Looking for the original Bar Towel blog? You can find it at www.thebartowel.com.

We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.

Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!

Online Brewery sales

Discuss anything and everything about craft brewers from Ontario here.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

JeffPorter
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2552
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 9:39 am
Location: Brampton, ON

Online Brewery sales

Post by JeffPorter »

Hey everyone

Just wanted to get some opinions on of people use any brewers’ online shops and which ones they like. Still have never ordered right from a brewery. Had an insane pint of Greenwood IPA from left field tonight and was gonna order from them or maybe Merit.

Just curious on the experiences people have had.

Cheers,

Jeff
"What can you say about Pabst Blue Ribbon that Dennis Hopper hasn’t screamed in the middle of an ether binge?" - Jordan St. John

Cadbury102
Posts: 76
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:34 am

Post by Cadbury102 »

I've ordered both from Half Hours on Earth and Small Pony. The beers were fabulous. Shipping proved very easy, and I thought reasonably priced. HHoE will be able to send you more beers than Small Pony, but that's largely due to the format (cans vs. 750s). I would certainly order from both of them again and again.

Masterplan
Bar Fly
Posts: 509
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:00 am

Post by Masterplan »

I've ordered from Blood Brothers, hhoe, collective arts, and Dominion. All have been great.

sofakingdrunk
Bar Fly
Posts: 925
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
Location: Guelph

Post by sofakingdrunk »

I've ordered from hhoe and it was really easy, and delivery arrived within a week. Everything packed really well(including glassware).

sofakingdrunk
Bar Fly
Posts: 925
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:55 am
Location: Guelph

Post by sofakingdrunk »

P.S. although I've never ordered online....I highly recommend Merrit. Everything I've grabbed from the brewery has been fantastic

portwood
Posts: 355
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 7:56 pm
Location: Markham
Contact:

Post by portwood »

I've ordered from: Dominion City, Sawdust City, and Blood Brothers. All did a good job.

I only have two issues ordering direct from breweries:
1. Delivery costs add ~buck-a-beer :wink: :wink: (or more if you don't get a full case) ... to already premium priced (i.e. expensive craft) beer.
2. Stale beer.

From one brewery I received 6-month old blond ale, 4 month old brown ale, and 2 that seemed lifeless (no date on cans). Only 2 of the 6 different beers were relatively fresh.

I understand breweries can't afford to dump stale beer, but I think it hurts their reputation if they ship it. Leave the "stale" beer in the bottle shop and let walk-in customers decide if they want to buy it - with full knowledge of what they are getting.
@markhamwhisky

User avatar
MatttthewGeorge
Bar Fly
Posts: 944
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:45 pm
Location: Woolwich, ON
Contact:

Post by MatttthewGeorge »

I’ve ordered from Sawdust and was quite happy. Didn’t order anything that could be old (unless I wanted it to be) so considering the above comments, I’d stick to ordering seasonals or one-offs that you know are fresh, or beer that can age (ie I’d never order a Blonde/Pale/IPA/etc if it’s made all the time and you have no way of knowing it it’ll be fresh).
untappd/instacrap/facebitch/snapitychat/etc: @matttthewgeorge

User avatar
JaseWescott
Posts: 266
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 5:08 pm
Location: Hamilton

Post by JaseWescott »

I have ordered from Merit, Collective Arts, HHOE, Archibald Winery, Nickel Brook, Left Field, etc. nothing bad to say about any of them. all the beers/ciders I ordered were made under a 2 week period. a couple of them throw in buttons, coasters, stickers, etc.

here are some useful links

https://ontariobev.net/order-beer-onlin ... breweries/
https://ontariobev.net/order-craft-cide ... er-makers/

Jay-Brew
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 4:55 pm

Post by Jay-Brew »

Several orders from HHOE and a couple from Small Pony and all have been smooth.

User avatar
lister
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2071
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:33 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by lister »

HHoE numerous times, Dominion and Saw Dust City a couple of times and most recently Merit. All good.
lister

Coronaeus
Posts: 316
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:11 pm

Post by Coronaeus »

Echoing almost everyone. Half Hours and Small Pony. Both excellent and shipping is very reasonable.

User avatar
JaseWescott
Posts: 266
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 5:08 pm
Location: Hamilton

Post by JaseWescott »

I should mention Merit in Hamilton was very good to me. one of the owners noticed I lived down the street from him so he emailed me and not only dropped off my order but gave me a couple extra beers to cover the cost of shipping :)

User avatar
Blasphomet
Posts: 446
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:07 am

Post by Blasphomet »

I've ordered from a bunch multiple and never had an issue. Shipping is usually around the same $15 from everywhere. Not a big deal considering what gas costs now anyways, not that I'm that far from the city, but for the places that are far out of the GTA, it's great.

I've ordered from:

HHoE
Collective Arts
Blood Brothers
Burdock
Sawdust City (a mixup of cans resulted in free cans that I was meant to receive the first time. Very great customer service)
Dominion City
Wellington


I prefer the ones the ship a couple or three times a week rather than just Mondays like HHoE and Dominion City. And now Merit. I will order from Merit soon.

Quotashun
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:38 am
Location: Toronto

Post by Quotashun »

So far, just Half Hours on Earth a couple times since they're just way too far to commute to. Went well both times, no complaints at all (and amazing beer obviously). I live near GLB right by the Gardiner, so all of the Toronto breweries that ship are easily accessible for me. Not the biggest Sawdust or Merit fan, but I'll probably order from Small Pony and Dominion City at some point since they're beyond reach and make some really good stuff.

User avatar
ErkLR
Posts: 380
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:21 am
Location: London, ON

Post by ErkLR »

How is delivery handled for these? ie) Someone over 19 has to sign (yes?) so do they deliver in the evening, or leave it at the post office?

Post Reply