What is Canadian Beer? The Best Canadian Beers to Try & More

It’s definitely no secret. Canadians love their beer.

Canadian beer can be said to be the pride of the nation. Most social events, gatherings and get-togethers in Canadian culture feature local beers.

Grabbing a beer at the end of a long workday, while watching hockey, or cheering on your favourite sports team while drinking a local beer are all part of Canadian tradition and culture. And it’s not surprising, as beer culture in Canada dates back generations.

But as much as they honour their ancient traditions and ways of their forefathers, they’ve also integrated the evolution of beer drinking and beer-making as time has gone on.

If you want to find out more about Canadian beer, grab a seat, pop the tab and keep reading!

Brief History of Canadian Beer

Canada was first introduced to beer in the seventeenth century by European settlers. They brought their ways, traditions and foreign culture to the country and part of that was the process of brewing their own beer.

Interestingly, Canada was celebrated as the perfect spot to brew beer due to how cold it was. This was a huge bonus because it was long before the fridge graced us with its helpful presence.

Canada’s first commercial brewery was built and opened in Montreal, Quebec in 1650. After this, breweries started popping up all over the place for the next few hundred years. Everything was flourishing nicely for local brewers until 1918 when Canada introduced the Prohibition laws.

This lasted until 1920. Once Prohibition was abolished, the success of Canadian beer brands and local breweries has continued to evolve and prosper into the present day.

What Are The Top 5 Canadian Beers By Popularity?

The top 5 most popular Canadian beers are:

• Moosehead Lager
• Labatt Blue
• Kokanee Gold Amber Lager from Columbia Brewery
• Molson Pilsner
• Big Rock

What Is The Official Beer Of Canada?

The official beer of Canada is Molsens. A smooth beer, with soft textures and a very slight sweetness and very little bitter aftertaste. It has a slight malty taste, and overall, it is Canada’s most loved and appreciated beer.

What Are The Different Styles Of Canadian Beer?

• Brown ale
• Porter
• Pale ale
• Lager
• Craft beer

What Are The Best Canadian Beers By Style?

Here are our suggestions of the best Canadian beer brands to try for each style of beer:

• Brown ale: Muskoka Brewery with their Harvest ale
• Porter: Clifford Brewing makes a delicious Porter that is definitely worth a try
• Pale ale: India Pale ale is by far the best choice for this style of beer
• Lager: Moosehead, Molsen or Labatt Blue Lager. Any of these choices will be a great place to start with a good Canadian Lager

What Are The Best Microbrew Or Craft Beers In Canada?

Here is a list of some Canadian Microbrewers to look out for:

• Blood Brothers
• Bandit Brewery
• Halo Brewery
• Matron Fine Beer
• Burdock

Which Canadian Beers Have Won The Most Awards?

The best Brown ale in Canada that has won the most Golds last year is Georgetown Brown
The Imperial Stout that won the Gold was Stout Imperial

What Are The Cheapest Canadian Beers?

All of these beers listed below are around £2 per 750ml bottle:

• Molson Pilsner
• Old Vienna
• Lucky Lager
• Labatt Blue

What are the Best Canadian Beers To Pair With Canadian Food?

Keen on beer pairing in Canada? Here’s what you need to try:

Bock and dark lagers are malty and strongly flavoured with a hint of sweetness. The best foods to pair with these strong beers are roasted or grilled meats, especially game. Don’t choose any meats that are too subtle in flavour as the beer’s intensity will overshadow the taste of the meat.

Brown ale ranges from deep amber to medium brown. This delicious, rich and deeply flavoured beer is well known for its sweet caramel and chocolate tastes. Depending on where it comes from and how it’s brewed, it may take on a citrus accent. It is also common for there to be undertones of nut, malt and it is very popular for its strength and alcohol content.

This beer pairs extremely well with red meats and barbecue sauces. Pair it with a rack of prime rib smothered in sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, and your taste buds will be singing a very happy tune.

Pilsner is slightly bitter with a dry, crisp end result. Pilsner is created with neutral or hard water. It has a honey-like golden colour to it. If the taste you are after is that hops flavour, then this is the beer for you to try. It is best paired with dishes that are spicy or have strong flavours.

Pair a Pilsner with a hot chicken curry on a cold winter’s evening, and you will experience the depth of the Pilsner tastes.

Lambic is a cloudy, carbonated three-year-old sour beer. It is an acquired taste and brewed only in Belgium. It is drunk after refermentation and goes through a specific blending process with fruit, such as cherries.

The best food to pair a lambic with is a sweet or creamy dessert. Another option is to pair this beer with cream cheese on crackers after dinner.

Wheat beer is light in colour and cloudy. It’s got a mild taste and slightly lower alcohol content. Its got a sweetness to it that is complemented by a dry spicy flavour. Its sweet and dry spicy flavour has little aftertaste, making it an ideal beer for someone who likes beer but not the intense lingering taste. Wheat beer is great to use in cooking due to its mild taste.

Stout is made from black unmalted barley which is what gives it its dark colour. It has a strong and unique taste, full of molasses, chocolate, coffee, and liquorice. Stout is creamy, thick and full-bodied and a very high alcohol content. It’s wonderful to cook with, especially using it with red meat, chocolate and oysters.

Best Canadian Beer To Pair With Poutine

Pou-what? The unofficial food of Canada that’s what!

Poutine is a pub-like plate of food consisting of French fries, cheese or cheese sauce, brown gravy and several other choices of toppings. The toppings can be pretty much anything you desire, from bacon bits to spring onion slices. Basically loaded fries, in French!

A variety of beers can be paired with Poutine, all depending on personal preference of the toppings and the taste of beer you generally decide to go for. But, our best suggestion and match for this yummy Canadian food is pale ale. The sharp bitterness is a fantastic match for all the fatty ingredients and textures. There is a rich sweetness that comes from the maltyness in the pale ale and it is a fantastic match for the saltiness of the Poutine.

Grab yourself an India Pale ale and s for yourself how well it pairs with the cheesy-salty-gravy flavours.

How To Order A Beer In Canada (Canadian English & Quebec French)?

If you sit down at a Canadian bar and ask the bartender for a “brew”, then you will fit right in with the locals. If you want to order a beer in the French speaking areas in Canada then the sentence to say is: “Une bière s’il vous plait” (oon-beera-see-voo-play). This directly translated means, one beer, please, but it sounds much sexier in French!