Brooklyn Lager where art thou

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:02 pm

Pretty sure I've seen the Brooklyn Lager as recently as last week in the LCBO at Spadina south of College.

D Derry · Post by **D Derry** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:15 pm

There are a handful of six-packs at the Front and Jarvis location (on sale for $10.75).

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:46 pm

D Derry wrote:There are a handful of six-packs at the Front and Jarvis location (on sale for $10.75).

No doubt a store de-list. They aren't on the monthly LTO agenda, so these probably are marked down for quick sale. Which means they haven't been selling well.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:00 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:
D Derry wrote:There are a handful of six-packs at the Front and Jarvis location (on sale for $10.75).

No doubt a store de-list. They aren't on the monthly LTO agenda, so these probably are marked down for quick sale. Which means they haven't been selling well.

That's really a shame. One of my semi-regular buys, and one of the only really good bottled lagers available at the LCBO. I picked up 6 earlier today, and there were probably about a dozen 6's at Front & Jarvis, and at least 3 cases at Queen's Quay...grab it while you can.

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:36 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:
D Derry wrote:There are a handful of six-packs at the Front and Jarvis location (on sale for $10.75).

No doubt a store de-list. They aren't on the monthly LTO agenda, so these probably are marked down for quick sale. Which means they haven't been selling well.

Brooklyn Lager was on the LTO list dated 25th September. Don't go scaring people

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:55 pm

Torontoblue wrote:
SteelbackGuy wrote:
D Derry wrote:There are a handful of six-packs at the Front and Jarvis location (on sale for $10.75).

No doubt a store de-list. They aren't on the monthly LTO agenda, so these probably are marked down for quick sale. Which means they haven't been selling well.
Brooklyn Lager was on the LTO list dated 25th September. Don't go scaring people

My bad.

I didn't see it in the booklet at the store yesterday.

But I will say that this product is a dog, and is not selling entirely well. We should all pick up a 6 pack next time we are able.

*** An edit to my original post.

This product is NOT on the LTO list for the current period, and went of LTO on October 12th. So it looks like $10.75 is the regular price for this product now.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:25 pm

I have not had BL since last New Years.

The hops freaked people out. It is solid stuff, giving pricey IPAs a run for their general hop-head appeal.

Be fun to share a few tasting notes on BarTowel... now that we have the excellent Dogfish and Southern Tier on hand as well.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:08 pm

What the hell is an "LTO list"?

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:11 pm

GregClow wrote:What the hell is an "LTO list"?

Limited Time Offer?

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:37 pm

Cass wrote:
GregClow wrote:What the hell is an "LTO list"?
Limited Time Offer?

Correctomundo.

boney · Post by **boney** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:41 pm

I think the fact that a really fine lager like Brooklyn is not selling very well in Ontario speaks volumes about the beer buying public in the provence and really does question how well certain kinds of privatized liquor sales would do. Certainly, you could sell crap beer in every corner store, but I wonder how many high quality specialy beer outlets such a Premier Gourmet could be supported? Although we are all beer geeks here on the BT, how well developed is the overall palate for beer in the general population? Certainly the trajectory of craft beer appreciation is dramatically different in Canada compared to the US, where craft brewing and specialty retail is exploding. In Ontario, the majority of the public still only knows about Macro-operations and still believes Canada has "superior national beers" such as Labatt and Molson compared to the US (*urp* excuse me, I threw up there a little).

Don't get me wrong, I still want privatization. I just think the Brooklyn situation illustrates what a long, crappy slog we have ahead of us for the next few years. Sad really.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:20 pm

boney wrote:Don't get me wrong, I still want privatization. I just think the Brooklyn situation illustrates what a long, crappy slog we have ahead of us for the next few years. Sad really.

I think if you look at some of the other provinces it gives us a pretty good idea of what we could expect - the odd good store in the bigger urban centers, and nothing much for those who live outside of them. I think Toronto could probably easily support somewhere like Premiere Gourmet, as well as a large number of stores that go along the lines of the Montreal deps, or Premiere Wines in Halifax.

As for the Brooklyn Lager, I'd be really disappointed if this one goes. Once I have dwindled my current beer stocks somewhat I'll make sure to but a couple sixers. Its a nice crisp lager, with a very decent hop profile, and it sure blows almost all the other LCBO lagers out of the water.

shintriad · Post by **shintriad** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 5:34 pm

I agree that Brooklyn makes one of the best lagers out there, although I think I enjoy it precisely because it reminds me of an IPA.

Not surprised it isn't selling well, though. I think it's the name and the packaging. For those who don't know any better, "Brooklyn Lager" sounds like "Generic American beer," not much better than Yankee Jim.

And with the nonsensical Canadian bias against U.S. beer being what it is...

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:42 pm

shintriad wrote:I agree that Brooklyn makes one of the best lagers out there, although I think I enjoy it precisely because it reminds me of an IPA.

Not surprised it isn't selling well, though. I think it's the name and the packaging. For those who don't know any better, "Brooklyn Lager" sounds like "Generic American beer," not much better than Yankee Jim.

And with the nonsensical Canadian bias against U.S. beer being what it is...

Could also be the restrictiveness of a 6-pack putting people off. The sooner we go to being able to buy singles or do a mixed 6 of beers the better for the drinkers and the agents, and ultimately the Board.

shintriad · Post by **shintriad** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:31 pm

Torontoblue wrote:
shintriad wrote:I agree that Brooklyn makes one of the best lagers out there, although I think I enjoy it precisely because it reminds me of an IPA.

Not surprised it isn't selling well, though. I think it's the name and the packaging. For those who don't know any better, "Brooklyn Lager" sounds like "Generic American beer," not much better than Yankee Jim.

And with the nonsensical Canadian bias against U.S. beer being what it is...
Could also be the restrictiveness of a 6-pack putting people off. The sooner we go to being able to buy singles or do a mixed 6 of beers the better for the drinkers and the agents, and ultimately the Board.

True. I was at my normal LCBO (Esplanade), where the beer section can be somewhat sparse. This guy was checking out the wares and was like, "Where's all the beer?" I'm like, "It's like communist Russia over here," and he pointed out that they indeed have all the former Soviet lagers.

I recommended he get the Southern Tier, but he wasn't willing to risk getting a sixer. More for me, I guess!