Sleeman Breweries

John H. Sleeman, from Cornwall, came to Upper Canada in 1834 and opened a brewery in 1836, later moving to Guelph. The family brewed there until 1933, when convictions for smuggling beer to the United States during Prohibition cost it its licence for 50 years. His great-great-grandson John W. Sleeman found the family recipe book and began brewing again in 1988. The new company bought several breweries, among them Unibroue in 2004, and Japan’s Sapporo bought Sleeman in 2006; it is Canada’s third-largest brewer. Sleeman Cream Ale, from a recipe George Sleeman first made in the late 1800s, is the BJCP’s Canadian example of the cream ale.