In Canada Canadians Do Love Their Beer
It’s a fact that Canadians love their beer. We love beer so much that here in Ontario there are stores that exclusively sell beer. In 1927 the Ontario Liquor Control Act was proclaimed ending prohibition and the Beer Store known then as Brewers Warehousing Company, later becoming Brewers Retail/The Beer Store opened. Today it is the largest distributor of beer selling to bars restaurants and to the public within Ontario. There are over 435 stores in the province that sell 350 different brands of beer from 90 brewers worldwide. That is quite a selection. Should you not be able to find a beer that you desire at The Beer Store more than likely the Liquor store will carry it.
- Let's Talk Beer Molson Coors Canada
I have had a love for beer from the time I was three years old. Yes three. The oldest brewery and still in existence today in North America is Molson dating back to 1786.
In the province of Quebec you will find many microbreweries that differ from others as they usually follow recipes from the French, British and Belgian. Quebec is the home of Brador beer but it is available in other provinces. This is a malt beer that is 6% alcohol. Many people used to like it because of the high alcohol content however there are stronger beers available in Canada.
Government laws vary from province to province as far as the sales of beer goes.
In New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island beer can be purchased at the Atlantic Superstore (according to Wikipedia), which is a large supermarket and at government liquor stores. Beer may also be purchased at a licensed brewery and winery in New Brunswick.
Newfoundland and Labrador, you can find locally brewed beer in convenience stores but all other beer must be purchased at government liquor stores.
In Quebec you can purchase beer in convenience and grocery stores.
In Ontario you can either purchase beer at The Beer Store or the liquor store.
Manitoba has just started offering beer in some of their grocery stores.
Saskatchewan has beer stores and liquor stores.
In Vancouver, British Columbia you will find that there are beer stores that carry the same product as the provincial liquor stores. For the rest of the province you must buy beer at government owned stores.
Alberta has attached liquor stores with separate entrances at some grocery stores, gas stations and connivance stores. If you happen to live in an area without a liquor store within 15 kilometers, you can purchase beer from a licensed retailer at some general and convenience stores.
If you happen to be traveling across Canada and are a beer lover, there are many beer festivals that you may want to attend.
Along your journey you can also check out all the microbrewies which you will find in all the provinces.
Festival
| When
| Location
|
|---|---|---|
Calgary International Beer Festival
| May 27th & 28th
| Calgary, Alberta
|
Kelowna Beer Festival
| May 30th & 31st
| Kelowna, British Columbia
|
Le Mondial de la Biere
| June 8th - 12th
| Montreal, Quebec
|
Beach BBQ & Brews Fest
| June 17th - 19th
| Toronto, Ontario
|
Summer Festival of Craft Breweries
| June 21st - 25th
| Toronto, Ontario
|
Session 99 Craft Beer Festival
| June 25th
| Sudbury, Ontario
|
Central City Brewing Cask Festival
| June 25th
| Surrey, British Columbia
|
Ottawa Cask Beer Festival
| June 26th
| Ottawa, Ontario
|
Nando's Canada Cuo Of Beer
| July 8th & 9th
| Vancouver, British Columbia
|
Festival Des Bieres Du Monde chicoutimi
| July 21st - 24th
| Chicoutimi, Quebec
|
Hart House Craft Beer Festival
| July 28th
| Toronto, Ontario
|
Queer Beer Festival
| August 4th
| Toronto, Ontario
|
Halifax Seaport BeerFest
| August 5th & 6th
| Halifax, Nova Scotia
|
Toronto Festival Of Beer
| August 5th
| Toronto, Ontario
|
Festival Oktoberfest Des Quebecois
| September 9th & 10th
| Mascouche, Quebec
|
The Great Canadian Beer Festival
| September 9th & 10th
| Victoria, British Columbia
|
Toronto Beer Week
| September 16th - 24th
| Toronto, Ontario
|
Hopscotch Whiskey Beer Festival
| September 24th & 25th
| Kelowna, British Columbia
|
Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest
| October 7th-15th
| Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario
|
Hopscotch Whiskey Beer Festival
| November 14th - 20th
| Vancouver, British Columbia
|
A Few Fun Facts On Beer
Canada has always prided itself in having a stronger beer than the Americans. The truth is our beer is only a touch stronger than the American beer, as we measure our alcohol content by volume, whereas in the U.S.A. it is measured by weight.
Canadians that purchase domestic beer choose bottles at 69%, cans at 19% and draught at 12%.
Because there is a deposit (built into the price) on bottles and cans Canadian's 97% of the time will return their bottles and for cans 86% of the time.
