Brews News: Moosehead the latest brewer to phase out bottles
Also, Forked River has brewed Roadrunner, a wet hopped pale ale, as a fundraiser for Jordan’s Run the Runway and the YMCA’s Camp Queen Elizabeth.
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Growlers, howlers and bottles. Is it time to can them all?
Growlers were on the outs before the pandemic and many remaining nostalgic craft brewers finally put a stop to growler and the smaller howler fills during the pandemic and never brought them back, realizing the flaws those two litre lugs of beer presented. Cleaning them before refilling, the loss of carbonization unless the beer was consumed pronto were top of the list of issues.
Now, for different reasons, the growler’s glass cousin is facing the same fate. Bottles are exiting the scene.
Moosehead Breweries says only seven per cent of beer is sold in bottles in Canada as consumers prefer cans. Cans, say brewers, protect beer from light and oxygen better than capped bottles. Consumers like cans because they’re lighter and portable. Accountants like them because they’re easier to transport and the beer has a longer shelf life.
The last Moosehead bottles roll off the line in December.
The biggest brands soldier on with beer in bottles, as does London-brewed Mill Street Organic Lager and Toronto’s Steam Whistle.
As for Moosehead and its green bottles, there’s a suitable sendoff in the works.
The Last Bottle contest gives a chance for a fan of the beer to get the final bottle off the line. The winner gets a trip to the Moosehead brewery in New Brunswick to watch the final bottle run and take home the last bottle. The contest (enter at moosehead.ca/thelastbottle/) closes Oct. 27.
Moosehead stopped shipping bottles internationally in the summer and the last bottles will be in retailers until early 2026.
NEW AND NOTED
Forked River, London’s oldest operating craft brewery, has brewed Roadrunner, a wet hopped pale ale, as a fundraiser for Jordan’s Run the Runway and the YMCA’s Camp Queen Elizabeth. The runs are a 5km series that started in June at St. Thomas Municipal Airport and ends Oct. 3 at Chris Hadfield Airport in Sarnia. This was the event’s 12th year and it’s organized in honour of Jordan Strickland, who spent nine years as a counsellor at the camp. Twenty-five cents from each can sold goes to Camp Queen Elizabeth to honour Jordan.
New at Railway City in St. Thomas: Double Dead Elephant, a strong IPA released to coincide with the 140th anniversary of the death of Jumbo the elephant in a railway mishap, and Express Series Festbier, a malty German-style lager.
Mom’s the word at Storm Stayed on Wharncliffe Road in London’s west end. Beers and Bottles is a meeting and social time at the brewery for moms and babies. It’s every Friday, noon to 2 pm.
Burgers and beer? Yes, please, Sidelaunch London takes it to the limit with a two-hour, five-course Burgers and Brews night on Sept. 24. It’s craft beer and sliders at this ticketed event happening on the new patio space at 695 Sovereign Rd.
Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.
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