Canada.
I live a litle more than an hour from the US/Canada border, and about three hours from Toronto. It's a world=class city, and my wife and I go there a lot. The Canucks are expert at spotting visiting Americans, and are usually very hospitable and friendly, but they always ask us the same retarded question: "Oh, yer from the States, eh? Bet you've never had good beer before."
No, Gord. We've never been exposed to craft beer in our desolate little research station of a city.
Thing is, Canadians think their mass-market beer is somehow better than American mass-market beer. It's not. It's exactly the same. In the case of Alexander Keith's IPA, it's much, much worse.
Sure, if you're a SUNY Buffalo frat boy, a trip to the duty-free shop in Niagara Falls will net you a case of Molson XXX, which has a very high alcohol content. But if you're over 21, the local micro probably has something equally strong, with actual flavor, on tap.
Don;t get me wrong, there are some awesome beers in Canada (La Fin du Monde and Steam Whistle being two of my favorites). But I don't find Molson and Labatt to be necessarily any better than Coors and Budweiser. I guess all corny, ricey lagers are created equal.
Special thanks to Nick from the Ithaca Beer Company for the tasting he ran at Monty's Korner last night. If you haven't tried Ithaca Cascazilla, do yourself a favor and pick some up. Absolutely fantastic.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to don my German National Team jersey and get to Monty's Korner, where they're showing the opening match of the World Cup. Ole. Ole. Ole, etc.
-Mark
1 comment:
The myth that mainstream Canadian beer is "better" than mainstream US beer is built upon the myth that mainstream Canadian beer is stronger than mainstream US beer. This original myth came from the fact that Canadian brewers have always listed alcohol content by volume, while large US brewers tended to use alcohol by weight, so our beers were labelled as 5% while yours were labelled 4%. As if that extra percentage point would've made any difference.
Anyway, despite the fact that lots of idiots up here still tell the old joke about "How is American beer like having sex in a canoe?", the joke has ended up being on them since Coors Light and Bud are now two of the top selling beers in Canada.
Of course, there are those of us who are well aware that the US currently brews some of the best and most exciting and interesting craft brews on Earth. And we are also aware that Canada has some pretty fantastic beers to offer as well. So you saying that "all" Canadian beer is overrated is almost as bad as us saying that "all" US beer sucks. ;)
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