Over two billion litres of domestic beer is consumed yearly in Canada. That would work out to somewhere around 528344104.72 US gallons.
There are many delicious recipes that use beer as an ingredient. One of my favorites is Beer Can Chicken. The chicken comes out moist and scrumptious.
Some Canadian Humor
A Canadian bloke is walking down the street with a case of beer under his arm.
His friend Randy stops him and asks, "Hey Dave! Whatcha got that case of beer for?"
"Well, I got it for my wife, you see?" answers Dave.
"Wow," exclaims Randy, "Great trade."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One day an Englishman, an American and a Canadian walked into a pub together. They preceded to each buy a pint of Labatt Blue. Just as they were about to enjoy their beverages, a fly landed in each of their pints.
The Englishman pushed his beer away from him in disgust. The American fished the offending fly out of his beer and continued drinking it as if nothing happened. The Canadian picked the fly out of his drink and started shaking it over the pint, yelling, "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT YOU BASTARD!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the North American Beer Festival, all the brewery presidents decided to go out for a beer.
The guy from Corona sits down and says, "Hey Senor, I would like the world's best beer, a Corona."
The bartender dusts off a bottle from the shelf and gives it to him.
The guy from Budweiser says, "I'd like the best beer in the world, give me 'The King Of Beers', a Budweiser."
The bartender gives him one.
The guy from Coors says, "I'd like the only beer made with Rocky Mountain spring water, give me a Coors." He gets it.
The guy from Molson sits down and says, "Give me a Coke." The bartender is a little taken aback, but gives him what he ordered. The other brewery presidents look over at him and ask, "Why aren't you drinking a Molson's?" The Molson president replies, "Well, I figured if you guys aren't drinking beer, neither would I.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Tribute to Beer - An Amazing Beverage
Are you aware of the amazing benefits, extraordinary uses and remarkable ways we can use Beer?
A Little Something To Keep Those Beers Cold
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Comments
marellen glad that you enjoyed it. Cheers :)
Just wondering, Susan, who drinks more beer? Americans or Canadians per capita?
Beer is a fantastic subject - I wrote a hub about it some time ago you might want to visit: "Tribute to Beer -an Amazing Beverage."
You did a great job with this one. Voted up.
drbj, According to Wikipedia Americans rank at 13 and Canada is at 21 yet another site I found says we rank at 17. The number one spot goes to Czech Republic followed by Ireland. I will go and read your Tribute to Beer as I do love beer :)
Thanks so much for your vote.
Susan, This is a very interesting article as I didn't know Canadians loved beer so much. You did a great job and gave us a lot of information, not to mention this was very amusing.
Thanks so much Pamela.
I love beer so first up and awesome:). Funny joke too - if it were that easy, eh? To exchange the wife for a six pack! LOL
You even have government liquor stores? Also do you have an age restriction? In MO it's 21 to purchase. Once I was in Texas (in the late '80's - they said if a man was married to a woman under the legal age to drink - if he said the young wife could come into the bar, she could but if he said she could not - she couldn't. And it might not even be true but that bar ran things like that!
That is one heck of a comprehensive table! You all are serious about your beer! I can only think of 1 brewery in the state - it's Anheuser Busch.
RH Legal age to drink in Canada depends on which province you are in. In Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba it is 18. Every where else it is 19. I forgot the punch line on the joke on the second joke but have since added it lol. Just like a woman to forget the punch eh?
Great Hub, and I do love good beer!
Bill, Thank you and Thank you :)
Ha! Yeah - but do you have to help your husband remember the punch line? I do! Haha!
I love that huge fridge of beer too! That could last me a couple weeks!
I absolutely love the joke about the guys from the beer companies... needed a good laugh! It is funny because when I lived in New York... before I was 21... all the soldiers would go across the border because they could legally drink there. I guess I never tried the Canadian brands... not much of a beer drinker other than the wussy type American kinds :)
Interesting tidbits of information. I have to admit to drinking mostly American beer, but always open to trying new things.
barbergirl I drink American beer whenever I am in the states. I wouldn't call it wussy :) just need to drink more of it, that all.
L.L. Thanks for coming by to read about my passion for beer.
Japanese beer and Guinness are my favourites but I can't get Japanese beer where I live and I only drink Guinness when I return to Ireland for visits. The jokes are funny and go well with the beer!
Spirit Whisperer I do like Guinness but have yet to try Japanese beer. Next visit to the Liquor store I will pick up a Japanese beer to try. What type would you recommend? Glad that you liked the jokes.
