The Canadian Beer Scene

[ShakerD]

Originally Posted by RiponredTJ

I want a Party Pig, and I want one now!

HAHAHAHA yeah they have them there! I was thinking of getting one for next weekend.

[RiponredTJ]

They should make kegs of local beer available out in front of the local convenience store just like propane!

[Cowbizzoy]

i quite enjoy Howe Sound brewing

[Plamondonbrews]

Best beer in Canada is mine, but since I've yet to go commercial, I'll have to say Trois Pistoles (Unibroue) as a close second and pretty much anything on tap at most Montreal brewpubs as third place.

[Grousebane]

I really like Tankhouse from Mill St. in Toronto, or the Phillips chocolate stout in Victoria

[ed_brews_now]

Three Brewers blonde ale is my favourite beer too. I don't know what it is about it.

It is actually a French company that owns the chain. The original pub was in Quebec, I hear. When you think of French, you think of wine.
Their beer definitely has the Beglian style/taste to it. One of their brewers is from Lille -- right near the Belgian border. (I'll have to see if I can get their yeast.)

I have only been to the Toronto one. I wonder if it tastes different in Quebec or Montreal. The water is different.

[Mobstar]

look at products from Brasserie RJ. They make AWESOME brews. A lot of the Quebec breweries produce European style brews. Much better than those Molson/Labbatts products.

My favorite local brews from Quebec is Bor?ale! They make a wide variety of flavors! AWESOME brews. Also, St.Ambroise makes AMAZING beer. In ottawa, Kichissipi lager is probably the best Lager I ever had!

[jjmclell]

I came to this forum as a member of homebrewtalk.com so naturally I'm going to make my first thread relevant to beer.

In short, I CANNOT STAND the LCBO!!!!!! I live in Sault Ste. Marie, which is considered to be in northern Ontario. The ideology of beer drinkers in northern Ontario is as follows:

• the cheapest beer is the best beer
• Alexander Kieth's is a premium beer (and an accurate reflection of an IPA)
• Busch Light is a great beer
• beer that is hopped tastes skunky
• the cheaper the beer the better

Because of this, my options when it comes to trying different brews is EXTREMELY limited, for two reasons:

• the one store that isn't owned by the gov't and can decide what to put on its shelves is owned by the major breweries and charges exorbitant fees to any independent breweries who may want to sell in their stores (The Beer Store/Brewer's Retail)
• the LCBO here, that carries the complete series of Dan Aykroyd and Pelee Island wines as though they're a terrific novelty, stocks its beer section with Coors Light, Groelsch, and a few other European imports, but rarely an Ontario beer, in spite of the growing micro-brewery scene in southern Ontario

The last point is especially difficult for me to understand since the LCBO is owned by the Ontario gov't and you'd think they'd be doing everything they could to promote Ontario businesses by stocking their products. Is the concern that the beer won't sell and will expire on the shelf? Well here's a question - how many people in Sault Ste. Marie are drinking Negro Modelo? A: Maybe 3 out of the 75,000 who live here, and only when it's on sale and they're offering Air Miles on the purchase. Yet there it is everytime I go in to hope they've mixed it up a little and stocked something a little different.

So, what have I done to overcome the government's efforts to have me drinking cold-filtered lagers for the rest of my life? I've been spending my $$$ across the river in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, buying beer at the corner store there that carries a decent selection of Michigan micro-brews, as well as some from other states. I absolutely love it in the sense that I can take a 15-20 minute drive and be in possession of 2 six-packs of Short's Black Cherry Porter (and fill up my truck for .40c a litre less than I can here, but that's another story) but it drives me nuts that I'm not supporting the Ontario breweries, because I can't!

Ok, angry rant complete. Thoughts anyone??

-jjmclell

[Pivot]

I feel your pain. I grew up in Brampton, Ontario and the LCBO's selection of beer is really really poor, and so damn expensive. Unlike you though I never got to jump over the border to get cheaper and better beer, as buffalo is a good hour or so away, and I dont really feel like making the drive haha.

But yea, one good Ontario microbrew id recommend is Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion. They are based out of Barrie and used to be called Robert Simpsons or something. Its a really good Ontario beer. If you go a little further north too there are breweries like Upper Canada brewing which is halfway decent and Lake of Bays Brewery which aint bad either. But there isnt much in the way of Ontario beer at the LCBO your right

[RiponredTJ]

My thought is the government should set certain minimum standards for liquor that is sold in order to ensure a certain level of quality, and that it should enforce those standards. And maybe regulate the legal drinking age and collect some of the inevitable taxes

Other than that, I don't think the govenment should be involved in the marketing and sale of liquor as an active and greedy participant.

If it makes you feel any better, we have exactly the same problems here in Quebec. There's a lot of good booze out there that people would be snapping up if it was available, but the retailers that would put the good stuff on their shelves if they could are being stymied by a bunch of beaurocrats in Quebec City.