In 1833, John Kinder Labatt and his wife moved from Ireland to Ontario, Canada. They bought a farm near London - London, Ontario, that is, not England.

There, in 1847, Labatt and a partner, Sam Eccles, invested in the London Brewery. Five years later, Labatt bought out his partner and named the business after himself - John Labatt's Brewery.

By the mid-1930s, Labatt was ready to expand his operations beyond the Canadian border. After John K. Labatt died, the family business was carried on by John Labatt, Jr., and his son John S. Labatt.

The company released its best-selling beers in the early 1950s. The first light ale, sold for the first time in 1950, quickly became Canada's best-selling brand. A year later, Labatt launched its Pilsner Lager in Manitoba. The beer was nicknamed "Blue" for the color of its label, The nickname stuck, and by 1980 Blue was Canada's best-selling beer, a position it has held ever since.