give dad what he really wants

The gift of beer! Treat him to a fabulous Father's Day with a day trip to a craft brewery, preferably organic ;)

From our friends over at greenliving, here's a short list:

NOVA SCOTIA

Propeller is a Halifax-based micro-brewery offering four craft ales and two seasonal ales. They don’t use artificial preservatives to prolong the beer's shelf life or additives, the beer is unpasteurized, meaning it’s always served fresh (and terrifically tasty).

ALBERTA
At the Wild Rose micro-brewery in Calgary all beers are unpasteurized and preservative-free. The brewery also gives all “spent grains” (empty husks left over after the mashing process and malted grains are added to the brew) to a local farmer for livestock feed. The four beers on offer include a raspberry ale, brown ale, an India Pale Ale and the ever-mysterious flavour Velvet Fog.

ONTARIO
The Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto uses only four, GMO-free ingredients in their brews: pure spring water, malted barley, hops and yeast. Its painted logo eliminates label paper, glues and dyes and the ‘spent grain’ from the brewhouse is shipped to farmers to be used for animal feed. The distinctive Steam Whistle green glass bottles are made a little sturdier for easy reuse; the same bottle can be washed, inspected and refilled up to 35 times! And it gets greener: The brewery uses clean, renewable energy, sourcing electricity from wind and low-impact hydro generators.

Mill Street produces Ontario’s first certified organic lager, and occupies a beautiful historic location in Toronto’s hip Distillery District. Winning the Canadian Brewery of the Year award for 2007 and 2008, this commercial brewery uses pesticide- and herbicide-free ingredients and employs a natural, preservative-free brewing process.

BC
Established in 1957 in Prince George, BC, next to a fresh water spring, Pacific Western Brewing is Western Canada’s largest independent Canadian-owned brewery and offers an organic lager and ale. Brewed with 100 percent organic malt, 100 percent organic Hallertau hops and pure spring water from Caribou Spring, all ingredients are certified organic and assured to be delicious.

Nelson Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Nelson, BC, offering seven organic beers all with gloriously rich names like Black Heart, Faceplant Winter Ale, Liplock Summer Wheat Ale, Old Brewery Pale Ale, Paddywhack Indian Pale Ale and Wild Honey Authentic Ale. The organic dark-style ale is made in the image of the perfect pint: lightly hopped and brewed with imported organic dark roasted malted barley.

Located on a 10-acre farm in Sorrento, BC, Crannog Ales is Canada’s only certified organic farmhouse microbrewery. Crannog brews unfiltered, unpasteurized ales using only organic ingredients, some harvested straight from their fully sustainable farm. Their brewery provides food for the livestock, and the farm provides hops for the brewery. As Crannog only ships within BC, it’s just one more reason to be out West.