Today we visit the great city of London in the seat of Middlesex County, at the forks of the Thames River. Do you know which London we are referring to? On our journey we’ll revisit an On This Day gold medal awarding winning beer from these parts.
London is home to the founding of breweries, tobacco farms, and so much more, and is a mere few hours’ car drive from Buffalo, in Southwestern Ontario, with breezes off the lake—Huron, that is. A day trip there will deliver detail about an area and historically rich community we—Buffalo—ought to visit more often. The magnificent parochial and yet heavy IT & Tech Canadian “Forest City” of London, and the Thames River that runs through it, are a delight to the eye.
Back into history…Buffalo’s Neutron Indians—about 30,000 strong to our area back then, happily lived among their neighboring tribes—multiple thousands of peaceful-inclined (therefore called Neutrals) Native Americans with their long houses, farming, fishing and hunting society. They all shared the WNY and Southern Ontario region, including the now-London territory, which was all to become New France for quite a long time.
When the present site of London was then occupied by several Neutral and Odawa/Ojibwa villages; the village at the forks of Askunessippi, now called the Thames River, was called Kotequogong. Archaeology teaches us that the aboriginal people have resided in the area for at least the past 10,000 years and probably longer.
There was one minor detail missing to the region. Good Cold Beer. Then, mid-1800’s, with Great Britain shining her 24-7 sun upon the earth, came into London the Irish farmer John Labatt. Farming came first, and then he built a brewery to boot.
John Labatt and his sons did oh so well, and in time, it was On This Day, October 21, in 1878, that in Paris, France, John Labatt’s India Pale Ale won a Gold Medal at the French International Exposition. Farmer Labatt had devised the unique beer recipe for the light colored ale at his brewery in none other than London, Ontario.
So, Labatt is among the best beers in the world, we figure—and it started in our region from an Irish farmer, who made it quintessentially Canadian in a town called London, from where its India Pale Ale was praised with gold medals by the French, and whose Labatt family progeny sold it to a Belgian beer firm (Interbrew).
Let’s get this straight—Irish, Canadian, English, Indian, French and Belgium; got it—could be the best interbred mix in beer understanding the world over.
And where’s their US headquarters? Buffalo, NY, of course. That’s because we’re the Testing Experts. The Labatt US headquarters were originally located in Buffalo, New York before locating to Norwalk, Connecticut. But then in 2007, Labatt relocated their US headquarters back to Buffalo.
The grounds for the move back to Buffalo were based on renowned strong Labatt sales in the city, and also its closer proximity to London, Ontario.
We know Labatt’s well, and taste test it often. Stop by any area convenience store a few hours before any game time… and what are they buying? Farmer John’s “Labatt’s Beer.” Better yet, take a drive up to London some weekend, and stop at a pub along the Thames. Fresh cases of Labatt are harvested daily.
Labatt Blue remains the best selling Canadian beer in the world. Arrrggh, cheers!
And that’s the news from On This Day, …(hic-up)… from Buffalo’s World.
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