Andrew Coppolino has gone cross-country with this year’s summer inspired beer selections that are bound to beat the heat
In the post-pandemic era, consumer habits continue to evolve in the food-and-beverage sector. When it comes to beer, changing customer lifestyles have forced brewers to adapt and respond – and that has perhaps meant a more focused lineup of beers to sip.
Read Also: 5 Ontario craft beers to quench your summer thirst
We checked in with a handful of craft breweries across the country and learned that while contraction might be taking place in the industry, it has only resulted in brewmasters really upping their game with unique flavours and styles that define and hone their particular brands.
Barrel Heart Brewing, Dundas
Lagers and IPAs are still doing well, but breweries have started to rationalize in an age where “infinite growth is done,” according to Mark Horsley at Barrel Heart where they brew about 150 hectolitres a year.
“I think what we’re going to see is breweries starting to drill down into specific styles, much in the same way that Michelin star restaurants do. They don’t do a little bit of Chinese, Thai and Italian and French food. In the same way, I think brewers in the future won’t do a little bit of IPA, a little bit of lager, a little bit of red ale.”
Barrel Heart Brewing.
Terroir specialization
He envisions something akin to a stout brewery, an IPA brewery and a lager house. Horsley, accordingly, describes Barrel Heart as a “Saisonnery” and points to consumers refining and “curating” (to use a popular term) their choices given changing food and beverage habits.
“Why go to one brewery that does half a dozen styles okay when you can go to one or two breweries that just nail the style, much in the same way that wineries tend to focus on one or two things that their terroir really lends,” he says. “Our beers, for instance, spend one to three years in oak barrels, so they are bone dry.”
Barrel Heart’s summer pick
Horsley says he’s loving “Washed Away by Sea,” their spontaneously and barrel-fermented gose.
It’s bone dry (1g/L) and brewed with sea salt and coriander seed and has some acidity from its time in barrel. Lightly saline and tart, this gose has developed “a bright herbaceous-lemon aroma,” says Horsley. “It pairs well with seafood and is a go-to with oysters.”
Bicycle Craft Brewery, Ottawa
No matter how you get there, if you visit Bicycle you’ll find NEIPAs, WCIPAs, Imperial Stouts, German Pilsners, a dog-friendly taproom – and co-owners Fariborz and Laura Behzadi. Fariborz says Bicycle has weathered the pandemic storm that saw sales slump temporarily.
“Maybe it was limited purchasing power or consumer lifestyle changes, but then in 2022 it started getting better. This year, it got a lot better,” he says.
Bicycle Craft Brewing.
The fun and challenge in NoLo brewing
Bicycle reacted to industry trends and start brewing (and pedalling) non-alcoholic beer in 2023, a path that has been a positive one to ride. Describing no- and low-alcohol beers as “fun and a little bit challenging to brew,” Behzadi says they’re committed to the style that’s part of a lineup of unique beer in Bicycle’s summer portfolio: a couple of goses – Ethereal Gose with guava or Margarita Gose – that register at 4.2% ABV which Fariborz says are among the best the brewery has made.
“They’re fruited, a little bit salty and a little bit more carbonated. It’s a different vibe than your regular pale ale, IPA or Pilsner,” he says.
Bicycle’s summer pick
Behzadi picks their new Sprint Radler, a “very exciting” pasteurized 2.6% raspberry-lemon beer released in July.
“A lot of people go for our Jane German Pilsner which moves fast in summer but give the Radler a try. It’s our lowest alcohol beer and tastes really good. You can enjoy a couple without feeling that you’ve had alcohol. Pair it with a fresh salad, some cheese and a simple charcuterie board.”
Blood Brothers Brewing, Toronto
Mitch Davison, Blood Brothers’ head brewer, sees some contraction in the industry but not in the 5,000 hectolitres that he brews each year.
“I think there’s still a lot of growth available, but it’s not like six or eight years ago where the craft beer industry was booming. Larger breweries have purchased smaller ones, so there’s less local,” says Davison.
Blood Brothers’ Mighty Eagle Lager.
A shift to the light
Stylistically, he’s seeing a significant push into lagers and Pilsners and beer that is lighter at 2%-4% ABV. “People want beer that is made well and tastes good,” he says. “That includes a shift toward health consciousness and low-alc and no-alc beer, instead of the six or seven per cent IPAs,” he says.
While Blood Brothers made its brand on big, bold flavours – and big, bold can art – with beer names such as “Entheogen,” “Codswallop,” and a light-soured, tequila barrel-aged tall can dubbed “Narcosatanicos” (7% ABV), Davison would draw your attention to the brewery’s wide range of beer.
Blood Brothers’ summer pick
“I’m loving our Mighty Eagle American lager. It’s 4.5%, light, crushable and easy-drinking with a bit of bitterness just to let you know it’s there,” Davison says.
He imagines himself sipping the golden-yellow Mighty Eagle with a barbecued hamburger and some French fries.
Kilter Brewing Company, Winnipeg
Producing about 3,500 hectolitres a year, Kilter began life focussed on IPAs with a flagship double-hopped “Juicii,” but they’ve added “vintage” selections now too, says sales manager Logan Picton.
“We’ve really delved into vintage lagers. We’ve done a Pilsner, a Cerveza, a Czech lager. We’ve done a Rice lager and just recently released Kilter Light, which is a 4% easy-drinking light lager.”
