Brews News: Ten thoughts to close out the year

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It’s time to raise a pint to the year that was and 10 thoughts from the craft beer world in 2024.

Little losses

Choose your reason, but tiny breweries equal dashed dreams too often. In London, the neighbourhood-building Dundas & Sons fell. Along the Lake Huron coast, farm brewery and hop yard River Road pounded in a for sale sign. Can little still work in the craft beer business?

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Grub and grog

Beer alone doesn’t do it anymore. Breweries such as Railway City in St. Thomas are upping their eatery experience, but can anyone catch up with Kyle’s Fried Chicken and BBQ inside Forked River Brewing in northeast London or the weekly hotdogs at Black Swan in Stratford. In downtown London, the new Supply and Demand Beer and Pizza (formerly Beerlab London) aims to try.

Leases and lagers

Got a brewery but don’t own your building? You might get bounced. Landlords are making decisions that are sending breweries fleeing. Muddy York had to leave its Toronto neighbourhood for Stouffville, where it tripped on a plan to repurpose the old post office before landing beside a sports field. But does the name still fit? It’s kind of like Black Donnellys Brewing being nowhere near Lucan.

Near beer here to stay

Finally, the recipes are right for creating enjoyable 0.5 per cent alcohol beers. London has a magnificent distributor, Designated Drinks, with Canada’s largest selection. Ontario’s best brewers such as Bellwoods are into it. Who knew this would be the buzz in the beer biz?

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Dance with me

Breweries are tapped into branding partnerships with vigor. Forked River is selling the partnership beer, Louie’s Lager, it did this year with Palasad for its 30th anniversary. As part of a tap takeover, Bellwoods brewed Beer Belly for the Beertown restaurants, which will be available well into the new year.

Personality matters

In the taproom or at the brewery store, being there in person gives clues into a brewery’s culture and they’re doubling down to establish market differentiation. There’s a fit for everyone, from the clapbacks of Refined Fool of Sarnia to the community of London Brewing, each has its market share. Where’s your happy place?

It’s the destination

Beer tourism is real and while the new era at the barn-raised Cowbell of Blyth has tempered an earlier vision, it’s still a place to build a Lake Huron vacation around. Rising fast are Powerhouse and the Beer Kitchen at 100 Kellogg Lane in London. These places are great, but wait until the new Hard Rock Hotel opens in next year. It’s the closest thing we’ve got to a beer hotel.

Local pride

If you want a friend, be a friend. That needs to be the mantra of neighbourhood breweries aiming to survive. Boost your community. Give a little bit to local causes. No one does it better than Broken Rail in St. Marys, Black Gold in Petrolia and Caps Off in St. Thomas. If you can walk, jog or cycle to it, support it.

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New breweries play it safe

Closures happened, but new breweries did rise. Hopes are  high for the new Port Stanley Brewing, but it’s unfair to expect newbies like this to be super innovative and a talking point for beer nerds. Playing it safe and knowing the anticipated clientele matter most.

IPA, IPA, IPA

Just like Beetlejuice, say it thrice. No three letters are more synonymous with craft beer or are used to market beer, even if what’s in the can isn’t really a pale ale with ties to India. As Beertown’s beer czar and London native Jennifer Tamse told me, the search for new versions of IPAs hit highs in 2024 and will continue. Brewers are fiddling with boosting aroma using hop extracts and high-protein grains. Lower alcohol IPAs are in. Hazy, juicy and a sane level of bitterness associated with New England-style IPAs continue to be a core offering of craft breweries.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.

BrewsNewsTravels@gmail.com

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