Hi Guys,
On behalf of Great Lakes, I would like to extend our apologies for selling out of Karma Citra IPA cans as fast as we did on Friday May 2nd. It took us all by surprise too.
I would also like to thank everyone that made the trip out to The brewery. It was great to see so many familiar faces in the store and we hope that everyone enjoyed the free treats from our friends at the Pie Commission. The GLB staff worked hard to keep the lines moving and the fridges fully stocked.
We chose to release the beer at our retail store at 12:00pm on a weekday thinking that it would help extend the availability throughout the day. Yes, we extended the store hours until 8pm, as it was our intention to sell Karma Citra after normal GLB retail hours to accommodate our out of town supporters, but it was becoming evident by 1pm, an hour after opening, that we might not make it that far. We did our best to keep folks updated via Twitter as the stock was plummeting, but I'm sorry to those that may have missed the update at 4pm advising people that we sold out. Our store was packed for 3 solid hours.
Yes, we chose not to enforce a limit per person as we have done that before with our limited releases and received flack for that. With the Karma Citra release, because we had 2500+ cans, were releasing them during a weekday, and we are located out in sleepy Etobicoke, we thought we'd be able to get to 8pm... craft beer drinkers in this province proved us wrong. We saw individuals from Etobicoke, Toronto, London, Hamilton, Durham region, and more, make the drive to the brewery to get some for themselves and friends. I can assure you that people did not abuse the 'no limit' sales. It simply sold out fast due to many many people coming in droves in the 4 hours after opening.
We can understand how frustrating it may have been for those that drove to the brewery after we sold out, after all, we here at GLB are passionate beer drinkers just like you are. We will take what we have learned this week and use it to better next year’s release, and future Tank Ten releases.
That being said, please find a list of craft beer bars (below) that received kegs and/or cans of Karma Citra IPA around Ontario. We tried to spread the love so beer drinkers in different regions were/are able to drink some.
We'd once again like to apologize for running out so fast and we'd like to thank you for your time and your comments. We welcome your feedback, so please don't hesitate to contact me (
troy.b@greatlakesbeer.com.) at your convenience. We sincerely appreciate all of your support for GLB and for your interest in our products.
Toronto:
Bryden's
C'est What
barVolo
Bar Hop
Victory Cafe
Sauce on Danforth
The Wren
Morgans on the Danforth
Brass Taps Danforth
Sarah's Cafe & Bar
The Ceili Cottage
Stack Restaurant
Thirsty and Miserable
Bar Isabel
Bellwoods Brewery
Indie Alehouse
Dukes Refresher
Get Well
Loose Moose
The Only Cafe
Tallboys
The Local
Origin North
Momofuku
Snakes & Lagers
Wvrst
1718
Food & Liquor
The Crest
The Passenger
Northwood
Dominion on Queen
Beer Bistro
Against the Grain (Leaside)
Kitchener/Waterloo:
Imbibe Food and Drink
Jane Bond
The Bent Elbow
Kickoff Lounge
Borealis (Kitchener)
Guelph:
Woolwich Arrow
Baker Street Station
The OX
Hamilton:
The Tavern on George
The Ship
Augusta's Winking Judge
The Brain
London:
Milos' Craft Beer Emporium
Newmarket:
Hungry Brew Hops
Oshawa:
Buster Rhino's
Windsor:
The Barrel House
Bracebridge:
The Griffin Gastropub
Oakville:
Bru Restaurant
Cheers,
Troy Burtch
Sales & Community Management
Great Lakes Brewery
2013 CANADIAN Brewery of the Year
www.greatlakesbeer.tumblr.com
troy.b@greatlakesbeer.com.
Brewery - 416.255.4510
