Archive record · Brewery
Toronto Brewing & Malting Co.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Also known as Toronto Brewing and Malting Company, Canada Bud Breweries Limited, Canada Bud Brewery, O'Keefe's Ale Brewery, Aldwell's Brewery
- Founded
- 1874
- Closed
- 1967
- Archive ID
- TB-N3VWHW6G
- Last checked
- 2026-09-24
Who owns this brewery?
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- Who owns this brewery?
- Cosgrave Brewery of Toronto Ltd.Verified
From the record
Summary
Status: CLOSED. Address: North-west corner of Anderson and Simcoe streets, Toronto — historical brewery site; now residential/retail redevelopment. Identity ends around the 1921 plant sale. The National syndicate's precise legal identity remains NOT YET; later site lineage eventually entered E.P. Taylor/O'Keefe history. Brewery identity and physical site succession are kept separate. [Canada Pass 101] FILLED 2026-09-24: one plant, many names — Aldwell's, Toronto Brewing & Malting (1874), Cosgrave's, a vinegar works, Canada Bud (1928), O'Keefe's Ale Brewery, a Dow plant; closed 1967. canada-bud-breweries-toronto (TB-16NPKKXW) was opened as a separate record earlier today in error and is now a tombstone pointing here.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Ownership & corporate history
- Acquired by Cosgrave Brewery of Toronto Ltd.Date unknown
What the sources say
Resolves held claim HOC-0394 ("ACQUIRED / OWNED"). Toronto Brewing and Malting (est. late 1850s by John A. and Thomas P. Aldwell; incorporated 1874) was acquired and operated by Cosgrave — the City of Toronto exhibit says by 1910, while the pass carries a 1917 date. The variance is preserved, not resolved, so no start is asserted. A Montreal syndicate bought the plant in 1921 (succession lead).
Ownership history is kept as dated events, so a change of owner never overwrites the one before it.
Where it brewed
- 286 Simcoe Street, Toronto, ONToronto, Ontario
HISTORICAL PRODUCTION BREWERY
Operated by Canada Bud Breweries Limited
Site detail
1931/1938/1940 rosters list Canada Bud at 286 Simcoe; 1943 roster lists O'Keefe's Ale Brewery Limited at the same address.
Events
- Toronto Brewing & Malting acquired the earlier brewery site and began operating there.1874
Predecessor site preserved.
- Cosgrave Brewery acquired Toronto Brewing & Malting.1917
Corporate acquisition.
- The plant was sold to a National syndicate and later entered the E.P. Taylor/O'Keefe site lineage.1921
Do not invent syndicate legal identity.
- Federal competition-history report says Canadian Breweries acquired a majority interest in Canada Bud in 1938.1938
Competition
Balance of capital stock followed in 1943.
- Federal report says remaining Canada Bud capital stock was acquired in 1943; the 1943 brewery roster lists O'Keefe's Ale Brewery Limited at Canada Bud's 286 Simcoe Street site.1943
Exact corporate effective date within 1943 not yet source-locked.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1866Before: Aldwell's William Street Brewery
The company "set up shop on the site of an earlier brewery, one operated by John Aldwell (or Aldred) from 1846-1874" (City of Toronto); Black Creek's note has John A. Aldwell's William Street Brewery founded 1866 and closed 1874; a collector's account has Toronto Brewing and Malting itself "established in the late 1850s by John A. and Thomas P. Aldwell". The starts differ; the record carries the 1874 organisation.
- 1874Toronto Brewing and Malting Co. Ltd.
"organized in 1874, and re-organized in the late 1880s"; at the north-west corner of Anderson and Simcoe Streets (Goad's Atlas, 1880), later given as 286 Simcoe Street; ales, porters and half-and-half, with over seventy workers (City of Toronto).
- 1910Cosgrave's plant
"By 1910, the Cosgrave Brewery had acquired and was operating it" (collector's account); "In 1917, Cosgrave Brewery acquired it" (City of Toronto). Both kept.
- 1921A Montreal syndicate
"In 1921, a Montreal syndicate purchased the plant" — the National syndicate, per the City — and it was a vinegar factory for a time (collectors' montage).
- 1928Canada Bud Breweries Ltd.
"In October 1928, the name of the company was changed to Canada Bud Breweries Ltd." The Canada Bud of E. P. Taylor's acquisition list is this plant under its new name — not a separate brewery. Whether Anheuser-Busch ever objected to the name: UNKNOWN.
- 1936Taylor's
Stock control to Canadian Breweries in 1936 (Wikipedia) or purchase in 1937 (collector's account); the Canada Bud labels discontinued in January 1944 (collector) or the plant merged into O'Keefe in 1943 (Wikipedia). Both pairs kept. It brewed on as O'Keefe's Ale Brewery and finished as a Dow plant (collectors' montage).
- 1967Closed and demolished
"In 1967, the brewery was closed and has been torn down." What stands at 286 Simcoe Street: UNKNOWN.
Straight answers
Common questions about Toronto Brewing & Malting Co.
- Is Toronto Brewing & Malting Co. still open?
- No. Toronto Brewing & Malting Co. has closed (1967). Status: CLOSED. Address: North-west corner of Anderson and Simcoe streets, Toronto — historical brewery site; now residential/retail redevelopment. Identity ends around the 1921 plant sale. The National syndicate's precise legal identity remains NOT YET; later site lineage eventually entered E.P. Taylor/O'Keefe history. Brewery identity and physical site succession are kept separate. [Canada Pass 101] FILLED 2026-09-24: one plant, many names — Aldwell's, Toronto Brewing & Malting (1874), Cosgrave's, a vinegar works, Canada Bud (1928), O'Keefe's Ale Brewery, a Dow plant; closed 1967. canada-bud-breweries-toronto (TB-16NPKKXW) was opened as a separate record earlier today in error and is now a tombstone pointing here.
- When was Toronto Brewing & Malting Co. founded?
- Toronto Brewing & Malting Co. was founded in 1874 in Toronto, Canada.
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