Craft beer is all about a melding of traditional style with distinct flavours. This melding often results in flavourful brews that one may purchase for home, or sip at a local craft brewery, like Madmash Brewery and Restaurant, downtown at Five Corners in Tavistock.
Starting off as a chance friendship between Jon Ross and Chad James, through their children, this friendship soon evolved into a business venture steeped in the shared love of craft brews. The concept of opening a brewery and restaurant came from an experiment in homebrewed beer, after their sons purchased a home brewing kit. Ross’ and James’ experiment was so successful, it was easy to imagine taking the next step.
Purely by chance, Ross and James happened upon a former flooring store for rent at Five Corners. “We were out at yard sales looking for an air compressor when we saw the for rent sign,” James said. After some back and forth with the township, an okay was finally given and Ross and James got started on their dream, having purchased most of what they required from a Michigan brewpub that had gone out of business.
Open since December, 2023, Madmash has enjoyed a steady stream of customers, both local and out of town. Situated in a central location between Oxford, Perth, and Waterloo, and on the path to Grand Bend, Madmash is optimally located for many patrons. Madmash offers a plethora of craft brews, both original and traditional, as well as many traditional UK foods such as scratch-made meat pies, bangers & mash, and haggis. The restaurant is full service, which offers their menu as a mainstay rather than a compliment to their bar. Their customer service is fantastic, and of utmost importance to Madmash; they strive to wow!
Madmash is heavily invested in local; “We support local as much as possible”, Ross noted. They purchase their beef, sausage and haggis locally, and of course purchase their hops locally, from Tavistock Hops! “We’ve had great local support…When you visit, you can feel great knowing you’re not only supporting one local business, but many..” Ross said, and they want to give back as much as possible.
“Currently, we have 10 working taps, and are looking to expand to 16 taps,” Ross told us. There are a variety of brews to sample, including favourites such as Vanilla Pale Ale-their most popular craft beer, Pineapple Gingy, Tavi Light, and the unique 5 Way IPA, an ode to their Five Corners location, which is made with 5 different grains and which comes in at 5.5%.
Something newer to note, is that Madmash is providing supply to venues such as the Scottish Football Club of London, and hopes to provide their brews for more events, such as the Embro Highland Games. Eventually, Madmash hopes to have beer available in cans, and is open to expansion. They also offer catering of their distinctive UK based menu.
Madmash offers live music Friday nights, and are considering adding Saturdays in May. This is another way that Madmash supports local, ensuring that local talent gets seen and heard! To see the line up, or to check out this great establishment, be sure to go to https://www.madmash.ca/madmash/ or check out their socials!
