Lew Bryson, a remarkable writer about beer, whiskey, and all things Central PA recently posted this on his personal Facebook account, and said he didn\u2019t have an outlet for posting it. So I immediately offered to host it here.<\/p>\n
For those who don\u2019t know Lew, check to the end of the piece to see my quick biography of Lew, and including links to his podcast as well as our podcast we did with Lew. But quickly, I will say this \u2013 Lew is a remarkable person, a fantastic writer, historian, and has an excellent sense of character, intelligence, and understanding. Empathetic and understanding, he understands people, all people, and even more importantly for this opinion piece \u2013 he knows what he\u2019s talking about. This is an incredible piece, and I full heartedly agree with it (thus why I immediately jumped at the idea of hosting it here on the site).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thebeerthrillers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Canada-Liquor-Google-300x169.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCanadian Liquor Store Shelves (photo courtesy of Google<\/a>, and selected by Lew Bryson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here goes. It\u2019s time to say something about Canada\u2019s reaction to Trump\u2019s tariff sabre-rattling. For those of you who have been in a cave \u2014 and I can\u2019t 100% say that I blame you \u2014 part of Canada\u2019s response, part of their retaliation, to the threat of tariffs imposed on Canadian goods coming into the US has been focused on the US booze industries: spirits, wine, beer, and, I suppose, cider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some provinces, like Ontario, that have government alcohol wholesale\/retail monopolies of various breadths, have not only stopped buying American booze, but have taken what they have off the shelves in their provincial stores. The LCBO, Ontario\u2019s monopoly system, is one of the five largest alcohol retailers in the world; they have, to the best of my knowledge, taken all American-made products off their shelves; boxed it up and put it in storage. (It\u2019s not like the spirits and wine, the greatest part of this, are going to go stale, to be fair.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I know a lot of people in the industry on BOTH sides of the border. They have had various reactions to this. Some Americans are outraged; some are confused (\u201cThey\u2019ve already paid for those bottles! Why not sell them and then not buy more?!\u201d); some are tentatively supportive; a few strongly support these moves. Almost all of them feel that this is personally unfair; they didn\u2019t impose the tariffs, after all, and \u2014 honestly, it\u2019s true \u2014 why is booze always the first American product to feel retaliation?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n What\u2019s worse, in my eyes, is that some Americans have the attitude of \u201cso what, Canada, who cares? Their whisky sucks, and I don\u2019t need them, and neither does American whiskey.\u201d I\u2019m embarrassed when I hear people who should know better say things like that. First, their whisky by God DOESN\u2019T suck, but that\u2019s not the point. The point is that NONE OF THIS HAD TO HAPPEN, and we don\u2019t make it better by pretending it doesn\u2019t matter. More on that below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But if any of the Canadians I know \u2014 some of whom I count as friends of long standing \u2014 have a reaction other than blazing defiance, I haven\u2019t heard from them yet. The most common reaction has been pure Canada: a non-smiling \u201cElbows up!\u201d, echoing Mr. Hockey, Saskatchewan-born Gordie Howe, a player who took no shit off anyone. Anyone who tried to slash Howe was getting a fast elbow to the head. Canada\u2019s ready for this, and they\u2019re not kidding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Any argument by American producers\/suppliers\/exporters must be seen in this light. I\u2019ve seen people say that the Canadian response, taking everything off the shelves, leaving only blank space behind, is disproportionate, that it makes no sense, that it goes further than the American tariffs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Well, they\u2019re right. It IS disproportionate to the tariffs. This doesn\u2019t just affect day-to-day, month-on-month sales. This kind of action also attacks something much more valuable: the brand. Raise the price while leaving the bottles on the shelf, and you paradoxically make people think about the brand more, maybe even realize how much they ARE willing to spend to get it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But take the bottles away, the facing, replacing it with a \u201cBUY CANADIAN INSTEAD\u201d sign, and the product becomes invisible. You\u2019re not thinking about the Jack, or the Mondavi, and what you\u2019d pay for them. No, you\u2019re automatically thinking \u201cWelp, I guess I\u2019ll get some Lot 40 or Gibson\u2019s 12. I\u2019ll get some Quail\u2019s Gate for dinner, or how about that Italian red? I\u2019ve got no beef with the Italians.