THE COMEBACK KID:
CANADIAN BEER MAKING A MOVE
By Lucie Grys
Friday, February 6, 2009
With the overwhelming success of tastings, flights and pairings, wine has long surpassed beer as the imbiber’s beverage of choice. But thanks to a profusion of locally produced seasonal and flavoured products, beer is making a big comeback.
Emphasizing this, American’s iconic ‘King of Beer,’ Budweiser, was sold for a hefty $52-billion to Belgian-based InBev in 2008, a move that not only has patriots up in arms but discussions about the future of beer taking place well beyond U.S. watering holes. If Budweiser is no longer American, the beer-swilling characters on your favourite sitcoms might just be sipping craft brew made from organic wheat in upcoming episodes.
With beer bigwigs like Molson, Sleeman and Labatt all owned by large international companies, only 10 per cent of beer sold in Canada is, in fact, Canadian, which, while seeming low, still indicates Canadian products have hit the mainstream market.
Now the only remaining large scale Canadian-owned and operated brewery, Moosehead Breweries Ltd., wears its Canadian pedigree proudly.
The company has been around since 1867, when founder Susannah Oland who, in the 1870s, found herself a single mother of six children and renamed her small brewing business to S. Oland & Sons to hide the fact that a woman was in-charge, first brewed brown ale in her backyard in Nova Scotia. Using her own personal recipe – which is still the base for the beer produced today – she sold beer to the army and navy. Wiped out after the horrendous Halifax explosion of 1917, the company was later rebuilt in New Brunswick. Now in its sixth generation of family ownership, Moosehead is sold in 20 countries worldwide and 50 states in the U.S.
“We are authentic, independent and Canadian,” says Matt Johnston, vice-president of marketing Moosehead in North America. “Our customers look for authenticity in their products and we truly enjoy our place as David versus the Goliaths. Moosehead products are premium and people are looking for that unique experience – everything is a niche market. We are proud to help champion the cause of Canadian breweries and encourage craft breweries to be part of a healthy Canadian beer market.”
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"Also on the rise is the brew pub, a place where beer is brewed on location for consumption on the premises." |
And they are. With consumers showing increased interest in understanding the methods and ingredients used to create their favourite beverage, microbreweries – breweries that produce less than 15,000 barrels per year – are gaining momentum and sales are on the rise. Also on the rise is the brew pub, a place where beer is brewed on location for consumption on the premises. This tradition harkens back to the days when English pubs brewed their own batches – or even earlier when monasteries were made famous by their secret brewing recipes.
According to the Brewers Association of Canada, craft brewed beer sales rose 7.2 per cent in 2004, while the market for non-craft domestic beer grew a disappointing 0.5 per cent. In 2005, craft beer sales rose nine per cent, imports rose 7.2 per cent while sales of mainstream domestics declined slightly.
Big Rock Brewery, a microbrewery based in Calgary since 1985, is Canada’s leading craft brewer known for producing premium, all-natural craft beers. The company produces 10 ales and lagers, a dry apple cider and seasonal beers. Big Rock products are sold in eight provinces and three territories in Canada and, oddly enough, are also available in Korea.
Big Rock’s vice-president of sales, Bill McKenzie, says that as customers become more educated about beer, they prefer taste to marketing and are willing to try new beers.
While Big Rock Traditional Ale is the company’s top seller, the successful launch of Grasshopper in March 1994 has done extremely well.
“Innovation is always a sales driver,” explains McKenzie. “Through various product education programs with licensees about how to pour, the glass in which beer should be served and the token lemon wedge, products like Grasshopper show that customers are looking for an experience and not just a beverage.”
Great Lakes Brewery is also one of the first Canadian craft breweries. Opened in Toronto in 1987, the brewery is known for its original premium blond lager. The launch of Devil’s Pale Ale two years ago spurned an interest to challenge people’s tastes and try to stand apart from the bigger breweries.
“Our customers loved the branding of Devil’s Pale Ale and they liked the darker, stronger beer,” says John Bowden of Great Lakes Brewery.
The movement to eat more locally produced food and get to know one’s local supplier – whether it be a farmer, specialty shop or a brew master – has also created a lot of interest in the craft beer movement.
“We make a lot of seasonal beers that customers love,” notes Bowden, citing their Orange Pale Ale as a hit in summer 2008.
The company produced a Pumpkin Ale for fall 2008. A stronger, darker ale with a hint of ginger and cinnamon was scheduled to launch in winter.
“We encourage people to think differently about beer and help change their attitudes.”
Part of that attitude change is lending a culinary twist to beer. At Great Lakes Brewery, the company encourages food pairings with their ales and lagers. Ales should be matched with dishes normally suited to white wines. Similarly, darker more fortified beers, like lagers, go well with foods normally associated with red wines.
