdict
We had a great summer afternoon hanging out at Badlands Brewery, and will do so again at some point. Our visit clocked in at around 4 hours – and we likely would have stayed longer if it wasn’t closing time. Getting an Uber back from the brewery to Brampton isn’t much of a wait at all, so definitely consider this an option. Until the next visit, Badlands offers beer delivery – and their beer can usually be found on tap, and in take-out cans, at some downtown Toronto beer spots, such as Bar Hop and Bar Volo.
Been to Badlands? Feel free to provide your review in the comments below.