Tap Handle #659: Sleeman - Honey Brown Ale
Rairty: less than 50 seen
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut
I had really wanted this tap for a long time for both the appearance and to tell the brewery's interesting story, but I was very picky which made acquiring it difficult. My criteria was as follows: decal on the front and back (some don't have this), label around the neck (often missing), minimal scratches, affordable shipping (since almost all come from Canada), and fully figured (90% of these are flat on the backside). Although I would have liked Sleeman's legendary Cream Ale, I'm quite happy with this Honey Brown Ale. Made to resemble their iconic clear bottles, it is not glass but actually an amber resin and is quite beautiful. Since the front and back are identical, I have reduced the number of photos taken. Although they appear on the secondary market from time to time, finding one that fit my criteria was a challenge. The price, however, is very reasonable - it's the shipping costs from Canada that can add up.
Click through to read more about the colorful history of Sleeman Brewing and Malting, their Honey Brown Ale, and to see more photos of this tap that has "nothing to hide"...
The Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company was founded in Guelph, Ontario, Canada in 1900 by George A. Sleeman, but traces its roots back to 1834 when a young brewmaster named John H. Sleeman emigrated to Glueph from Cornwall, England. By 1843 Glueph had a population of 700 and 9 breweries. John Sleeman became a brewery manager but soon moved to St. David's to open his own brewery, the Stamford Spring Brewery. He sold the business in 1845 and moved back to Guelph and worked at Hodgerts Brewery until opening the Silver Creek Brewery in 1851. His son, George, became his partner in 1862 and the sole owner five years later when the elder Sleeman retired. They used distinctive clear bottles, which allowed the color to show through and led to the marketing slogan, "we have nothing to hide!" It was in 1898 that George Sleeman created the recipe for Sleeman Cream Ale, which he wrote down in a personal notebook that would become key to the brewery's future.
With the start of the new century the family business was incorporated as The Sleeman Brewing and Malting Co. Ltd. By this time the brewery was using the clear bottles that became a family trademark. But the enterprise fell on hard times in 1916 when the Canada Temperance Act went into effect and the company was limited to selling malt and ginger ale. George Sleeman died in 1926, leaving the business in the hands of his sons, George A. and Henry O. Sleeman. In the meantime, across the Detroit River in the United States, Prohibition also had gone into effect in 1919, but demand had not lessened, providing the Sleeman brothers with an opportunity to meet that demand. They smuggled beer across the border in farm wagons, buried under fresh vegetables bound for the U.S. market. The Ontario police caught the brothers red-handed in 1933, just a few months before Prohibition was repealed. The Canadian authorities were less concerned about selling alcohol into the United States than they were about being cut out of the action, telling the Sleeman brothers that even though they were making beer illegally they could have an export permit. They could sell wherever they wanted to, but they would have to pay taxes. The Sleemans refused to cooperate. In the end, they were forced to sell the brewery to the Jockey Club Brewery to pay their tax bill. The brewery building was torn down, with Standard Brands purchasing the land and the Sleeman trademark, which remained unused for the next 50 years.
John W. Sleeman, great-great grandson of John H. Sleeman, was born in Toronto in 1953, and dropped out of school at the age of 16, determined to become a millionaire by the age of 30. His business education was limited to management training at McDonald's and the practical experience of being a McDonald's manager at such a young age. When he was 19, Sleeman moved to England and fell in love with the pub culture, so much so that when he returned to Canada a few years later, in 1977, he started his own pub called Monahan's. To supply his pub with the kind of beer he had enjoyed in England, he began importing British beers, and was soon supplying other establishments. This sideline proved so successful that he sold the pub and co-founded Imported Beer Co. to distribute imported beers such as Guinness, Double Diamond, and Heineken to bars throughout Canada. Well before his 30th birthday, Sleeman had met his goal of becoming a millionaire.
Sleeman might have spent the rest of his business career as an import distributor had it not been for a visit in 1984 by his father's sister, Florian. She brought with her a small leather-bound notebook and an antique clear bottle that had been kept in a trunk for the past half-century. His aunt told him it was time he found out about his heritage and that he should restart the brewery. Sleeman was reluctant at first to give up his successful distribution business to become a brewer, but he was fascinated with the family history about which his father had never spoken. The family's involvement with smuggling had become a matter of shame, explaining why he was 31 years old before he learned about the colorful past of his forebears.
Sleeman was in no hurry to revive the family brewery despite his aunt's encouragement. He was already financially successful, and didn't want to gamble all that on a new venture. He contacted Standard Brands, the last registered owners of his grandfather's company, and asked if they would be interested in letting him have the company back. Expecting "yes, for a million dollars", instead they came back and said it was a wonderful idea, and that he could have the company back for $1. Next, Sleeman decided to check out the trademark rights to the logo on the bottle his aunt gave him. Using a beaver and a maple leaf, they closely resembled the Canadian Pacific logo. He wrote to Canadian Pacific to learn if they had any objection to his using the design, and he was told he was free to do as he pleased. He ran out of reasons why he shouldn't start the brewery, so in 1985 he reincorporated The Sleeman Brewing and Malting Co. Ltd.
