The Bar Towel

Seemed like anyone who arrived by 9:30 opening time or just after got a bottle. Not at all the mayhem that surrounded Westy. Really well organized by Goose Island (not LCBO) staff, with numbered tickets, coffee and donuts, and free toques. Well done.

Agreed, the free items to keep the people in line happy were a nice touch.

Self-serve coffee was especially nice.

midlife crisis wrote:Seemed like anyone who arrived by 9:30 opening time or just after got a bottle. Not at all the mayhem that surrounded Westy. Really well organized by Goose Island (not LCBO) staff, with numbered tickets, coffee and donuts, and free toques. Well done.

There was enough for second bottles if you wanted to line up after and wait again too.

LCBO and Goose Island definitely both worked on the event. LCBO social media manager was there and the summerhill store manager was also there, both engaging with the Goose and Breakfast Television folks. Hope to see more LCBO coordinated releases in the future, easy location to get to compared to Queens Quay.

Anyone know if amsterdam tempest is coming back to the lcbo this year? Id like to keep my vertical going..

rfrf wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:Seemed like anyone who arrived by 9:30 opening time or just after got a bottle. Not at all the mayhem that surrounded Westy. Really well organized by Goose Island (not LCBO) staff, with numbered tickets, coffee and donuts, and free toques. Well done.

There was enough for second bottles if you wanted to line up after and wait again too.

Did anyone actually do that? I overheard an LCBO employee emphasizing the one bottle limit. Didn't know you could do that. Maybe it's best I didn't find out so as to avoid spending $70 on 1.3L of beer....

From what I heard, the Goose reps and some LCBO guys by the door were actually encouraging people to grab a second ticket and line back up to get a second bottle

I can confirm that some people did get a second bottle and that the GI staff explained to the front of the line that you could queue up again after your first bottle to get a second if you want. Both first-hand.

ercousin wrote:LCBO and Goose Island definitely both worked on the event. LCBO social media manager was there and the summerhill store manager was also there, both engaging with the Goose and Breakfast Television folks. Hope to see more LCBO coordinated releases in the future, easy location to get to compared to Queens Quay.

Fair enough. It just seemed to me that anyone who was engaging with customers in line and generally making it a more pleasant experience was Goose, not LCBO.

spinrsx wrote:Anyone know if amsterdam tempest is coming back to the lcbo this year? Id like to keep my vertical going..

I've heard rumours that there won't be a 2015 version. Personally I think that's crazy, but they also dodged my question about it on Twitter when I asked a couple of times.

I also want to keep my vertical going. Did a 2011/2013/2014 last year (couldn't get 2012, but we did find it in a bar a few weeks later and enjoyed it then) and they'd aged very nicely.

Every time I've had a tempest more than 2 years old, I didn't like it. The flights they did a couple years ago really proved that to me. To each their own, of course, but I liked it best with one year on it.

MeltedOzark wrote:

rfrf wrote:

midlife crisis wrote:Seemed like anyone who arrived by 9:30 opening time or just after got a bottle. Not at all the mayhem that surrounded Westy. Really well organized by Goose Island (not LCBO) staff, with numbered tickets, coffee and donuts, and free toques. Well done.

There was enough for second bottles if you wanted to line up after and wait again too.

Did anyone actually do that? I overheard an LCBO employee emphasizing the one bottle limit. Didn't know you could do that. Maybe it's best I didn't find out so as to avoid spending $70 on 1.3L of beer....

I heard an announcement while I was paying for my first bottle.

Unfortunately by the time my wife returned from my car, there weren't any tickets remaining.

I found it surprising, however, that ticket #209 was the final ticket handed out. It appeared as though there were at least a few bottles remaining as I left the store for the second time.

The event ran smoothly. The donuts were delicious. The coffee satisfying.

The only improvement I would make on this, an encouraged bottle share. I understand some needed to go to work, but line shares are among the greatest moments known to man.

Personally, I'd like to see a few more "flagship" stores in the province. As it is the LCB of ONTARIO, i don't think its fair to the rest of the province that only those in Toronto are lucky enough to get anything. I would have had to take the day off work and leave at 5 30 in the morning to get to Summerhill in any reasonable amount of time. Every one in the province contributes to their livelihood, but only the 'privileged' in Toronto get to reap the full benefit.