Do You Want a 100% Canadian Beer? — Rolling Hops Beer Tours

We’re all proud Canadians right? So I’m sure you would enjoy a 100% Canadian beer! But, what the heck does that even mean? Good question. You may think it is quite simply a beer brewed in Canada, and you would be right but 100% Canadian generally means brewed in the great white north with ingredients from the great white north. You might be saying, well isn’t that always the case anyways? Unfortunately, no. Like many industries the raw materials in making craft beer are not always sourced from the country the beer is brewed in. So, some of the main ingredients in brewing beer, such as malt and hops, may be imported from other locations. It’s not like local brewers don’t like to buy Canadian but they will try to do so when they can. In our experience, usually local Canadian brewers will source their ingredients based on availability or beer they are looking to brew. Sometimes this means that using local ingredients just for the sake of local may not always be the best brewing path. If the desire for one finished product cannot effectively be produced with only a local ingredients then it’s probably worth looking for another option.

So what about those local Canadian ingredients? Is Canada a top producer of malt, hops, yeast and water? Well, we may not be a TOP producer but there is certainly a solid industry for beer ingredients in Canada. We have a number of maltsters in Canada that produce a wide variety of malt products for many different styles of beer. Everything from pale ales to pilsners and even speciality malts which allow Canadian brewers to brew any style that they wish. Some popular Canadian malting companies are Canadian Malting, Malteurop, Cryer malt, Barn Owl Malt and Western Malting. When it comes to hops, there are a number of hops farmers in Canada and even some breweries that propagate their own hops for a full farm to glass experience (see Mackinnon Brothers and Qualyes Brewery). Unfortunately, hop farming in Canada has not been the most ideal over the past few years. You see, hop farming is a lengthy process that requires plenty of work and attention. Hops take a few years to mature before being used in making beer and it seems that hop varieties which were planted for beer production over the last few years have fallen out of favour for brewers presently. This has led to some hop farmers choosing to step down from the profession but there are still some that continue to produce great Canadian hops to this day.

So why is it important to brew something 100% Canadian? Well it might not be for those non-Canadians but to those Canuck brewers and beer drinkers, there are a few good reasons. For one, it means supporting local Canadian businesses which has been highlighted quite a bit over the last year and a half. The difficulty for local businesses to survive during a pandemic is tough, as many of us have seen, so supporting your favourite local craft brewer has been even more crucial during these tough times. Another great reason for drinking a full blown Canadian brew could be the great story behind the beer. As with many craft beers there is usually a story behind the beer and those brewed with all Canadian ingredients usually take on a great story from the brewer. As an example, Left Field brewery in the east end of Toronto brews their “Ice Cold Beer” made with 100% Ontario made ingredients and their “O’Neil” 100% Ontario stout created as a tribute to James Edward “Tip” O’Neil. Finally, my personal belief is a that a true sense of Canadian pride would drive someone to drink a beer brewed with all Canadian ingredients. After all, beer is arguably one of the best aspects of our culture and who wouldn’t want to fully support that? I AM CANADIAN!

Craft Beer Is Here.