To finance the building of a small 50,000 square foot brewery, Sleeman turned to banks, as he had done with his previous ventures, receiving a $3 million loan. He also sold a stake in the business to Stroh Brewing Co. It was on the advice of Stroh that Sleeman held back on opening the facility because the quality of the beer was not yet good enough and the brewery risked losing credibility with beer drinkers that it might never regain. Sleeman's Canadian bank, however, grew concerned about the delay and the project going over budget, lost faith in the business, and called in the loan, giving Sleeman just 30 days to pay them back. Other Canadian banks refused to loan the money, and it was only the intervention of Stroh that kept the project alive, introducing Sleeman to the National Bank of Detroit. Sleeman lost his house paying back the Canadian bank, but the package the Detroit bank put together was enough to pay off the rest of the earlier loan and still leave the brewery with some working capital.
The first pints of Sleeman Cream Ale were poured in 1988, and the first bottles filled a few months later. In early 1989, Silver Creek Lager, another family recipe, was reintroduced to the Ontario market, followed in May by the introduction of Toronto Light Lager. Also in 1989 Sleeman began to brew and distribute Stroh's and Stroh's Light brands in the Ontario market. Within two years the company had attained a 1 percent market share in Ontario, Canada's most populous province and largest beer market, and the brewery had doubled its capacity to 200,000 hectolitres. In conjunction with Stroh, the company began marketing Sleeman Cream Ale in Detroit, but it proved a tough sale even with Stroh's marketing efforts behind it. As a result, Sleeman decided to concentrate only on the Canadian market. He had no interest in going up against Labatt or Molson; in fact, Sleeman relied on Labatt and Molson to sell him their used equipment.
During the early 1990s Sleeman concentrated on adding new products and entering new Canadian markets. In 1992 the company introduced Sleeman Premium Light, a low-calorie lager. A year later the brewery returned to the family recipe book, unveiling Sleeman Original Dark, an all-natural, all-malt ale. Also in 1993 Sleeman began selling Sleeman Cream Ale and Sleeman Silver Creek Lager in British Columbia. A number of territories followed in 1994: Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec. French-speaking Quebec offered a particular challenge, however. The province marched to its own drummer, preferring ales over lagers, unlike the rest of the country. It also was not especially open to an Anglophone brand like Sleeman, but John Sleeman won over many of the residents by his willingness to serve as the brewery's spokesperson, despite his halting French. The result was tremendous growth in the sale of Sleeman products in Quebec over the next few years.
Sleeman bought back Stroh's interest in the company in 1994, and the production of Stroh brands returned to the United States. In that same year, Sleeman agreed to a reverse merger with Allied Strategies Inc., owner of Okanagan Spring Brewery, resulting in a company with a new name: Sleeman Breweries Ltd. It also could command better terms on financing, as banks that had once turned Sleeman down scrambled to earn his business. Moreover, the reverse merger with Allied Strategies, listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, provided Sleeman Breweries with access to the equity markets. In 1996 the company made a public offering of stock, the proceeds of which were used to fund further acquisitions. In 1998 Sleeman Breweries acquired Upper Canada Brewing Company and Brasserie Seigneuriale. Sleeman would continue to brew Upper Canada Lager and Upper Canada Dark Ale, but Rebellion Lager, Wheat, and Maple Brown Ale were discontinued.The company closed the decade by acquiring Shaftebury Brewing Company, the third largest craft-brewer in British Columbia, and by signing a new deal with Stroh, a 15-year licensing agreement to the Stroh family of brands in Canada. This allowed them to beef up their national distribution network, which in turn led to distribution agreements with foreign brewers such as Scotland's Scottish & Newcastle PLC and Boston Beer.
Sleeman Breweries began the new century acquiring another microbrewery, Maritime Beer Company. A year later Northern Goose Beer Company was added. A state-of-the-art canning system was added in 2002. Then, in 2004, Sleeman Breweries bought Quebec's largest microbrewery, Unibroue Inc. The company also forged new alliances in the early 2000s. It agreed to distribute Pilsner Urquell and Strongbow, and agreed to provide contract production for Sapporo products in the United States. The original 50,000 square foot plant had grown to over 120,000. However, in 2006 Sleeman agreed to a $400-million takeover by Sapporo. Over the previous few years, Sleeman Breweries had been ailing financially, in large part due to intense competition from premium imports and also from discount brands, and the brewery put itself up for sale and weighed offers. Chairman and CEO John Sleeman agreed to tender all of his shares to the bid, but remained Chairman and CEO.
With annual output of just over one million hectoliters, the Guelph plant now houses three separate dedicated production lines, with the keg line accounting for about five per cent of the output; the bottling line for about 30 per cent; and the canning line for the rest of beer production. Sustainability is important to Sleeman, which operates its own wastewater treatment plant on-site, uses 100% recyclable or reusable material. In 2013 the brand underwent a visual refresh, including introduction of a new logo, bottle label, can and carton graphics. Also in 2013, Sleeman closed their plant in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, which was formerly the Maritime Brewery plant. The modest production of 27,000 hectolitres of beer no longer fit the business model, and after failing to find a buyer for the facility, production was shifted to its much larger Guelph facility.
The annual Canadian Brewing Awards recognizes the best beers in Canada using blind taste tests. Most of the 2015 winners were craft beers; however, one of the winners was Sleeman Cream Ale, taking a Gold in the Cream Ale category.
Honey Brown boasts a rich copper colour with a creamy, off-white foam, creating a full-bodied lager with a touch of natural honey and a slightly sweet finish. The distinctive clover honey notes in this fine brew accent the aromas of toasted grain and caramel.
Ratebeer weighted average: 2.69 out of 5
Beer Advocate: 71 out of 100 (okay)
Sleeman Brewing and Malting
551 Clair Road West
Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1L 1E9
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