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Bellwoods Brewery

Discuss anything and everything about craft brewers from Ontario here.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

napoleon
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Post by napoleon »

Sadly it seems like the bottle shop has hit that summer lull where demand exceeds supply. They only have Wizard Wolf and Stay Classy in bottles now. Good quality beers, just not something I get too excited about.

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DeMarco
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Post by DeMarco »

Time to bring back the growlers Bellwoods!

napoleon
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Post by napoleon »

DeMarco wrote:Time to bring back the growlers Bellwoods!
I bet there's almost zero chance of that. They've invested in a bottling line already. I would presume they're conserving beer so that they can actually sell what they make onsite.

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DeMarco
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Post by DeMarco »

yeah I know, ontario is also very weird about their growler rules, and considering bellwoods sells their glasses of beer for a lot more than what you can buy to go, it just wouldn't happen, or be ideal.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

Yes dimarco I seem to recall Bellwoods quit growlers for good when they committed equipment, storage space and effort to bottling. And you're right they can pretty much sell draft inventory at a far greater markup to anything else, not to mention the necessary tips and food sales it attracts.
In Beerum Veritas

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DeMarco
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Post by DeMarco »

*DeMarco



Fyi, from the Bellwoods FAQ
Q. I miss growlers, man, those were the BEST! How come you hate making me feel happy and don’t sell them anymore?

A. Growlers. We have a love hate relationship with them. On one hand, y’alls love them so much. On the other, there’s that whole aforementioned lack of space issue, and a reduced fill quality to contend with. Growlers are big and they take up space — plus, we don’t have the proper equipment to clean them. We tried to do it all by hand in the beginning but then our employees had an uprising and threw rotten tomatoes at us. So we had to put an end to them (the growlers, not the employees).

It makes sense, and because of weird ontario laws (enforced by the majority) about cleaning growlers.

napoleon
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Post by napoleon »

DeMarco wrote:*DeMarco
It makes sense, and because of weird ontario laws (enforced by the majority) about cleaning growlers.
What are the laws about cleaning growlers? Can I take a growler from one brewery and fill it at another?

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DeMarco
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Post by DeMarco »

napoleon wrote:
DeMarco wrote:*DeMarco
It makes sense, and because of weird ontario laws (enforced by the majority) about cleaning growlers.
What are the laws about cleaning growlers? Can I take a growler from one brewery and fill it at another?
Most places won't do that. There may or may not be a law out there (I haven't actually seen anyone cite it, which is why I call it "weird") but there are a few breweries that will reuse growlers that are from other breweries. Hoity Toity Cider is one of them. I'm sure there are more.

BakaGaijin
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Post by BakaGaijin »

napoleon wrote:Sadly it seems like the bottle shop has hit that summer lull where demand exceeds supply. They only have Wizard Wolf and Stay Classy in bottles now. Good quality beers, just not something I get too excited about.
I really think they should do some collaborations at some larger breweries and then sell the collaboration results at their bottle shop. Would allow them to increase inventory in the short term.

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JerCraigs
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Post by JerCraigs »

BakaGaijin wrote:
napoleon wrote:Sadly it seems like the bottle shop has hit that summer lull where demand exceeds supply. They only have Wizard Wolf and Stay Classy in bottles now. Good quality beers, just not something I get too excited about.
I really think they should do some collaborations at some larger breweries and then sell the collaboration results at their bottle shop. Would allow them to increase inventory in the short term.
I don't think that would be legal. I think all beer sold from the store has to be brewed at their location? What they *could* do is brew a large batch of one of their core beers and serve it on tap at the bar, freeing up space for other things. The down side to that is that it would cost them extra money for that batch.

BakaGaijin
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Post by BakaGaijin »

JerCraigs wrote:
BakaGaijin wrote:
napoleon wrote:Sadly it seems like the bottle shop has hit that summer lull where demand exceeds supply. They only have Wizard Wolf and Stay Classy in bottles now. Good quality beers, just not something I get too excited about.
I really think they should do some collaborations at some larger breweries and then sell the collaboration results at their bottle shop. Would allow them to increase inventory in the short term.
I don't think that would be legal. I think all beer sold from the store has to be brewed at their location? What they *could* do is brew a large batch of one of their core beers and serve it on tap at the bar, freeing up space for other things. The down side to that is that it would cost them extra money for that batch.
I'm not sure if that is correct anymore. The OCB collab was at a lot of retail outlets. Was that growler only?!?

napoleon
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Post by napoleon »

JerCraigs wrote: I don't think that would be legal. I think all beer sold from the store has to be brewed at their location? What they *could* do is brew a large batch of one of their core beers and serve it on tap at the bar, freeing up space for other things. The down side to that is that it would cost them extra money for that batch.
At Bellwoods at least, they mentioned they couldn't sell the Brettalica in bottles as it was a collab brewed at Amsterdam. I don't quite know how the OCB collab worked.

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skootles
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Post by skootles »

Looks like Barn Owl #2 will be released next Friday (Aug 28th).

http://bellwoodsbrewery.com/barn-owl-bl ... n-bottles/
Just over 3000 bottles will go on sale starting at 11am on Friday August 28th. Bottles are $12/each, with a limit of 4 per/person.

snorristurluson
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Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:59 pm

Post by snorristurluson »

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Barn Owl releases? Just wondering if I should buy 4 or not?

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jp_jkl
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Location: Toronto, ON

Post by jp_jkl »

snorristurluson wrote:Does anyone have any thoughts on the Barn Owl releases? Just wondering if I should buy 4 or not?
I personally thought the first Barn Owl release was worthy of the hype of this years Motley Cru received... that is to say, I liked it Barn Owl blend #1 better than 2015 Motley Cru.

They're quite expensive so I often buy 1 or 2. That being said, they are fun to share with people who aren't beer geeks as they're often surprised by the taste and the effort that went into the beer. Makes for great dinner conversation I suppose.

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