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!

lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

This forum is for discussing everything beer retail: LCBO, Beer Store, Grocery Stores and Indie Stores.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

User avatar
Urotsukidoji
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: South Of Heaven

Post by Urotsukidoji »

I see the online stock is not showing. Is there an issue after LCBO's update?

User avatar
Craig
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1942
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:23 am

Post by Craig »

Pretty likely. The way this thing works it is pretty susceptible to breaking when the LCBO update their site.

DerekD
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:06 am

Post by DerekD »

Yep, it looks like the update changed a few things. The good news is that it should be faster (and easier) to scrape the online inventory now. The old site used ajax requests, now it's right on the product page.

I'll see if I can update it tonight after the Leafs game, otherwise I'll fix it tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the heads up!

Derek

User avatar
Urotsukidoji
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: South Of Heaven

Post by Urotsukidoji »

Just wanted to thank you again for your work, much appreciated sir.

DerekD
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:06 am

Post by DerekD »

You're welcome!

Should be up now. Looks like the online inventory was down for a few days and I didn't notice. Please don't hesitate to let me know when this happens again.

I just noticed that 3F Oude Geuze was listed recently. Bad timing for the scraper to go down. I hope some of you guys got some...

Derek

midlife crisis
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2009
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by midlife crisis »

This is a bit OT, sorry, but were the recent changes made by LCBO to their own site to remove the "search all stores" feature for a specific product? I can't seem to find that any more. Now you have to select one individual store and the site will tell you whether the product is available there. Then, through a series of increasingly maddening clicks, you can check nearby stores with no ability to filter them whatsoever. Unless I am missing something (always a possibility) they have just significantly reduced the usefulness of their own site! All the more reason we might hope that someday Cask Hunter expands to wine and spirits.

User avatar
Craig
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1942
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:23 am

Post by Craig »

Yup, they took that away again. Last time they caved and brought it back, so complain to them if you want it.

Vintages and food and drink sites still have the search all stores.

User avatar
S. St. Jeb
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1044
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Burlington, ON

Post by S. St. Jeb »

midlife crisis wrote:This is a bit OT, sorry, but were the recent changes made by LCBO to their own site to remove the "search all stores" feature for a specific product? I can't seem to find that any more. Now you have to select one individual store and the site will tell you whether the product is available there. Then, through a series of increasingly maddening clicks, you can check nearby stores with no ability to filter them whatsoever. Unless I am missing something (always a possibility) they have just significantly reduced the usefulness of their own site! All the more reason we might hope that someday Cask Hunter expands to wine and spirits.
http://www.bartowel.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&start=30
S. St. Jeb wrote:This thread was started close to five years ago when the 'new' lcbo.com site was launched. It wasn't very good at first, as the complaints in this thread show.

One of the big issues, especially for me, was the lack of a "search all stores" option. Because of that, I used to use foodanddrink.ca all the time.

Eventually they added this option to lcbo.com, and I slowly migrated over until that became the site I used regularly.

Well, sometime in the last few days, they have updated the site and taken this option away again. For me, it worked great, and it is completely beyond my understanding why they would remove something that has been there for about 4 years now.

I complained to helloLCBO about this. Their first answer told me first, how to search for "nearby stores" (not what I was talking about), and second, that I could do a "search all stores" on vintages.com

I replied back and politely said 'thank you' (after all, the people answering me aren't the ones making the stupid decisions), and also said "But I am still curious why such a good tool would be removed from your main site. It does not make sense to me."

To that, I was told "We do apologize, there are no plans at this time for the "Check All Stores" option to be reinstated. Your feedback in regards to the usefulness of the feature again has been forwarded to the appropriate department for their review."

Sigh. Cry. Bang my head against the wall.

midlife crisis
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2009
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by midlife crisis »

Thanks. Wasn't aware of the other thread. My sentiments exactly. Precisely the reason we avoided the LCBO site entirely and used the lost and lamented drinkvine. Hopefully Cask Hunter will eventually fill the void. I would certainly pay a modest amount if he decides to go to a subscription-based model.

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

Post by JaseWescott »

no way I am paying a subscription. it doesn't cost a lot of money to run a website like that. I donated $15 to boozewatch.ca and was able to extend the domain another year. can't you just put a PayPal donation thing at the top or bottom of the site and let it work it self out?

midlife crisis
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2009
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by midlife crisis »

Okay then! It was just a suggestion. If you can find a plausible free alternative, please let us know. LCBO seems intent on making searching their inventory as difficult as possible. Personally, I found Drinkvine to be invaluable and would have paid a modest amount to keep it alive. Now we have another Good Samaritan developing Cask Hunter and I think we should support him.

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

Post by JaseWescott »

midlife crisis wrote:Okay then! It was just a suggestion. If you can find a plausible free alternative, please let us know. LCBO seems intent on making searching their inventory as difficult as possible. Personally, I found Drinkvine to be invaluable and would have paid a modest amount to keep it alive. Now we have another Good Samaritan developing Cask Hunter and I think we should support him.
I want to support the creator but a subscription based business model is extreme. I got enough monthly and bi-monthly subscriptions as is. hoarding beer is expensive :P

User avatar
cratez
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2284
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:29 pm
Location: Brantford, Ontario
Contact:

Post by cratez »

I just used Cask Hunter for the first time to track the incoming beers for the Spring seasonal release. While the interface is not as glamorous/good looking as Drinkvine (and presumably still a work in progress), the site is a simple, effective, and user-friendly tool for finding beers at the LCBO. It also works great on mobile. Thank you, DerekD, for quickly filling the void left by Drinkvine's demise.
"Bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers. However, they have more fun." - Bruce Elliott

User avatar
Urotsukidoji
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: South Of Heaven

Post by Urotsukidoji »

Caskhunter - Nice April Fools, had me for a second :)

midlife crisis
Beer Superstar
Posts: 2009
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by midlife crisis »

Lol. Who doesn't enjoy a nice, cold Busch Light from time to time?

Post Reply