canadian Beers / Ales

[loveanale]

Is there anyone out there who enjoys Canadian beer ??
ie: Okanagan Spring Pale Ale ?

[tavernjef]

Boy, where to start.

Love all the Sleemans brews in B.C.

I also like Big Rock brews in Calgary.

I go up to the north shore of Lake Superior about four to six times a year and always make a strong effort to get into Thunder Bay and get one of my Favs - Alexander Kieths IPA out of Nova Scotia - Always seem to bring back a case of it.

Love alot of the brews out of Quebec's Unibroue Chambly, the tripple La Fin de Monde and the Maudite are super good.

If you ever get to Winnipeg try the local Fav Fort Gary's Pale.

Plus the Labatts and Molson seem to be much better up there, ecspecially a cold one after a day of hiking.

[loveanale]

Hey there,

The main problem with the two majors - after having a Sleemans, they're actually from the East but they bought out Okanagan Springs Brewery, or any other fine Ale then you have a Blue or Canadian - YUCK !! Mind you, there are a few pubs around the West Coast that sell Canadian as a house special at $2.25 a pint. If you have these first they do go down okay !! :p

[tavernjef]

When I say Molson or Labatts, I mean as a last resort. While up in The Pas, Manitoba 1999 the only liquor store that was open had four kinds of Molson and three kinds of Labatts and not much else besides even worse, Bud. It was a matter of picking your poison. But as I mentioned, it was good cuz after a day of hiking and canoeing, it just hit the spot and seemed better than what I've had here in the states. The only reason I had it was simple, but it was Labatts Wildcat and Molson Special and both were O.K.
Believe you, me, I would have rather had some Sleemans.

[beerbastard]

If you want to try some really nice Canadian beers you have to sample Creemore Springs Lager. Also anything from the Niagra Falls Brewing Company; I particularly enjoy their Gritstone Ale.

I don't know if these are available outside of Ontario.

[tavernjef]

I may be visiting Ontario for a weekend in April.
Could you give me the scoop on where to go?
What to try?

[beerbastard]

Which city will you be visiting?

If you go to the Toronto area there are many good beer bars. It's been a while since I was there but I remember the Amsterdam & Rotterdam Brew pubs being good.

There are also alot of English style pubs in Toronto. Bottled beer in Ontario is sold from "The Beer Store" and from government run liquor stores.

[tavernjef]

I'll be hopefully visiting Toronto the first weekend of April barring any financial hoops I may have to work out to get there. As the date gets closer and I know more, I'll give you a heads up and perhaps you could give some details on where exactly the good places are.
I know of the 'Beer Stores' and the government run liquor stops, I think I still have some of those points or whatever from the last time I was in Canada last Summer.
Alexander Kieth's IPA from Nova Scotia is still my fav when visiting.
I look forward to gettin some of that.:D

[loveanale]

There are quite a few good ales from the East but there are also some excellent Ales in the West Coast. There are more & more brew pubs that are brewing some fine Ales. It's good when you can watch and smell the actual Ale being made knowing you'll be enjoying it soon !!:p

Enjoy a cold one !!

[Mikejesmike]

My encounters with Canadian beer has been quite limited,all I've had was Labatt's Blue,a sip of Labatt's Blue Light,Molson Ice and Unibroue Terrible.I didn't like any,the Molson and Labatt's is too similar to BMC for anyone to get all excited over and Unibroue Terrible,although well made just had a flavor I didn't care for,it tasted exactly like Chimay Grande Reserve.

[JeffLovesBeer]

Originally posted by tavernjef

If you ever get to Winnipeg try the local Fav Fort Gary's Pale.



Fort Gary's Ale's are outstanding.

[chazwicke]

Granite Brewing in Nova Scotia and Toronto are both good. Are Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Toronto still open?

[rogue]

If anyone is going to be in Toronto I would suggest checking out C'est What? I believe they have the greatest selection of craft beers in the city. I go there fairly often myself. Their own brews are quite good as well, save for the hemp ale which I'm not so keen on.

http://www.cestwhat.com/otherbeer.asp

[chazwicke]

Nice looking list. Do you know if Amsterdam And Rotterdam are still open Rogue?

[stronk]

There are a few brewpubs/micros in and around Vancouver, which I hear are worth checking out. I did manage to find the Granville Island brewery on a trip to Vancouver yesterday and enjoyed a very good Hefeweizen.
As always, bottled micro-brewed beer in BC disappoints every time, whilst much of it doesn't taste half bad on tap. You'll have difficulty finding anything other than maple cream ales, honey brown ales, pale ales and 'lagers' out here (although the liquor stores tend to have a decent selection of imports and oddities).

Mikejesmike, I had a beer by Unibroue (can't remember which) and I thought it tasted exactly like a Chimay Blue clone as well; not that that's a bad thing in my eyes!

[Mikejesmike]

The bottle,Terrible,was corked and it was rated at 10.5%. I never cared for Chimay Grande Reserve,it just tastes too much like a rum and coke to appeal to me,as did the Terrible.

[chazwicke]

Welcome Back Stronk! Hope your travels are proving fruitful. I went to at least three Micros in Vancouvre. I liked that city very much.

[rogue]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Nice looking list. Do you know if Amsterdam And Rotterdam are still open Rogue?


Yes and no.
Unfortunately, the Rotterdam pub closed its doors for good quite some time ago. The Amsterdam is no longer brewing draughts for the pub, but is still operational as a full fledged brewery. They brew some alright beers, but it isn't quite the same as the good old days.

[chazwicke]

That is too bad. I reckon that it has been maybe a decade since i was last up in Toronto. But I went to both places several trips. Also used to go over to Upper Canada Brewing.

[stronk]

Well, so far my 'travels' have put me in the same place for 2 months, although I'm still enjoying myself immensely. Beer-wise, I'm now avoiding the bottled micros and venturing out to find more beers on tap, which is improving my enjoyment.

I still can't quite get used to the tip culture here: you're expected to tip the barman for doing 2 seconds of work pouring your pint (which I'd be happy to do myself, TBH), even though most of the 'pints' have empty space even above the head. Oh, and they're not pints, they're 500ml glasses.

Give me a decent pub any day.