The Bar Towel

GregClow · Joined: 10 Aug 2001 Posts: 2930 Location: Parkdale

While I'm not a huge fan of his column (it focuses too much on mainstream beers & marketing gimmicks for my taste), I still read Aonghus Kealy's "Suds" column in Metro each week, and I found the theme of this week's column interesting.

He reports on the three Ontario beers that won medals at last week's World Beer Cup - Walkerville Lager, Great Lakes Black Jack and Formosa Genuine Draft - and suggests that doing a themed mix pack of those three beers to tie in with the upcoming World Cup of soccer would be a good idea.

I wouldn't personally be that interested in this mixed pack - while the three beers are fine for their styles, they're not amongst my favourites. But it got me thinking that doing some Ontario Craft Brewers mixed packs might be a good way to get their beers more notice. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who would be more willing to pick up a pack of beer they've never tried if there were a bunch of different beers in there, rather than 6 or 12 or 24 of the same beer that they might hate.

So, assuming the logistics of such a thing could be worked out, what would be your ideal mixed pack (6, 12 or 24) of OCB beers? I need to think about my picks for a bit, but I'm curious to see what others come up with.

EDIT: Just to keep things interesting, I'd suggest a limit of one beer per brewery, and the inclusion of at least one lager in the mix.

EDIT 2: Regarding questions of bottle size and draught-only beers - for the sake of this experiment, assume that every beer brewed in Ontario could be made available in a standard 355 ml bottle. We're just dreaming up ideas here...

tupalev · Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 1010 Location: K-W

I've seen this sort of thing at Premier before promoting upstate New York brewers (or something like that) and thought it was a great idea.

Hmm, off to think about my 6 pack...
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lister · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 1022 Location: Toronto

Call mine the "Summer Fun Packs." Boring for most of you. Nice for me. Accessible for Joe Sixpack. (No brewery repeats until the 24 pack which needs more thought.)

6 pack
Church Key Cranberry Maple
Muskoka Honey Brown
St Andre
Steam Whistle (King, Stratford, Stonehammer can be subs)
Magnotta Wunderweise (replaced with Denison's if it ever gets bottled)
Cool Millenium Buzz

12 pack
Mill St Organic (regular ISB bottle not that stupid itty bitty one)
Amsterdam Framboise
Cameron's Auburn
Church Key Cranberry Maple
Muskoka Honey Brown
St Andre
Steam Whistle (King, Stratford, Stonehammer can be subs)
Magnotta Wunderweise (replaced with Denison's if it ever gets bottled)
Cool Millenium Buzz
Brick Honey Red
Robert Simpson Confederation Ale

(I realize that St Andre is contract brewed by Cool. That doesn't count for repeat brewery picks.)
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Jon Walker · Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:51 am Post subject:

There's a difference between what I'd pick for myself and what I'd suggest for the market. There's also a difference between what a brewery makes and what it bottles. Mine (albeit some not in bottles yet) would probably be;

Mill Street Tankhouse
Granite best bitter
Church Key Holy Smoke
Durham XXX
Dennison's Dunkel
Black Oak Hop Bomb

GregClow · Joined: 10 Aug 2001 Posts: 2930 Location: Parkdale

tupalev · Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 1010 Location: K-W

My personal 6:

Dennison's Weissbier
Wellington Imperial Stout
Scotch Irish Katarina
Black Oak Nutcracker
Church Key Holy Smoke
Mill St. Tankhouse
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Jon Walker · Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 10:07 am Post subject:

Okay;

For the Molbatt crowd;

St. Andre
Mill Street Organic
Steam Whistle
Robert Simpson
Walkerville
King pilsner

The biggest problem with the whole idea is that you have 13 (?) breweries who all want equal representation under the OCB banner. How do you put a 6 or 12 pack together that represents everyone? A 24 is not a sampler and is unlikely to sell...even then, which breweries get to have two beers represented while others only get 1?

Then there's the other issue of different bottle sizes...how can they all effectively be put in one case without risking breakage? The only practical way for this "mixer" pack to be feasible packaging wise is if all the OCB breweries agree on a standard bottle...which I doubt will happen.

tupalev · Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 1010 Location: K-W

Well, to attract the market, I would make slight changes (to products that are bottled year round):

Black Oak Pale
Mill St. Tankhouse
Scotch Irish Sgt Major
Church Key Holy Smoke
Wellington Imperial Stout

Having a hard time with the 6th without repeating a brewery. Probably should have a lager in here if we are representing the Province, easy choice would have been Creemore, but that somehow feels dirty. I'd be happy with something from Durham, although I'm not sure what they bottle (I think I have only had their products on tap). Does Kingston Brewpub bottle the Dragon's Breath Pale? That would be my 6th choice if they do.

No sense dumbing it down, show them our best, with a few different styles represented.
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GregClow · Joined: 10 Aug 2001 Posts: 2930 Location: Parkdale

Here is my market-oriented 12 pack:

King Brewery Pilsner
Ste. Andre Lager
Denison’s Weissbier
Robert Simpson Confederation Ale
Church Key Northumberland
Black Oak Nut Brown
Hockley Dark
Granite Brewery Best Bitter OR Durham Signature Ale (can't decide...)
Mill Street Tankhouse Ale
Scotch Irish Sgt. Major
Wellington Imperial Russian Stout
Amsterdam Framboise

My intention is to cover a lot of different styles and flavour profiles, with enough "lighter" beers to draw in non-craft beer drinkers, and enough "darker"/"stronger"/more unique beers to give them a taste of what else is available without scaring them off.

Plus a fruit beer for lister.

I would also include some tasting & food pairing notes in the package, and perhaps a suggested sampling order.

If I have more time later, I may try to come up with a 24 that includes a beer from every brewery in the OCB.

GregClow · Joined: 10 Aug 2001 Posts: 2930 Location: Parkdale

inertiaboy · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 534 Location: Steve, Ottawa West

GregClow · Joined: 10 Aug 2001 Posts: 2930 Location: Parkdale

lister · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 1022 Location: Toronto

lagerale · Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 453 Location: west side

Not sure if all these brewers are part of OCB, but for what its worth:

For a lager six pack:
Camerons Premium Lager
Mill St. Organic
F&M Stonehammer
Churchkey Lift Lock lager
Neustadt Lager
Old Credit Pilsner

And for the cream ale fan:
Cameron's cream ale
Churchkey Northhumberland Ale
KLB Cream Ale
Muskoka Cream Ale
Niagara's best premium blonde ale
Wellington SPA
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DAN-D-MAN · Joined: 29 Aug 2001 Posts: 248 Location: Toronto

I like the idea of themed packs, such as the:

Nature's Goodness 6-pack:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Church Key Cranberry Maple
KLB Raspberry Wheat
Amsterdam Framboise
Granite Ringberry Ale
Heritage Seasonal (Passion Brew or Maple Bush)
F&M Eramosa Honey Wheat

Off The Wall Variety 6-pack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Church Key Holy Smoke
Scotch Irish Corporal Punishment
Neustadt 10W30
Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout
Durham Homegrown Hemp Ale
Mill Street Coffee Porter

The Darker Side 6-pack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Black Oak Nut Brown
Cameron's Dark 266
Neustadt 10W30 Dark Ale
Hockley Valley Dark
F&M Stonehammer Dark
Heritage Traditional Dark Ale

It would be awesome to see such packs materialize. OCB... make it happen!