Best Breweries by Province

Damn, I'm really math stupid !

 

I am not positive, but some of this might just be due to maturity. Dunham hasn't been around a super long time and I am pretty sure that some of the wild/brett beers from Pit Caribou are either newish or are just now starting to make it out of Gaspesie. There is no question in my mind though (especially in Dunham's case) that eventually they definitely deserve a more prominent position on lists like this.

 

Yah, the PC wild/brett stuff is new for sure, but like @Coronaeus said, give La Calvadeuse time and it will make the list! Not sure about the maturity aspect though, 4W opened in 2013 and they have 3 beers on the list.... I think the take away message is that these lists are fun to read and debate, but don't put too much stock into them!

 

That's good to hear about the Calvadeuse! I have yet to open mine but I just might do it tonight now that I think about it.

Dunham just had their 4th anniversary if I'm not mistaken, so that is a little strange. Part of it has to be geographic as well what with distro and province laws and whatnot. Unibroue is available everywhere, DDC is widely available, and they are both well-represented on the list (and IMO justifiably so). But I don't know about other beers. I know you can't get 4W or anything else but Beau's from out of province here. Not sure about Dunham or others in Alberta or BC (or even Ontario, for that matter). I wish I was better traveled...

 

The number of beers actually consumed by BAs and rated on this site is a very small percentage of any beer produced. Take Bellwoods Skeleton Key for example. 37 reviews of 2100 bottles produced. On one hand, this is a beer that people may hang on to before drinking and rating, but on the other, it is a beer that appeals to the type of people who use this site. Regardless, that is a very small percentage of production being rated. For it to climb the rankings, we are likely looking at a few more years of similar production before seeing anything remarkable.

A less anticipated beer from a less notable brewery may take several years to build up the necessary number of reviews to crack the list, and more years before climbing the ranks. The most recent Motley Cru is well rated but will likely just barely make the list if it gets the requisite number of reviews.

 

Honestly, I doubt La Calvadeuse will ever make the list... If it keeps its rAvg of 4.08 it'll need 37 reviews before it cracks the current list, right now it only has 6... It would take a loooong time time to reach 37 and by the time it does, the whole list's WR will likely have shifted up with new beers being released and more ratings for other beers being put into the system.

The list is definitely biased towards beers with big disto footprints, beers that have been out for a while, and cities with a lot of raters (i.e. high populations) but I think it works pretty well for its purpose.

 

BC: Driftwood , Four Winds , Yellow Dog
ON: Bellwoods , Flying Monkeys , Great Lakes
QC: Unibroue , DDC ,

AB: , SK: , MB: , NB: , PEI: , NS: , NL: , YK: , NWT: I don't know of any

 

Wow, great work, really appreciated going through this list. What's even scarier in terms of what Quebec offers is that Dunham, another solid brewery isn't even on the list and is easily better than Flying Monkey (IMO).

In terms of wider distribution, Unibroue really opened people's eyes on the Quebec beer scene. I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago for Paris Beer Week and did a tasting at Bières Cultes with Hughes, one of the brewers from DDC and a few other team members and asked about the role Unibroue in their success, and you could see that they completely awknowledge that they had a big role in the succes of all QC micros.

Not sure of all the history of other provinces, especially out west, but thought I'd share.

 

For BC I think Persephone out of Gibsons is giving Driftwood and Four Winds some
Competition.

We seem to get a lot more Pacific NorthWest Craft ie Washington,Oregon and California in Vancouver than from other provinces.

 

Time for an update. Following extensive research and a little box of happiness from Ontario, I would like to present the following (amended) list

BC - Driftwood, Parallel 49
AB - Alley Kat (sleeper pick - Ribstone Creek)
SK - Paddock Wood (sleeper pick - Black Bridge)
MB - Half Pints
ON - Bellwoods, Great Lakes
QC - Dunham
NB - Picaroons
NS - Garrison
PEI - Gahan
NL - Whatever I can drink at your kitchen party
YK - Yukon Brewing
NWT - Looking forward to a trip to explore beer and fishing...

 

Its actually much smaller than that, because Skeleton Key was available in the bar for awhile and I'm sure they poured a few pints there.

 

I can only realistically comment on Quebec breweries, and my vote there goes to DDC, Dunham, or Charlevoix.

What I will say is this : Charlevoix is CRIMINALLY underrated as a brewery in Quebec; not necessarily in terms of ratings, but definitely in general discussion. I think part of the reason for this is that they don't tend to make anything experimental or barrel-aged. I can't name a single one of their beers that I did not enjoy thoroughly, which is rare.

 

What I will say is this : Charlevoix is CRIMINALLY underrated as a brewery in Quebec; not necessarily in terms of ratings, but definitely in general discussion.

I agree, 7 brews in the top 100 and no one ever really seems to mention them

 

I like almost everything I've tried from Charlevoix, but I don't really love any of it. Always a solid choice, never disappointing, but it's just missing that little something extra. I grab a bottle of their Dominus Saison from time to time, that one's pretty good.

 

Thanks for the kind comments. We just released our Sour Red today, really happy with it, and feedback has been quite positive.

I also came across a Canadian brewery ranking on Untappd - https://untappd.com/brewery/top_rated?country_id=32

 

Check out crowlers! Just got back from a beer fest in traverse city Michigan, and was impressed with the convenience of the crowler. Will be able to assess quality of the technology later this week when I drink the blueberry berliner weiss from white birch which I enjoyed on tap. Barleywinebrewer rocks!

 

I got some crowlers in Dallas last Feb. Works just fine, though the sealing machine was out of service at one place. They said their crowler machine was the most used in North America and was breaking down occassionally, now that it had a lot of miles on it.

I am not opposed to new packaging formats, but I want to know the kinks have been worked out in the technology before we commit.

 

I am on the crowler band wagon too. Had a couple filled outside of Cleveland (Willoughby Brewing Company); beer was still carbed and in great shape 3 weeks later.