Upper Canada Brewing Company is a division of

Sleeman Breweries Sleeman Breweries is a Japanese-owned Canadian brewery founded by John Warren Sleeman in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario. The company is the third-largest brewing company in Canada. Along with its own Sleeman brands, the company produces under licence t ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. Founded by Frank Heaps and Larry Sherwood (of Granville Island Brewery) in Toronto, it started brewing beer in 1985 and grew to become one of the largest independent breweries in Canada. While an independent, the brewery's location was at 2 Atlantic Ave. in Toronto and included a "gift shop" that allowed the independent brewer to sell alcohol on Sunday, something that Ontario's licensed outlet Beer Store chain, which had a virtual monopoly on beer sales, was not permitted to do at the time. Upper Canada also provided

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

brewing services for third party companies. Beaver Valley Amber Ale was brewed in conjunction with Thornbury Castle Brewing Inc. in Thornbury Ontario. The company was sold to private investors in 1995, went public in 1996, and was finally acquired by

in 1998. Sleeman purchased the company for $28 million and reduced the number of Upper Canada products since they were competing with the Sleeman line. The new owners also closed the Toronto brewery and moved the operations to its Guelph, Ontario facility. Two brands are manufactured: Upper Canada Lager, a German-style lager and Upper Canada Dark Ale, "with a robust malty character and a rich chestnut colour". After the sale to Sleeman, Heaps provided some funding to his son Cameron and his partners Greg Taylor and Greg Cromwell, all formerly employees of Upper Canada, who opened another Toronto-based brewery in 2000,

Steam Whistle Brewing Steam Whistle Brewing is an independent brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2000 by three former employees of Upper Canada Brewing Company after that company was bought out. The company produces only one style of its own beer, ...

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Upper Canada Brewing Company
Beer brewing companies based in Ontario Companies based in Guelph Food and drink companies established in 1985 1985 establishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1985 Cuisine of Ontario Canadian beer brands