Elections – A Good Beer Blog

The Beery News Notes For The Last Of May 2022

This is the time of year when it all becomes a blur. Weekend plans for the next three months need to be scheduled because, before you know it, time times out and things gotta get done before the snow flies. Snow will fly. We know that. So I spent the past long weekend recreating my turf-bound ancestors life circa 1450. Fires and dirt and nothing much around to make a meal out of. Completely unlike the very modern lads of Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Oland brewery shown above circa 1950…or ’60… They are modernists. No safety glasses, no screens or other barriers as the clinky clacky glass flew by. “Lean in to check, Jerry!” the boss shouted. That being said I did, no doubt like the lads above, have a beer or two after my efforts were done.

Now, let’s see what’s gone on the world of brewing. I hope not as much as last week, given the news ran to almost 3000 words. First up, even though he is taking a break from his weekly round up, Stan is still producing his Hop Queries newsletter, now up to Vol. 6, No. 1., which included this passage on a product I have no personal interest in trying whatsoever – no alcohol, no calorie hop tea… or perhaps something even less:

I confess the word gimmick came to mind last month when the company announced the launch of Hoplark 0.0, Really Really Hoppy and invited me to see the plant. They are making the point that their drinks contain no alcohol and no calories. Because I’ve been buying their HopTea at my local grocery store, because hop water seems to have become a thing (there are other non-beer companies producing hop-flavored drinks, Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada have both launched national brands, and many smaller breweries have started to produce their own), and because Hoplark is being made only about a 30-minute drive from home I decided to visit.

Moving to matters of actual beery things, I liked this post at The Regency Town House website, an examination of urban planning circa 1825. It’s a discussion of the planning of Brunswick Street West in Brighton and Hove, England and the street is still there as is at least one of the pubs:

Busby’s scheme for Brunswick Town shows the east side of Brunswick Street West was planned to be individual stables and coach houses for the houses on the west side of Brunswick Square and the south spur of the road for stables at the rear of Brunswick Terrace West. The plan also shows the Star of Brunswick public house with a cottage opposite at the northern end of more stabling at the rear of the garden where Lansdowne Mansions would be built by the 1850s. There were two modest buildings just to the west of the pub which would be used as Green Grocers and Bootmakers.

The core of our fair city was build on Georgian plans and at work I regularly bump into stables and lanes for horses as part of the untangling of property interests. The air would be full of the scent of poo.

Knowing my family’s industrial Scottish reality, this discussion from the BBC is a very light touch on the devastating reality that organized intoxication was for most. Events from the 1890s still echoed into at least the 1960s as family members sought to escape their past and present.

Sticking with the 1800s, Edd Mather posted about brewings from August to December 1849 according to the Alexander Berwick & Co Brewhouse Book 1849 – 1852 which I understand was an Edinburgh outfit. Hefty brews from 6.3% to 8.7%. He then converted the first of the beers listed for home brewing set, in case you are interested in a pint of P3 come sometime in June.

Jubilee update. Coronation beers found in Stroud. Relatedly, someone felt “mildly patriotic” elsewhere.

Evan has a project on the go which all beer writers should be excited about, a survey of success and failures in book publishing. I added two sad tales but really need to balance off with the happier tales with Craig of Albany Ale… as well as Al and Max Theatre! Go make your confessions so that others may not suffer!

Eoghan wrote a strikingly sensible statement: “I will avoid subjecting you to my trite observations on my first experience of America…”

States in India have started rationing beer:

West Bengal recently began rationing beer to retail outlets with demand doubling over summer last year. Most states have witnessed volume recovery and are looking to surpass pre-pandemic levels, said Rishi Pardal, managing director of United Breweries, India’s largest beer maker. “Owing to peak summer demand, few states have also introduced local regulations have also introduced local regulations on movement of goods inter-state which may impact fulfilment of demand in certain markets,” Pardal said. “We are well-prepared to serve the market.”