I once tried guinness and it felt like a rock going down my throat. I guess I prefer the light stuff. However, I have a friend who likes other beer - besides Bud light and Coors and he is starting to open my eyes a little, although I still can't stomach the real dark stuff. I wouldn't be able to eat anything it is so filling! lol
My favourite was Kirin but Asahi is also delicious. Beware, as they are a lot stronger in my opinion than American beer. I would suggest you eat some Japanese food with the beer perhaps some yakitori (roasted skewered chicken) and or some grilled fish or sushi. By eating like this while you drink you can avoid hangovers. Have a great evening!
Hey barabergirl28 you should know better than to give yourself suggestions like that about Guinness! Get out that hypnosis script and starting telling yourself that Guinness goes down like black velvet smooth and creamy. notice there is no reference to rocks or heavy objects! LOL
Spirit Whisperer Thanks I will look for those. I am used to strong beer after all "I am a Canadian" :-)
barbergirl The dark beers can be filling.
Great Hub, Susan. It definitely sounds like I would be at home in Canada. Have done the beer tours in a few countries and so far the only one to come close to Bavaria in Southern Germany is the Czech Republic. Sounds like Canada may be up there.
PS - I enjoyed the jokes as well! :)
Gordon I would love to go to Germany and the Czech Republic especially Germany for Oktoberfest. My mother in law went to Germany and she just loved it over there.
Glad you liked the jokes.
I love beer but it gives me a headache.
Cardisa That is terrible. Red wine does that to me. One glass and and hour later my head is pounding.
I also love Germany, Susan - particularly Munich and Bavaria in general. The beer (bier) just doesn't seem so good in the North. Oktoberfest is something I've been over for several times but I prefer the wide open biergartens and visiting at other times of year, even the indoor attractions and Christkindlmarkts in the Winter. I'm lucky in that my Dad lives in Munich, so I can visit any time.
Ha ha - I will remember that suggestion... smooth as can be ... smooth as can be... gulp gulp gulp! LOL
Of course you realise you don't buy Beer...
You only Rent It !!!!
Great Hub.
I can't stand the taste of Beer, But i enjoyed your info and jokes. Thank you.
Cheers
Merlin Hmm You have a point there I never thought of it that way before :)
Ruby I have loved beer since I was knee high to a grasshopper. But thanks for reading and I am glad you liked the jokes.
Susan what a wonderful hub you placed here on beer. Your absolutely right us Canadians do love our beer EH. Also in Manitoba they recently announced that some major food stores like Safeway, SuperStore and Sobeys will be introducing liquor, wines and beer in their stores.
I just say it's about TIME, we've being waiting long enough. Growing up in Montreal, we were always able to buy beer at grocery stores, I miss the Quart bottle, he he. Thanks for the share, now I will go and get myself a cold one. Rated up and squeezed all your buttons, also shared on Facebook.
Merci Beaucoup saddlerider. I wish they would sell beer at all corner stores across the country as they do in Quebec. I miss the quart bottle too. I remember my Grandfather would send me to the corner store in Verdun (I was about 8 or 9) to pick him up 2 quarts of Labatt's 50 and when I brought them back to him he would always pour me a small glass :).
So glad that you enjoyed the hub and thanks for squeezing my buttons :-)
LOL We do live beer - but the beer stores are a tax payers burden. Used to buy beer at hotel as offsales... some countries you can buy beer at a convenience store... here the jokers passing out beer over the counter get almost as much in wages as a Doctor (after taxes and medical practice overhead taken off) .... far as i am concerned it is crazy to pay people 28 bucks an hour to pass you a box of cold ones...... plain useless expense. that's our Government!
Neil Thanks for your comments. It is my understanding that the LCBO is government owned and operated where as the TBS is privately owned and is unionized. Do you think maybe this is why they are getting paid these outrageous wages? And how many of the employees are full time and actually making 28 dollars an hour? Most people that I know who work at the beer store are part-time or temporary.
Thanks for a funny and useful hub - and thank you for the list of Canadian beer festivals. I see that there are two coming up soon near where I live in British Columbia!
Alicia Thanks so much for your visit and comments.
Awesome hub Sue, Canadian beer is absolutely fantastic...and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Canadian. :)
Thanks so much Sis :)
Having traveled extensively in Europe and the United States, we certainly don't need to take backseat to anyone for beer. Our here we drink Kokanee or Lethbridge Pils. Of course other brands like Blue and Canadian are consumed as well. Go figure. Great hub.
albertacowpoke I like your name and Kokanee is an awesome beer.
