Contract Brewers at Ontario Fests? No longer!

cfrancis · Post by **cfrancis** » Mon May 05, 2014 9:02 am

So let's turn all festivals into religious events!

Can't be terribly hard to start a religion.

Then all contract brewers would be able to sell their beer because it's an official event of the "United Craft Beer Baptist Church"

pushkinwow · Post by **pushkinwow** » Mon May 05, 2014 9:20 am

cfrancis wrote:So let's turn all festivals into religious events!

Can't be terribly hard to start a religion.

Then all contract brewers would be able to sell their beer because it's an official event of the "United Craft Beer Baptist Church"

Lol - except that you can't see the beer and it has to be made by the hosts...

toweringpine · Post by **toweringpine** » Mon May 05, 2014 9:27 pm

Good to hear Left Field on the radio this morning. They reached a far wider audience in ten minutes than they would have with a whole summer's worth of festivals and they also got their message and brand to non hardcore beer geeks. Not only did they take an opportunity to get the Left Field name out there, they also were able to illustrate the ridiculousness of the system under the current laws.

Kudos to them for turning a lousy situation into a bunch of free publicity.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Mon May 05, 2014 9:31 pm

toweringpine wrote:Good to hear Left Field on the radio this morning. They reached a far wider audience in ten minutes than they would have with a whole summer's worth of festivals and they also got their message and brand to non hardcore beer geeks. Not only did they take an opportunity to get the Left Field name out there, they also were able to illustrate the ridiculousness of the system under the current laws.

Kudos to them for turning a lousy situation into a bunch of free publicity.

not to play devil's advocate, but they could also be rankling the ire of whomever decided to slap their wrists in the first place.wer
if it's a brewery (small player), then LF should make sure their I's are dotted and T's crossed from hereon in.
if it is a bigger player, then yeah, i don't even want to think.
and if it was the AGCO deciding to enforce the letter of the law, they may not appreciate being shat upon, and who knows if/how that will affect application times for future licenses.

i mean, i really hope i'm wrong...

toweringpine · Post by **toweringpine** » Mon May 05, 2014 9:53 pm

I don't think they stepped on any toes or said anything untowards. Just simply stating the rules out loud to an large audience.

As much as I cannot believe it, survey after survey keep reminding us that something like 60% of Ontarians think The Beer Store is government run. Small brewers need to take every opportunity they can to inform people how hard it is for them to sell their product.

cfrancis · Post by **cfrancis** » Mon May 05, 2014 10:49 pm

It's the same thing that happened when Beau's started their BYBO and got their hands slapped. They started a media blitz about it and got it overturned. Politicians are not going to do something unless they feel a need from constituents in order to get votes.

Problem is with the election on June 12 then probably a summer break soon there after, I don't know if there is anything that can realistically done for this summer.

BakaGaijin · Post by **BakaGaijin** » Mon May 05, 2014 11:39 pm

Belgian brewers rip contract brewers:

http://www.belgianbeerandfood.com/news/ ... -the-alarm

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Tue May 06, 2014 7:38 am

cfrancis wrote:It's the same thing that happened when Beau's started their BYBO and got their hands slapped. They started a media blitz about it and got it overturned. Politicians are not going to do something unless they feel a need from constituents in order to get votes.

Problem is with the election on June 12 then probably a summer break soon there after, I don't know if there is anything that can realistically done for this summer.

yep. and that's part of what i'm also suggesting.
no laws will be changed until...the winter?
assuming/praying the Liberals lose, then is this priority #1 for the Conservatives? nope.
so when would this and other alcohol-related changes be made?
meanwhile, you have the AGCO who, i assume, operate with the power of god and will do what they can to show that they fear no one. it will be interesting to see if or how they respond to TO Beer Week's public statements (or if they've even heard them).
i expect things to escalate unpleasantly in the upcoming weeks. hope i'm wrong.

Ale's What Cures Ya · Post by **Ale's What Cures Ya** » Tue May 06, 2014 9:30 am

Meh, contract brewers.

Buy a brewery and you won't have this problem. Not sure why we're supposed to be outraged over this.

Sure it's a dumb law that doesn't make much sense, but then again meh, contract brewers.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Tue May 06, 2014 9:39 am

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:Meh, contract brewers.

Buy a brewery and you won't have this problem. Not sure why we're supposed to be outraged over this.

Sure it's a dumb law that doesn't make much sense, but then again meh, contract brewers.

Well, let's see. Left field started as a contract brewer to build brand and test out recipes before taking the plunge to start their own brewery.

Collective Arts is a contract brewer that used that success to buy a slice of (correct me if I'm wrong on this) what will be the largest craft brewhouse in Ontario.

And so on...

Even if you're silly enough to hate contract brewers because they don't own a bricks and mortar brewery, at least recognize that brick and mortar breweries often get started by what were formerly contract brewers.

Ale's What Cures Ya · Tue May 06, 2014 10:47 am

squeaky wrote:
Well, let's see. Left field started as a contract brewer to build brand and test out recipes before taking the plunge to start their own brewery.

Collective Arts is a contract brewer that used that success to buy a slice of (correct me if I'm wrong on this) what will be the largest craft brewhouse in Ontario.

And so on...

Even if you're silly enough to hate contract brewers because they don't own a bricks and mortar brewery, at least recognize that brick and mortar breweries often get started by what were formerly contract brewers.

Who said I hate them? I don't respect them nearly as much as actual brewers, but that's not really hate.

I just don't care about their problem with AGCO.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Tue May 06, 2014 12:08 pm

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote:Meh, contract brewers.

Buy a brewery and you won't have this problem. Not sure why we're supposed to be outraged over this.

Sure it's a dumb law that doesn't make much sense, but then again meh, contract brewers.

Evil Twin
Mikkeller

2 examples of guys who contract brew.

3 Fonteinin
they don't brew. they just blend.

i wouldn't kick any of those breweries out of bed.

you make it seem like the brewery's creator is the only person working on recipes and physically brewing. "ah, contract brewers! meh!". Please remind me who does 100% of the recipes and brewdays at Stone?

it's all optics. if you get a good brewery to contract brew for you and ensure certain controls are in place, then it's the same as owning your own brewery and hiring a brewmaster to do the gruntwork.

admviolin · Post by **admviolin** » Tue May 13, 2014 5:49 pm

Kensington has tweeted that they will be serving at festivals this year after talking with the AGCO...is there a loophole?

rfrf · Post by **rfrf** » Tue May 13, 2014 6:09 pm

admviolin wrote:Kensington has tweeted that they will be serving at festivals this year after talking with the AGCO...is there a loophole?

you can buy it at the lcbo, something you cannot do with left field - that's the big difference iirc

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Tue May 13, 2014 8:33 pm

Ale's What Cures Ya wrote: I don't respect them nearly as much as actual brewers, but that's not really hate.

So you have more respect for, say, Cool than a brewery like Left Field?