When did beer die in Ontario?
I mean, back when ol' Sir John A. was just a young lawyer in Kingston, we had more bars than now, for one tenth the population. Plus something like 7 breweries.
Everyone talks about how better things have become in the last twenty years or so (approximately my lifetime, lol). I hear that in the early 80s all you could get was Molbatts, at least in Ontario.
So what happened? What event killed beer in this country (or province, I don't know) between Sir John and, say, 1980, to the extent that we're still recovering?
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When did beer die?
That's a broad topic, but here's some thoughts.
As a "war measure", begun at the outbreak of the First World War, Canada had prohibition. ( except in Quebec, where wine and beer were still allowed) This law was eventually repealed in 1927, but the result was devastating. Many of the smaller breweries simply closed shop, never to re-open again. Molson was the key player in the large Quebec market. Its main competiton was National Breweries, a consortium made up of Dawes, Dow and other smaller players. The idea was that in order to survive, they had to join forces.
In Ontario, Labatt was the dominant player. The were several medium and small brewers too. This caught the attention of a certain Edward Plunkett Taylor (E.P.) whose family owned the Ottawa based Brading's brewery. Taylor went on a buying spree, buying up (and closing)many of the struggling brewers in the province. O'keefe and Carling were the two major purchases he made. They were all nailed together to form Canadian Breweries Ltd (later re-named Carling-O'keefe). Taylor proceeded to do much the same thing all over the country. Soon the portfolio of brands available shrank from hundreds to less than twenty. The consolidation continued countrywide well into the 60's. By the late 80's, we had only two major brewers producing 95+ of the beer in the country. With little or no competition, the major's slugged it out by changing packaging and bottles, while ignoring product.
One other thing that may have changed the face of the industry was the soldiers returning from Europe. They had tasted many fine, light coloured lagers on the continent and the demand for paler, less bitter beers followed. In the 40's and 50's, beer bottles were different. Ale was packaged in a green bottle, and lager in a clear bottle. Pale became the object of desire. If you look at old magazine ads from that era, you will find they mostly deal with lighter colour and flavour. To keep their market share, ales became lighter and "smoother" too.
I know there are myriad other reasons why the beer industry fell so low,but I can't list them all.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: PRMason on 2003-03-27 23:26 ]</font>
As a "war measure", begun at the outbreak of the First World War, Canada had prohibition. ( except in Quebec, where wine and beer were still allowed) This law was eventually repealed in 1927, but the result was devastating. Many of the smaller breweries simply closed shop, never to re-open again. Molson was the key player in the large Quebec market. Its main competiton was National Breweries, a consortium made up of Dawes, Dow and other smaller players. The idea was that in order to survive, they had to join forces.
In Ontario, Labatt was the dominant player. The were several medium and small brewers too. This caught the attention of a certain Edward Plunkett Taylor (E.P.) whose family owned the Ottawa based Brading's brewery. Taylor went on a buying spree, buying up (and closing)many of the struggling brewers in the province. O'keefe and Carling were the two major purchases he made. They were all nailed together to form Canadian Breweries Ltd (later re-named Carling-O'keefe). Taylor proceeded to do much the same thing all over the country. Soon the portfolio of brands available shrank from hundreds to less than twenty. The consolidation continued countrywide well into the 60's. By the late 80's, we had only two major brewers producing 95+ of the beer in the country. With little or no competition, the major's slugged it out by changing packaging and bottles, while ignoring product.
One other thing that may have changed the face of the industry was the soldiers returning from Europe. They had tasted many fine, light coloured lagers on the continent and the demand for paler, less bitter beers followed. In the 40's and 50's, beer bottles were different. Ale was packaged in a green bottle, and lager in a clear bottle. Pale became the object of desire. If you look at old magazine ads from that era, you will find they mostly deal with lighter colour and flavour. To keep their market share, ales became lighter and "smoother" too.
I know there are myriad other reasons why the beer industry fell so low,but I can't list them all.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: PRMason on 2003-03-27 23:26 ]</font>