LCBO July23-Aug 18 Ontario Craft Brewers End Isle

[Asst. Grain Shoveller]

Hi
A few members of the OCB have gotten involved in an end Isle display with the LCBO from July 23 to Aug 18.
Basically 55(ish) selected LCBO stores will have some of their end isle displays dedicated (during a good beer drinking time) to presenting some of our selected beers.
Participating brewers include:
Black Oak (not those guys again)
Great Lakes
Nicklebrook
Taps
Mill Street
Heritage
(i think thats all)
Most of us will be packaging up fresh beer as this will be some excellent exposure for all of us.
Basically the selected stores start in Windsor, London and go up to Bellville and Ottawa.
Its going to be a big step for us small guys, especially in markets where we have not had much exposure before.
We'll do our best to keep the stores topped up and ask that you support and try some of the great beers that we make locally.
We really need your support and hope that you'll recommend our beers to your friends. This will help us grow and keep on supplying more fresh local craft beer.

Cheers
Ken

[Belgian]

Hi
A few members of the OCB hav
Most of us will be packaging up fresh beer as this will be some excellent exposure for all of us.

Always encouraged, freshness matters big-time.

Hope the display gives you guys a boost in sales, Ken. It seems that Ontario drinkers I know are pretty amenable to try something new if they know about it. so it's amazing how slowly brewers are discovered - they need the exposure.

[Tapsucker]

It's a step in the right direction. but the real solution is the refrigerator case. The best way to introduce fresh beer to the unitiated is to keep it fresh!

[Brews Phillips]

We'll do our best to keep the stores topped up and ask that you support and try some of the great beers that we make locally.

You're really twisting my arm here
Looking forward to seeing some Black Oak in Ottawa.

[El Pinguino]

Man, my local LCBO had beer everywherre when I stopped by today. End Isle (or end Aisle?) overload. I only saw a few Chimay White caps hiding near the register after giving up on them.

I also noticed in their current beer push that they had some posters up on a UNibroue display with 750ml bottles pictured!

Perhaps I'm a bit slow on this one, having ignored the summer releases until now....but I just did a search for Unibroue.

LCBO shows both the 750ml Blanche and Maudite in their inventory, and 'on sale'. Unfortunately no Blanche actually exists anywhere, and there are only 10 Maudite showing up at one spot in Markham.

I was hoping for a 750ml Trois Pistoles!

[Belgian]

It's a step in the right direction. but the real solution is the refrigerator case. The best way to introduce fresh beer to the unitiated is to keep it fresh!

Bavaria is great because if the locals bring home bottles it is generally the local beers and there is a very high turnover.

If there was some way to hammer home our public's civic pride in the good local brewers and inspire a serious devotion to local craft beer, that would be the ticket.

But if all a new person picked up was Steelback Tango - or a completely stale six-pack of a reputable craft brewer - they might not be blamed for saying that "Corona is better and fresher tasting". You can't HAVE a generally accepted notion that small local brewers are the better choice without unfaiilingly fresh, high-quality product. The cart has to follow the horse, and in the example shown in Bavaria, good local beer can become a common-sense idea the general public is familiar with.

I realize Bavaria is built on centuries of pre-industrial tradition. But that's what goes on there, fresh local craft beer IS a household concept for a high percentage of people. And the support system works.

[cannondale]

I also noticed in their current beer push that they had some posters up on a UNibroue display with 750ml bottles pictured!

Perhaps I'm a bit slow on this one, having ignored the summer releases until now....but I just did a search for Unibroue.

LCBO shows both the 750ml Blanche and Maudite in their inventory, and 'on sale'. Unfortunately no Blanche actually exists anywhere, and there are only 10 Maudite showing up at one spot in Markham.

I was hoping for a 750ml Trois Pistoles!

It appears that the LCBO might be switching over to 750's for the 3 Unibroue beers they carry. Their website shows the 6's of Maudite and Blanche discontinued, while stock of the 750's increasing. A good development, since 6's are still available at TBS.

[El Pinguino]

Very true cannondale......
I like this development for Unibroue, let's hope they ge more than just Blanche and maudite in the larger versions....but I wont complain if they don't.

[Belgian]

The 750mls are better how, I wonder.

I cellar the regular bottles properly stored for years & each time it comes out beautifully.

Plus you have to store those 750mls upright anyway so what is the cork closure advantage besides letting in bacteria? Does the greater volume supposedly enhance aging potential?

[sstackho]

I much prefer the small bottles, as I'm more quick to open up a 341mL bottle Maudite than a 750mL bottle...

[Belgian]

Exactly Ho - I know that one of those 750ml La Terrible will probably get me very drunk because everyone else will be drinking Corona Extra.

[cannondale]

It'll be nice to have the option to buy either. Agreed, 750 mL of 9% ABV la Fin du Monde (which they definitely will stock) packs quite a wallop. Whether either format has a functional advantage, I'll defer to the experts to explain.

[clasher]

in the wine world, the expert types say that the large bottles mature slower, and they are less prone to swings in temperature, but I can't see that being a large factor with properly stored bottles.

[Belgian]

in the wine world, the expert types say that the large bottles mature slower, and they are less prone to swings in temperature, but I can't see that being a large factor with properly stored bottles.

Yes that's all I've heard - that the 'bio-system' of organisms living in a bottle of wine or beer is more sustainable in a greater mass.

But we are talking Belgian beers that settle down nicely in a few years, not a 3 liter bottle of 100 year old Barolo.