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Summerhill Growler/Craft Beer Destination Store

This forum is for discussing everything beer retail: LCBO, Beer Store, Grocery Stores and Indie Stores.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

DeMarco wrote:what a snobby thing to say "kill the cool".
http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/20 ... -beer.html
Sounds like weenie Ontario pretensions, I agree.

Growler fill stations are not so exclusive in Buffalo, some gas stations have 'em.
The only beers that will be allowed in the Growler program are beers that the LCBO isn’t selling in bottles or cans, and customers will use an LCBO-branded growler.
LOL such control freaks. At least the growler bottles are sold at cost.
In Beerum Veritas

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alsiem
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Post by alsiem »

Unfortunately, I was left a bit underwhelmed. I had mistakenly thought this was all about Ontario Craft beer and getting all Ontario craft beer SKUs in one place. So take these complaints as made through that lens.

First, I was surprised that they still had beer at the north side doors. When you walk through to the new store, the first thought is why is there no beer here. You can see growler fills in the middle and then about 8 products. There is a random selection of beer in front. Some german wheat beers, a 6 pack of Parallel 49 Gypsy tears, duvel. So an average LCBO beer collection and the merchandisers love of empty space.

As you go in, finally you see that there is some beer off to the left. The actual selection is quite good. I was looking for listings that I hadn’t seen before. I did see Lake of Woods and Hot Rail and actually picked up a Block 3 saison. The space available will not allow them to stock a huge selection so I don’t expect them to ever get an exhaustive inventory. As I mentioned, I was looking for things like BTP’s Pink Fuzz which are only available at few LCBOs near them.

The growler fills are cool. I was very tempted to get a swamp juice growler but I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Obviously this program will live and die by the types of beers they have on offer. I think they started with 3 good ones (all about the pos).

To the right, they once again had a random selection. There is an entire small fridge of Belgian beers. There was a display of Stone beers. There were a few artful pyramids of beer. It was repeated if I recall correctly. Revenge of the Ginger was in the fridges to the left, in a pyramid of about 9 cans to the right and it was probably also available at the north side doors.

Ultimately, I felt that this was more about a change in marketing strategy for beer. The store is attractive and it’s nice that they are positioning beer as a premium product like a vintages section. However, for those that just want access to a lot of great beer, there’s not enough product being presented. For those that already have access to a good LCBO, the growler station is the only improvement.

midlife crisis
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Post by midlife crisis »

I went today and thought it was great. The best improvement in Ontario beer retailing since the advent of the seasonal releases, to be sure. Credit where it is due. By all appearances it also appears to be off to a roaring start. Apparently the Mill Street growler offering is about to run dry after only three days. My only (slight) complaint was that I couldn't sample anything, since it was before 11:00 a.m., and each person is limited to two samples, which is a bit daft when there are three beers on offer. Samples are, indeed, just one single solitary ounce.

I think the complaints above that you have to search a bit for different beers the store may be carrying are minor quibbles. They are doing their best with the space they have. As for figuring out which beers the store has in stock at any particular moment, that is what Drinkvine is for!

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saints_gambit
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Post by saints_gambit »

The impression I got is that they were loading those shelves for image during the opening. I'm sure they'll sort out what goes in which part of the store, but in the meantime they sorta just needed stuff to be there.
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atomeyes
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Post by atomeyes »

i'm hoping the growler program will evolve but it will likely only be a fraction of the program our american friends have.
it's almost laughable that we aren't getting growler fills of american or other cnd craft beer. it actually highlights the area that is in a need for a major overhall: draught distribution.

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northyorksammy
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Post by northyorksammy »

There were three growlers on "helping small breweries" (sic). They were Mill Street, Great Lakes, and Amsterdam.
The lines are I was told 180 feet away
ALl growlers are from great Lakes and they take them all back to clean there
LCBO officer: this is the plan for several large LCBOs (repeated over and over)
LCBO: we have grown 60% over 4 years. Note that is per year only about 10% v. craft growth in the US of 15-20% depending on source PER YEAR.
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napoleon
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Post by napoleon »

northyorksammy wrote:There were three growlers on "helping small breweries" (sic). They were Mill Street, Great Lakes, and Amsterdam.
The lines are I was told 180 feet away
ALl growlers are from great Lakes and they take them all back to clean there
LCBO officer: this is the plan for several large LCBOs (repeated over and over)
LCBO: we have grown 60% over 4 years. Note that is per year only about 10% v. craft growth in the US of 15-20% depending on source PER YEAR.
I know that Mill Street especially is not a small brewery. GL and Amsterdam are also quite well-established. I wonder though if breweries much smaller than this have the capacity to participate in the program. Most of the properly smaller breweries that I've visited in Toronto have just enough capacity to operate their own onsite sales (taps, growlers, or bottles) as well as maybe send to a few licensees. I figure most of these breweries just don't want to bother with it. I imagine there's some substantial cost overhead.

On the growler side, it sounds a bit insane that Great Lakes is their cleaning plan. I'm sure that works for having one location, but scalability is definitely an issue.

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spinrsx
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Post by spinrsx »

Ottawa will have lcbo gowler fill ups soon!


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