On to the local election where all is quiet beer wise – odd given Canadian politicians tend to kiss more beer taps than babies during elections. One thing did happen. I was sent a copy of a lobbying document issued by the Ontario Craft Brewers but sent apparently by someone unhappy with the message. Here is the memo and here is a bit of the anonymous message in the covering email:

The attached may or may not come as news to you – but it would appear to be against your interests as contract brewing facilities, as well as anti-competitive and short sighted. The OCB appears to be focused on targeting and scapegoating smaller businesses, many of whom are diverse, incubators of new products, and if successful will eventually graduate to brick and mortar operations, while seemingly ignoring the much larger collective threat to Ontario Craft Beer from larger international brewers or the rapid growth of cocktails and ready to drink alcoholic beverages.

Heavens! Now, to be fair, the OCB memo does state that contract brewers do not contribute to local economies and take up valuable shelf space from those brewers who do. My immediate reaction was thinking of how these production breweries are often not “either or” businesses, how I knew of someone who worked a brewery’s canning machine who was packaging cases for plenty of other small breweries in Ontario, some bricks and mortar as well as some contractors. These smaller breweries and contracting firms would not otherwise would not have access to retail outlets or other expanded sales routes. And they, along with the production brewery itself, might not survive without this sort of work as part of the provincial supply chain. Many OCB members operate like this. Odd. The focus is needed elsewhere.

The gall is what gets you, as Afro.Beer.Chick flagged. So if someone wants to reference Juneteenth on a the label of some hazy IPA gak with fruit flavours added, does Mr. Driven Snow now get a chunk of change?

Bad behaviour claims against BrewDog continue – and I wonder if perhaps developing in a way that avoids the risk of examining similar acts closer to home. Are they the worst actor? Certainly not the sole bad actor. But the loss of reputation spreads. The situation is now tense. Evidence is undeniable. Individuals rightly utterly violated and repulsed. Me, I don’t drink the stuff myself. Good to see that the actual authorities with adjudicative powers are now becoming involved. Things need sorting.

And finally… Ron posted an excellent set of observations on another thing I avoid – beer fests – and how many are serving such small measures that they deserfve to be called “Thimble Fests“:

I used to go to many more. The main Belgian one, whatever that’s called now. The Borefts Festival. Others in Stockholm and Copenhagen. But that’s all a few years back. Now, I just can’t be bothered with most festivals. Why is that? Well, I’ve already told you, really. Lack of seating, long queues for beer. But the biggest reason of all is small measures. If you’re lucky, you might get a 15 cl serving. But it might well be just 10 cl or even a piddling 5 cl. I’ve got two glasses sometimes to take the edge off my frustration. Or taken along my own Imperial pint glass. A combination of small measures and long queues wring all the pleasure out of a festival for me. Getting in line for your next beer as soon as you’ve been served your last makes for a queueing festival rather than a beer festival.

Me, I don’t go as I don’t like being shedded with hundreds of drunk strangers. But I like that – “a queuing festival” pretty much sums that up.

There. Half the length and no doubt twice the value. For more, check out the updates from Boak and Bailey mostly every Saturday but not from Stan every Monday as he is on his summer holiday. Check out the weekly Beer Ladies Podcast, and at the weekly OCBG Podcast on Tuesday (Ed.: but not this week) and sometimes on a Friday posts at The Fizz as well. There is a monthly sort of round up at The Glass. (Ed.: that seems to be dead now.) There is more from DaftAboutCraft‘s podcast, too. And the Beervana podcast. And sign up for Katie’s irregular newsletter, The Gulp, too. And check out the Atlantic Canada Beer Blog‘s weekly roundup. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast. And Fermentation Radio with Emma Inch. The AfroBeerChick podcast as well! And also look at Brewsround and Cabin Fever. And Ben has his own podcast, Beer and Badword (Ed.: …notice of revival of which has been given…) And remember BeerEdge, too, and The Moon Under Water. Things come. Things go.

