Burdock Brewery Marks 50 Years of The Last Waltz With Limited-Edition Golden Lager

Burdock Brewery is celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Last Waltz with a limited-edition Golden Lager inspired by The Band. The Toronto brewery drew on the group’s Canadian roots and its own connection to live music for the special release. The beer brings together two distinctly Canadian stories: The Band’s musical legacy and Burdock’s passion for bringing people together over music and beer.

In a press release, Burdock Brewery announced that The Last Waltz golden lager is available as a limited-release at the LCBO at $4.35.

It will be recalled that fifty years ago, The Band took the stage for one of the most celebrated farewell concerts in music history: The Last Waltz. And that is what Burdock Brewery is raising a glass to – with The Last Waltz, a special limited-edition Golden Lager created to commemorate the anniversary. 

On November 25, 1976, The Band gathered at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom for what was billed as their farewell concert appearance. The American Thanksgiving-night performance was a star-studded affair bringing together Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson alongside their group of friends and collaborators including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, The Staple Singers, Dr. John and Ronnie Hawkins. 

The evening was captured by director Martin Scorsese and became the 1978 concert film The Last Waltz, which helped redefine what a concert documentary could be and preserved the performance as a defining moment in rock history. For Toronto-based Burdock Brewery, the anniversary also hits close to home. 

While The Band became an international force, much of its story began in Canada. Four of its five members, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, were Canadian, and the musicians first came together playing behind Arkansas-born Ronnie Hawkins on the Canadian music circuit before eventually becoming The Band. 

That connection between Canadian music, community and gathering made The Last Waltz a natural moment for Burdock to celebrate. Music has long been part of the brewery’s identity as Burdock’s Bloor Street home brings a brewery, a restaurant, and an intimate live music venue together under one roof, creating a place where beer and music are meant to be experienced side by side. 

“We wanted this beer to reflect The Band’s roots, so we sourced malt from a small maltster in the Hudson Valley,” says Matthew Park, Founder of Burdock Brewery. “It’s a small but meaningful nod to the region where The Band developed the sound that would influence generations of musicians.”

Made specifically for the 50th anniversary, The Last Waltz Golden Lager is a limited-edition release from Burdock Brewery, inspired by a concert that has brought people together for five decades. 

Style: Golden Lager 

Release: Limited edition 

Availability: LCBO 

Release Date: August 30, 2026 

Format: 473ml can 

Price: $4.35