Well Sudbury, I’m sure you’ve made Bob and Doug McKenzie proud. Northern Breweries concocted a “Strange Brew” that apparently still affects many of us to this day. We tapped your memory banks and the nostalgia flowed.
As the Doran’s slogan went: “It’s great to be a Northerner!”
Before delving deeper into others’ memories, let us turn to the comment left on our website by reader Robert Fennell that succinctly encapsulates all of the memories left by readers.
For him, recapping the history of Northern Breweries brought back many memories.
“The line on a draft glass at the bars, the rule you could only have one on the table in front of you at a time. The draft ball that you had to finish so it wouldn't go flat. The payment the next morning for that exercise. It certainly was a Northern experience.”
Dan Bonhomme wrote to us that he believes to this day that the “Northern Ale draft beer, served in all the local establishments, was excellent,” and, in fact, he continues, “My friends and I were shocked at how much better draft beer was in Northern Ontario, compared to the Labatt's and Molson draft served in the south.”
Of course, in these times where the costs of products are much discussed, one of the first memory chains that appeared after our previous article involved the superbly low cost of Northern at the time. A few of our readers even seemed to be competing to point out the best prices from back in the day.
Garfield Hodgins “remember(s) when a 24 case of beer cost $5.50. My buddy and I would split it for $2.75 each … good times.”
Edward Deschamps frequented a local watering hole in the long gone Borgia district, “15 cents a glass (at the) Paris Hotel, 26 Borgia Street.” Robert Paradis countered that he “never saw 15 cents but remembers 75 cents at the Plaza Hotel in Minnow Lake.” He continued that “not only were the kegs stored really cold but the ice lines from the basement to the taps made for some of the coldest drafts I have ever had.”
A couple of our other readers wrote in and reminded us that, as Ron Young ruminated, “Their draught beer was … my rite of passage to adulthood.” For Ron, it “came on a tray full of draught at the Frontenac during happy hour.” While Don Brisebois “grew up (ahem) with Northern draft (for) 10 cents a glass at the Coulson.” And, Gerald Bronson enjoyed “Northern ale draught (at) 30 cents per glass and a chuck wagon (at) $1.00 at the Caswell men's bar. That was lunch in Grade 12.“
One of our readers, Mr. L. Lemieux, who worked for the company 60 years ago, sent us in a nice encapsulation of a day in his life as a brewery employee, and also the struggle of being employed in the coldest workplace in Sudbury, in the dead of summer.
“I worked at Doran’s in the early ’60s as a student, mainly in the Crush soft drink shop behind Doran’s. Two flavors, I can remember, were Orange and Grape Crush. On occasion, I would work in the ‘Cold Room’ where draft kegs were filled.
“I remember taking the bus at 7:30 in the morning on a hot 80-degree day dressed for winter. Temperature in the cold room was a constant 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I received many stares wearing my winter parka.
“On Saturdays, I would assist drivers to deliver kegs to area hotels. My aunt, Ms. Lemieux, had worked in the main office for many years and was instrumental in me securing that summer job.“
Etienne Saint-Aubin remembered a time Doran’s displayed excellent corporate citizenry.
“When our water supply was tainted with algae that gave it a foul taste, Doran's demonstrated remarkable civic mindedness by providing us with free pure water to drink. I am grateful to this day.”
Dennis Tagliabracci also recalled this situation. “Likely from a few years into the 60s … I recall West Enders getting drinking water from the Alder side of the building when a boil water warning was announced.”
Now, as for Northern’s ubiquitous “draft ball,” many of you have your memories of that white sphere of beer. Some of those from while it still contained its amber liquid (Yelling out “Anybody gotta pump?" was part of René Frappier’s memories of residence life at Laurentian University) while others (as one of the ads included with the previous article showed) have impressed us with your crafting prowess after the fact.
Robin Flaxman wrote in that they “used to tow one behind the canoe on canoe trips.” While Merle Smith says that they “would get a draft ball and had to drink it all so it would not go flat. In a big tub filled with ice.“ For Allan Timlin this brought back “memories of good buddies, drives to Manitoulin, waterskiing, fishing, wood cutting, mosquitos and beach bonfires.”
Eric Legendre wrote in that he “remember(s) we used to buy their draft balls every year during our slo pitch playoff weekend. We used to bring them to the ballfields at Terry Fox and have some in the bleachers before the city started cracking down on alcohol consumption at the fields. This would have been almost 25 years ago now! Oh the memories! The good old days of the Men's Industrial Slo Pitch League!“
A reader on our website, SilverDelta, believes that “the draft ball was a great way of serving multiple beers remotely without having to carry as much out from camp or a party.”
David Mäkelä recalls that as a youngster, the job of he and others “at camp were to keep the beer flowing to my dad and uncles. (Except) we drank so much right off the tap, I'm surprised that the adults even got a buzz. My cousins, brother and I? well...”
