Central City Red Racer

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:20 am

GregClow wrote:On that note - if anyone has an extra can or two that they can spare, please let me know, as I didn't think it would sell out so fast and assumed that it was general list, so I totally missed the boat.

Gren, I'll part with a can (or two) in the name of the beer brotherhood. PM me if interested.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:40 am

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:If we had a proper retail model this shit wouldn't happen.

What's more amazing is so MANY pre-existing Red Racer fans were ready to clean this stuff out in record time. Where did they all come from if this IPA had never been here before?

Doesn't matter really, those buyers just do exist here. Our 'retail' fails to recognize & take advantage of this.

Ale's What Cures Ya · Post by **Ale's What Cures Ya** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:47 am

Belgian wrote:
Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:If we had a proper retail model this shit wouldn't happen.
What's more amazing is so MANY pre-existing Red Racer fans were ready to clean this stuff out in record time. Where did they all come from if this IPA had never been here before?

Doesn't matter really, those buyers just do exist here. Our 'retail' fails to recognize & take advantage of this.

Very true. Although I sincerely doubt the LCBO will ever adjust to how quickly these products sell.

zane9 · Post by **zane9** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:44 am

Years ago, when I watched for new wine releases and shopped the Vintages section, many of us would line up on the Saturday morning of a new release. We knew a certain selection would sell out that day.

Wisely, in my opinion, some of the LCBO stores limited the purchase to 2 bottles. This probably pissed off some of the truly greedy who would otherwise buy out the store's entire inventory.

I don't know if the LCBO will ever be well informed enough to understand the popularity of some of its beer releases and act accordingly.

I was in the Trafalgar-Cornwall store in Oakville last month. I talked with the Manager about a specific craft beer release. He told me a customer came in, demanded all the cases of the product -- which was not yet out on the store shelf -- and bought it all. That was the store's entire allocation and no more was coming in.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:11 am

RayOhm wrote:
SteelbackGuy wrote:Geeez, glad I got my share. Musta had lame ass hoarders and restaurants buy it all up.
ha, for once I agree with one of your signatures.

Once is better than nonce!

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:40 am

Belgian wrote:
Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:If we had a proper retail model this shit wouldn't happen.
What's more amazing is so MANY pre-existing Red Racer fans were ready to clean this stuff out in record time. Where did they all come from if this IPA had never been here before?

Doesn't matter really, those buyers just do exist here. Our 'retail' fails to recognize & take advantage of this.

It was available last year through private order.

biegaman · Post by **biegaman** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:02 pm

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:If we had a proper retail model this shit wouldn't happen.

That's simply not true. I think it's more the reality of scarcity economics at play here. In any event, you'd be wrong to think it doesn't happen as much or as often elsewhere: I've been living in California all summer and I assure you it's no different here when it comes to limited, special releases. A recent Firestone Parabola release (hardly the first one this year) sold out in mere hours - and the store owner limited it to 2 bottles per person and purposely hid them out of sight behind the counter so only those who actually knew to ask for it would get some. It's just demand exceeding supply.

Ola Dubh. Mad Tom. Even Corne du Diable - all point in case. Sales changed substantially after the initial wave and/or after distribution increased.

If anything, I might argue that it's less fair in California. Some of these special releases you have to be a member of the bottle store's 'club' to buy - not anyone can walk in off the street and get Parabola at certain stores. You're also at the mercy of their pricing... the bar and bottle shop owners and brewers in the Bay Area all know each other, they know what one another are charging and they know when they have the leg because they're the only place that has a certain beer that the other stores don't. Some definitely exploit that with lop-sided pricing. But again, that's just the economic principle of scarcity at work for ya.

In California as in Ontario, there's also the issue of allocation. For beers like Firestone Parabola, there are no shortage of stores who order it in - lord knows how many in the Bay Area alone - but of course only limited supply of it. Some stores get as little as one case. That's how it is. Others - like Whole Foods - buy in mass and allocate as they see fit to different stores. But either way, the independent, private model in California often has very similar results to what we see in Ontario with the LCBO system with regards to people hoarding, anxiously tracking web sites for arrival dates, insanely quick sell outs, etc.

Kegs are no different. I'm sure it's happened to everyone... a bar's website would advertise (or sometimes not even advertise) that they have a limited amount of whatever beer and by the next day the keg would be tapped-out. I'm still upset about missing out on the Bruery's Humulus Lager - who would have thought so many people at AT&T Park (where the Giants play, not even a beer geek stomp) would see that on a menu and try it. The keg lasted less than a day in a venue which has 23 other taps, 2 cask lines and countless concession stands in the ballpark... and the number one seller is Bud Light and Pacifico!

Ale's What Cures Ya · Post by **Ale's What Cures Ya** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 5:14 pm

biegaman: While I will not argue that special releases will sell quite quickly south of the border, when it comes to Red Racer we're talking about a beer that is regularly brewed year round and should be available year round. This beer should not be a special release.

The LCBO, in its never ending shortsightedness, decided to order barely enough to cover the GTA, let alone the province, and has apparently not opted to make this product a regular listing.

This is the biggest issue. Now that Red Racer has virtually sold out, we have ridiculously few products to act as a suitable substitute. I'm willing to bet that at whatever fine beer stores you frequent in the beer Mecca known as California if Stone IPA is sold out on any given day, you would have at least a dozen admirable substitutes to choose from. We do not have those options here, which is absurd and is directly the fault of our antiquated system.

Weebay · Post by **Weebay** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 5:40 pm

Um, no.

Keep6 ordered as much as they could, the brewery is very popular, and they could only send so much to Ontario while keeping their other markets happy. (IE Alberta, Illinois, etc)

sprague11 · Post by **sprague11** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 6:43 pm

icemachine wrote:I was talking to a manager at Promenade today (the 16 cans there are on hold), supposedly QQ has put in an order for an extra 120 cases.

Talked to them a few days ago as well and was told the same thing. Luckily I got just shy of a case worth when it came out.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:27 pm

As great as the Red Racer is my hope for the LCBO's next BC import is this one;
http://communities.canada.com/theprovin ... ery-7.aspx

sprague11 · Post by **sprague11** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:37 pm

One of my favorite bottles that you sent me. Would love more Fat Tug.

spinrsx · Post by **spinrsx** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 7:43 pm

biegaman: how do I get a job/life like yours where I get to live in California all summer?

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:24 pm

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:The LCBO, in its never ending shortsightedness, decided to order barely enough to cover the GTA, let alone the province, and has apparently not opted to make this product a regular listing.

A listing status is very hard to get with the LCBO...especially submitting a product with no retail history in Ontario. Now this first shipment has probably exceeded the sales performance forecast, the agent is in a stronger position to apply and be granted a listing status.

It's not really in the interest of the LCBO & especially the agent to get a listing straight away...there are performance ratios to adhere to and if you fail the product gets de-listed, and the agent loses out financially and good luck getting that listing status back.

Sanchex · Post by **Sanchex** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:01 pm

the reports of red racer being virtually sold out are greatly exaggerated. i was just at queens quay lcbo and they have atleast 50 cases stacked up right by the door and another 9 in the cooler. get it while you can.