Brews News: Near-beer offers expand with demand

6 min read

Sales of non-alcoholic beverages are up 200 per cent in two years at the LCBO and as their popularity booms, so too do the number of players

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Are you on island time this Dry January?

Whether you’re into using this month as a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, are part of the mindful drinking movement, or cutting alcohol for health reasons, there’s a Vancouver Island choice now on Ontario shelves that caught my eye.

Phillips Brewing and Malting has been making beer in Victoria since 2001 and is getting noticed in Ontario by sour beer fans with Dinosour Stone Fruit Sour (it’s at the LCBO). Its no-buzz brand, Iota, was launched in 2021.

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There are two approaches to brewing non-alcoholic beers. One is to halt the fermentation process, the other is to dealcoholize the beer using filters or evaporation. Phillips’ Iota is labelled as dealcoholized.

There’s an Iota in craft beer’s most popular styles – hazy IPA, pilsner, cerveza, pale ale – packaged in 355 ml cans. The pils has just 70 calories and zero carbohydrates.

Sales of non-alcoholic beverages are up 200 per cent in two years at the LCBO and as their popularity booms, so too do the number of players. They include beers from big brewers such as Guinness (I challenge you to tell the difference between Guinness 0 and its regular version), Budweiser Prohibition, Corona Sunbrew and Heineken 0.0. There are dedicated near-beer brewers such as Partake and several craft breweries with non-alcoholic side gigs such as Muskoka with its popular Veer, Collective Arts with its pale ale and of course Bellwoods with Jelly King Non-Alcoholic Sour. There’s also a non-alcoholic cider billed as Ontario’s first at the LCBO, Pommies Anytime. No, it’s not the same as apple juice.

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The options are proving popular and here to stay, in your man cave or favourite brewery taproom. No matter how you like it, at a traditional strength or not, beer is a great blend of hops, barley and friendship.

NEW AND NOTED

Partnering with a brewery with shared eco-consciousness, London Bicycle Cafe has added taps featuring brews from Left Field of Toronto. The cafe is starting with three from Left Field – Greenwood IPA, Sweet Spot Mocha Marshmallow Stout and Bird Watcher Lager. In a blog post, London Bicycle Cafe’s Andrew McClenaghan wrote, “From advocating for bicycle-based transportation to fostering local connections, we’re all about making London a vibrant, bike-friendly city. Similarly, Left Field Brewing, based in Toronto, brings their own love of community and sustainability to the table. Known for their passion for craft beer and their commitment to thoughtful business practices, Left Field is the perfect partner for us as we work to build a greener, more connected future.”

Left Field has a new entry in the non-alcoholic beer game. Everyday Player is a lager with a flavour the brewery describes as toasted white bread.

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It’s 40 years of fish and chips and now a beer to call its own for Archie’s Seafood. The London restaurant – there are three locations in the city – has Salt Spray Blonde from Forked River Brewing. It’s the newest in Forked River’s custom can program. Forked River’s own Capital Blonde is one of its beloved originals.

Archie's Seafood in London marks its 40th anniversary with a beer of its own
Archie’s Seafood in London marks its 40th anniversary with a beer of its own, Salt Spray Blonde, from Forked River Brewing. (FORKED RIVER photo)

Remember, the HST holiday for beer ends Feb. 15.

In the middle of winter, they’re experimenting in the lab of Grey Matter Beer Co. in Kincardine. Up for scrutiny in the taproom is a recipe for an English-style IPA provided by a friend of Grey Matter. It’s brewed with three types of malts – Caramunich, Biscuit and Crystal. The yeast is Nottingham Ale and the hops are Cascade and Amarillo. Does this entice you to the Lake Huron shore in January?

Elsewhere in the snowbelt, Neustadt Springs channels its friends in places like Ohio and Tennessee with Apple Pie Moonshine. No word if they’re offering it Buckeye-style with a pickle juice chaser.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.

BrewsNewsTravels@gmail.com

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