Last night I was having some beers with friend Troy Burtch, and the topic of beer at fine restaurants came up. He had just written a post about the subject, and we both agreed that generally it is quite frustrating that many Toronto restaurants pride themselves on food and wine, but seem to not care about beer.

What is even more frustrating is the existence of a Ontario law that could make the fine-dining experience for a beer connoisseur significantly better, if the law only applied to beer. That law is the Bring Your Own Wine endorsement of a liquor license, regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

This law, introduced a couple of years ago, promised to bring “exciting new choices in Ontario”. It allows consumers to bring a bottle of commercially-produced wine to have at a restaurant and take the rest home if they don’t finish it. Restaurants need to apply to the ACGO for the endorsement added to their liquor license, and generally they charge a corkage fee. According to Bringmywine.ca, there are a fair number of restaurants in Toronto that allow consumers to bring their own wine to a restaurant. I’ve done it myself and it’s quite convenient.

Why this is so aggravating for beer fans is that the law applies to wine alone. Beer is not permitted whatsoever. The government said at the time of the law announcement that it is “good for restaurants and it is good for consumers”. Well, it’s good for wine consumers, not beer consumers. Not only does this law completely disrespect beer as an accompaniment to a meal, it prevents connoisseurs to enjoy a good beer with a meal considering that many restaurants in Toronto do not take the time to offer a decent beer selection.

Now I’m not saying that it should be allowed to bring a two-four of beer and sit it next to your table. Perhaps that was one of the reasons that beer was excluded from the law in the first place. But there’s no reason that the law should exclude beer that comes in the same packaging format as wine. The LCBO offers as a part of their general list 750mL bottles of Unibroue Blanche de Chambly, Maudite and Fin du Monde, and also the excellent Belgian Trappist beer Chimay. Having a bottle of one of these beers with a meal is just like having a wine. So why does the law prohibit consumers from bringing their own beer?

On the surface it seems to be just another example of wine being treated as a premium beverage over beer – that wine is meant for fine dining and beer is not. The Government of Ontario has shown in the past to favour wine over beer, and this is helps to add credence that theory. But the law also works against small and specialty brewers, who tend to be the ones who produce beer in packaging formats similar to wine.

It is nice to see restaurants such as beerbistro who work to level the playing field between beer and wine when it comes to fine dining. But there are many restaurants that just don’t seem interested in offering a good beer list. Allowing consumers to bring a bottle of beer for dinner might demonstrate to restaurateurs that a good beer list is worth maintaining. But more importantly it would give consumers the “choice” that the Government of Ontario promised when it introduced the law. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Beer connoisseurs in Ontario are let down once again.