The Bar Towel

Saw a few comments in other threads, so I thought I'd start a new topic about how attempts at LCBO private ordering have turned out in the past. Anyone want to share their outcomes?

I haven't actually placed any orders, but got some quotes.

Alesmith- no response
Stone - won't ship
Tree Hophead - Expensive
Bear Republic - too pricey to go on my own ($12 a bottle or so)
Rogue Anniversarys - not available and referred to Esprit
New Glarus - Won't ship
SN Harvest - draft only, no comment on if they would ship a keg

Stone won't ship .
Victory won't ship.
Sierra Nevada received several different brews.
Anchor received Bigfoot.

There is got be something we can do about Stone though. Maybe if we rally together and try to commit for a larger order??? What I've heard is that they can hardly cope with the US demand. When their new state of the art brewery will open we may have a chance...

I just got a quote for Hophead IPA from Fireweed Brewing (Tree Brewing) out of Kelowna B.C. The cost is ridiculous considering we can order Sierra Nevada for half of the cost.

There was a minimum purchase of 4 cases @ $109.20 a case. Now I don't know if this is the LCBO getting greedy or if it’s the brewery? Although I hear it’s cheaper to ship beer between countries then it is between provinces, so this may be the reason. Regardless, I can’t see myself ordering $436.80 worth of beer!

Beer Geek wrote:I just got a quote for Hophead IPA from Fireweed Brewing (Tree Brewing) out of Kelowna B.C. The cost is ridiculous considering we can order Sierra Nevada for half of the cost.

There was a minimum purchase of 4 cases @ $109.20 a case. Now I don't know if this is the LCBO getting greedy or if it’s the brewery? Although I hear it’s cheaper to ship beer between countries then it is between provinces, so this may be the reason. Regardless, I can’t see myself ordering $436.80 worth of beer!

I think California shipping is a bit cheaper because they piggyback it on all the wine orders coming from there. I can't quite recall the specifics.

Jercraigs is right on this one.

They consolidate the orders from all wineries, distilleries and breweries in that general area to manage costs. I'm not sure that we see the savings but the response on when you'll receive your order is a terse "I have no idea".

They will notifiy you when it arrives and you have 10 days to go get it or it gets released into the general population by way of LCBO Retail stores. The other tricky thing is that they will not quote you a price prior to arrival due to the shipping being consolidated. I understand that they cannot give you a firm number but that feels funny to me. Should their not be a set price and they quote it tp you and manage the costs internally? Maybe I'm wrong but it still feels strange.

If you visit the Private Order desk on Freeland Avenue (beside the Gardiner) they are pretty helpful on getting you what you want. The Stone thing is more of a brewery issue (meeting demand) than the LCBO.

By the way, they make a very healthy margin on Special/ Private Order.

Mother G wrote:Jercraigs is right on this one.

Of COURSE I'm right.

Tried to see if I could get Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. Looks like they will ship but only if I order 72 cases...

inertiaboy wrote:Tried to see if I could get Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. Looks like they will ship but only if I order 72 cases...

Hope you're thirsty

This 72 is the magic number LCBO uses to tell you to back off. I've received the same response to a lot of quotes I asked for from different US breweries.

Manul wrote:This 72 is the magic number LCBO uses to tell you to back off. I've received the same response to a lot of quotes I asked for from different US breweries.

How many cases in a skid/crate? That's probably what it is.

inertiaboy wrote:Tried to see if I could get Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. Looks like they will ship but only if I order 72 cases...

Assuming the price is somewhat fair, mark me down for 3 cases...allrighty boys 69 more to go...it's a great stout and in the US is cheap.

I'll take 3 as well. 66 to go...

This is my favorite imperial stout, but I dont think I could justify buying three cases put me down for a case though!

By the way, they make a very healthy margin on Special/ Private Order.[/quote]


Healthy margin might just be an understatement. In a recent debachle of mine in trying to ship some wines back that we bought while in Australia, I enquired as to whether it would just be better to try and special order them from the LCBO. I was told that in addition to the original cost of the bottles, and the shipping costs, the LCBO would be putting a 102% markup on each bottle that they shipped. We wondered if maybe that was because for every bottle we shipped, the LCBO ordered one for themselves as well!

So, after contacting one of the distributors of the wine here in Toronto, they basically told me, you're better off trying to carry it all back yourself and paying the extra luggage expenses and duties. Probably still works out cheaper than going through the LCBO.

I'm not sure if the same markup applies on beer, but I don't see why it wouldn't.

Kim