The Bar Towel

Yesterday I picked up three cases of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from the Privite Order dept. of the LCBO. Each case cost $54.30 or $13.58 a six pack. Now if the LCBO and Sierra Nevada ever decided that they'd want to stock this in thier stores on a regular basis I wonder what the price per six pack would be? I figure that they would have to mark it up a couple of dollars from the six pack price I paid as I think most people won't pay $15-16 for a six pack of ale.

I checked out the Sierra Nevada website and thier tap room at the brewery in Chico California has a IPA and Best Bitter on tap as well
as other beers that aren't in bottle form. I'd like to check this out sometime but as the flight costs to California and England are similar, so it would be a hard decision to make.

Does anyone know if a pub other than Cafe Volo has Sierra Nevada beers in stock and if they do what the cost per bottle is?

Is there any way, any way at all, that I might obtain some of this Sierra Nevada that you just obtained? I might go so far as to order some myself, but I'm not sure I want that much.

The only place I've seen Bigfoot/PA is at Volo.

Too bad the LCBO doesn't bring any in, especially the Porter...which IMO is phenomenal. Oh, and the Celebration is nice too.

SNPA is pretty widely available in the US and at some places I've even seen bombers of it for ~$2 USD.

I also received my order of Anchor Old Foghorn at $74CAD per case wich works out to a resonable price of about $3 per 330ml bottle of barley wine. Private ordering seems to work as long as the suppliers are willing to bother for a few cases.

Manul wrote:I also received my order of Anchor Old Foghorn at $74CAD per case wich works out to a resonable price of about $3 per 330ml bottle of barley wine. Private ordering seems to work as long as the suppliers are willing to bother for a few cases.

Have you tried it yet? I hated it the first time i had it but I wouldn't mind giving it a second go (hint hint)

I've had it several times before. This one's not for hopheads, it's a malt driven brew, lots of raisin, caramel, spice combine in the flavour. I'd rather look at it as a desert beer. If you are after hops, go for Sierra Nevada Bigfoot or Victory Old Horizontal which I also happen to love.

Sorry Duke of York but I can't share any bottles with you. If you don't want to buy a full case perhaps you can convince a friend to split a case with you.

It's highly unlikely that you'll see Sierra Nevada on LCBO shelves anytime soon. They do not pasteurize their beer and therefore insist upon refreigated warehouse and retail storage. That will not happen at the LCBO as warehousing is not refrigerated and the LCBO will not guarantee shelp space in the beer coolers in stores. The Beer Store is a possibility but a premium U.S micro at the Beer Store is not going to fly in my humble opinion. Just received sales figures for LCBO fiscal year-end March 31, 2005 and both Anchor Liberty and Anchor Steam, the only two U.S. micros on the General List, are down more than 20% in sales so, as you can imagine, the LCBO is not all fired up about more U.S. micros.

esprit wrote: Just received sales figures for LCBO fiscal year-end March 31, 2005 and both Anchor Liberty and Anchor Steam, the only two U.S. micros on the General List, are down more than 20% in sales so, as you can imagine, the LCBO is not all fired up about more U.S. micros.

Perhaps if they stopped pulling those Anchor beers from their stores the sales would stop dropping. I can think of two or three stores that used to stock one or both Anchor beers that have stopped doing so in the past year or two.

I suppose the LCBO would argue that they pulled it from some stores because sales were dropping, but it seems like a bit of a catch-22 to me.

They do not pasteurize their beer and therefore insist upon refreigated warehouse and retail storage

That's interesting. I was in Florida at Christmas and definitely bought some Sierra Nevada off a shelf in the middle of a store, i.e. not refrigerated in any way.

esprit wrote:They do not pasteurize their beer and therefore insist upon refreigated warehouse and retail storage.

I bought some in an Asda (Walmart) in the UK a few months back, which was not refrigerated.

-Josh

The problem with Anchor products here is all about the format. Bombers probably don't sell as well as the 341ml that you can get in the States. I know that I would drink much more Anchor Steam/Liberty ale if it came in convenient 6x341ml ... 650ml is usually too much of a good thing for me.

midlife crisis wrote:

They do not pasteurize their beer and therefore insist upon refreigated warehouse and retail storage

That's interesting. I was in Florida at Christmas and definitely bought some Sierra Nevada off a shelf in the middle of a store, i.e. not refrigerated in any way.

Likely due to different distribution systems. In the US, or at least in some states, I think breweries have to sell to a distributor/wholesaler who then sells to the retailer. Once Sierra Nevada sells to the wholesaler, they likely don't have much say in who retails the beer. So they can pick a wholesaler with a refridgerated warehouse, but the retailer doesn't necessarily have to comply.

Well, as far as I know Creemore Springs is not pasteurized and that doesn't stop LCBO to have it all over the place. I once saw it on the floor at Weston/401 location and asked the staff how come it's not in the fridge and I got "what do you care" kind of answer.

With Anchor, and other beers, it is a Catch-22 in that poor sales lead to store de-listings which lead to overall poorer sales and, eventually, possibly, to LCBO de-listing. It's frustrating to see stacks of Heineken in 4 different formats filling every square inch of space but no room for superb craft beers. Perhaps the commission studying alcohol distribution will take note but I'm not going to hold my breath.