Canadian Macro Lagers

Last time I has moose head was the spring of 1980. Seems it was a fine brew, perhaps I should look for some

 

I liked drinking Molson Export when I was in college, but then that was 20 some years ago too. Drank a lot of Molson Golden, Molson Export and Moosehead at that time.

 

The Moosehead Pale Ale is quite good (I also enjoy Moosehead Lager). They finally started exporting it to the U.S. in 2018. After about a year it disappeared everywhere in North Carolina (but not until after I had purchased a couple of cases).

It used to appear on their U.S. distributors beer finder page but disappeared from there sometime in 2019.
http://www.unitedstatesbeverage.com/brand-finder/

 

No, I have never tried Moosehead Ale; in fact I was unaware of this beer until your post.

Cheers!

 

Drank a lot of Molson Golden and Labatt 50 in the early 90s been ages since I've seen either. Also use to drink Glacier Bay with the bottle opner on the bottom of the bottle.

 

My college buddies and I used to hop the Canadian border from Vermont into Quebec before we were 21 to have beer at a sports bar, where I would have Export. Although my tastes were still developing then, I must say that while I enjoyed Export, it was nothing spectacular or really different from an adjunct lager besides being (maybe?) somewhat fruitier with a somewhat rounder mouthfeel. Otherwise it had that same usually kind of watery corn taste you get with continental macros.

I think they used to actually export Export, but not anymore. We last visited that place three years ago, before we all graduated and went off to be adults.

 

Never heard that rumor, but in the early 80s (when Moosehead shot to the #5 position of imported beer in the US)it was well-known and reported in the general business press in the US that Moosehead Beer, in it's "heritage" style green bottle, did not exist in Canada at the time and was created and packaged specifically for the US market.

Moosehead's line-up in the early 80s, with the US-only Beer, center (note that the second stubby with the similar label is labeled "Special Ale") :

re: Molson Export Ale. In the US, it was long the #3 Molson product in the US - and was sometimes labeled simply Molson Ale because the brewery and importer, Martlet, reputedly thought calling an imported beer "Export" might confuse some consumers.

Martlet Imports was founded by an ex-Van Munching/Heineken salesman, Gerald Regan. He convinced the Molson brewery to use that green Heineken-like bottle for the US market, and the brand became the #2 Import in the US (even before it was distributed nationally).

Below is Molson's enlarged US portfolio from the mid-80s, after both Molson Light and, by popular demand, Brador "Liqueur de Malt" were added and the Export was labeled as such:

 

Hahahah, last Brador I had was in the early 80s. Don't really remember it.

 

Thanks. Gotta say, its a pretty clean tasting lager with no off-notes. I'm not saying adjuncts produce off-notes as a rule...just saying it tastes like a well built beer

 

I wonder if this is the beer that we would get two 12 packs of when we took the train to Toronto with my mom as kids? I always remember my dads request as "Brodeur" , like the new jersey devil's goalie, and I have a distinct memory of 10 or 11 year old me dropping a 12.pack on the platform and the beer just gushing out the hand holes.

Although now that I'm remembering, he was so excited for us to get it because it wasn't available in the US (maybe anymore?).
Labbat Blue is still a regular in that mans beer fridge though, and not a bad beer in my experience

 

Yeah, it had an overly-inflated, almost mythological rep in parts of the US, both before Molson exported it and after it was no longer available in the US. Lots of that was due to its then higher than normal ABV and the fact that the US labels were generally still unable to print alcohol content.

I remember, even into the internet age, reading some guy's post in some beer news group or another, claiming it was something like 10 or 12% abv (Circa 1980, that would have been extremely high for any beer). When I cited contemporary sources and Canadian labels, he repeated some urban legend about how the US government asked Molson to lower the abv of the beer when it was sold within a certain distance from the US-Canadian border.

Anyway, in his 1982 Pocket Guide (US ed.), M. Jackson wrote of Brador:

You little bastard! Oh, sorry...

I remember the clerk at my neighborhood liquor store never let me carry my Dad's Ballantine Ale out of the store, even when it was in a plain paper bag. He said it was because the ABC might be watching but I suspect it was for this reason...

 

When I moved near the Canadian border I learned that Canadian beer was not actually skunky. Where I grew up there was no such thing as fresh beer from any foreign country. We crossed the border to head to the Canadian distributors because the exchange rate was favorable, we could get fresh beer and, most importantly, the beer was stronger. Hard to imagine now but getting a high alcohol beer was extremely hard. Frankly that’s why my friend and I started brewing: get the taste we wanted (close anyway) at a higher ABV. John Courage kits anyone?

 

I remember drinking Brador in bars when visiting Quebec in the early 80's. In those days, taverns and brasseries sold draught while bars sold bottled beer and liquor. It was much more tasty than Molson Export, Labatt's 50 or O'Keefe.

 

Not only did I like Moosehead beer, but I convinced our 1990s era softball team that should be our team name.

 

Are you too young to remember the Moosehead Bar & Grill at the corner of Harrison and Wells?

Not sure what their connection with the brewery was, but they always had the beer on tap -- though I almost always had their contract-brewed beer from Huber. Great live jazz and terrific chili too.

 

Old enough, and I like jazz but unfortunately don't remember stopping in, even though I worked nearby (kitty corner from City Hall on LaSalle). I have been to Andy's, Pop's, and of course the Jazz Showcase before the move, among the many clubs over the years.

Not sure if Moosehead beer is still available around here, but I may pick up a six pack if I come across one and it's reasonably fresh.

Also, I am a fan of Monk's Pub chili, ate there quite a bit back in the day before they became a craft destination (still go if I'm downtown). It was great to be able to have a few pours at lunch during the workday.

 

Andy's also had some good chili, but I can't recall what beers I drank there -- and I was getting into the better stuff, even though it was harder to find.

FWIW -- I found some Moosehead a couple years back (up north here), just didn't excite me like it used to.

 

Didn't know Andy's served chili, only consumed two products there. Whiskey on the rocks (to start), or neat (to close), backed at times by water or an occasional ginger ale. Didn't convert from whiskey to craft beer until the past five years.

 

Yeah, the chili at Andy's was many moons ago -- had it at Jazz for Lunch many times, but I don't know if they even have a kitchen any more?

Wonder what they did with the recipe...

 

In the late 80's and into 90's that was my beer. Here I am teaching one of my favorite rescue dogs how to drink beer.