Railway City Brewing Company
St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada · Est. 2008
Also known as Jumbo the Elephant, The Railway City
Tally's Take
Why this matters
A brewery named after the railways, whose flagship is named after what a railway did to the most famous animal on earth. Jumbo gave English the word for anything enormous, and St. Thomas has spent 140 years being the place where he died — statue, museum and all. Naming the beer Dead Elephant is either very dark or very honest, and the town clearly decided it was the second.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1885Milestone
The brewery's best-known beer commemorates Jumbo the elephant, killed by an unscheduled freight train in the town on 15 September 1885 while touring with the Barnum circus.
- 2008Founded
Railway City Brewing Co. begins brewing in St. Thomas, Ontario.
The Beer Library
Beers
Dead Elephant
Year-RoundIPA
Railway City established beer/brand evidence; exact current product page queued for deep verification.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Cream Ale
Year-RoundCream Ale
Railway City established beer/brand evidence; exact current product page queued for deep verification.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Riptide
Year-RoundPale Ale
Railway City established beer/brand evidence; exact current product page queued for deep verification.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Beach Street
Year-RoundBlonde Ale
Railway City established beer/brand evidence; exact current product page queued for deep verification.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Homecoming
Year-RoundPilsner
Railway City established beer/brand evidence; exact current product page queued for deep verification.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Dead Elephant Ale
Year-RoundIndia Pale Ale
Named for Jumbo, P.T. Barnum's star African elephant, struck and killed by an unscheduled freight train in St. Thomas on 15 September 1885. Jumbo was so famous in his lifetime that his name became the English word for anything enormous — which is why the beer needs no explaining anywhere it is sold.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Jumbo
Year-RoundAmerican IPA
The companion to Dead Elephant, named for the animal rather than what happened to him. Barnum bought Jumbo from London Zoo in 1882 over furious public objection in Britain, and three years later the elephant was dead in southwestern Ontario.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Drinking Railway City Brewing Company? Stamp it in your passport.
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