Written by: t4ab4g @t4ab4g – Instagram
In 1650 Louis Prud’homme built the first commercial brewery in Montreal, Quebec. Although his brewery eventually failed; his passion for beer is still alive and well across all of Canada today. Today Canadians enjoy thousands of varieties of craft beer from countless breweries, from the micro to the macro, all across the country. Whether you enjoy the floral, citrus-like, and piney hop characters from intense IPAs or the big fruit and tart flavours from sour beers, or anything in between, there is a beer for you. Me, I love to enjoy rich dark beers that have chocolate, coffee, and some dark fruit notes.
Since the time of Louis Prud’homme the beer industry has undergone many changes, from prohibition, to evolution, and then consolidation. With new technologies, came more advances to what can be brewed and the outcome of all this is the vibrant scene it is today, with emerging craft breweries pushing the limits of creativity and dazzling our taste buds.
But what defines a craft brewery? What does craft beer offer that the “they who shall not be named” mainstream beers do not. I’m sure you can ask many craft beer enthusiasts and you would get a different answer each time. For me, a craft brewery is a brewery independently owned who creates different beer styles, blurring the conventional limits between styles, and pushing the creativity of ingredients to new levels.
Based on my own, totally scientific and not at all subjective definition, there are more than 1,000 craft breweries in Canada, each province offering something unique. In British Columbia, there is Four Winds Brewing, whose vision was born out of their passion for craft beer and is family owned, operated and built. Alberta has Big Rock which was founded by someone disappointed in the beer options in Alberta and decided to soar into the unknown. Saskatchewan’s Rebellion Brewing is on a mission to brew great beer that brings its community together and enriches lives. Kilter in Manitoba is constantly pushing the boundaries with its cute octopus logo and daring to use unique ingredients such as rhubarb puree and Reese’s Cocoa Puffs. Ontario is home to Great Lakes Brewing, which appropriately has a beer called the Canuck Pale Ale, with notes of canned peaches, pine, and subtle grapefruit. Brasserie Harricana in Montreal is the first bar in Canada that has a draft system that controls each draft line’s temperature and carbonation. You get the point, a craft brewery can be found in every corner of every province, offering a wide selection of creative takes on what makes beer great. Louis Prud’homme would be crying tears of happiness (Or should I say hoppyness).
With all of these breweries and varieties of beer, it can be hard to sort through them all (just as my overstuffed beer fridge). What if there was an easier way to be connected to all these breweries? To have one tool that could be used to connect you to all the craft breweries, not only in your province, but in all the provinces and territories ?
I recall on a recent trip to Halifax, I was determined to seek out new beers, and new breweries. To boldly go where I had not gone before. However, I found it challenging to sort through everything online and make sure I wasn’t missing any hidden gems. If only there was a way to connect all breweries across Canada to their fans. How handy would that be?
Crafted Pint is the website I wish I had while planning my trip to Halifax. They designed their website to target and connect all beer lovers to all breweries in all provinces and territories – making planning any beer enthusiast’s cross-country trip a breeze.
Well said! Craft beer is everywhere and thriving!