The Panicky Two Weeks Left In Summer Edition Of Thursday Beery News Notes

“Of course, you know there are more weeks in summer than that” say all the really boring people. No, that’s it. Soon it is corduroy and scarf season. And you will ask yourself what it was you did with those two last weeks of summer. You know you will. Here in Canada, we are having a national election all of a sudden – or at least now that the coming fourth wave is leaving a very small window for these sorts of things. As the photo above from the PM’s campaign shows once again, you can’t campaign for election in Canada without being seen with a beer. The choice of the can is clever – can’t see how little he’s had.

First up, Jeffery John linked to a story in The Observer this week asking the question “Can hospitality’s recruitment crisis ever be fixed?” which mentions the twin issues faced by the UK: (i) pulling the visas on much of your hospitality working cohort right before (ii) bumbling and stumbling with the regulation of the hospitality trade all through the biggest pandemic in a century. So people move on and likely should:

In March, former London restaurant manager Sam Orbaum decided that, after three years, he was done with regular restaurant shifts. Previously, he sailed through weeks of long hours but the freedom of furlough prompted the 30-year-old to question that lifestyle and, particularly, the “strain” of stop-start Covid-era reopenings. A lot of the pressure, insists Orbaum, was “self-inflicted. The team [at my employer] were always very, very supportive.” Rather than owners or managers cracking the whip, he observed a tendency among young, ambitious staff to “take on burdens voluntarily”.

Yeah, that sucks. Jeff noted that he “…mothballed the kitchen at my pub and just do drinks and snacks partly because of the chef shortage, but also because as a publican providing a ‘gastropub’ (hate the word) offer is more trouble than it’s worth.” Could it also be that the public has also revisited, reviewed and revised its own needs… and gastropubs didn’t make the list?

What do we need? In Scotland, apparently pubs need beer according to the BBC but they can’t get it because something has run short:

Scottish Hospitality Group spokesman Stephen Montgomery said a broken supply chain for an industry already under pressure following lockdown restrictions was “an utter disaster”. “Piling this stress onto the already existing anxiety of recruitment, the pingdemic, debt and HMRC starting to knock on business owners’ doors, this is beginning to push people over the edge,” he said. The SLTA has raised concerns over a potential shortage of carbon dioxide supplies, three years after the industry – along with others – was hit by a previous CO2 shortage.

[What’s a pingdemic?] While we are at it… you know, it might be good if some brewers could get behind promoting another type of CO2 shortage:

During a routine quality control panel, we identified that some cans have undergone secondary fermentation, causing higher levels of CO2 in the cans which has resulted in higher than normal internal pressure inside the cans. With this increased internal can pressure there is the risk of these cans leaking, coming apart at the seal, or potentially bursting at higher temperatures.

Matty C. asked the question “why add CO2 when cask make the stuff itself?” OK, he didn’t ask this question but recently he went in search of cask in pub and found other questions:

Personally, I’ve really taken a shine to table service and the more relaxed, dare I say more continental approach to service we’re currently being treated to. The reality is however, that many British establishments simply aren’t equipped to operate this way, and will continue to lose revenue until they can trade as normal.

Normal? Nice try. Jordan’s all over you when it comes the coming endy times:

Day 521: Say, listen: Import beer sales were down 39.4% in June. Supply chain on grain from Europe is looking real dodgy. One of the threads I follow suggests that China’s ports are temporarily closed and shortages of goods are likely to be a thing. If you think you’ll need items six months from now? Stuff you know you need? Maybe start thinking ahead in a non-panic kind of way. They may be more expensive later. To quote a deep voiced fellow: things are going to slide in all directions.

That is a strong statement. Perhaps to save the day, locally our prog heroes Rush are making a beer. Perhaps that will save the day… Perhaps…

Interesting trend. Two weeks ago it was InbevABBigThingie saying the money is coming in just fine and now Carlsberg is doing the happy dance:

The world’s third-biggest brewer said beer volumes in key markets China and Russia had risen to “well above” pre-pandemic levels while European markets such as France, Switzerland and Sweden remained below levels achieved before the coronavirus crisis. “While the uncertainty about the remainder of the year continues, we’re satisfied with the strength of the first-half results and the good start to the third quarter,” Chief Executive Cees ’t Hart said in a statement.

