Abstract

"Cool Capitalism and the Craft Brewing Revolution in Canada"

Matthew Bellamy, Carleton University (Matthew_Bellamy@Carleton.ca)

In 1978, Frank Appleton, a former Carling O’Keefe executive, published a polemic in Harrowsmith Magazine titled “The Underground Brewmaster.” Critiquing the “tasteless common denominator” of corporate beer—likened to “white bread” and the “cardboard hamburger”—Appleton urged readers to brew at home, promising a cheaper, more satisfying alternative to the brands of the “Big Three.” His article inspired John Mitchel, an English expatriate running the Troller Pub in Horseshoe Bay, to create a brewery offering the real ale he missed from home. With Appleton’s help, Mitchel founded Horseshoe Bay Brewery in 1982, Canada’s first craft brewery. Within years, brewpubs and microbreweries began proliferating nationwide.
This paper argues that the craft brewing revolution in Canada exemplifies “cool capitalism.” Drawing on Jim McGuigan’s concept of cool capitalism, Boltanski and Chiapello’s New Spirit of Capitalism, cultural entrepreneurship theories, and Veblen’s conspicuous consumption, it shows how craft brewers transformed authenticity, locality, and taste into marketable assets. Craft beer consumption was not merely about flavor but signaled cultural sophistication and distinction, reflecting how taste and identity became economically valuable in late twentieth-century capitalism.
Set against neoliberal restructuring, shifting demographics, and rising disposable incomes, Canadian craft brewing illustrates how aesthetic, affective, and cultural forms of value were mobilized to create profitable enterprises. Case studies including Granville Island, Big Rock, Steam Whistle, Mill Street, and Beau’s reveal how brewers positioned themselves as rebels against “corporate beer,” even as their success enabled eventual consolidation by the corporations they opposed.
By tracing these dynamics, the paper contributes to business history, demonstrating how capitalist enterprise can absorb cultural critique for profit. The Canadian craft brewing phenomenon thus illuminates the evolving interplay between entrepreneurship, consumption, and cultural identity in the late twentieth century.