A new Canadian beer palate emerges: lighter, more experimental
Today’s beer drinkers aren’t just reaching for lagers anymore. They’re embracing sweeter flavours, lower-alcohol options and more adventurous profiles, according to industry experts.
A spokesperson from Labatt Brewing Company, Canada’s largest brewer, said Canadians have begun to drink “lighter, easy-drinking styles” in the last five years. Fruity flavours such as ‘Bud Light Lime Time’ and ‘Mango Lime’ are popular with younger drinkers, the brewer says.
“Lime-flavoured beer, for example, made up 51 per cent of the flavoured beer category in Canada last year and Bud Light Double Lime was the No. 1 beer innovation nationally. That’s the kind of insight that continues to shape our innovation pipeline,” Labatt Breweries senior communications director Hannah Love said this summer .
Ethan McMahon, a manager at the Craft Beer Market chain, agreed younger adults often opt for fruiter flavours and many craft breweries are experimenting with unique ideas based on recent demand; he mentioned Muskoka Brewery’s chocolate cranberry stout.
Rob McIsaac, co-founder and an owner of Beyond The Pale brewery, said they have adjusted their product development to cater to people seeking “lighter, easier drinking, and often lower (alcohol) drinks.”
Sylvain Charlebois, the Dalhousie University academic known as the “food professor,” says in the Canadian Grocer that Gen Z drinks 20 to 30 per cent less than millennials did at the same age.
“Canada is entering a new chapter — one where consumers drink less, think more, and choose differently,” Charlebois writes.
Beer has shown signs of resilience; Ontario volumes fell 7.1 per cent in 2023–24 but the Liquor Control Board of Ontario saw sales rise by more than 20 per cent this year, “partly driven by their availability at more points of sale outside of the LCBO … (and) the expansion of large format beer,” the retailer said.
The brewers have tried to meet drinkers where they are. Labatt says younger, legal-aged Canadian drinkers are “intentional in their choices, yet open to exploration,” driven by a focus on moderation, balance and lifestyle.
“Canadians expect greater diversification on shelves and at bars, with light, premium, flavour-forward, and non-alcoholic options all playing a role,” the spokesperson told the Post.
A study by Veylinx reportedly found 46 per cent of people aged 21-35 are reducing alcohol consumption and prioritizing a healthier lifestyle.
”It’s a combination of premiumization and health and wellness trends, both of which complement taste exploration rather than compete with it,” the Labatt spokesperson said.
With these changing tastes, more independent breweries have come up, and existing large breweries are innovating with unique flavours, and even non-alcoholic beer such as Michelob ULTRA zero, and Corona Cero.
LCBO said that non-alcoholic drink sales are up 189 per cent since 2022.
“I definitely think it’s a shift that’s gonna stick; people generally drinking less,” said McIsaac.
The trend toward experimental flavours is also driven by the buy-Canadian agenda. Experimental flavours are often brewed at the craft brewery, or found at farmers markets, putting emphasis on buying locally brewed and Canadian-made beer.
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