Goose Island Brewhouse is the first of its kind in Canada. Sharing a space with Bier Markt, the tap room is also an open-concept brewery, adding another to a constantly growing list of Toronto brewpubs and tap rooms.

The Goose Island brand originated in Chicago and has since blown up and become a hit with craft beer drinkers.

Housed in a centuries-old historical steel milling products manufacturing building, the Goose Island Brewhouse space is cozy, inviting, and dim, with lots of light wood throughout and a very long bar behind which sit seven fermentors.

A front patio overlooking the Esplanade seats about 70.

A bottle shop is also incorporated into the space.

You can actually order 64 ounce growlers ($15 plus a $5 deposit) from a little window at the front.

Three classic Goose Island beers are on tap, but eight more taps are hyper local variants not available anywhere else. A twelfth tap will rotate through local breweries.

All beers are designed and brewed in house by local brewmasters Bernard Priest and Marc Mammoliti.

An All Day Brewhouse Benny ($16) is their nod to Toronto’s obsession with brunch, hard crusty grilled bread with fior de latte, aged prosciutto di parma, roasted heirloom grape tomatoes, and topped with poached eggs cooked to your liking.

The brunchy and light beer Allora (yes, that is a Master of None reference) pairs nicely with this, infused with flash frozen raspberries.

A reuben ($16) is basic but pretty impeccable, moist brisket that’s given a six-day cure in-house and smoked for six hours topped with sauerkraut, Swiss, Russian dressing, house-made mustard all on light rye. A side of fries is nicely crunchy and fatty.

This pairs well with the equally hefty Midnight Oil, a coffee porter brewed with a special version of Station’s cold brew concentrate made just for them.

Bern “The Brewer’s” Sharing Board ($28) is a little pricey, but that’s not the only thing that’s different about this platter.

Beer-cured pastrami salmon and crispy brussel sprout leaves mingle with more usual prosciutto di parma, pacific rock cheese, pickles, and a giant salt soft pretzel with hot house-made mustard.

A flight ($12) allows us to sample four seven-ounce pours, and other than the Allora and Midnight Oil we try the Quite a Thing saison with melon, green fruit and peppery scents and flavours, and the Off Season lager inspired by Oktoberfest beers that goes well with the Brewer’s Board.

A 60-person back beer garden actually has a little hops garden that they can use to harvest their own, started with help from Highland hop farm where they currently get them from.