september beers

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 4:31 pm

Just saw about a half-dozen of the September release unopened in boxes on the floor of the beer section in the Manulife.

I asked if I could have some, and made off with some Ted & Ben's.

guinness_guy · Post by **guinness_guy** » Fri Sep 13, 2002 5:05 pm

saw these at the crossways mall lcbo
at dundas west and bloor:

Black Wych Stout 500 mL
Badger Tanglefoot Ale 500 mL
Smuttynose Old Brown Dog 355 mL
Brakespear Ted and Ben's Organic Beer 500 mL
Rogue Dead Guy Ale 650 mL
Strong Suffolk Ale 500 mL
Well's Bombardier Ale 568 mL

cheers

dave

Publican · Post by **Publican** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 1:52 pm

For all Bartowellers that either live or work in south Mississauga the beers from the September release that the Port Credit LCBO has are
Greene King Strong Strong Suffolk Ale
St. Peter's English Ale
Daleside Old Leg Over
Smuttynose Old dog brown Ale
Pinkus Mueller Alt
Rougue Dead Guy Ale
Wychwood Black Wych Stout
Badger Tangelfoot
Wells Bombardier
Aecht Schenkerla Rachbierbier

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sun Sep 15, 2002 3:30 pm

On 2002-09-11 16:31, Cass wrote:
Just saw about a half-dozen of the September release unopened in boxes on the floor of the beer section in the Manulife.

Sheryl and I hit the Manulife LCBO this afternoon, and they had most or all of the September releases on the shelf. We grabbed a bottle or two of each of the following:

Black Wych Stout (England), 500 mL
Badger Tanglefoot Ale (England), 500 mL
Daleside Old Leg Over (England), 500 mL
Smuttynose Old Brown Dog (New Hampshire), 355 mL
Brakspear Ted and Ben's Organic Beer (England), 500 mL
Rogue Dead Guy Ale (Oregon), 650 mL
Strong Suffolk Ale (England), 500 mL
Aecht Schlenherla Rauchbier (Germany), 500 mL

We also got some nice bread, pickles and cheese at Whole Foods, so I'm looking forward to having one of the ales alongside a tasty Ploughman's Lunch tomorrow.

Greg

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 8:28 pm

Just a note to let you know that our Castle Eden Special Ale from the U.K., which is part of the Autumn promo, was delayed in transit but should be hitting stores next week. On a personal level I want to appeal to Bartowellers to specifically purchase as much Rogue Dead Guy as your pocket book will allow. Sales of U.S. micros in these LCBO promos lag behind the U.K. brands and if the LCBO doesn't see better sales performance soon, they'll go the way of the Belgians which means that you'll see fewer and fewer offerings....then your only alternative will be Premier Gourmet!

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 8:58 pm

Just a note to let you know that our Castle Eden Special Ale from the U.K., which is part of the Autumn promo, was delayed in transit but should be hitting stores next week. On a personal level I want to appeal to Bartowellers to specifically purchase as much Rogue Dead Guy as your pocket book will allow. Sales of U.S. micros in these LCBO promos lag behind the U.K. brands and if the LCBO doesn't see better sales performance soon, they'll go the way of the Belgians which means that you'll see fewer and fewer offerings....then your only alternative will be Premier Gourmet!

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 9:44 am

I was at the Crossroads LCBO (Weston & 401) and they had the full release on the shelves. Picked up some Brown Dog, some Dead Guy (for Peter

) and some of the Brits to try out.

SirIsm · Post by **SirIsm** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:11 am

I've tried the Ted & Ben's and the Bombardier so far...although I was expecting the opposite...I have to say that I enjoyed the Bombardier better.

Mississauga Matt · Post by **Mississauga Matt** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 1:42 pm

I really enjoyed the Dead Guy and have been stocking up on it along with the St Peter's English Ale.

Over the past week I've been poking my head into some LCBOs that I don't normally visit, and what has struck me the most is the disparity in beer selection.

