LCBO Spring release

[A]

Ordering in 'bulk' does not minimize the environmental costs of ordering from the countries of Farawayland.

Are you saying that Physics does not offer a quantity discount?

[Belgian]

Just for the record, an inquiry as to the avalability of the April release in the second biggest LCBO in Kingston last evening...

Al, I love Kingston because I grew up there but I have come to expect general ignorance of Spring Releases, etc... anything that is not 'regular listing' is regarded by these LC staff, even at fancy Barrack street, to be so transient as to be inconsequential. Fated to vanish very soon. Another way of saying: "why self-educate if you just work here?"

(There's that, and a little bit of squint-eyed, provincial close-mindedness... )

[esprit]

Wow, a lot of dialogue here...a few comments...don't think you can do beer in tetra-pak cause of the pressure, in fact, I'm positive you can't. Someone talked tongue-in-cheek about canned wine....hold on, it's available and coming to a store near you! This whole environmental thing is going to have minimal impact on wines as we'll see more of them appearing in tetra-pak (the LCBO just provided us with the names of two companies in Ontario who will take bulk wine and package in tetra) but the bulk of the business will still be bottled (can you see a restaurant bringing you a tetra?). The biggest impact will be on beer as it's the one product which is widely produced in aluminum cans. This will lead to a dumbing down (if that's possible) of beer selection as they turn to larger breweries who can afford canning lines. Actually, there is a Canadian company out there which manufactures low-priced canning lines for small breweries and they have had some success in the U.S. with micros but little in the way of sales in Canada. We can only hope that more micros jump on board so that good beers can be offerred in this format.

For the record, no other province has decided that this is a big priority but I'm sure the LCBO genius who came up with this is basking in his bonus!

[John Aitken]

Back to the spring release, has anyone seen anything other than the Trafalgar bock in the Toronto area.

[Al of Kingston]

On a visit to the main LCBO in Kingston yesterday I was told to expect something next week due to delays.

[Belgian]

We can only hope that more micros jump on board so that good beers can be offerred in this format.

I don't fundamentally have a problem with canned beer so long as the technology is so good as to not interfere with the taste / contents. I like for example Kostritzer Schwarzbier and Hockley's Dark very much in 500ml tins.

Those are top-rate products that survive the alu-can ordeal and are obviously never light-struck. Perhaps strides will be made to, for example, enamel-coat the can lining to minimize the interaction of beer with metal? I don't want to consume aluminum regardless of what scientists have or have not proven.

Sadly I bet a lot of brewers will never adapt canning so I hope the trend does not squeeze out certain imports or out-of-province brews. Also, how the heck can they have something like Unibroue belgian beer on lees in a canned format, I have never come across that in my life and it seems improbable if the changing pressure were an issue.
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Oh, and to once more blow smoke up everyone's hiney, the imminence of canned beer is just one more reason to stock up on many cases of DFH 60 minute and Weltenburger Bock, sold in good ole fashioned bottles. Ciao, JK.

[Derek]

Some of the brew-on-premise places do cans... is it really that much more expensive?

From an environmental POV, I think it's great that we re-use the standard bottles... though getting into that distribution is probably a bit of a hurdle for the micro's.

FWIW, I had Sleeman Cream Ale from a can (I was on a plane and this was the best choice). It was actually pretty good! They NEED to ditch those clear bottles... I think beer gets skunked easier than most people think (our taste buds can pick up only a few parts per million).

[John Aitken]

I think I'll have a can of Hockley dark right now

[tupalev]

I don't even see the Dogfish head in the lcbo system (online) yet. The Asam bock is of course in pretty but much every Ontario city except the GTA

[GregClow]

Regarding the can issue - I've already seen a few regular LCBO imports that were previously available in bottles suddenly appearing on the shelves in cans. Old Speckled Hen and Caledonian 80/- are two that I can think of off-hand.

I don't have an objection to cans personally. I think the technology is such that they no longer affect the taste of the beer, and for breweries that use green or clear glass bottles, I'm much happier to get a canned version. So for beers that they already carry, I have no problem with them switching to canned versions where possible. But I certainly find the idea that the LCBO is making cans a criteria for selecting new beers to be pretty ridiculous.

[Belgian]

But I certainly find the idea that the LCBO is making cans a criteria for selecting new beers to be pretty ridiculous.

Well, it's 'only beer' Greg!

It is clear that a "wine-superiority" mindset tragically prevents the Powers from developing any real taste in great beer. Very much as if people who drive Mercedes cars were telling us we can't drive a V6 Acura - but they will let us buy a mediocre Hyundai because in their presumption an Elantra should be 'good enough quality' for our misguided Asian-car likings.

How very lefty-righty of them.

[Steve Spong]

Back to the spring release, has anyone seen anything other than the Trafalgar bock in the Toronto area.

Nope. And I did try it, and ended up pouring it. It wasn't the beer's fault, per se, but the minute that I popped the cap and didn't hear the slightest fizz, I knew it was going to be completely dead and flat. Which it was. Anybody else have this problem?

[John Aitken]

Yes sir I did, head was gone in seconds, if it even took that long. I did drink it though and it took quite some time to finish the bottle, I found it very flat and cloying, won't buy another.

[Belgian]

Could also re-cap the bottle, take it back to the LC you got it from, refund your money, & give the brewer feedback on both levels.

This could devastate a small craft brewery, so Trafalgar might want a chance to replace the bad stock quickly. I only assume that's why brewers have batch numbers on packaging.

[SteelbackGuy]

The Trafalgar Bock is available at Masonville LCBO here in London. I just cracked a bottle. Rating forthcoming on rateber.com.