Venue Review: Steam Whistle Brewery

About It

Located inside the historic Roundhouse (255 Bremner Blvd), the Steam Whistle Brewery features two different rooms for rent. The first and smaller room doubles as the brewery’s store/gallery while the second room is used exclusively for events and comes with a large patio.

Both rooms feature high ceilings and post-and-beam features while the larger room features two walls of windows, one which looks into the brewery and one which looks onto on a small park and the base of the CN Tower. The smaller room features a large, permanent bar and can be included with the larger room for a reduced rate.

Pros
- Dana, the on-site events manage was very friendly and seems like she’d be easy to work with
- You can bring all your own alcohol except beer and there's no corkage fee
- Choice of eight different caterers
- The smaller room features tons of original artwork that changes roughly once a month
- Tons of historic charm; both rooms would require minimal décor
- Hosts only one event per day
- Comes with a coin-operated photo booth machine
- Comes with free ice
- Steam Whistle supplies the bar staff who also double as tour guides and will give tours of the brewery during the reception
- Great bathrooms
- Accusable by the TTC and cab-friendly
- Air-conditioned
- Lighting system that’s more sophisticated than what most venues have

Cons
- Vague “yeasty” smell in the air (it is a working brewery after all!)
- Only Steam Whistle beer is allowed
- Choice of eight caterers; all the choice can be a bit overwhelming 
- No on-site sound system
- No real bridal room though you can use the staff lounge
- As of April 2009, there is construction going on on the outside of the Roundhouse, including on the patio area. The patio construction should wrap up by early summer 2009 with the rest of the construction wrapping up later this year but who knows...
- There may be some internal construction going on in the large event room next year
- No free parking and paid parking can be tight depending on what’s happening in the surrounding area

Useful Links
Planning Your Event at Steam Whistle
Photo Album
Room Rates