Breweries: Micro VS. Mega

The demand for beer in north America grows with each passing day, breweries, in an attempt to keep up with this massive demand have been trying to develop ways of brewing bigger batches and as well keeping a consistent taste so customers will continue to purchase their products. They've achieved this, unfortunately this consistency developed into something rather bland. This is mostly due to them trying to cut costs wherever they can by substituting barley, the standard grain in beer, with other grains. Sure it's good for the companies to lower the cost and in turn good for the consumer, but at what cost to the brew? Budweiser, the self proclaimed "king of beers" is hardly deserving of that title. Yes it outsells the competition across the boards, but that's because it's affordable and has a rather built up image, not due to exceptional taste. Canada is dominated by the big two, Molson and Labatt (interesting side note, both founders were named John). All three of these companies make up the majority of sales in north America (Miller and Coors are in there too), and they all produce lagers that don't vary much in flavor. People most likely couldn't tell their favorite Mega-brew from any other on the market (with a few exceptions). There's a reason that North American beer is supposed to be ice cold, it's to numb your taste buds so you don't actually have to taste it.

Now there is an alternative out there for those of you who wish to drink beer but still want domestic, Micro-breweries. They make their beers in smaller batches, to them, brewing is an art, and that which they produce reflects that. A few of my favorites that come to mind (Canadian that is) are Sleemans Brewery, Grandville Island Brewery, and my personal favorite from right here in Alberta, Big Rock Brewery. Sure you pay a bit more for a six pack (12$ as opposed to 10$) but it's worth every penny. You can get much more variation in what you drink too. Wheat ales, honey brown lagers, maple lagers, cream ales, old style Irish ales, and much more. Pretty much there's something out there for absolutely everyone. I'm a big advocate of Micro brewed beer, I honestly try to avoid the megas as much as I can.

-Matt