Batch

[Tapsucker]

Another kick at the can for the cursed Victoria St address.

http://batchtoronto.com

Basically Creemore/Molcoors effort. Interestingly, they are supposedly going to offer some beers from other micros (competitors?) alongside their own and in house recipes.

[TwoPint]

It's opening on Monday as per Canadian Beer News. I walked by yesterday and it looks ready to go.

[atomeyes]

the question:
who cares?
vs
should we care?

not an insult to any posters.
but should we care that Molson is pissing away $$ on the Victoria St location again...and for what? it's simply street cred, but they're attempting to do it incognito.
so it's just a silly money-burning exercise.

[CoolB]

the question:
who cares?
vs
should we care?

not an insult to any posters.
but should we care that Molson is pissing away $$ on the Victoria St location again...and for what? it's simply street cred, but they're attempting to do it incognito.
so it's just a silly money-burning exercise.

None of this matter if they offer good beer from that location.

[Kish84]

the question:
who cares?
vs
should we care?

not an insult to any posters.
but should we care that Molson is pissing away $$ on the Victoria St location again...and for what? it's simply street cred, but they're attempting to do it incognito.
so it's just a silly money-burning exercise.

None of this matter if they offer good beer from that location.

That depends on who you're talking to. I've heard a lot of people say they won't give any money to BMC, no matter how good the beer is.

[atomeyes]

the question:
who cares?
vs
should we care?

not an insult to any posters.
but should we care that Molson is pissing away $$ on the Victoria St location again...and for what? it's simply street cred, but they're attempting to do it incognito.
so it's just a silly money-burning exercise.

None of this matter if they offer good beer from that location.

let's pretend that it is good beer.
which i kind of have zero hopes that it will be.
but anyways...
let's say that it's amazing.
what's the goal of having this place, especially at the rent they're paying?
molson surely doesn't have any interest on continuously running a money pit with a non-existent business plan in order to promote an ambiguous brand, does it?

[El Pinguino]

I think our reasonable expectations would be that they produce mostly average beers, with a handful of very good, possibly great ones....but that anything great will likely be "dumbed down" over time, whether to be produced on a larger scale or simply to keep costs lower.
I never made it to the old beer station place there, but saw plenty of people commenting that some of the beers were very good.

[Rob Creighton]

what's the goal of having this place, especially at the rent they're paying?
molson surely doesn't have any interest on continuously running a money pit with a non-existent business plan in order to promote an ambiguous brand, does it?

I am sure the foundation of this location is to "reflect how deeply" Molson is in craft and to act as a marketing office downtown. Look at the effort Inbev made to make Alexander Keiths look like a real brewery when all it really was just a marketing front for their import arm...and unfortunetly most Canadians still believe this marketing BS. It is a sad reflection of the power of marketing and I am sure quite a number of you are in the industry so no need to elaborate.

If you are a big brewery and need a downtown marketing office which you will probably drop $6 to $10 mill on anyway, what better than a brewery as a front?

[groulxsome]

Dropped by Batch yesterday evening.

Vibe was, obviously, a downtown TV mega pub. Didn't really eat. So that's that.

Beer was all well made and tasty. Somewhat reminded me of my first impressions of Exchange. American brewpub staple beers all well made. Solid Pale ale, cream ale, Irish Red, Porter (the IPA was out on tap). Judging from the other ratings I've seen, you'd think they were making poison. The pale ale isn't going to change your life, but if it only takes a beer to change your life... maybe think about your life a little.



They offer a bottle/can list which, as many have noted, is poorly formatted and missing brewery or style information seemingly randomly. There are "craft" beers on this list that I think are much worse (taste and approach wise) than anything at Batch (some are better, others comparable). At least Batch isn't leveraging the zeitgeist of "craft beer" into corny marketing of a bland lager. Maybe it's using it as smoke and mirrors, sure, but it's not shoehorning something into a pre-built idea of something being "craft" just because it's not corporate.

If you prefer your beer to be bad and at least nodding to "craft beer," then there are lots to choose from the packaged menu (there are very good beers on there too). If you prefer your beers to be good classic brewpub styles while being incognito Molson, then drink the Batch beers. If you prefer the clean lines of craft = good, corporate = bad, you'll probably dislike Batch.

Or maybe hit up the 3 Brewers a block away. Vibe is arguably worse at 3 Brewers than at Batch. Beer probably a little worse at 3 Brewers too (though I'm still fond of their Blonde). Still, I'd take the Youge Street "Neighborhood Beer" (Temperance Willie, Session IPA) from 3 Brewers over the recent Beaus/Henderson collaboration (Mot the Hopple) which was more similar to Molson 67 IPA than anything else. So fuck me.

[Tapsucker]

I'd like to ask a basic philosophical question.

Would you prefer to drink a beer from a brewery owned by a brewery or by a bank?

I'm sure most of these craft breweries we are so fond of have mortgages or business loans held by bigger corporations than molcoors. While these 'owners' may be hands off around the brew kettle, which might be a good thing, they also have no value to add. It's entirely plausible to me that, while molcoors is trying to burnish it's image or hop on the craft bandwagon, is is probably also throwing it's brewing experience, biologists and supply chain might behind these efforts as well as the aforementioned marketing. That holds genuine potential for good quality beers.

Yes they might not be 'genuine' to some, or might be considered with the suspicion that they are trying to dumb down the products for economic reasons or just wider appeal. I guess we should only drink from brewers who make beer for us and not for the beardless peons out there that make up the rest of society.

Besides, the amount of swill coming out of gimmicky, newbie 'craft' brewers is starting to outnumber the mass market swill on out there too. It's still a bandwagon, no matter who the players in the band are. I'll take a Creemore Keller over any trendy rotting/brett/sour/mop bucket mess with a goofy misogynistic or sports themed name any day...

[sofakingdrunk]

^^^^To further that point, I don't think just because priduct isn't craft, it's shit. Much like just because it is craft, means it's good

[El Pinguino]

I'd like to ask a basic philosophical question.

Would you prefer to drink a beer from a brewery owned by a brewery or by a bank?

To me it doesn't really matter....I'll try most beers no matter who brews it.

But I think the 'owned by a bank vs by a big brewery" argument is a bit odd. I mean if CIBC opened a brewery under their own brand, or if a brewery opened their own bank....those are businesses I may not frequent.

If you like how it tastes, who cares who brews it, right? That is one thing I love about blind beer tastings....it makes people realize macro beers are all bad and micro beers aren't all good.

[Belgian]

To me it doesn't really matter....I'll try most beers no matter who brews it.

What if Stalin or Hitler brewed it?

[groulxsome]

To me it doesn't really matter....I'll try most beers no matter who brews it.

What if Stalin or Hitler brewed it?

My goodness...

[saints_gambit]

I'll take a Creemore Keller over any trendy rotting/brett/sour/mop bucket mess with a goofy misogynistic or sports themed name any day...

This is correct. Fresh Creemore stuff (FRESH being operative here) is a lot better than much of the rest of the market in Ontario. The problem is dirty lines and old product. Fresh Kellerbier is very very good.