With the Wynne government putting LCBO grocery store kiosks on hold pending further review, Ontarians are left with the status quo when it comes to the purchase of beer in the province: LCBO locations, Beer Stores, and Breweries. Some arguments in favour of expanding retail beer selection are not overly compelling. Sure, I’d like to […]

After a summer of beer, its times for a fall of beer. Toronto Beer Week officially kicked off today, running September 14 – 22 (with Premium Beer Experience happening last night). Yep, another excuse to celebrate beer in Ontario and perhaps the last of good weather for a while. What can I tell you that […]

Yeah, these probably deserve individual attention but my observations of brief to be generous, so I thought I’d mix it up. The fact that both Creemore Springs and Great Lakes are celebrating 25 years is pretty great for Ontario Craft Beer (insert mandatory reference to Creemore being owned by MolsonCoors – its still legit man), and proving great for […]

In an interestingly timed announcement, the McGuinty government sent around a press release Saturday entitled “Ontario Microbreweries Thriving”. Yippee, the government figured it out. Could this perhaps have something to do with the Liberals rejecting the sale of beer in convenience stores early last week and the Conservatives vaguely suggesting they’d be “open” to it (i.e. would also reject it, but […]

Oh boy, the much-anticipated Toronto Festival of Beer is almost upon us, beginning this Friday July 27, 2012, and going until Sunday at Exhibition Park. Its pretty much sold out, but tickets are still available for Sunday. Here’s 7 reasons why you should be there: 7.  Salt n Pepa (for real, Friday night) You know, that 80s, 90s, 00s, […]

The week is off to a good start. Twitter tells me lots of successful events were held around the province. For me, outdoor day drinking was the best option, so I headed out to the beauty Evergreen Brickworks for the Brewers Backyard – Amsterdam Brewery event. I arrived to find lots of good food was […]

Well, OCB Week is almost upon us. This Sunday, Fathers Day, we get our third annual week to official celebrate what I do on a bi-daily basis: the great beer of this province. (although, if you`ve checked the event listings, you`ll notice some events are already happening) What to do during the week? Well, blogTO had […]

But wishes he was. First, take a look at the winners. Yup there’s lots of them. 167 contesting beers  from 33 breweries vying for Gold, Silver or Bronze in over 20 categories. And now you’ve got a good start to you May 24 drinking list.           A few of the many […]

Today the LCBO released its 2011-12 financials and guess what? Ontario Craft Beer led all product segments in growth, with 45% increased sales. To put that in perspective, VQA wines rose 9%. I think that this has little to do with changing tastes and is simply a result of the fact that LCBO has started selling Ontario Craft Beer. Indeed, its been an underserved […]

Well, both of these things could use some better publicity. The 9th annual Ontario Brewing Awards are fast approaching – May 17, 2012. Lots of great Ontario Brewers will be in attendance to accept awards and hand out some samples. Its being held at the Beer Academy, 75 Victoria Street, in Toronto. Should be a […]