Wow. So… is macro winning?

Jeff wrote an ever so slightly hyperventilated piece about the beer known as Pliny the Elder – but perhaps I feel that way as I have never had one. There are two sightings of “important” as well as a “more important” and a “very important” in there but I will defer to Stan who says it is so that is fine.* And at least there is something being written. Even unending newbie identi-guides like this are sorta something. But you know how it is. You point out how little actual writing is going on and people get all uncomfortable and weirded out. Weirded. Out. Don’t be doing that. It is just beer.**

Speaking of which… Stan was active again Monday. I think he is getting almost regularly active on almost every Monday. I hope he is OK. I do like how he was clear on this point about the former brewery known as Sam Adams:

…not caring about Truly, robot waiters and beers from a brewery I don’t patronize is perfectly OK. Climate change is something to pay attention to. Hard seltzer is not a threat to the world our grandchildren will live in.

What I find most amazing in the whole conversation related to the brewery is how Sam Adams continues to get a pass despite its pervy past. But folk don’t care about that either.**

Much more open and honest, Ron published an ever so slightly concerning account of his weekend in that place in Germany where those things fly over the river taking you from this place to that place and back again:

Just around the corner, there’s a little pub. Im Kipchen. Quite a few football fans, but also quite a bot of space right at the back. Mikey goes in search of beer. Weissbier and Alt, as usual. When he gets back, he asks: “Do you fancy a shot?” “No. I’m stopping all of that. It’s unhealthy.” “What? You were knocking back the rum merrily enough this morning.” “Just kidding. Of course I want a shot. Several, in fact.” “You had me worried there for a minute.”

It all gives pause, doesn’t it. Still, things could be worse, as the image to the right reminded me as it slipped by on the river of social media this week. As the all the grim news this week seems to remind us. Hmm. Best go out and see if there is a tomato or two lurking out there waiting to be found under a lower leaf. As I do, remember there are always updates from Boak and Bailey mostly every Saturday, plus more with the weekly Beer Ladies Podcast, at the weekly OCBG Podcast on Tuesday and sometimes on a Friday posts at The Fizz as well. There is a monthly sort of round up at The Glass. There is more from the DaftAboutCraft podcast, too. And the Beervana podcast. And sign up for Katie’s weekly newsletter, The Gulp, too. And check out the Atlantic Canada Beer Blog‘s weekly roundup. Plus follow the venerable Full Pint podcast. And Fermentation Radio with Emma Inch. The AfroBeerChick podcast as well! And also look at Brewsround and Cabin Fever. And Ben has his own podcast, Beer and Badword – when he isn’t in hiatus as at the mo, more like timeout for rudeness! And remember BeerEdge, too, and The Moon Under Water.

*Unlike this very ungentlemanly comment in, you know, the comments: “Just reading about this swill gives me a headache. Ugh… When will the IPA trend end?” That’s a bit much.
**“But these are my friends on the internets you speak of?!?! My internet friends?!?!??!” BTW good luck with the quality of the entries this year. I’d have more confidence if the word “prorated” was used correctly. And, yes, I meant to drive two **’s to the one footnote…

Will Corona Suffer Because Of A New Nativism?

I am seldom happier to not be an American as I am today. Don’t get me wrong. I love the USA and live in a border town. Friends and family abound below the line. But that was a tough thing to watch yesterday. A birth of something? Maybe an end to more than is immediately obvious. Maybe something like this:

Rob Sands, CEO of alcoholic beverage giant Constellation Brands, came to New York City on Wednesday to talk about Corona beer and Robert Mondavi wine. And before he even took the stage, the company’s stock took an 8% nosedive. That’s because investors are worried about what Donald Trump’s victory could mean for Constellation Brands stz-b , owner of a Mexican brewer that targets an American customer base that could potentially face deportation.

Nativism has a long track record in the arc of American history and has crossed paths with the brewing industry. In the early 1840s, new German immigration to New York City led to tavern brawls and court cases. Interestingly, earlier German brewers seemed to have an easier go. Likely due to the lack of greater contextual pressures like the disappearance of clean water in Lower Manhattan. Plus the intervening Jacksonian worldview.

