Craft beer during COVID

Jeff Green | Jun 16, 2021

The steady stream of people at the local liquor and convenience stores, stocking up for endless weeks at home during the lingering COVID lockdowns, show that beer, wine and spirits have been selling well. Ontario Craft Breweries have a variety of business models, some of which have been much better suited to the COVID marketplace than others.

Some of the relatively large craft brewers, such as Muskoka Brewery, Amsterdam, Nickle Brook, Sawdust City, and Collective Arts, are able to sell their beer across the province at LCBO stores.

Even though the commission paid to the LCBO is high, there has been a payoff during COVID, as the stores have remained open through all the lockdowns.

I recently asked an LCBO employee, in my hometown, how business has been during COVID, and she said “it got busy last March, and it has been busy ever since.”

Many smaller brewers have lost whole chunks of their business due to COVID. Supplying beer for pubs and tap houses in their region, and in larger centres, is one stream that has not been available, and many breweries operate as brew pubs and restaurants, and have suffered in the same way that other restaurants have suffered.

They have supplemented their sales by providing delivery to their local communities, and like all other commodities, beer can be shipped to homes across the province.

For craft beer lovers it has not been a great year, especially for those in rural areas where there is no free shipping available from breweries in larger centres.

As we celebrate Craft Beer Week in Ontario, during the first heat wave of what is looking more and more like a hot, dry summer, there are still summer beer trends to celebrate.

This summer is looking like it will be a good time to pucker up for some sour beer. On a very hot day, some of the Gose style sour beers, many of which are light in alcohol and just salty enough to quench any thirst, might be the perfect afternoon drink.

Among those that are more readily available, Henderson brewery makes a salted lime Gose called Radicle Gose that is very good. They also have cherry and watermelon versions that might not be as easy to find.

Stone City Ales in Kingston has been providing free delivery within the city, and is open for pickup at their Princess Street location. Each summer they put out different versions of Yacht Rocks, and hopefully they will do so again as we wend our way to the high summer season.

Another brewery that is not that far away, as we come out of regional lockdowns, is in Kanata. Small Pony Barrelworks only makes barrel aged sour beers, not the Gose style. But for people who are interested in sour beer, even those of us who have taken years to work their way into the style and are still a bit nervous, in the face of some of the Uber sour styles of fruity beer, Small Pony beers are worth the effort, and the added expense that comes from aging all their beer. We recently had a bottle of “Half Remembered Dream”, a blend of golden sour beers aged with rose hips and hibiscus that was released last year, and is available again in 2021, that was the best beer experience so far this summer.

For those who are not ready for sour beer, summer is also the time of year for a substyle of India Pale Ales (IPA). These beers are brewed in the east coast, new England, or hazy style

For people whose experience of the IPA style is that they are just bombs of bitter hops with alcohol, these beers are not quite like that. Their aroma and feel on the tongue is much more luxurious than a standard IPA, and the finish, while bitter, is also fuller and a bit sweeter.

Hazy IPA’s are also very good in hot weather. Some good versions of these styles that are easier to find are the NEIPA (New England IPA) by Spearhead. If you see any of the Collective Arts Hazy beers, such as Hazy State (light), Life in the Clouds (not so light) or one of the versions of Surround Sound (Heavy), they are all good examples of this style. The readily available Juice Caboose, from Railway City, is always worth drinking as well.

For beer drinkers who prefer a more 'beery' option, your local convenience store, LCBO, or Beer Store is sure to have a craft lager or two, whether it is a Lug Tread lagered ale from Beau's, or a Riverhead Craft Lager from Kingston. Try one during Ontario Craft Beer Week.

It was not that long ago that beer, wine and spirits became readily available, in our communities, when convenience stores became licensed. Those new retailers have some options available to them and those options will increase over time, based mostly on market demand. Since the store owners in these stores are local retailers, they are approachable to suggestions. As locals, we can now have an impact on the beer that is available in our region, as long as we share our tastes with our neighbours.

It will take time, but eventually the variety of styles being produced by Ontario Craft Brewers, in different regions, will be reflected in the corner stores.

That will be good for brewers, and beer lovers alike.