All or Nothing all in for Oshawa

It was the ideal situation for Eric and Jeff Dornan, a pair of Oshawa brewing brothers who had been dreaming of opening a brewery in their hometown.

The boys already had a bricks and mortar facility after acquiring Trafalgar Brewery of Oakville in 2016, but when a former beer store on Ritson Road South - built in 1953 - came up for sale last fall they jumped at the chance to make the deal.

They had been in the beer-making game for four years at that point and had progressed from contract brewers working out of an industrial space in Oshawa, to owning their own brewery/meadery/distillery west of Toronto. Now the time was right to return to their roots in the Motor City as owners of a 25,000 sq. ft. brewery.

Eric and Jeff Dornan of All or Nothing Brewhouse

Hometown brewing heroes, you could call them.

And in case you're wondering, 'meadery' is a word. I even looked it up.

The brothers had been looking around Oshawa for a while for a location - "we had very specific criteria - and when the old Beer Store came up (and how perfect is that?) well, it was an opportunity they couldn't pass up, explained Eric Dornan at the brewery's grand opening June 1.

"When the location came up we had a look around. It was dilapidated - it was just a shell - but we could see what it could be. I turned around and said to Jeff, 'why the fuck has no one put a craft brewery in here?'"

And so they did. Pretty quick turnaround too, what with the contract signed in November and the soft opening of the brewhouse during the last week of May.

The result is a state-of-the-art 25 hecto-litre brewery (plus distillery and meadery), a tap room and event space on the main floor and loads of space out back for festivals and such.

All or Nothing's Kyra and Jenna

"We wanted to do what Steamwhistle has done in Toronto, but for Oshawa," Eric explained. "We want to make this a destination for Oshawa. We're committed 100 per cent to this city."

The brothers got their start five years ago as Underdog Brewing but after a trademark dispute changed it up to All or Nothing, which was the name of their only beer at the time, a quite good Hefenweizen, or Hopfenweisse, as they called it.

But despite the name change they still believe they're underdogs at heart, because it says so right on their website: "We grew up learning to cheer on the underdog because we see ourselves in them."

My Andre the Giant pic. (Obligatory
with 296 ml cans)

The OG All or Nothing beer is gone now, replaced (more or less) by Hustle Over Hype, a 5.1 per cent Wheat Pale Ale that uses the same yeast strain and is still tasty, as well as three other year-round brews: Think Big'Ger Cream Ale, Snooze You Lose Honey Brown Ale and Mind Over Matter, a seven per cent Meade Braggot.

During opening week the brewery also produced Celebration Lager, Blood Sweat and Tears IPA (6.7 %) and an 8.9 per cent Double IPA called Skies the Limit.

Both IPAs were unusually dark for the style and while I wasn't keen on the IPA - more of a malt-forward hybrid of an English IPA with a West Coast variety - I liked the double a little better.

The original Hefenweizen will make a return to the brewhouse, Eric promised.

As far as their former Oakville operations, Eric said he and his brother made the decision to close it down, as well as Black Creek Historic Brewing, last fall.

My friends Candice, Marie and Josh  helped me
sample all All or Nothing had to offer at the
grand opening June 1.

They also expect the distillery side of the business - craft gin, vodka and whiskey - to be up and running this winter. "There's lots of bureaucratic issues to handle first."

Eric said they have a "grand vision" for the brewery and hope to one day employ one hundred-plus people.

"We want to build a facility that everyone in Oshawa and the surrounding area can be proud of," he said. "We're trying to put Oshawa on the map."

Hustle Over Hype Pale Wheat Ale - A hybrid of a German Weisse and a West Coast Pale Ale, using a Scottish ale yeast. Banana and spices on the nose, with pine, yeastiness and a bit of ripe citrus on the sip. Still their best beer.

Cheers!