Corona is certainly the leading Mexican brand facing the US consumer in the grocery and convenience stores. Is it prone to neo-nativist slur? Would another beer be more patriotic in the new Trumpian society? Could be. Just a thought – but could be.

So Far It’s Been A Poor Election Campaign For Beer

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE!! #TeamPoliPour2015 is coming together very nicely. We have received another link via Twitter to a French-Canadian blog post from 4 September which includes photos of both Harper and Trudeau with beer. Must analyze more closely for evidence of actual pouring as opposed to serving and hoisting. More updates as they come in….

UPDATE!! – NDP leader Mulcair seen today in PEI at a microbrewery to announce tax policy. [Inside scoop: I used to live about 300 yards from the parents of named NDP candidate Herb Dickieson (Egmont) on the road just north of New Glasgow, PEI. Lovely people.] Got a tweet from @salut_galarneau at 7:32 EST to let me know. Money shot. You may have had to wait otherwise for the morning papers…

Earlier: Remember last Canadian federal election? The leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition was caught on camera proudly pouring a beer. And our Prime Minister was seen awkwardly pouring a beer on his way to his first majority government. Our conservatives like beer. Our centre left appear to want to expand access to beer – though their generosity is somewhat limited. Generally speaking beer is generally not a matter of general public debate. We like beer. It’s like hockey without the ice to us.

So, what has gone wrong so far this time around? Why have I not been bombarded with candidates in tavern scenes or folks who just want to be seen to be Johnny Average Canuck uncomfortably holding a case of some beer upside down? Don’t get me wrong. Normal folk from average backgrounds who have made good have been the norm as far as our national leadership goes. And that sort of dull is frankly better than the alternative. But, still, why is the only image so far this one tweeted from a campaign flight showing NDP leader Tom Mulcair holding a Dos Equis? I sure hope the federal level has not taken the message from the most recent provincial election in Canada’s biggest province when not talking about beer was key to the winning campaign.

And why Dos Equis? Who decided to put that on the campaign plane at all? Well, at least he’s been seen with a brew. Time for macro and micro, craft and kraphtt to demand the nation’s leaders kow-tow to a tavern table of Canadians, insist they show the electorate they drink what the common folk drink. Hey – I know a thing or two… and have a few pals in or near the war rooms. Send me a line. Campaign beer theory is not something for the amateurs. Which makes me comfortable charging a fee. You need help. I can help: beerblog@gmail.99

Ontario: All Quiet About Beer On The Election Front

OK, so far the Ontario provincial election appears to be playing out as an effort to ensure the same outcome as last time. As a result, even though it is an excellent time to discuss beer buying policy in the province, no one is doing so… yet. Fervent please by bloggers, newspaper columnists, commercial interests which were winding the story up just a few weeks ago have also gone quite quiet. Odd. Can’t be the interim blackout on political advertising. It was not always so. If we consult the book we see that in 1924, when Ontario was fed up with the strictest form of dry law under provincial law beer sales became a widely fought public issue:

Support for temperance was weakening based on the public awareness of the failure of the law and corruption it brought. In October of 1924, when another plebiscite on temperance was held, the vote against repeal had fallen to only 51.5%. Major population centres like Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and Windsor all voted against keeping the law. In response, Premier Ferguson raised the strength of permitted light beer to 4.4 proof from 2.5 and also redistributed the seats in the legislature to remove wet seats and add dry ones. Reaction to the new beer was not rabid as one newspaper noted:

To the imbibers who thought that they were going to get some kick out of the potation, the ordination was as disappointing as a cancelled marriage license to an old maid. Many of them claimed, in fact, that the new beverage bore such a family likeness to the old 2 percent that it might be its twin brother. Unlike the stuff that made Milwaukee famous, there was no blinds staggers accumulated from the new suds. Temperance people who thought the wolf was here in sheep’s clothing will have to wait a while.

Not surprisingly, Ferguson won re-election in December, 1926 on the platform of repeal of the temperance law and replacement with a system of government controlled liquor sales.

