When it comes to beer, buyers in Ontario have tons of choices! Either you can head to the Beer Store or the LCBO and grab a popular brand name or look for some of the Best Cottage Country Craft beers that are produced locally and are just as good, if not better than the big name brands.

I grew up at a time in Ontario that if you drank beer the choices started with Molson or Labatt. My first ever beer was a Molson Export because that’s the brand that my dad drank and his stash was the easiest to sneak one from. As I became of legal age to drink (maybe a bit before that) I started to try out other beers at parties and learned quickly that I became a fan of smaller beer companies such as Moosehead, Creemore Springs, Upper Canada Brewing and Sleeman.

Today, those are big names in the beer world and helped grow the microbreweries or craft brew industry which has continued to grow in popularity based on people showing loyalty to a local company, a connection to a local bar and most importantly people appreciating the great taste that some of these smaller companies can produce.

For years I would try different beers here and there but in the last few years I have started to make a conscious effort to try out one or two new craft beers from either a new company I’ve never tried, or a new offering from a company that I have already tried and appreciated the taste.

My list of top Ontario craft beers is far from scientific but they are ones that I enjoy and most others around me have enjoyed and if you are going to look for a beer to bring up to someone’s cottage as a guest or looking to try out a new microbrew then this list should give you a bit of a head start.