don’t know how else to say this, but a talking point - my region and i think canada in general has been taking huge steps backwards in beer quality for many years now.
it’s getting critical now, where we are back at a worse state than say 20 years ago. and i’m not exaggerating. all you can get at supermarkets, and liquor/beer stores is imported lager from europe, rando pointless lagers from around the world and then canada made “““““craft”””” IPA/session IPA/”CRAFT” lager/cream ale/pale ale/non-aged sours and fruit beers. i know people online tend to dismiss blanket criticisms, but literally none of them are any good at all. about 19 out of 20 of them that i try are just clueless no-experience, no-definition “we’re gonna be a microbrewery and make everything!” places that use a lame cali or ?? house yeast for all their beers, they do not dial it in, they just think “oh its winter we need a porter/stout, k use the house yeast and add some dark malts. done” and they are entirely focused on $$ (this is due to the current cost climate here) and spending more time thinking about their taproom and high-moving swill than anything else.
every single time i try an ontario microbrew that isn’t producing top end for “micro” in hectolitres it is literal garbage. worse than a random homebrew, and im so sick of it. let alone the fact that we are now a full drinking generation into not having true beer diversity.
the causes are partly the govt monopoloy selectors for beer on the shelf making poor decisions based on making profit and blindly following trends, and an issue with higher and higher costs forcing microbreweries to focus purely on $$$$$$$, but this IMHO has already created a very serious beer knowledge/understanding shortfall that has further increased the gap in canadian beer quality vs. US beer quality.
as an example of how messed it is, it would be easier for me to get unibroue products in any US state than it is here in ontario, one province over from their production site.
i have not just no respect for, but actual serious disrespect for any ontario microbrewer. they disgust me in terms of their shortsightedness and lack of soul.
Hm, so I guess I shouldn’t ask for any beer recommendations for when I visit Toronto next month
Don’t have much to add, but it’s too bad that you can’t even get Unibroue. I do remember going to a new “craft” brewery in Wisconsin a number of years ago that was started by a Canadian businessman. He bought an old local macro beer brand when a holding company like Pabst was shutting it down and turned it into a brewery and distillery. Most of the liquor was sent back to Canada for aging, likely some kind of tax dodge. The beer was all over the place, and included a 14% purple malt liquor. It was definitely not good, at all.
it’s the biggest reason to continue homebrewing. Even further on homebrewing, i was thinking the other day how I hope my kids continue it, even if its just once a year or so, but to do it well.
re: the “craft” brewery in wisconsin - it may be minhas brewery.
thanks tommy lol.
the issue with having limited beer styles around and poor examples of them is that it affects 90% of peoples understanding of what beer is, and then further it affects the other 9%, leaving only the 1% of core weirdos (me) who actually get physical books on historical beer, obsessively read about all alcoholic products from around the world past and present. it just feels like very soon we will be back at the level of beer quality and choice as say 2005.
I did an academic study on indiana craft breweries, and beyond just numbers, its the quality.
3 floyds
sun king
upland
just world renowned breweries who have produced excellent beers, you absolutely cannot ever say to them that they started these breweries to cash in on a trend, but to make stuff the way they wanted to.
i dont want to beat a dead horse further, but thats what lacking here. there is no vision, no will to experiment, push boundaries or even prefect a product. its just hazy IPA/session lager/cream ale/pils around 25 IBU barely and made with nottingham/kveik/us05 (barf) and then the focus is immediately on their nachos/patio/events/stone oven pizza etc.
Living in the Buffalo,NY area, I have always been a fan of Molson Canadian and Canadian Light. They both were my favorite mass produced beers. But now that you mention it, it hasn’t been the same last last couple years, the flavor is off? Is the government overly restrictive of startup microbrews or making it cost prohibited? Canada has a great beer history, I hope it starts back up.