Here's how I rate 'em:

Burlington @ Fairview & Maple - best beer-friendly store that I've encountered. I only get there once in a blue moon.
Bayview Village - first time for me - picked up Schlenklera, Old Brown Dog, and a few others.
Queen's Quay @ 2 Cooper Street
Atrium on Bay @ Dundas & Yonge
Spadina & Baldwin - kind of a run-down store, but they manage to get the shelves stocked with a small amount of each release.
Highway 7 & Warden (?) - if you want Rogue Brutal Bitter, they have at least half a dozen under the fluorescent lights.
Sauble Beach - they ran out of beer (!)
Tie: Meadowvale Town Centre in Mississauga & Union Station in Toronto - absolutely the most disgraceful stores that I've seen. No private owner would ever let their store look like these throwbacks to the 60s. At least the Mississauga one is tucked out of the way, but the Union station one will have travellers wondering just what kind of banana republic they've landed in.

SirIsm · Post by **SirIsm** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 3:34 pm

I really enjoy the Dead Guy too. I think it's difficulty is bottle size/price point. Although not a problem for beer lovers who know the product, I think those points are enough to steer the rest away from the Rogue beers in that size to others. Is Rogue not available in more standard format?

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 4:54 pm

Yeah, the Dead Guy is a Rogue I really like as well. It always helps segue into the fall season.

Many of Rogue's brands (including the Dead Guy, I believe) are available in standard-size bottles. I'm not sure why we don't see them in the stores - perhaps Peter can help on this?

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 7:11 pm

Sheryl and I tried the Smuttynose Brown Dog alongside a dinner of sharp cheese, pickles & crusty bread last night, and it was an excellent match.

Haven't decided which will be the next of the fall beers to be tried, but it probably won't be until the weekend as we're going to finish off the last few Blanches and Wits that are hanging around in the fridge while the weather is still warm.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 9:47 am

The main reason we don't bring Rogue to Ontario in the 355ml bottle is the twist-off cap. Such caps require a tamper-evident seal in Ontario and it is just too much manual work to put on such seals. Also, the labelling is non-compliant and for the quantities that the LCBO purchases it is not worthwhile to print Canadian labels. They could of course do what Smuttynose does and sticker the bottles or what Victory does which is reverse the neck label and rubber stamp the required information, however, Rogue just doesn't have the time or facilities for such manually intensive work. What they do is create a 650ml silk-screened bottle which is Canadian compliant and which is cost effective for them and requires no manual labour. I hope this explanation clarifies the issue. As a side comment, I can assure you that the price of Rogue in 355ml would do little to boost sales as we've already seen with the performance of Ommegang, Smuttynose and Victory products. Ontario consumers are not falling all over themselves to purchase U.S. micros in 355ml and I don't imagine they would for Rogue in that size either. The fact is even in 355ml they are priced considerably higher than domestic micros and there is only a tiny market for these beers in Ontario. As I've often stated in the debates about a private beer store in Ontario, such a store would not survive because even with 10,000,000 people, the market for true craft beer imports is insignificant in Ontario.

Cass · Post by **Cass** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 10:35 am

Thanks for the info, Peter. Personally I much prefer the larger silkscreened bottles over the small ones anyway. Rogue's large line is some of the best packaging out there. A classy way to drink a beer. Now if only they made better glassware

Mississauga Matt · Post by **Mississauga Matt** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 11:40 am

Peter from Esprit wrote:
... as we've already seen with the performance of Ommegang, Smuttynose and Victory products. Ontario consumers are not falling all over themselves to purchase U.S. micros ...

Peter, I believe I was on the other side of the "discussion" regarding the viability of private sales in Ontario.

But now I think I'm with you. If people can't get excited about Hennepin, Hop Devil, and Robust Porter, then it leads me to believe that Ontario is sadly not terribly cosmopolitan. I certainly would never sink any money into such an iffy venture (other than to purchase beer, of course).

Please keep up your efforts to positively influence the selections made by the LCBO.