The Bar Towel

sofakingdrunk wrote:

JaseWescott wrote:I enjoyed the Welly Rising Tide Collaboration Mix Pack and would recommend picking it up

canned Aug 07th, 2020.

I’ve only drank the Great Lakes and Cameron collabs so far. But both have been excellent. So good in fact, that I grabbed a “crowler” of the Cameron’s one at the Welly walk-up window as well.
I’ve heard that the Muskoka one is a bit underwhelming and I’m not expecting much of the Nickelbrook one....as Welly’s sours just don’t do it for me at all. That being said, even if these two beers are just OK, I’ll buy the pack again for the other two beers

Wellington just announced a "Welly Can Land Game Pack". It includes the Rising Tide Collaboration mix.

that's great! thanks for posting. 8 one-off beers to review is even better

Welly has picked up their game with a young and motivated team. Regaining their Mojo of 30 years back

northyorksammy wrote:Welly has picked up their game with a young and motivated team. Regaining their Mojo of 30 years back

They’ve certainly moved more with the times, these past 2-3 years than ever before. The one-offs are for the most part quite good....which wasn’t always the case in the past. Their hoppy beers have really improved and their UVB76 series of stouts that they’re released for the past couple years are fantastic. I also really look forward to the Xmas barley wine that they’ve done the past few years.
The tap room was renovated not too long ago and is much better now, and they just recently opened a “beer garden” out front as well.

They've done a bunch of work with the Escarpment Labs guys, who are also in Guelph. I think that probably helped raise their bar a little.

I'm under the impression that Wellington does a fair bit of contract brewing. Perhaps that has helped the financial side to allow them to improve.

S. St. Jeb wrote:I'm under the impression that Wellington does a fair bit of contract brewing. Perhaps that has helped the financial side to allow them to improve.

They make all of Nickelbrook’s retail offerings, for staters...

Really? What happened to NB's brewery?

Craig wrote:Really? What happened to NB's brewery?

Burlington brewery hasn’t made the retail stuff for years due to capacity. They had that joint brewery with Collective for years and when that fell through they ended up at Wellington.

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

Craig wrote:Really? What happened to NB's brewery?

Burlington brewery hasn’t made the retail stuff for years due to capacity. They had that joint brewery with Collective for years and when that fell through they ended up at Wellington.

They have retail sales a the Burlington location. How do they get around that rule whereby you could only sell the beer at the location where it was brewed?

S. St. Jeb wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

Craig wrote:Really? What happened to NB's brewery?

Burlington brewery hasn’t made the retail stuff for years due to capacity. They had that joint brewery with Collective for years and when that fell through they ended up at Wellington.

They have retail sales a the Burlington location. How do they get around that rule whereby you could only sell the beer at the location where it was brewed?

that isnt a real rule

matt7215 wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote: Burlington brewery hasn’t made the retail stuff for years due to capacity. They had that joint brewery with Collective for years and when that fell through they ended up at Wellington.

They have retail sales a the Burlington location. How do they get around that rule whereby you could only sell the beer at the location where it was brewed?

that isnt a real rule

Really!? Not doubting you, but there must be something about this. When the two Ryan's (Nickelbrook, Sawdust) did their 11.05 collaborations, my recollection is that it could only be sold at the brewery where it was made, and they used to alternate that year by year. I guess collaborations are somehow treated differently from contract brewing? Arrggghh, it all sounds overly complex.

S. St. Jeb wrote:

matt7215 wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote: They have retail sales a the Burlington location. How do they get around that rule whereby you could only sell the beer at the location where it was brewed?

that isnt a real rule

Really!? Not doubting you, but there must be something about this. When the two Ryan's (Nickelbrook, Sawdust) did their 11.05 collaborations, my recollection is that it could only be sold at the brewery where it was made, and they used to alternate that year by year. I guess collaborations are somehow treated differently from contract brewing? Arrggghh, it all sounds overly complex.

I'm not certain, so don't quote me on it, but I believe it has to do with licensing and possibly taxing. Craft breweries (as defined by brewing under a certain number of litres of beer per year) are allowed to sell on premises. If said brewery wanted to sell their product at a different location that location would require a separate licence and possibly be taxed differently as it's now a distributor, not a brewery.

I believe breweries that have multiple sites/stores can sell beer from either site in both stores. For instance, Bellwoods sells all their labels at both Hafis and Ossington, even though most production happens at Hafis.

I think it's like this: If you have a brewery, you can get a on-site store where you can sell what you brew, even if some of it was brewed off site.

I put in an order with Wellington this week. They had the most stuff I wanted to try of the local Guelph Brewers and this thread was on my mind.

So far I've tried their Helles (good, just what you'd expect) and the kviek IPA collab they did with Cameron's (also good, real peach/mango vibe) and I'm happy overall. Bonus points for efficient shipping and good packing. Other breweries have basically sent me a jumble of cans in a box, some of which leaked. Wellington had a nicely packed box, with the beer organised and the voids filled in with bubble wrap. They even tossed in a few coasters as padding in one spot. I'm pleased.