Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced somewhat-radical changes ahead of the beer business in the province, and it will soon be Victoria Day, better known as May 2-4, a celebration of the beverage that has been brewed and sold to Torontonians since Robert Henderson first brewed up a batch of barley in 1804. Henderson was the first to the keg party, brewing from his operation at the corner of what is now Richmond and Sherbourne, but a slew of brewmeisters soon followed. It was all craft or microbrewing back then, or whatever the hipsters are calling it these days.
The city’s first big-time baron of brewski was Eugene O’Keefe, who founded the O’Keefe Brewery Company of Toronto in 1891. He mechanized his operations and used trucks for delivery and all manner of fancy business practises that elevated O’Keefe above the competition.
O’Keefe is also notable in beer lore because it was the first brewery in Canada to brew up lager, as opposed to ale and porter, the standards of the day. The business was a big hit right out of the gate, and would soon expand to put out some 500,000 barrels a year.
Eventually, O’Keefe would be bought out and form an even larger sudsy conglomerate. Then along came the megabreweries — Labatt Brewing Company, of London, Ont., and Montreal’s Molson, the oldest brewery in North America — that dominated the market for decades.
In the early 1980s there were only a few breweries in operation. But a hardy few renegades started to appear, such as Horseshoe Bay Brewing in Vancouver and Brick Brewery in Waterloo. These original craft brewers changed everything.
Way back in 1986, Amsterdam Brewing Company decided to follow suit and opened its John Street location in downtown Toronto, initially as a brew pub but later as the city’s first microbrewery. Now, it seems a week doesn’t go by without hearing of another operation releasing its first offering. Craft beer still represents less than 10 per cent of the market.
But whether you enjoy a double black peach IPA or a box of cold Labatt 50, this is your month. Cheers.