Big Brewery Beer

Back in the 70s, Canadians were very proud of their beer, whether it was in a stubby from Labatts, Molsons, or Carling O'Keefe, we loved our brands and despised American beers. In the words of Monty Python, "American beer is like making love to a woman in a canoe........" (you will need to see Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl to be able to finish this as we want to keep this blog clean)

We did love the U.S. advertising and marketing though. In Canada there was always quiet ads, that dumb Labatts Blue balloon in every single ad they made comes to mind, where down south it was hot women, studly guys and party scenes. Still we loved our beer more.

Then it was decided to let the breweries up here have 1 non-stubby distinctive bottle each. Then it was decided to let each brewery brew one U.S. product, and deals were quickly struck with Miller, Coors and Budweiser. Suddenly these are hugely popular brands in Canada.

Why???

The taste? I think not.

The price? No again.

Marketing. That was the answer. Marketing. Being bombarded from both U.S. and Canadian TV.

Now our big breweries are not even ours. There are very few, very few big brewery beers with a distinctive taste. I will be exploring these in the future.

I am afraid that we Canadians let advertising win out over quality.