Thanks Susan. Yep Kokanee is a great beer.
lol The jokes were great!
The entire article was awesome though. Very informative and useful . I was not aware of all the beer related festivities all across the country.
I like Quebec in respect to the convenience of buying a beer. You can get it from a gas-station while pumping gas, how good is that?! lol
Thanks for writing this. Cheers!
Mr. Happy
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Yes Quebec does rule when it comes to beer...How I wish we in Ontario could run down to the corner store and buy beer too :)
Now I am starting to realize how you get through the winters up there. Stock up! LOL! Actually, a lot of those beers probably got invented over those winter periods! Thanks for an informative read. WB
Wayne, Beer and Canadian Club Whiskey can't get through the winter without those :) Thanks so much for your comments.
I just love beer, preferably dark beer! This article is very interesting and gives a very good picture about Canadians and Canadian beer:) Great humor too!
Tina
Tina, I will try any type of beer and I have too many favorites. Glad you like the hub and thanks so much.
GREAT job Susan! Now let's go have a cold beer! : ) I think you have made me thirsty! Love the jokes! Cheers to an awesome Hub!
neakin, Thanks so much. Cold Beer, sure anytime :)
Guess it is time to move to Canada...thanks...1 Moosehead, 1 Moosehead Light and 1 Moosehead Light Lime for you...I will even throw in a Sawtooth ale :)
...yes and this Canadian loves your hubs - thank you for that wonderful Springsteen link too my fabulous Susan and I think we are finally getting summer here by the lake of Erie - and the operative word being 'finally' - this morning when I woke up - and had my start-up coffee it actually felt like Florida .....hope all is well with you my friend - stay happy and healthy and keep in touch!
And I will toast to your health later on tonight with a cold one!!!!
epi, always so nice to see you and I knew you would like that Springsteen link. Sad though about Clarence. I do hope that he is doing better. I do have some catching up to do on my reading and will visit you soon.
I remember trying most of these beers when I visited Canada! love the fridge photo!
Movie Master, I have been trying to figure out how many different types of beer are actually brewed here in Canada just so I can try all of them :). I would love a fridge like that.
Oh I do love those Molson Canadian commercials! I do question your choice though, I would have gone with the "office Glen". Glen .. he works in an office .. he is from Canada.. ? Oh yeah .. office Glen .. he's dead.
Grow, Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.
Love the hub! Have very fond memories of a holiday in Toronto that involved rather a lot of Molson and Ice Hockey.
haha how wonderful. :)
Beth, There's quite like it ... Hockey & Beer :) Thank you.
Nurfninja, Thanks :)
You know what I always say, " a friend of beer is a friend of mine!"
Okay, I don't really always say that STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!
....but I lurves me some beer more than Elvis lurved pb and fried nanner sammiches!
Beth, Sorry I missed a word in my comment to you. I meant to say, "There's nothing quite like it...hockey & beer."
Wesman, lol :) gotcha!
As a Canadian,I couldn't agree with you more! Here in China, I am teaching with 60 other Canadians. When we leave for the summer, the local shops don't bother stocking much beer. When we return in the fall, the restaurant fridges are full again! That says it all...
Steve, Yes that sure does say it all :) Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Both informative and entertaining. I guess I'll go have a beer
rjsadowki, Thank you and Cheers :)
Canada has beer? I thought they just had that fake bacon.. I'm kidding.. a very informative hub educational useful.. and the list of beer festivals wow.. maybe Canada should be the new Ireland.. huh? again kidding Love your hubs.. they are worth reading Frank
Frank, Yes we sure do and very tasty beer at that :) The peameal bacon ... not crazy about it myself but other people rave about it. Thanks, I always appreciate your comments.
Haha! The beer jokes sure cracked me up. I also checked out the Beer Can Chicken recipe on your blog - it looks yummy!
Princesswithapen
princesswithapen, Nice to meet you. Thanks glad you enjoyed the jokes and the Beer Can Chicken :)
Hi Susan,
Enjoyed this one. Never saw the commercial with the Beaver. ROFL
I enjoy a couple of beers on a hot summer's day but for me the first one is the best. :)
Voted up up and away!
Sue, That's a pretty funny commercial. I was 2 years old and my dad went into the washroom and set his beer down on a table in the hallway. When he came back out I had drained the beer. Have loved it ever since :)
marellen 11 months ago
I had no idea that you Canadians love beer that much. Your jokes were great too. Fascinating info and facts. Fun hub...I voted Up....