Beer!

Now that we’ve got your attention, SmartBIZ is very excited to announce we will be writing a monthly beer column talking about local trends, pairings, flavours, tips, and suggestions as well as many other topics.

Being that this is a very special issue of SmartBIZ, as we celebrate Canada’s 150^th birthday, we thought this would be a good time to celebrate some fascinating Canadian beer facts along with some strange-but-true facts to discuss with your friends while enjoying a tasty beverage bringing in Canada’s 150.

Stubbies! The “stubby” bottle was iconic in Canada until it was taken out of circulation in the 1980s when Canadian brewers switched over to American-style longnecks. As it turns out, market research showed that women didn’t like the stubby, preferring the lengthy elegance of the longneck.

Beer Pre-Dates Confederation – Canadian beer is actually older than Canada. In fact, beer production in the Great White North pre-dates Confederation by a good 200 years.

Tavern Talk – In the early days of Canadian settlement, beer was an integral part of the community. That’s because the local tavern not only served beer, it was also a meeting place where the community would gather; a place for judges to hear complaints, politicians to seek votes and preachers to preach.

Beer economy – According to the Conference Board of Canada, one out of every 100 jobs in Canada is supported by the sale of beer, with every dollar we spend on beer generating $1.12 for the nation’s economy. This “beer economy,” in fact, supports 163,200 jobs throughout Canada.

Strange-but-true

• At the Wife Carrying World Championships, first prize is the wife’s weight in beer. YES, there is such a thing as a Wife Carrying World Championship, and YES, first prize is the wife’s weight in beer. Still don’t believe us? You can see these “athletes” competing in events all over YouTube.
• The moon has a crater named Beer.
• In the 1980s, a beer-drinking goat was elected mayor of Lajitas, TX. True story!
• Coined in the early 1900s, the word “alcoholiday” means leisure time spent drinking.
• Although you won’t find it in regular dictionaries, apparently there’s an actual phobia in which sufferers experience fear of seeing an empty beer class. This disorder is called Cenosillicaphobia.
• Researchers at the University of Western Ontario found that micronutrients called polyphenols in one 12-ounce (0.35-liter) bottle of beer create protective levels of plasma antioxidants that can prevent heart disease.
• Beer strengthens bones. It is rich in silicon that increases calcium deposits and minerals for bone tissue.