March 22, 2009
Visited on the Saturday of last year’s Church Key Annual Revival. Held in May as an outdoor festival, complete with live band, beer tent and constant rain, everyone had a blast. The church was open for a quick look around at the facilities and for purchasing ice cream or six-packs or (on this occasion) beers being served for the festival. Selection was good with six of their own tasty brews on tap. Barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs for festival food, otherwise it’s just a regular brewery, no food served. Even in spite of the rain, good times!

October 2, 2006
Établissement visité samedi 23 septembre vers 11h30 lors d’un passage au Camp Borden. Ambiance: Des mouches, des mouches et encores des mouches et de la poussière en masse. Je ne pensais pas retrouver autant de mouche dans un brasserie, la seule fois que j’ai connu ça c’était lors d’une visite de la défunte brasserie Brasse-Monde. Je vais donner un 2 pour le charme de la petite église. Service: La personne au comptoir était sympathique et m’a permis de me faire un mix pack avec les 5 produits disponible lors de ma visite. Elle m’a expliqué chaque produit. Selection: 5 produits de disponible et le tout semblait bien ordinaire. (27e rating d’établissement)

November 16, 2005 [ Updated July 9, 2007 ]
Update Spring 2007- they have moved the gift shop / retail outlet to the front on a new deck/patio type area. Now featuring bombers of one-off special brews. The ever rotating staff of retail workers range from bored to enthusiastic, so that can take away from the experience depending on who you catch. Best place to sample the beers though, especially if they are draft samples. Still open 10am to dark, even most holidays. Anyway, this has been a regular haunt of mine since they started brewing here in 2000. Not far from where I grew up (and frequently visit because my folks still live here), this is one of the more unique Ontario micro’s to visit, and certainly a must stop when traveling between Toronto and Ottawa. John and crew have a cool old church place here, with an old and fantastic bottle collection teetering on the shelves. Best bet for a visit is the first weekend in May every year for the Spring Revival, where the old church grounds become a gathering place for locals and visitors to here some music and drink some fresh beer (and Church Key, until they get a bottling line on site, will always be enjoyed best served from a fresh Keg - when on, I rank the Holy Smoke among the best Ontario has to offer) and support a local charity. All in all, a quiet little oasis in the middle of nowhere with good beer - what more could you ask for from a micro-stop?

November 4, 2004 [ Updated August 22, 2005 ]
A pleasant trip through Quinte County and into Northumberland County brings you upon an unassuming church 20 minutes past Campbellford on County Road #38. The Church-Key Brewery is mind-bogglingly small, I believe there is only two staff and its hard to imagine more employees squeezing in (though one is always expecting a small mouse to run by?). Its an interesting layout with the giftshop on the second level (unless they have moved it?) - the beers are good but prone to spoilage due to being unpasturized... unfortunately the 4 hour summer trip back to Ottawa did upset the Double Chocolate. All and all, its great to see a brewery make a go of it in such a rural atmosphere. Long live the Holy Smoke!