TORONTO, ON – Muddy York Brewing has announced the release of a new beer that pays tribute to Toronto’s oldest ghost story.
Radelmüller’s Ghost Märzen (5.2% abv, 25 IBU) is named in honour of John Paul Radelmüller, a German-born immigrant who was first keeper of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, where he met an untimely demise:
He lived a relatively quiet life on Toronto Island – inhabiting a small cottage with his wife and daughter and occupying his free time with the comforts and traditions of his heritage. One such hobby was the brewing of German-style beers, which he sold to locals and soldiers patrolling the island. As the story goes, on January 2nd, 1815, Radelmüller served some beer to two soldiers who, after a few too many, became loud and aggressive. Not wanting to attract any unwanted attention, he stopped serving them. Enraged, the two soldiers chased after him, following him up the steps of the lighthouse, where they attacked him and pushed him out of the window. They found his body sprawled out on the beach below and panicked. Terrified that they’d be caught and charged with murder, the two soldiers hacked his corpse into pieces, buried his remains at separate sights along the beach, and disappeared into the night. It is said that Radelmüller’s ghost still haunts Toronto Island and the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse.
Radelmüller’s Ghost – which features an “elegant amber appearance and dry finish [that] will haunt you” – is in fact the second local beer to be inspired by the story, with the first being Rademuller’s Refusal, a strong ale released by Henderson Brewing in October 2016 as part of its monthly Ides series.
Radelmüller’s Ghost Märzen is available now in 500 ml bottles and on draught at the Muddy York taproom and retail store.