Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) has a rich history of exploration, adventure, control, trading and more that spans over 340 years. There is way too much history to write about in this blurb (to learn more you can visit HBC's history website) but I would like to share a neat fact that most Canadians overlook.

The last trading post ever built by Hudson Bay Company

HBC has long been thought to be an iconic Canadian company. However it was originally formed in England in 1670 to maintain and profit from fur trading in the new land (eventually Canada). It wasn’t until 1970 (the company’s 300th anniversary) that HBC was granted a new charter and moved its head offices from England to Winnipeg. Later they would move the office to downtown Toronto where it still sits today. However the company was bought out by a private US company fronted by Jerry Zucker in 2006 and after his death in 2008 was scooped up by National Realty and Development Corporation (NRDC) Equity Partners, who also own Saks 5th Avenue and Lord & Taylor.

While officially only a Canadian company for 38 years, we still love the iconic 4 colour stripe products they have been creating for centuries (mostly the blankets though).

What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

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This Week in Beer – Ale-Induced Anecdotals Part Deux

A post by Scott F

People do crazy things with beer: they put strange things in it, consume nothing but it, put it in things where it normally isn't, and regularly drink far too much of it in too short of time – with varied results. Ale-induced anecdotals captures the weird and wacky from the world of beer and distills it for the Real Man Travels faithful.

Let’s play a good ol’ game of hide the beer.

Some dude (or dudette) is going around hiding beer in Vancouver and tweeting about it. This is on the heels of other similar accounts that have hidden money or “other intoxicants.” I hereby grant this individual the title: Sudsy Games Master of the Thirsty Games!

Rebuilding bones... with beer!

Some sophisticated Spaniards realized that brewing waste is made up of the same chemical components found in bone, like, calcium and stuff. So they decided to go ahead and make bones out of it (well, kind of). Read more.

Check out that fancy picture of beer bone goodness.

Japanese Bee Yeast.

The good folks that bring you Sapporo (actually in Japan, not Guelph, ON) discovered a yeast that appears on bees as they do bee stuff. Evidently Sapporo is a huge supporter of bees and bee culture in Japan. They say the yeast imparts a unique cinnamon flavour and they've managed to harvest enough of the stuff to make beer. Joke for this section: “where does a bee hang out it Japan? At the clubzzzzzzz.” Boom! 

Dill Pickle Beer.

Canadians do crazy stuff with beer too! Ben Johnson, of the exceptional Ben’s Beer Blog, teamed up with Great Lakes Brewery to create Dill Hole IPA. Who needs a bag of chips with your beer when you can have it all-in-one? Convenience. Value. Taste. Fierce. 

And to wrap things up, this guy.

Drink safe, friends. 

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