Gerry McIntaggart wrote that “they were a big hit in Toronto at my hospitality suites … went through so many draft balls I even purchased an extra pump just to be safe and I still have it in its original packaging. Too bad they stopped selling them.” (Not so fast, Gerry, read on…)
Another website commenter (and we shall forgive the beer brand reference in your user name while commenting) “Make Er a Laker” let us all know that “draft balls are still available in the Soo and Northern still exists.”
The company he is referring to is the Northern Superior Brewing Company, which took over the old Northern Breweries facility in Sault Ste Marie back in 2015.
Now, as for your beer ball craftwork, some of our readers got pretty imaginative with their uses of the now empty spheroid. Jim Reid wrote of still having “two halves in the hunt camp sauna for basins, and a couple used for salad bowls.” Johan Montgomery’s “neighbour used the old draft ball as a cover for his outdoor lights at the entrance to his driveway.”
Dan Oechsler (with probably my favourite use) wrote the following. “I was a buddy’s best man for his wedding and I got the guys at Rainbow Concrete to fill it with concrete and put a chain in it. Tied it on his ankle for his bachelor party. Can't remember what it weighed but the Rainbow guys wrote it on the draft ball.”
There were a couple of times over the years where strikes affected the Brewers Retail locations across the province becoming a boon for the brewery on Lorne Street, since they had their own retail store to sell to the general public.
As Terry Dupuis wrote (and this could have been a great slogan during those times): “Northern Ale … The beer strike's pal.”
Harvey Wyers recalled that “Northern Brewers was a very busy place one year when the Brewers Retail workers went on strike as it was the only place you could buy beer. People from all over the North travelled to Sudbury to stock up.” Due to the sheer number of people coming to town for our homegrown brew, as Mike Laplante remembers “during the strike in the 1980s … you needed to bring in a case of empties to get a full case back. They had run out of bottles.“
Wayne O'Neill remembers a beer strike where he ended up playing beer-runner to supply a thirsty crowd in cottage country.
“When I first came up to Sudbury in 1968,” he wrote, “there was a beer strike in Ontario, so Doran's was the only supplier for a while. I'd fill my car (a 1963 Chrysler) with Doran's and deliver to my cottage friends (and in-laws) in the Orillia area. I was quite the hero then.”
Of course, he continued with a little name dropping as well. “I have to brag a bit … Mike Walton, Pete Mahovlich, Derek Sanderson … even Bobby Orr were recipients. Oh, the good ol' days.”
As a part of his memories of Doran’s, Dennis Tagliabracci recalled his days as a mini-bootlegger of sorts (boy, the times were different then),
“When I was a kid I’d bring a wire milk bottle container with six clean quarts (half my size I was a little guy) to the Alder side. They’d fill each bottle with draft, put tops that I’d pick up at the dairy right there on each of them and I’d deliver them to where I was told. Made way more than my paper route paid or shovelling snow or cutting grass or collecting bottles all combined ever did … Bootlegger at six. All the old Italian guys loved me!“
In an interesting parallel to the Canadian film “Strange Brew” (where former NHL hockey great Jean "Rosey" LaRose, in his retirement, works at the brewery visited by the McKenzie Brothers), Mark Levesque wrote, “When my father-in-law, Sam Bettio, got traded to the Sudbury Wolves from the AHL, part of the deal was that he got a summer job as a beer salesman for Doran's. He told me Mr. Doran had a beer tap right in his office and attributed the quality to good northern water.”
Now, speaking of readily accessible beer within the friendly confines of the brewery on Lorne, a few readers wrote in to mention an interesting quirk that existed in the cafeteria at Doran’s.
Roseanna Chevrier-Sweet shared with us that her “dad and uncle worked there for many years … I remember dad saying that they had a machine that dispensed bottles of beer for a nickel.” To this, Dan Oechsler added, “My dad worked there in the ’60s and on his first morning, he phoned home to tell my mom that they were having a beer with lunch.”
One other reader, Kevin de Groot, elaborated on this memory in his response to a person who remembered free beer being the order of the day. “Actually, it was 10 cents in the lunchroom,” he wrote. “The bottles were in one of those old Coca-Cola coolers. The money went to the employees’ social fund. The hospitality room had free beer.”
As for the hospitality room, within the brewery complex, Doran’s had a special room set aside for free refreshments. Whether it was after a tour of the plant or an event taking place on site, one could always find a group of people hanging out and enjoying a draft or three.
Allan Makela remembers that “when the Boat Operator card became law, we did the exam in the Courtesy Building, then went into the brewery for refreshments.”
Another reader, Dan Rivet, “remember(s) going there for a tour of their brewery and then to their hospitality lounge for some taste tests.”
In fact, your author has a photo of his grandfather along with nine other gentlemen (in a posed photo) possibly after such a tour, in the hospitality room at Doran’s, each holding their free bottles of beer and a large “Silver Foam” sign. Some people have said that they used to do the tour when they couldn't afford to buy beer.
Well dear readers, the last draft ball has run dry and it’s time to stumble on home. Thank you for sharing with us your memories. See you here again in two weeks for another trip back through time.
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
