Shawinigan Handshake

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Hopefully you're all enjoying a fantastic craft beer to celebrate. We were at a BBQ yesterday and I enjoyed a Grand River Tailset ginger ale, myself. So good.

Jeff was a sweetheart and bought me a beer recently because he knew I'd like the name.

Quebec brewery Le Trou du Diable has given us the Shawinigan Handshake - a wheat beer with former prime minister Jean Chretien on the label.

Jeff knows I've always liked Chretien. I can't really explain why, but I liked that he didn't take shit from anybody - including protesters.

The beer apparently got approval from Chretien himself (another reason to like him, even if you're not a Liberal), although the label on the brewer's website has him choking Don Cherry. The label I got has him choking the devil (perhaps to bring more attention to the brewery - which translates to the Devil's Hole).

Isaac Tremblay, co-owner of the brewery, told the Toronto Star it's not a political label.

"It's about having a great person from Shawinigan who always kept Shawinigan in his heart," Tremblay said. "Jean Chretien is also a person with a keen sense of humour and a person that is very fun to have a beer with."

Now, as for the beer - it unfortunately was not for me. I like my beers malty and this one was a touch too hoppy for me. That said - Jeff was a big fan of it and ended up drinking it. He said it tasted "like a Quebec beer," and he really liked it.