John Sleeman, Reviving A Legacy (Part 1)

In 1933, the Sleeman name vanished from Canadian brewing. Fifty-one years later, an aunt John hadn't spoken to in 15 years showed up with a recipe book, an old bottle, and one demand: bring it back.

Troy sits down with John Sleeman, the Founder and Chairman of Sleeman Breweries, founder of Spring Mill Distillery, and 2022 appointee to the Order of Canada. But this isn't the story you've heard. Before the brewery, John was a 16-year-old runaway who tried to buy an English pub with no money, built one in Oakville with a skill saw and a $50K loan, then talked the LCBO into letting him import draft Guinness when none of it was legal. Only then did he learn his family were privateers, brewers and Prohibition-era smugglers. In 1988 he revived Sleeman in Guelph - and within a decade it was Canada's third-largest brewer. This is PART ONE of his story - legacy.

What's in this episode:

• The pre-brewery years: a pub, a rugby club, and cold-calling UK breweries to become their Canadian agent
• Hauling Guinness, nitro cylinders and kegs down pub basement stairs at 3 a.m.
• Pirates, live chickens and Al Capone: the family history John didn't know until 1984
• Why cream ale, why a clear bottle, and why the recipe on page 64 won
• Stroh's, Okanagan Spring, Unibroue, Pabst - and the Upper Canada deal he admits he got wrong
• The $400M Sapporo sale, and why protecting his people came first

Thank you for tuning into the #BetweenTwoFermenters podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on whichever platform you get your podcasts at and be sure to follow GreatLakesBeer on all social channels. greatlakesbeer.com. Supporting local never tasted soooo good

Hosted by Troy Burtch, Between Two Fermenters, a podcast brought to you by Toronto's Great Lakes Brewery where craft beer and conversation collide - straight from the tanks to your ears.