Why is it that Quebec is able to sustain fabulous, adventurous ales like Peche Mortel and Corne du Diable, the two best Canadian beers I have ever tasted, and the Ontario market is barely able to brew a real IPA?
I've only ever been to Quebec once, and that was 10 years before I was able to drink, so I have never experienced the drinking culture there. Are craft ales just that much more accepted over there? Or is it a matter of less alcohol retail regulations and therefore less strangling of the market?
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Is Quebec THAT much different from Ontario?
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Ale's What Cures Ya
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A bit from column A, quite a bit from column B, and a bit from my own column C: some brewers just don't have the guts.DragonOfBlood wrote: Are craft ales just that much more accepted over there? Or is it a matter of less alcohol retail regulations and therefore less strangling of the market?
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inertiaboy
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I see a few reasons:
1) foremost, the distribution system is more friendly to small brewers - all it takes is one dedicated owner of a depanneur and you have a good selection
2) I think there is a broader appreciation for artisanal products so more people are willing to give new things a shake
3) there may be more inviting classifications for brewing licenses so that it is easier to open a brewery and sell your beer on site for consumption; this may have changed in Ontario as well, such as the licence for The Publican House in Peterborough
4) Unibroue successfully broke the ground and demonstrated that you can make very high quality beers and survive
5) the general Quebec pride and support of their culture
1) foremost, the distribution system is more friendly to small brewers - all it takes is one dedicated owner of a depanneur and you have a good selection
2) I think there is a broader appreciation for artisanal products so more people are willing to give new things a shake
3) there may be more inviting classifications for brewing licenses so that it is easier to open a brewery and sell your beer on site for consumption; this may have changed in Ontario as well, such as the licence for The Publican House in Peterborough
4) Unibroue successfully broke the ground and demonstrated that you can make very high quality beers and survive
5) the general Quebec pride and support of their culture
And also:
(D) The perception that the Onterrible public wouldn't support bold, flavourful brews.
(E) They have a larger number of brewers (and there's a lot of crappy ones too!)
According to BeerAdvocate, Ontario has 42 Breweries and 19 brewpubs; Quebec has 29 Breweries and 48 Brewpubs. (And as inertiaboy said, their pride & artisanal culture feeds this).
(D) The perception that the Onterrible public wouldn't support bold, flavourful brews.
(E) They have a larger number of brewers (and there's a lot of crappy ones too!)
According to BeerAdvocate, Ontario has 42 Breweries and 19 brewpubs; Quebec has 29 Breweries and 48 Brewpubs. (And as inertiaboy said, their pride & artisanal culture feeds this).
Last edited by Derek on Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
in fairness, i think that's more of a reflection of the system they've got. a more open retail system leads to more people taking a shot...Derek wrote:And also:
(E) They have a larger number of brewers (and there's a lot of crappy ones too!)
According to BeerAdvocate, Ontario has 42 Breweries and 19 brewpubs; Quebec has 29 Breweries and 48 Brewpubs
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SteelbackGuy
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DragonOfBlood wrote:Why is it that Quebec is able to sustain fabulous, adventurous ales like Peche Mortel and Corne du Diable, the two best Canadian beers I have ever tasted, and the Ontario market is barely able to brew a real IPA?
I've only ever been to Quebec once, and that was 10 years before I was able to drink, so I have never experienced the drinking culture there. Are craft ales just that much more accepted over there? Or is it a matter of less alcohol retail regulations and therefore less strangling of the market?
The beers you mention are very good. Peche is world class and on cask it might be the best stout I've had. And I've had a lot.
The Corne fails in quite a few departments for me and each time I have it, it just gets worse. I really can't find any pleasure in drinking it.
There are some solid examples of Corne like beers that are coming out of Canada, especially from the west coast. Obviously Ontario has a ways to come, but I'm personally happy with the Hoptical Illusion and I hope Peter keeps on trucking.
