Draft Horse Brewery/ Navan Feed Mill

4/13/2008 7:56:43 AM, sunday, april 13, 2008
An old auction house/farm buliding with a house attached, and a brewery out back, in a totally different coloured building, all greet the approaching consumer. The establishment inside seems to be aiming at a country or farm house atmosphere, and succeeds at that. I’ll echo what others have said about the menu seeming to be sorta all over the place, though I didn’t actually eat here. The food that I saw others get looked tasty though. Service was above average and welcoming. Beer was average to good. I didn’t get to try the Clydesdale, so hopefully next time I am in, it will be on. Worth the 15-20 minute from downtown you are in the Ottawa area.

3/12/2006 9:18:32 AM, sunday, march 12, 2006
Visited on March 12, 2006, with Capflu and DumDum. Well, first off, I wouldnt go there to eat per say, as the menu is your run of the mill small town local restaurant (Pizza, club, poutine et al...). The beer was decent, better than expected overall, but yet, fairly mainstream. Dom Boulet as a distinct hop signature which I actually quite like, event htogh, overall, the beers had rather light bodies. Service was friendly and bilingual (Merci Dinah). Once the new Orléans developments get to Navan, im sure this will become more popular with suburbanites.

3/12/2006 8:09:42 AM, sunday, march 12, 2006 [ Updated sunday, march 12, 2006 ]
Visited on March 12, 2006, with Lubiere and DumDum. Oddly, my first criticism is that either: A) the food portions are too small, or B) the food price should be reduced. I hate places that are cheap on fries; and I hate places that are cheap on chicken breast. The Club Sandwich ($8.95) was on the thin side while the upgraded Poutine ($1.50) was only 2 cups worth with 6 cheese curds. The gravy was from a can too. So why the lack of talk about the beer? The beer was fine. They seem to have found their niche. The Belgian Cream Ale was even GOOD. The place is huge - the restaurant/bar seats perhaps 300 while the brewery/events room can jam another 600 or so. We arrived during a darts tournament. Hope this place succeeds!

11/26/2005 9:19:20 PM, saturday, november 26, 2005 [ Updated saturday, november 26, 2005 ]
New brewpub in the countryside east of Ottawa. Tractor pictures on the walls, ugly grey wood outside, a steeple with model airplanes, a very quirky building. The brewery is in a white building at the back, the beers are served at the bar in the restaurant. Waitress was very pleasant, and welcomed us with samples of each of the 4 brews on tap. They have just started serving their own beers, so we weren’t expecting masterpieces yet, especially considering the fact that the population around here are obviously macro swill drinkers. And as predicted the house beers are light flavored and shyly trying to sway the locals into tasting something different. The main problem though is that these house beers aren’t very inspiring at all (so far anyway), and rest in between the macro world of blandness and the flavorful craft beer scene; I’m afraid though that for now they aren’t able to reach either. Their yeast was bothersome in the porter, the hops in the pale ale are muddled and tired, the lager was a boring macro replacement. Two new beers are coming up soon we were told, a lighter ale (lighter than the lager!?!) and a pilsener. Still trying to win over the local crowd is not an excuse for what we tasted that day.