So, beer retailing can become a winning story even if it does not seem to be doing so now. Either one of two things is happening. Folk are not as motivated in 2014 to pursue the political route to effect beer retailing change as they were ninety years ago in 1924… or politicians have not had the interests of the public effectively brought to their attention as a vote getter. I suspect it is the first possibility as there has been plenty in the news. It’s just that the story has not been made compelling enough yet to actual inspire real action, to move people to switch habits at the ballot box.

The strangest thing, however, is how like Premier Ferguson in the early 1920’s any of the three main political parties could themselves use it to justify getting votes if they just framed it as an illustration of their core values. Sure, the Tories under Tim Hudak have supported corner store sales but only tepidly so despite it being a tale of small business and personal freedoms. Beer as the drink of the working class sure could be again framed as a boon to the left, the union made drink of the little guy and the NDP – but so far the party is only “open to new ideas.” The Grits under Premier Wynne have sided with the no vote so deeply that it might be tough to now shift, preferring to take the “we control stuff so you don’t have to” route. Gridlock.

What is needed is a compelling new angle for one of these parties to latch on to as a way to present itself as mirroring a compelling positive public need back to the public. What is it and who gets to it first?

Ontario: Did The Beer Stay In Town In The 1830s?

I am thinking I may have a theory or at least a bit of half an idea. I was in the library yesterday waiting for the kids swim lessons next door at the Y to end and came across a copy of a book from 1913, a History of the County of Lennox and Addington by W.S. Herrington from which I found this passage from an interview of a man then in his nineties:

I remember the first election I ever witnessed. It was over seventy-five years ago, about the year 1836. John Solomon Cartwright and George H. Detlor, the Tory candidates, were running against Peter Perry and Marshall Spring Bidwell. They ran in pairs; Perry and Bidwell were called the rebels by the other side. There was only one polling place and that was in Bath. It was a little booth at the edge of the village. I was quite a young man at the time and didn’t know much about the issues; but I could understand that the people were greatly excited. The taverns of Bath were crowded with men wrangling about the votes. Whiskey was flowing freely, and there were plenty of drunken men and brawls in the streets. There were plenty of taverns all over the county. There was Charter’s tavern near the head of Hay Bay; John Davy’s over near Sandhurst, and Griffith’s in the second concession about four miles west of Charter’s. Ernesttown must have had a dozen at least.

I like these sorts of old guy interviews. Like the one from 1899 with the recollections of a ninety year old guy of his pre-Victorian youth including Albany Ale. In this recollection above, the guy being interviewed is from a farm outside the village beyond the smaller town to the west of the military, mercantile and brewing centre of Kingston. He grew up in a log cabin. The degrees of distance from the big centre, the layers of the hinterland, describe distribution. See, Ontario – or rather Upper Canada – at this time was still a tenuous proposition given the continuing uncertainty of the Republic’s intentions. It was also one run on a combination of an imperial demand economy tied to local sustainable farming. Before the 1840s repeal of the Corn Laws, crops from here were shipped to Britain and manufactured supplies were shipped back. We were part of the great Georgian hive.

It seems to me that the references to whiskey in the book are what they are – not a euphemism for drinks so much as confirmation of the drink that’s on offer. The same man quoted above stated all the crops were wheat and corn. He did’t see barley until he was in his twenties – right about the time of the repeal of the corn laws in the 1840s and the end of guaranteed supply to the empire. Elsewhere in the book a country store ledger is described. Plenty of spirit references and a few wine sales but no mention of beer. I had in my mind for a while that all the references to whiskey may have meant they were brewing their beer at home but if there’s no barley being grown that’s unlikely.

So, where was the beer going in the 1830s? Likely it stayed in town, was sold to the military or was moved by sailing ship in multi-cask loads to other centres along the shore of the big lake like York, later named Toronto. It maybe takes the railroads in the coming decades for beer to get more deeply distributed. In a world of coastal sail and carts on questionable roads, a cask of the hard stuff is probably the safer bet, the better investment for the families operating the taverns and the country stores.

