# Moosehead Breweries

> Moosehead Breweries is a sixth-generation, family-owned Canadian brewer based in Saint John, New Brunswick. It makes and markets Moosehead Lager, Moosehead Light, Radler, Cracked Canoe, Alpine Lager, James Ready and Small Batch beers; operates a taproom and tours; sells merchandise online; represents partner beverage brands in Canada; and provides high-volume contract brewing, packaging and distribution. Its moat is not scale alone but the combination of national reach, a durable Canadian identity and the freedom to make long-horizon choices without a multinational parent.

- **Founded:** 1867
- **Headquarters:** Saint John, Canada
- **Founders:** Susannah Oland (Founder and brewer), John Oland (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** Approximately 350 employees according to the supplied company data.
- **Products:** Moosehead Canadian Lager, Moosehead Light, Moosehead Radler, Cracked Canoe, Alpine Lager
- **Notable:** Remained under Oland family leadership for six generations since 1867., Became the last major brewery in Canada still owned by Canadians., Built national distribution across all provinces and territories and an export presence.

## Products & services

- **Moosehead Canadian Lager** — The 5% ABV flagship lager, introduced nationally and internationally in the late 1970s and now sold in cans and kegs.
- **Moosehead Light** — A crisp 4% ABV light lager associated with the East Coast.
- **Moosehead Radler** — A beer-and-fruit line led by Grapefruit Radler.
- **Cracked Canoe** — A premium ultra-light lager with 3.5% ABV and 100 calories.
- **Alpine Lager** — A European-style lager whose original recipe was slipped into production by P.W. Oland.
- **James Ready** — A value-oriented Canadian beer brand in the Moosehead portfolio.
- **Small Batch** — Rotating and limited beers made at the Saint John small-batch brewery, including East Coast IPA and taproom-only releases.
- **Taproom and brewery tours** — A ten-tap visitor experience, events and tours at the Saint John brewery.
- **Contract brewing and packaging** — End-to-end sourcing, brewing, quality control, can packaging and distribution for regional, national and global brands, with stated capacity of 25 million cases annually.
- **Merchandise ecommerce** — Direct online sales of apparel, accessories, limited merchandise and digital gift cards.

## Achievements

- Remained under Oland family leadership for six generations since 1867.
- Became the last major brewery in Canada still owned by Canadians.
- Built national distribution across all provinces and territories and an export presence.
- Opened the Small Batch Brewery and taproom in Saint John in 2018 after cancelling an over-budget waterfront concept.
- Developed a contract brewing operation with more than 20 years of experience and stated annual capacity of 25 million cases.
- Won Porter Airlines' beer partnership in 2024.
- Generated international attention in 2025 with the 1,461-can Presidential Pack.
- Completed the final bottle run in December 2025 as production shifted to cans and kegs.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Introduced Space Beer, a limited freeze-dried, non-alcoholic snack made from Moosehead Lager with Future Food Studio.
- **2025-12** — Ran the final bottles at the Saint John plant, completing the shift of the product lineup to cans and kegs.
- **2025-09** — Announced the bottle phaseout, citing that only 7% of Canadian beer sales were then in bottles versus 85% in cans.
- **2025-03** — Launched a C$3,490 Presidential Pack containing 1,461 cans, one for each day of the U.S. presidential term.
- **2024-12** — Became Porter's beer partner, supplying Moosehead Canadian Lager and Cracked Canoe across the airline's flights.

## Links

- Website: https://moosehead.ca
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mooseheadbreweries
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mooseheadlager
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MooseheadBeer1867
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moosehead/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moosehead/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/moosehead-breweries
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-23