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Henderson Brewing says the sports card company operated in Toronto for a brief period in the early 1930s, hence the tie-in with their beer series.

“We were pretty surprised to learn that O-Pee-Chee was at one time based in Toronto, let alone a Canadian company, so we really wanted to shine a light on it.” Henderson general manager Steve Himel said in a press release. “Plus I really love the nostalgia that these labels evoke – hockey and baseball cards were the currency of my youth, with shootsies, flipsies and ‘got-em, got-’em, need’em’ an important part of my social life in those days. And the gum . . . We toyed with the idea of trying to replicate that flavour in a beer, but we came to our senses”.

O-Pee-Chee Lager labels cleverly take their inspiration from vintage hockey cards, but the faces printed are not those of 1960s-era NHLers. Instead, there are 21 custom labels featuring Henderson Brewing employees.

As for the beer, it also has hockey appeal as an ideal post beer-league refresher. It’s 5 per cent alcohol and available while supplies last in 473 ml cans at the brewery, 128 Sterling Rd. in the Junction neighbourhood.

“This beer is meant to be light and real easy to drink.” said head brewer James Turco, “Think of it as the palette cleanser everyone needs after all the heavy eating and heavy drinking we all indulged in throughout December.”

Ides is a series of monthly one-offs celebrating snippets of Toronto – or in this case, London – history.