May 20, 2005 -- Following two years of prep work and who knows how many false starts through the past decade and a half, the craft brewers of my home province of Ontario have finally banded together and launched a website and marketing campaign aimed at promoting their wares. In the words of Ken Woods, owner of Oakville, Ontario’s Black Oak Brewery: “This website is just one part of our campaign to increase awareness of what we have to offer. We as individual brewers have gotten together, put our differences aside and created a common goal that all of us believe in passionately.”

While some of the claims made on the website are rather spurious or over-the-top – take, for example, “In Ontario we're blessed with a world-class selection of the freshest, purest and most unique craft beers available anywhere” – even a marketing skeptic such as myself has to admit that the group has done an able job. I invite you to have a look for yourself at www.ontariocraftbrewers.ca.

Personally, I’m of two minds regarding the “Drink Ontario” tone of the website, radio spots and newspaper ads. On the one hand, I respect and admire many of the beers being touted in the publicity material and will be glad to see them win greater recognition. If this promotion increases awareness of the fine ales and lagers being brewed in Ontario, then that’s got to be a good thing.

On the other hand, I believe there are few sadder reasons to drink a specific beer than its point of origin. As a consumer, I owe it to myself to make my beer selections on the basis of flavour, not regionalism, patriotism, image or the imagined possibility that being seen with a specific brand will increase my chances with the ladies. The idea that I should choose Beer ‘X’ simply because it’s brewed in Ontario – or the U.S., as per the promotion of the coming American Beer Month in July – is absurd. In beer, taste should be all that counts, and with all due respect to the Ontario Craft Brewers, some of your members haven’t quite got that message yet.

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