First teased on Instagram back in early February, Glorious and Free is a trans-Canada brewery collaboration. Spearheaded by Dominion City Brewing Company, the IPA features 100% Canadian ingredients and is being brewed from coast to coast to coast. IPA? More like IP-eh!
Local breweries who have released their own version of the beer include Dominion City Brewing Company, Spark Beer, and Bicycle Craft Brewery. The recipe is available online for home brewers and breweries are encouraged to reach out to Dominion City Brewing Company for more information about the project so we are expecting to see additional releases in the coming weeks and months.
A portion of proceeds from each release are being donated to organizations that are making a difference in Canadian communities in one of four ways: connection to land and people, welcoming communities, getting together, or for generations.
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To learn more about the project, we connected by email with Josh McJannett, co-owner at Dominion City Brewing Company.
Apt613: What has been the reaction to Glorious and Free?
Josh McJannett: The reaction to the campaign so far has been overwhelmingly positive. We released our batch in late February and it disappeared quickly. Over the last few weeks approximately a dozen breweries have released their batches and seen similarly strong response; people seem to want to vote with their feet and their wallets.
I think part of what’s struck a chord with people is that this isn’t just about us as Canadian independent breweries asking for support at a tough time, it’s an invitation to harness the power of local beer to support growers and producers and all of us together taking an action to support strong communities. People seem to be responding to the attempt to be a small light in a dark room.
This isn’t just about us as Canadian independent breweries asking for support at a tough time, it’s an invitation to harness the power of local beer to support growers and producers and all of us together taking an action to support strong communities.
Can you tell us about the Canadian ingredients you are using in the beer?
The recipe calls for 100% Canadian ingredients: everything from the malted barley and oats to the hops and yeast. We have great producers here in Canada making everything we need to brew delicious beer and the feedback from the other breweries about working with local producers has been overwhelmingly positive.
We’ve worked for years with Houblonnière Lupuline, a family owned hop farm in Western Québec and in the recent past they’ve seen demand for their hops decline as beer has been going through a bit of a tough moment. They reported record orders from breweries, many of them first time customers, for this beer and it’s given them the confidence they needed to plant another harvest this year.
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Have you made any new connections or learned anything new as a result of this project?
Many of the breweries we’ve collaborated with on this project are new to us: it’s been terrific having an opportunity to hear from them about the challenges they’re facing and about why they decided to get involved in this campaign.
Honestly, the impact everyone is making through their support for various community causes has been the most inspiring thing for me, personally. Breweries have chosen causes from Indigenous community service organizations, to veterans organizations, 2SLGBTQ+ groups and refugee welcome not-for-profits, to their local Lions clubs and more. It’s been really heartening to see how local beer can make a difference in communities right across the country at a tough moment.
How many breweries are participating so far?
So far we’ve got just shy of 40 breweries participating in the campaign from every province, including the Yukon.
Is there anything you’d like Apt613 readers to know?
Our version of Glorious and Free has actually been picked up by the LCBO as a summer seasonal and will be available at stores from late May through July this year.
Are you a brewery or home brewer taking part in Glorious and Free? Let us know! Interested in trying Glorious and Free? Find a participating brewery near you from the list online or watch for Dominion City’s Glorious and Free at LCBOs this summer. Dominion City Brewing Company is located at 15-5510 Canotek Road and is open Tuesday through Sunday.
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