Alcohol in Ontario

Canadians sure like their beer and whiskey - my kind of people.  I caught a great quote from my husband on my iPhone when we went to the Toronto FC game & were surrounded by some good drinkers.  It seems to be pretty applicable here, and it makes me laugh.

The drinking age in Canada depends on the province – either 18 or 19.  In Ontario it is 19.  While this would have been nice in college, it doesn’t help me much now – except I really don’t get carded that much here which I guess means I at least look over 19.  I’m moving up in the world (or getting more wrinkles)!

In Ontario, liquor is sold by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).  There are retail locations all over that sell virtually every kind of liquor, beer, and wine - just like most liquor stores in the US.  They are open 7 days a week with reasonable hours, which is an improvement for those of us who lived in MN where liquor isn’t sold on Sundays or after 8 on weekdays.  These are owned by the province, and they regulate the prices (which as I mentioned in my post on costs in Toronto,  are pretty high).  I haven't found the employees to be very knowledgeable about the products, but the stores are clean and have a good selection.  You’ll also find stores that sell only beer, though a wide variety, under the Beer Store name that are separate from the LCBO.  These stores are privately owned by a cooperative of large brewers.  There are also wine stores independent of the LCBO, but as far as I’ve ever seen they only sell local Ontario wine.  While I look forward to exploring the wine regions in Ontario – especially the Niagara region - I would like to see more variety & stores that are walking distance from my house.  

There is a separate organization that issues liquor licences to bars, restaurants, and individuals.  It used to be known as the LLBO so if you see a restaurant with LLBO on the sign it just means that they are advertising the fact that they have a liquor license.  You’ll see this often with Thai restaurants, etc that may not typically have a license.  In Toronto, last call is at 2 am.

We’ve had a tough time finding a full-flavor beer.  Many of the beers just taste like Molson.  I like a good Canadian (that is what they call Molson here – better get it right or they will know you’re a foreigner – kind of like Houston Street in NYC) or Labatt every once in a while but it is nice to have more taste variety.  Be careful if you order an IPA here as you may be sorely disappointed (unless you wanted a beer that tastes like Canadian, in which case why not just order a Canadian).  One exception we’ve found is #9 by Duggan’s (a local brewer).  There are several other local brewers that are popular here including Mill Street which has an organic line, and their Tankhouse Pale Ale is pretty tasty - similar to a Brooklyn Lager.  I’m also going to make a trip to Steam Whistle, Amsterdam, and Granite Brewery to test out their local brews.  I’ll keep you posted on those trips!

I’m in search of a good Bloody Mary here as well.  I’ve ordered a few but have always been disappointed – just tomato juice with vodka – no horseradish, celery, pickles, olives, Tabasco – not a real Bloody Mary if you ask me (business idea?).  Though they do have a popular drink here called a Caesar – which is basically like a Bloody Mary with clam juice and/or clams.  Now every time I’ve seen one of these, they look like a really good Bloody Mary, but unfortunately I can’t get over the fact that there is clam juice in it.  The search goes on for good beer, cheaper good red wine, and a good Bloody Mary.