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!

People's Pint - Closed

Discuss anything and everything about craft brewers from Ontario here.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

Post Reply
User avatar
Cass
Beer Superstar
Posts: 3821
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

People's Pint - Closed

Post by Cass »

Sad news from People's Pint today.



Couldn't find a thread about their bricks & mortar location, just a couple about their early events in '15. Nice folks there who I always enjoyed chatting with. Sounds like they had a rough go of things recently so not altogether surprising, but nevertheless unfortunate.

matt7215
Beer Superstar
Posts: 3047
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:18 am

Post by matt7215 »

expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023

User avatar
MatttthewGeorge
Bar Fly
Posts: 940
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:45 pm
Location: Woolwich, ON
Contact:

Post by MatttthewGeorge »

matt7215 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:22 am expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023
Noticed someone up the road from you is "temporary" closed right now...
untappd/instacrap/facebitch/snapitychat/etc: @matttthewgeorge

matt7215
Beer Superstar
Posts: 3047
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:18 am

Post by matt7215 »

MatttthewGeorge wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:17 pm
matt7215 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:22 am expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023
Noticed someone up the road from you is "temporary" closed right now...
Cambridge will have half the number of brewers it currently does in less then a year

User avatar
MatttthewGeorge
Bar Fly
Posts: 940
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:45 pm
Location: Woolwich, ON
Contact:

Post by MatttthewGeorge »

matt7215 wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:52 am
MatttthewGeorge wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:17 pm
matt7215 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:22 am expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023
Noticed someone up the road from you is "temporary" closed right now...
Cambridge will have half the number of brewers it currently does in less then a year

That's a bold prediction, but if anyone would know the brewing scene there...
Long Live Barncat!
untappd/instacrap/facebitch/snapitychat/etc: @matttthewgeorge

User avatar
Craig
Seasoned Drinker
Posts: 1941
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:23 am

Post by Craig »

This makes me sad. The general plight of small brewers in Ontario aside, I really dug People's Pint and what they were doing. Getting a bunch of home brewers stuff out there was really neat, I'm sad they couldn't make it.

User avatar
JerCraigs
Beer Superstar
Posts: 3053
Joined: Sun May 25, 2003 8:00 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by JerCraigs »

matt7215 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:22 am expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023
I have no inside knowledge but feel like with the state of the market small breweries need at least one of excellent beer or a strong local following. Breweries that have just okay to good beer and not enough local support are going to struggle, especially in areas with a lot of competition. A strong LCBO presence might or might not be a substitute for a local following?

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

Post by sofakingdrunk »

MatttthewGeorge wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:17 pm
matt7215 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:22 am expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023
Noticed someone up the road from you is "temporary" closed right now...

I overheard something I probably shouldn’t have, just before Xmas regarding “someone up the road”. Didn’t sound good…

User avatar
Cass
Beer Superstar
Posts: 3821
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2001 8:00 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Post by Cass »

JerCraigs wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:41 am I have no inside knowledge but feel like with the state of the market small breweries need at least one of excellent beer or a strong local following. Breweries that have just okay to good beer and not enough local support are going to struggle, especially in areas with a lot of competition. A strong LCBO presence might or might not be a substitute for a local following?
It used to be that a permanent LCBO listing was a valuable asset, but that seems to be no longer the case as beers come and go from LCBO shelves quite regularly, at least from my observations. And there's a ton of labels on the shelf these days and it is very difficult to break through. Everything at LCBO, TBS and grocery is all uniform so I can imagine that those retail channels can be challenging.

I think breweries that have high volume taprooms are somewhat better positioned for survival as they can sell their own beer at bar prices and keep the margins for themselves. Although running a bar/resto comes with its own set of costs and headaches.

I agree with Craig, I liked that PP really had a unique concept - professionally brewing homebrew was something different. Likely didn't breakthrough with those who weren't seriously into beer but a lot of respect to them for giving it a go.

Post Reply