I feel a special attachment to Sleeman Breweries for a couple of reasons. First, it's based in the place I grew up : Guelph, Ontario. And I'm always tickled when things and people from Guelph do well.
Second, I was present, in a way, at the creation for this particular brewery and I've been fascinated to watch it win critical acclaim from beer drinkers as well as commercial success. Here's that story:
In 1988, I was the editor of student newspaper at the University of Guelph, The Ontarion. Though I was paid a full-time salary and supervised a staff of about 20 full- and part-time staffers, the writing and editing was mostly done, as it is on student papers around the world, by volunteers.
During my day at the helm of The Ontarion (and in the preceding decade as a volunteer there), the tradition for thanking volunteers was a night of free beer and pizza, usually at The Albion in downtown Guelph. (The Albion, in the 1980s, was a classic beer tavern with tiny glasses and terry cloth on the tables. It was recently re-modelled and bears zero relation inside to the wonderfully scruffy watering hole I grew up in).
But in the winter of 1988, I got a called from a fellow named John Sleeman. John had just started up a new brewery and he told me about his family's connection to beer-making in Guelph. He said that the first batch of Sleeman Cream Ale had just been bottled and the company was ready for its commercial launch. He said he wanted to build a little buzz for his beer and what did I think of a little tasting party at restaurant/pub then known as Churchill's? (Churchill's, on the corner of Quebec and Baker Street is long gone, I believe. It was slightly upscale faux-British pub that was a favourite of the artsty/theatre crowd in Guelph).
I thought it was a great idea and then, as I was always thinking of my volunteers first, of course, I asked if I could bring, say, 200 friends along to this party.
John paused for a bit and then, to his credit, said, sure!
And so in the winter semester of 2008, The Ontarion volunteer party was held at Churchill's and the beer was supplied by John Sleeman from the new brewery that the world would soon get to know. I and my volunteers had our first taste of Sleeman Cream Ale.
I thought about that as I walked into my local beer store this afternoon and there was a guy offering samples of a new Sleeman producer: The 20 Ale. This is Sleeman's 20th Anniversary product and I was happy to take the salesman's sample and then buy a few bottles to enjoy while watching a little Stanley Cup hockey tonight.
Happy birthday, Sleeman's! And congratulations!