Your globetrotting liquor reporter went on one of those newfangled Internet dates with a salty-tongued Newfie lass, who had retained her unique accent despite many years in Alberta.
As Canada’s booziest province, your humble narrator has always felt an affinity for Newfoundland, which is the only province in Canada that recognizes St. Patrick’s Day as a statutory holiday.
Fast-forward a few more dates, and in the words of Peter Paul & Mary, I found myself leaving on a jet plane, bound for none other than St. John’s, the largest city in Newfoundland.
I spent the Labour Day weekend on The Rock, watching with amused glee as my date’s accent got stronger and stronger with each passing beer, and with every minute spent in the company of her kinfolk.
The Newfoundland Liquor Corporation is the only provincial liquor board still directly involved in the production of spirits, namely the Screech Rum that goes back hundreds of years, to the days when Newfoundland would trade salt fish with the West Indies in exchange for rum.
To this day, the Screech Rum is shipped from the West Indies, where it is aged in wooden barrels for several years by the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation before being bottled and sold.
In even more shocking news, the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation allows sales of locally produced beers in gas stations and neighbourhood convenience stores.
Yes, gentle reader, you read that correctly. Here on The Rock, you can pick up a six-pack of locally produced sudsy goodness at the local Esso station, or at the mom-and-pop convenience store on the corner!
Wine and spirits are still available exclusively from the government-run liquor stores, but picking up a six-pack of locally produced sudsy goodness is no further away than your neighbourhood convenience store. If only all provinces in Canada were this civilized!
The eagle-eyed lawyer types in the audience might have noticed the “locally produced” fine print in the previous paragraph.
Yes, gentle reader, in an effort to stimulate the local economy, only beers that were produced in Newfoundland can be sold at gas stations and convenience stores.
In unrelated news that is sure to shock no one, both Molson and Labatt have breweries in Newfoundland, so megabrewery beer is available at your local corner store.
Luckily, the small craft breweries of Newfoundland like Quidi Vidi and Storm Brewing also benefit from the increased exposure, and the hardy island folk do their level best to support local industry, making times good for the local brewers.
Quidi Vidi is perhaps Newfoundland’s best known craft brewer. Thanks to the large Newfie expat community in Alberta, Quidi Vidi products were available in Alberta for many years, but the taps ran dry in the west a few years back, as Quidi Vidi had to stop shipments to Alberta in order to meet the demand in Newfoundland.
Not great for the Quidi Vidi fans in Alberta, but running at full capacity and still being unable to meet demand is a problem I bet more breweries wish they had!
Storm Brewing is the other craft brewer of note on The Rock, and they started up in 1995, right around the same time as Quidi Vidi.
Storm Brewing creates full-flavoured ales, which are the preferred tipple of your humble narrator. My favourite was the Storm Irish Red, with the toasted malt structure nicely balanced with a mild hop bitterness. Irish Reds usually have hints of burnt toffee or brown sugar, and this was no exception.
Faithful readers may recall your intrepid liquor reporter often waxes poetic on his ongoing love affair with Irish Red ales, and this one made me wish that it was available back home in Alberta!
The brew pub scene is also alive and well, with the YellowBelly Brewery & Public House celebrating their 7th year of pouring their wares to thirsty patrons, and is located in one of the few buildings in downtown St. John’s that survived the great fire of 1892.
While the brews on tap flowed like golden nectar down the throat of your humble narrator, my favourite part was their stone-walled basement bar called the UnderBelly, made out in the theme of a Prohibition-era speakeasy. With cocktails and old-style whiskies, the UnderBelly seemed to be right out of the 1920’s, lacking only the swinging jazz musicians and the flapper dresses.
Although this visit to Newfoundland was brief, the fine booze will surely bring me back again!
