Upper Canada Brewing Company

{{Short description|Brewery in Guelph, Ontario, Canada}}

{{More citations needed|date=October 2012}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Upper Canada Brewing Company

| image = Uppercanadabrew.png

| image_size = 100px

| location = Guelph, Ontario, Canada

| owner = Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

| foundation = 1985

| production =

| industry = Alcoholic drink

| products = Beer

}}

Upper Canada Brewing Company is a division of Sleeman Breweries in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Founded by Frank Heaps and Larry Sherwood (of Granville Island Brewery) in Toronto, it started brewing beer in 1985{{Cite news

| title = Independent brewery gains tenuous hold in Metro market

| newspaper = Toronto Star

| last = McClure

| first = Matthew

| page = E1

| date = 8 August 1985}} and grew to become one of the largest independent breweries in Canada.{{cite book

| title = Brewed in Canada: The Untold Story of Canada's 350-Year-Old Brewing Industry

| year = 2001

| last = Sneath

| first = Allan Winn

| publisher = Dundurn Press

| location = Toronto

| page = 228

| isbn = 1-55002-373-X

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-9oLh2TM4kQC&pg=PA228}}

While an independent, the brewery's location was at 2 Atlantic Ave. in Toronto{{cite journal

| journal = Toronto Life

| volume = 30

| date=January 1996

| page = 37

| title = Camp brewski (Upper Canada Brewing)}} 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 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,{{Cite news

| title = Upper Canada to go public

| newspaper = Globe and Mail

| last = Saunders

| first = John

| page = B1

| date = 7 February 1996}} and was finally acquired by Sleeman Breweries in 1998.{{cite journal

| journal = Profit

| last = Papoff

| first = Lawrence

| volume = 17

| date=September 1998

| pages = 31–33

| title = Last call for a crafty rebel}}

Sleeman purchased the company for $28 million and reduced the number of Upper Canada products since they were competing with the Sleeman line.{{cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Andy |date=17 March 2009 |title=A Few Too Many |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/a-few-too-many/article18163342/?page=all |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |access-date=26 January 2017}} 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".{{cite web |url=http://www.sleemanbreweries.ca/brands |title=Brands - Upper Canada |author= |date=2017 |website=Sleeman Breweries |access-date=26 January 2017 |quote=Upper Canada Brewing Company was the first microbrewery in Toronto.}}

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.{{cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Andy |date=17 March 2009 |title=A Few Too Many |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/a-few-too-many/article18163342/?page=all |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |access-date=26 January 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.steamwhistle.ca/ourbeer/cam.php |title=Steam Whistle Brewing Co-Founder Cam Heaps |author= |date=2018 |website=Steam Whistle |access-date=26 January 2017 |quote=In 1999 he joined Greg Taylor and Greg Cromwell to write the business plan for Steam Whistle Brewing and successfully raised $4 million in shareholder equity and start-up capital.}}