
Canadian beer isn’t exactly a ‘golden’ crop in terms of popularity, but the craft beer scene in Canada is a thriving one, with the likes of Budweiser, Sierra Nevada and Goose Island making waves.
The new craft beer trend is now hitting the US, where breweries are also pouring out craft beer that’s made from locally sourced ingredients.
And while some brewers aren’t necessarily trying to copy the style they came from, many are making the effort to make their beers less artificial and more locally-produced.
Here’s a look at the 10 best Canadian craft beers and why they’re making waves right now.1.
Black Label: ‘The first craft beer made in Canada’By making a beer with local ingredients and a focus on local flavours, Black Label has created a buzz for the Canadian craft beer community.
The beer was made with a combination of wheat, barley and yeast, which are all grown locally in Ontario.
This craft beer is so well-received by the community that they’ve already received awards from local craft beer festival, The Craft Beer Festival of Canada.2.
Black Sun: ‘Made with real Canadian ingredients’This Canadian craft brew is currently being sold in the U.S. at breweries like Lagunitas and Rogue.
The black sun, also known as black beer, is made with wheat, brown rice and other ingredients from the nearby area of the region.3.
Goose Island Brewery: ‘A Canadian craft brewery with a local touch’The beer is a collaboration between Goose Island Brewing Co. and the Black Label Brewing Co., which is a Toronto-based brewery based in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough.
The Black Sun beer is brewed with a mix of wheat and brown rice from the area.
The brewery has also created a “Black Label” beer for the holiday season.4.
Sierra Nevada: ‘Black Label is a local craft brew’This beer was brewed with local barley and wheat in Canada, but is not actually brewed in the same way as Black Label.
The Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s beer is made from a combination toasted wheat and oats from a local farm in New Brunswick, and is called Black Label, which is named after a local community.5.
Goose Creek: ‘An innovative craft beer’The Goose Creek Brewery in Victoria, B.C. has a number of other local beer styles, including an American Pale Ale, a Double IPA and a Wheat Ale.
The Brewery’s beer, called Goose Creek Pale Ale has been brewed for over a decade and it’s currently available in cans at the brewery.6.
Rogue: ‘Our black lager is the best craft beer in Canada!’
Rogue is a craft beer company based in Toronto that makes beers like Black Label and Black Sun.
The company also produces a lot of Canadian beers, like their famous Black Dog Porter.7.
Sierra Blanca: ‘This is the first craft beers made in Quebec’Rogue is based in Montreal, Quebec, but their brewery is also based in British Columbia, which makes up about half of their brewery’s production.
Rogue has also been producing craft beer at a number locations across Canada.8.
Rogue Brewing: ‘We’re not trying to mimic the style we came from’Rogue brews its beer with ingredients that are local, from wheat to barley, and other grains from the region of their origin.
The craft beer isn ‘local’ because it’s made with ingredients grown in the region rather than shipped from a specific country.9.
Goose River Brewing:’Made with locally sourced grains’This new craft brewery has made waves with their craft beer.
Goose Valley Brewing Co is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia and has been producing beers like Goose Creek Ale since 2010.
Goose Ridge Ale was created with the same ingredients that were used to create the Black Sun IPA.10.
Sierra Pacific: ‘Culture of brewing’Sierra Pacific is an artisan brewery based out, in the Pacific Northwest, that specializes in creating beer from local ingredients.
Their beers are also made from local grains, and have been named the “Sierra Pomegranate Ale” after the Pacific Island region of Hawaii.