Best Breweries by Province

In my experience:

BC - Driftwood, with Four Winds hot on their tail
AB - Wild Rose (Only Micro I've tried anything from out there admittedly)
SK - Paddock Wood
MB - Half Pints
ON - Bellwoods
QC - Depends on the mood I'm in, but I'll go with DDC
NB - Petit Sault (Go through Edmundston every year visiting family out east, was shocked to find someone not only brewing there, but brewing quite good Belgian-influenced beer!)
NS - Garrison, though there are a couple up and comers here
PEI - Gahan (who imo are average at best, and that might even be a bit generous)
NL - Quidi Vidi (calling Quidi Vidi best anything is like bragging you have the best cavities)
Yukon - Yukon

 

Only in New York part time - I lived on the East coast for a year though and have been to almost every province.

Reminds me - Yukon road Trip anyone??

 

Here's my take, but like many, many locales are missing.

BC: Central City - Haven't had Driftwood or Foud Winds to compare
AB: Big Rock - Is only on this list because they are the only Alberta Brewery I've tried
SK: Does Molson/Coors count due to Old Style Pilsner...yeah...didn't think so.
ON: Muskoka - No bad beers, still love the Spring Oddity, Wellington and Mill St honourable mentions
QC: Unibroue - Without Question, everything I've had has been good unlike DDC
NS: Garrison - Haven't been too impressed with Propeller

Everyone else is a N/A for me.

 

I never really thought of us as "young," but I appreciate the compliment!

You are right, we fly under the radar on BA and RB. We are huge believers in serving fresh beer that has been handled properly so we only do draft and growlers in SK.

I don't know how much any of you buy into Untappd, but that seems to be the place where most people review beers nowadays (I stopped reviewing years ago). We are definitely up there on Untappd in terms of Canadian breweries. It isn't easy to run a top breweries report on there, but based on my own quick manual lookup last month, the top Canadian breweries broke down as follows:

Driftwood (BC) 3.9
Bellwoods (ON) 3.88
Dieu Du Ciel (QC) 3.86
Four Winds (BC) 3.85
Le Castor (QC) 3.85
Rebellion (SK) 3.79

No idea how relevant these ratings are, and maybe I missed a few smaller breweries that are rated higher, but I think we are in pretty good company...

 

The brewery is only 20 minutes from Lumsden. In Saskatoon, you can be pretty sure to always get fresh IPA at the Yard and Flagon or Rook and Raven. The beer finder on our homepage shows all our draft locations - www.rebellionbrewing.ca.

 

BC: Tree Brewing
AB: -
SK: Paddock Wood - only one had
MB: -
ON: Bellwoods
QC: DDC, Trou du Diable
NB: Trailway Brewing
PEI: Gahan
NS: Propeller
NL: -
YK: Yukon Brewing
NWT: -

 

Oh man I gotta send you some BC beer!

 

BC: Four Winds, has unseated Driftwood
AB: Alley Kat
SK: Paddock Wood, but would love to try Rebellion some day
MB: Half Pints
ON: Bellwoods (prediction....we'll be debating Bellwoods vs Barncat next year)
QC: Objectively it's probably DDC, but I like Dunham and TduD better
NB: Grimross, but dying to try some Acadie-Broue
PEI: Gahan
NS: Garrison, but it's been a couple years since I've widely samples NS brews
NL: Yellowbelly
YK: Yukon

 

BC: Parallel 49 (although my top five would definitely include Driftwood, and I'm excited to see more from Strange Fellows)
QC: Dieu du Ciel (Unibroue as my second choice)
NB: I've had Picaroons and Pump House, and both are kind of meh.
NS: Boxing Rock, by far

 

For what it's worth, my list would be...

BC - Central City (sleeper pick - Mt. Begbie)
AB - Alley Kat (sleeper pick - Ribstone Creek)
SK - Paddock Wood (sleeper pick - Black Bridge)
MB - Half Pints
ON - Mill Street (sentimental favourite - Creemore Springs)
QC - Unibroue (sentimental favourite - St. Ambroise, sleeper pick Dunham)
NB - Picaroons
NS - Garrison
PEI - Gahan
NL - Quidi Vidi (just Screech me in)
YK - Yukon Brewing
NWT - ? on my list...

 

Of the provinces I've actually sampled beer from:
BC - Central City
AB - Alley Kat
SK - Paddock Wood
ON - Great Lakes (never been to Bellwoods; gotta go with beer that I can actually find)
QC - DDC (honourable mention to Unibroue and LTM)
NB - Moosehead (sad for me, but I really didn't like Pump House blueberry much, and that is literally the only NB craft beer I've tried)
NS - Hard to choose between Garrison and Propeller, but I'd probably end up picking Garrison
PEI - Gahan, because they're the only ones I've had
YT - Yukon Brewing, ditto

 

I don't think I've had a enough from most provinces/terretories to really make choices for each, but:

BC: Driftwood (because I've liked everything I've tried)
ON: Bellwoods (honerable mention to BTP and GLB).
QC: Le Castor (also DDC)

 

Incomplete lists like those above are part of the reason the Canadian BIF existed in the first place:

To trade local Canadian beers with others from across the country.

Right now, the only way I get to experience a great box of beer from Quebec (or really any point east of here) is if someone drops it off at my front door and I trade them a box from here.

 

umm...maybe in 3 years. and i love Jeremy's beer.
but let's not jump the gun here.

 

sorry...this was just LOL funny.

Mill St shouldn't be near the top of anyone's list unless it's 2005 still, and even that's debatable. the Organic blonde is so full of flaws that it's gross. i can't think of any of their beer that i'd give above a 7.5/10, and that is with sentiment AND with a generous rating. and i used to drive down there biweekly to pick up growlers. was a fan, but it doesn't belong near the top. nowhere near the top.

Central city is a bit of an odd pick as well. I don't think they exemplify what's happening in BC

 

I'm glad I made you laugh, unless of course it was a condescending laugh. We don't get much in the way of Ontario craft beer in Alberta (Mill Street, Creemore, Lake of Bays, Muskoka) - I was just basing my reply on my experiences. I'm all ears - what would you suggest. Perhaps I would find your Alberta suggestions equally amusing...