Craft Beers

By John

Canada makes a lot of world-class beer. You may not know about it though, because craft breweries favour taste, freshness, and quality over cheap beer and expensive commercials loaded with breasts and preppy losers.

The Beer Store promotes the hops out of its “Big Ten” beers: Coors Light (Molson), Canadian (Molson), Budweiser (Labatt), Blue (Labatt), Carling Lager (Molson), Lakeport Pilsner (owned by Labatt), Keith’s (owned by Labatt), Bud Light (Labatt), Lucky Lager (Labatt) and Corona (represented in Canada by Molson). See a pattern? It’s no secret that The Beer Store is owned by Labatt (49%), Molson (49%), and Sleeman, a division of Sapporo (2%). Together, these three breweries make 0% of the quality beer sold worldwide.

To limit yourself to the “Big Ten” brews is to turn your back on a world of flavour and variety. Literally. There is one ale on the list, Keith’s – which is a mediocre IPA, and the rest are lagers. Nine dismal lagers and one pathetic IPA constitute the “Big Ten” beers of Canada, if the Beer Store is to be believed.

Please don’t misunderstand me; I love a good lager and I adore a good IPA. My complaint is that the “Big Ten” poorly represents both, and makes a not-so-subtle mockery of the proud tradition of beer making.

Canada considers itself a beer drinking nation. I agree with this, in the same sense that I agree that the United States is a hockey nation: they have a lot of good teams, but nobody watches them. We’re producing delicious beer, but most people don’t drink it.

I can’t - for the life of me - understand this.

Pricepoint is the only edge that bargain beers have over craft beers; you will not find craft beer sold for a buck a bottle. Here’s the rub: any beer sold for a buck a bottle is brewed months before you drink it and features the cheapest ingredients the brewers can source. Drinking these beers far from makes you a beer drinker, it distinguishes you as a moron with poor taste and the mentality of an alcoholic: quantity over quality.

Canadian craft beers reflect the cultural mosaic that composes Canada itself. Muskoka Cottage Brewery brews a delicious Bavarian hefeweizen (wheat beer), Hockley Valley Brewing Co. brews a traditional Irish stout with loads of character, Mike Duggan's No. 9 IPA carries on the noble and hoppy tradition of India pale ale, King Brewery brews a balanced and flavourful German lager, and Wellington Brewery's County Ale is a stellar dark ale. The point of this is not to promote my favourite beers, but rather to expose the rich and varied tradition of beer brewing being explored in Canada.

If you consider yourself a beer drinker, try something new, try something local, and find a new favourite beer.