\u201d The American brands are no longer even a choice, and that does long-term damage to the brand. As Don Draper put it in his icily cutting response, \u201cI don\u2019t think about you at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, multiply that times every American product that we send to Canada. Unless it\u2019s absolutely something where buying Canadian isn\u2019t an option, it\u2019s gone, and the memory is fading, or worse, indelibly tinged with anger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Why anger? Because of tariffs imposed by an ally, a country that has been an ally for so long, in so many things, that for them to turn on Canada isn\u2019t just economics, it\u2019s betrayal, a shocking discard of trust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And as I said above, none of this had to happen. We have a trade treaty with Canada, we have over 200 years of trade with Canada with only the \u2018small hiccup\u2019 of the War of 1812 to interrupt it (kidding, not kidding, you kicked our asses and sent us home, but we\u2019re cool). We have zero legitimate issues with Canadian trade, and the \u201clook at the tariffs Canada puts on American products!!\u201d misinformation you\u2019ve seen lately are all part of that trade treaty. We have no real trade problems with Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But it\u2019s worse than that, much worse. Trump\u2019s constant needling about the \u201c51st state,\u201d and \u201cGovernor\u201d Trudeau, about border issues and annexing part or all of the country, whether or not it\u2019s another of his insanely unfunny jokes, has Canadians concerned, and rightly so. They\u2019re concerned about the intentions of a superpower that has set the tone of restraint in international politics for the past 50 years, but has suddenly begun openly talking about grabbing territory. Canada, Greenland, Panama, Cuba, Gaza; why would they not take Trump seriously?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So for the Canadians, this is not about economics, this is not about money. It is about national existence, and the response should not be expected to \u2018make sense\u2019 in economic terms. The Canadians did not choose this fight. It was shoved onto them by one man, President Donald Trump, elected by a plurality of American voters, who apparently support him. If they don\u2019t take that seriously, they\u2019re deluding themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bottom line, then. Canada has been needlessly forced to this point. They\u2019ve been pushed into the corner, and like any good hockey player, they\u2019ve got their elbows up, ready to push it off and deal it out, and we should not be surprised by that. This game is being played at levels above the liquor store, but it still plays out there, like wars, politicians, and soldiers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Don\u2019t be angry with your Canadian customer; don\u2019t be angry with your American supplier. Neither of them is to blame. Blame the ones who made this happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lew Bryson is a renowned journalist and author specializing in beer and whiskey. He began his career in the beverage industry in the early 1990s, initially focusing on beer before expanding to whiskey in 1997. His writing has been featured in prominent publications such as The Daily Beast, All About Beer Magazine, Whiskey Wash, and Craft Spirits Magazine. Bryson\u2019s passion for craft beer was ignited during a visit to a German beer bar in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he discovered the unique flavors of Altenm\u00fcnster pilsner.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Bryson has been a full-time drinks writer since 1995 and served as the managing editor at Whisky Advocate magazine from 1996 to 2015. He is known for his extensive knowledge and engaging writing style, which has made him a respected voice in the beer and whiskey communities. Bryson has authored several books, including state brewery guidebooks and \u201cTasting Whiskey,\u201d and more recently, \u201cWhiskey Master Class,\u201d released in 2020.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout his career, Bryson has been recognized for his contributions to the beverage industry. His work spans multiple platforms, including his blog \u201cSeen Through a Glass<\/a>,\u201d where he shares insights and reviews on beer and whiskey. Bryson continues to be an influential figure, offering guidance and commentary on the evolving world of craft beverages.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To be able to listen, watch, and download Lew\u2019s Seen Through a Glass Podcast, you can use one of these services:<\/p>\n If you like this article, please check out our other many articles, including news, beer reviews, travelogues, maps, and much much more. We greatly appreciate everyone visiting the site!<\/p>\n Cheers.<\/p>\n Thanks again for reading everyone. 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Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.<\/p>\n The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests \u2013 such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at\u00a0Knights of Nostalgia<\/a>. We are currently listed as #5 on FeedSpot\u2019s \u201cTop 100 Beer Blogs<\/a>\u201d and #9 on FeedSpot\u2019s \u201cTop 40 Pennsylvania Blogs\u201d<\/a>. (As of January 2025.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\nLew Bryson Biography<\/h2>\n
Seen Through a Glass Podcast<\/h3>\n
Our Articles With Lew Bryson<\/h2>\n