I see a bit of a culture difference when I go across to Quebec, and I go pretty often. It is more of a European feel. Laid back, the people are seemingly care free.......maybe they are raised differently. I don't know. But there is a better beer culture there and we have a lot more people in On. Should be the other way around. Weird.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
Too many afraid of imagined risk down here, and a much more tight-knit (French Canadian) culture in Quebec.
Good beer in Quebec is like good Falafal in the middle east... just an inevitable occurence.
How do we create inevitability in Ontario? That's right - bring in American and Quebecois Craft Beer until everyone is drinking it. Or wear towels on our heads.
Good beer in Quebec is like good Falafal in the middle east... just an inevitable occurence.
How do we create inevitability in Ontario? That's right - bring in American and Quebecois Craft Beer until everyone is drinking it. Or wear towels on our heads.
In Beerum Veritas
wow. a racist tool on the internet. shocking.Belgian wrote:Too many afraid of imagined risk down here, and a much more tight-knit (French Canadian) culture in Quebec.
Good beer in Quebec is like good Falafal in the middle east... just an inevitable occurence.
How do we create inevitability in Ontario? That's right - bring in American and Quebecois Craft Beer until everyone is drinking it. Or wear towels on our heads.
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SteelbackGuy
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tuqueboy wrote:wow. a racist tool on the internet. shocking.Belgian wrote:Too many afraid of imagined risk down here, and a much more tight-knit (French Canadian) culture in Quebec.
Good beer in Quebec is like good Falafal in the middle east... just an inevitable occurence.
How do we create inevitability in Ontario? That's right - bring in American and Quebecois Craft Beer until everyone is drinking it. Or wear towels on our heads.
Ahh c'mon now. All in good fun. Plus I'm SURE he meant a "bartowel? on our heads. Get it?> Ha!!!!!!!!!!1
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
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SteelbackGuy
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tuqueboy wrote:Casual racism isn't funny, and it's a symptom of a small-minded person. we need an ignore button on here.SteelbackGuy wrote: Ahh c'mon now. All in good fun. Plus I'm SURE he meant a "bartowel? on our heads. Get it?> Ha!!!!!!!!!!1
Yeah, I was trying to lighten the situation up a bit. Seems my sense of humour is a little lacking today. Ahh well.......back on topic.............GO QUEBEC!
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
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SteelbackGuy
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Ok to add to Dragon's original question..........How is it that a relatively small town like Gatineau can house brewpubs and specialty beer shops till the cows come home, with only a population of 242,124? All the while, cities like London, with a pop. of 353,000, has one or two good beer spots, one shitty brewpub.
If you`re reading this, there`s a 15% chance you`ve got a significant drinking problem. Get it fixed, get recovered!
sheer population base is the answer.
ontario (specifically southern/southwestern ontario) has what?, a good half of the population in the entire country? The big guys figured this out many years ago, and sunk the marketing dollars into everything right down to how the beer was sold in this province. No one batted an eye at it then, and sadly hardly anyone still does, and they know where the money is to be made. Its the provincial equivilent to a big bar/chain having an exclusivity deal on what beer can sold.
ontario (specifically southern/southwestern ontario) has what?, a good half of the population in the entire country? The big guys figured this out many years ago, and sunk the marketing dollars into everything right down to how the beer was sold in this province. No one batted an eye at it then, and sadly hardly anyone still does, and they know where the money is to be made. Its the provincial equivilent to a big bar/chain having an exclusivity deal on what beer can sold.
it's beer o'clock.
Don't blame my IQ if YOU can't distinguish a fatuous reference to a veritable stereotype from 'racism.'tuqueboy wrote:wow. a racist tool on the internet. shocking.Belgian wrote:
Or wear towels on our heads.
PS - equality is when German Lederhosen and Middle-East Headgear are neither of them precious. Nobody is special, and you don't have to jump on a soapbox for this or that group. Nobody is being targeted in a hateful manner except by your own presumptions.
In Beerum Veritas