Announcement: I Would Have A Beer With Mitt Romney

Enough! There is a certain point where the pile on the goofy rich kid like we did in undergrad is not fun anymore. Worse is when Canadians weigh in and decide to kick the guy when he is down:

Mercer also weighed in on Mitt Romney’s latest gaffe about the 47 per cent of Americans who don’t pay income tax as freeloaders. “It’s about as offensive as anything I have ever heard,” he said. “He is talking about senior citizens, the disenfranchised, the unemployed and the underemployed, he is talking about the disabled, he is talking about veterans who have suffered catastrophic injuries fighting a very long war for the United States,” he said. “I would have no interest in having a beer with that guy.”

There is nothing worse than the smug Canadian. As offensive as anything he’s ever heard? Get out much? This is not to defend the stupid statement – but, really, what do you expect rich donors want to hear as they write the cheques? I mean these are people who don’t even need super large vanity cheques when then hand on the big money. Anyway, not that I would vote Mitt if I could… and I can’t… but if he wants to have a presidential beer or even have, say, a chamomile tea as I have a beer…? Why not?

See, the smirk of the smug Canadian doesn’t care anymore than they accuse the Mitt-ster of being. But catch them digging out a stump? Fat chance. So, from the land where politics are leveled by the goodness of beer, Mitt… I will have that beer with you. But, really, you’re buying, right?

Socialists In Quebec Particularly Support Beer

I’ve told you no politician in Canada denies beer. Jacques Boissinot‘s photo for the Canadian Press above of NDP leader Jack Layton taken in a bar during the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins playoff game on April 14 proves it. It looks a lot like the one of our Prime Minister pouring a brew in Halifax earlier in the campaign, except he’s not as awkward. Jack awkward? Heck, the second night of the debates got moved to make sure there was no conflict with this game and Jack Layton made sure he let voters know where his heart lay last night – a sports bar in Montreal, La Cage aux Sports. And unlike Harper, he looks like he actually knows how to down one. More here.

Again, In Canada No Politician Refuses The Beer Vote

Even though we are freakish in our cultural fear of untamed beer and booze flowing through the land, beer is big in Canada. So big, as noted before, that no Canadian politician in his right mind would fail to support it. Up there, that’s Prime Minister Harper in the middle of this Federal election pulling pints in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He’s a big uncomfortable loaf of a man, clumsy with a beer bet, who no one expects he kicks back with a beer or two on the weekend.

Yet, as my pal Stephen Maher noted, he had the common sense to not finish the pint of the Keiths. Well done, Mr. Prime Minister.

Canadian Conservatives Are My Kind Of Conservative

Political culture is a weird thing. It doesn’t translate well from nation to nation and leaving the words associated with themselves rather meaningless. Conservative or liberal? Anarchist or patriot? Who know what any of this stuff means? Yet, there are moments when you know that being a Canadian politician means there is one thing you can’t disapprove: beer.

Opposition Leader Tim Hudak says he won’t rule out bringing back “buck a beer” if he becomes premier this fall. “Many folks, myself included, look forward to that $24 two-four on the May 24 weekend,” Hudak told reporters on Monday. “That is now something that has passed under Dalton McGuinty.” The Progressive Conservatives are yet to release their official election platform, but Hudak says he’s committed to reducing the cost of living – and that could include beer prices. “I do hear from people who say ‘Come on, I can’t even get a buck a beer in this province thanks to Dalton McGuinty’s policies,” Hudak said.

Blame the government for the price of beer? Well, you can when the government controls the minimum retail price through a Crown owned corporation and making “recommendations”.Still, no social conservatism that tells us beer is bad… and not even fiscal libertarian conservatism telling us that the LCBO needs to be broken up and privatized. No, it’s the progressives v. the liberals up here for control of the centre… every election time… time after time. Will they actually lower the minimum price if they don’t get in? Hudack says: “We’ll have more to say in the time ahead about some of the ideas we are hearing from Ontario families”. I look forward to what my ten year old advises on this point.