Kilter Brewing Company.
Re-introducing “vintage” beer
Is there a general shift to “older” beer styles? Logan says that’s “overstated.” “We’re seeing more interest in lagers but not a reduced interest in our other beers among craft beer lovers,” he says but acknowledging that it’s never easy to introduce someone to craft beer with IPAs and fruited sours.
“So why not bring them into the fold by offering them something that they’re going to like using craft ingredients and as a small-batch beer?”
Kilter’s summer pick
“Our Crush Radler,” Picton says. “It’s a pink grapefruit Radler with fresh juice. Crush is what you’re going to want to do with it. Easy drinking, refreshing, low alcohol. You can have a couple and you’re not feeling like you would after a couple big IPAs.”
Temporal Artisan Ales, Vancouver, BC
Temporal Artisan Ales describes itself as a “brewing and blending” project, according to owner and brewer Tristan Stewart. He draws from different cultures and different barrels utilizing more or less acidity, yeasts and “funkiness.”
Beer that puts the pieces together
Achieving oak-barrel aging and blending is Temporal’s defining feature – barleywine aged in bitter-sorghum barrels; stock ale with orange bitters, rye, coconut rum, scotch, cherry brandy, and vanilla extract; and an imperial stout aged in a bourbon vanilla-extract barrel and conditioned with vanilla from Tahiti and Uganda.
Temporal Artisan Ales.
Describing his output as “definitely unique” (and small at 30-50 hectolitres annually), Stewart says Temporal has a spirits license to produce beers that are 14% and 15% ABV. These are “niche brews” in what Stewart calls a contracting craft beer industry in his area of the country.
His project pulls from different barrels to create blends that he calls “very intentional” and which “take time to put the pieces together.”
Temporal’s summer pick
Stewart selects his Saison: crisp, refreshing with high carbonation. “I aim for Champagne levels of carbonation for Saison. Try it on a picnic with a cured meat and some cheese. You get kind of some nice peppery, funky flavours. It’s very refreshing.”
Note: at the time of writing, Stewart was working on a table beer that will be 3.7% and “very crushable.”
Third Moon Brewing, Milton
Chris Steininger recognizes the shift some customers are making toward lower ABV and or non-alcohol beers after the pandemic, but that isn’t a black-and-white case for everyone, according to Steininger who owns Third Moon with Steve “Bebo” Pilotto.
“What I’m seeing a lot is a hybrid approach,” Steininger says. “Your average drinker now enjoys the beers that they really like, but they’ll also buy a lower ABV, everyday-beer to have in the fridge. I think people now more than ever are open to having a more complex approach and not commit to having the same thing over and over again.”
Third Moon’s Still Waters.
Brewing both ends of the spectrum
Steininger sees beer trends going in “waves” where Third Moon, producing about 1,600hL of beer per year, makes a range of styles.
“On one end of the spectrum, there’s our bourbon barrel-aged stouts that have spent a year in barrel that are our hottest item, while at the other end people have opened their minds to beers that don’t necessarily resemble beers. For that, we do heavily fruited sour ales and soda ales that taste just like a soda pop, but both of these styles are 5% alcohol,” says Steininger.
Third Moon’s soda ales have encouraged beer drinkers to connect with someone in their life who isn’t a beer person per se, adds Steininger. “These have been really fun,” he says of the style.
Third Moon’s summer pick
Steininger suggests that spectrum: a soda ale with its fruity and sparkling composition, or a 6.5% hazy IPA called Still Waters with oats and Mosaic hops.
The latter is creamy with notes of white grape, peach, pink grapefruit and passionfruit – perfect with ponzu steaks with scallion-peanut salsa, he says.
Moth Lane Brewing, Ellerslie, PEI
Open for eight years and an early entrant to the craft-beer scene in western Prince Edward Island, Moth Lane – a sign nailed to a pole on a dirt road – denotes no particular geographical location, but it spoke to owner and brewer Eric Wagner as a name for his brewery and an homage to his father.
“Ages ago, my father’s nickname was the Moth. As a musician, he’d buzz around wherever there was a light on to play,” says Wagner. “Someone found the sign.”
Moth Lane Brewing.
Nothing much has changed
Drawing on Wagner’s 42 years’ experience as brewer, Moth Lane captures his laid-back nature. Ask him to describe his beer, and says, succinctly, Moth Lane is “popular” but that’s only in part because of the beer: Wagner follows his own path despite changes in the industry.
“I stick with what I do. Some breweries are doing different things,” he says of the brewery with its 50-seat taproom. “People like our stories here. And my not-give-a-shit attitude. We’re just a simple place for people who like beer.”
Overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Moth Lane’s and the region’s stories are told in beer names, labels stating “proudly brewed in the back roads of PEI:” “Shits and Giggles” 5% lager, a 5% Belgian blonde wheat beer “Drag N’ Anchor” and “Weizen Up, B’ye,” a German wheat beer.
Moth Lane’s summer pick
Red Dirt Road red ale is something akin to an American amber-style ale. Wagner says it has everything you want and isn’t super malty. “It’s a beer that even people who hate beer like. It’s clean with a little sweetness to it.”
Savour its fresh earthiness and caramel notes with a steak, grilled seafood and – of course – lobster.
