The Bar Towel

I almost never shop at TBS but whenever I do a bottle return I pick up at least a 6er. I usually make a list at least 5 brews long because they almost never have my first choice. My staples are 6ers of Iron Duke, and Arkel from Wellington or anything Unibroue (preferably Trois Pistoles). Recently Ive picked up cases Molson Stock Ale and Muskoka Premium Lager which Ive really enjoyed. Also my wife bought me a case of Steelback Dark which was actually pretty decent, way better then the old Steelback mess. So back to my question, when you return your bottles to TBS what do you buy.......?

I don't buy anything. It's been at least a year and a half since I've bought anything at TBS.

lister wrote:I don't buy anything. It's been at least a year and a half since I've bought anything at TBS.

so you just take the money and run?

I almost always pick up 6 packs of La Fin Du Monde, but on the off chance it isn't available, I resort to a few things depending on what I have at home already. These usually are:


Muskoka Lager (for $6.95, you can't go wrong)
Pilsner Urquell
True North IPA

I don't return my bottles.

I did it once or twice when they first started doing returns for LCBO stuff at TBS, but since I don't have a car, it meant loading up my backpack and a couple of tote bags with bottles and lugging them for a 15-20 minute walk to the store. It hardly seemed worth it for the handful of change I got back for them, so I just throw 'em in the recycling now.

Everything gets returned, though I have some Beau's ceramic bottles that my GTA Beer Store won't accept!

My local beer store is 7 minutes walk away and happens to face the Summerhill LCBO, so the short answer is I stroll over the parking lot and buy something at the LC. That said, when I do buy from the beer store I'll tend to pick up either magnotta or county durham.

matt7215 wrote:so you just take the money and run?

Yes. Well, it's more like a slow walk once I'm down with all the bottles. I frequently get back $20+. (Wine bottles are in the mix too.)

My local is one of those shitty wall-of-label stores. I've played the "do you have this" game too many times. Now I just take the money and run.

It's sad that our society has to impose a deposit in order to have it recycled. It was so much easier just putting them out with the recycling (and probably more environmentally friendly 'cause I wasn't burning gas on the way to TBS). But it could be worse... BC residents pay a deposit on all drink containers.

Derek wrote:My local is one of those shitty wall-of-label stores. I've played the "do you have this" game too many times. Now I just take the money and run.

It's sad that our society has to impose a deposit in order to have it recycled. It was so much easier just putting them out with the recycling (and probably more environmentally friendly 'cause I wasn't burning gas on the way to TBS). But it could be worse... BC residents pay a deposit on all drink containers.

Yes, they do in BC, but it also provides a revenue stream for the homeless by doing so. They don't have on-street recycling bins in BC, just metal cup holders welded onto the garbage cans, you put your empty pop bottle/juice bottle in it, and within minutes it is gone to someone who needs the dime a heck of a lot more than you do.

As for TBS and returns... I take the money and run, and my returns are normally in the $15-20 range by the time our kitchen can't take any more bottles of various sizes. As usual on my most recent trip a couple of weeks back, they took all my out of country bottles, and refused to pay out Southern Tier bottles actually bought in Ontario. Go Figure.

I am saving my deposit change to buy a gun. Hopefully I won't over-react when they refuse a bottle....

Usually Trois Pistoles or Mill Street Tankhouse.

Hacker-Pschorr Edlehell is my staple at my local BS, which is a walk-in style. I tend to wander around the aisles hoping to find something decent that isn't 10 months expired, but typically end up settling on good old Hacker-Pschorr Edlehell (which actually seems to sell pretty well, and is usually decently fresh).

But my trips to collect my change are few and far between because I hate the experience of bringing my empties to the BS, and just generally hate being at the BS for a variety of reasons almost as diverse as the shapes and sizes of bottles I bring in for my deposit.

I buy Tankhouse Ale at TBS.

On occasion, I'll pick up a Hacker Pschorr Hefe, or if I go to a different TBS, I'll pick up some Black Oak Pale (they don't carry it at my local store).

I only ever shop at TBS when I'm picking up boring beer for a party where I know the guests won't take advantage of my cellar (or wouldn't appreciate it). As for returns, I've usually been leaving them for the recycling gnomes to pick them out of our blue bins...but recently I started taking them back as a couple of disrespectful pickers kept leaving a mess and THEN one of them made off with our baby stroller (can you believe it?). Thanks to a watchful neighbour we tracked down the bastard and got it back...didn't feel aggrieved enough to have the guy charged but it made me rethink leaving my bottles available in or near our blue bin.

Anyway, TBS has little to offer me beer wise and I'd only shop there for myself under dire circumstances.