
Partipants in The Beer Tasting and Hotel Walk on Sunday (June 17th, 2012) were treated to a collage of stories from the Steve Peters St. Thomas Brew History Book (a book that Steve noted has so far been 30 years in the making and has yet to reach the publication stage).
The Sunday walk was a collaborative effort of Railway City Brewery, the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, St. Thomas-Elgin Banch, and historian Steve Peters. It provided opportunity to tour and taste at Railway City, learn about the ACO and travel back in time during a walk between the brewery and the Midtown Tavern for some snippets of St. Thomas Hotel and Beer history.
Steve was decked out in his hop-themed t-shirt for the occasion – he has long been a beer and history buff, especially as it relates to St. Thomas. His own hops (rumoured to be from historic St. Thomas stock) have currently reached a height of 30 feet. Tales of the city’s 180-year brew history and hotels entertained and amused as Steve touched on the Labatt’s Brewery connection, prohibition, hotels fires, vice and virtue in the city, and the story behind the name of establishments like Devil’s Half Acre.