The Bar Towel

It's the LCBO that picks the beers that are sold in stores, not the agents, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if an agent ignored popular tastes/trends and only submitted for consideration the kind of challenging, esoteric beers that would mostly appeal to the people here, then there is a good chance that the LCBO would just take a pass on everything and release something else. Then, flush, there goes the agent's business down the drain. I think that most people understand that, so the moaning and groaning that goes on has more to do with the selection process that alternatively results in great beers and crap beers, new beers and repeat beers, without any rhyme or reason.

What really bothers me, though, is that there is almost no alternative. If the LCBO doesn't pick a beer for release, there is a good chance that it simply won't be available in any form. With lab fees, labelling requirements, and whatever other bureaucratic nonsense to deal with, a few cases of different beers will make it to one or two places in Toronto, and occasionally there will be enough demand to do bigger orders, but the opportunities for people looking to order for themselves aren't exactly abundant.

In contrast, Quebec's SAQ doesn't really appear to be too interested in selling beer, but neither to they seem to stand in the way of people wanting to bring in cases of otherwise unavailable beers. I've mentioned before that it looked as if there was some good stuff available to people living in Quebec, but it's almost getting ridiculous now:

http://www.bieropholie.com/formulaires/ ... ations.htm
http://www.institutdelabiere.com/importation.htm

I mean, Drie Fonteinen, De Ranke, Lindemans Cuvee Rene...are you kidding me?

Anyway, that's enough of that rant. It's nice to see Propeller ESB coming back and, yeah, it would be nice if this time it didn't pass its best before date only four or six weeks into a 12-week promotion. Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout is always welcome. Some more Fuller's 1845 would be lovely. And it's nice to hear that Bear Republic might become more available. Hop Rod Rye is seriously good. I'd take a case.

In contrast, Quebec's SAQ doesn't really appear to be too interested in selling beer, but neither to they seem to stand in the way of people wanting to bring in cases of otherwise unavailable beers

Unless it's from the US...there seems to be some hard assed bias there.

esprit wrote:..oh, an if you like Smith's Imperial, get out there and buy a hundred cases or so as it's destined to fall into the ashbin of unsuccessful LCBO seaonal releases. We're looking at a lager from Kazakhstan at the moment which could be the next big thing! They tell us it's the greatest thing since Baltika and Slavutych.

So is there still some Sam Smith's Imperial left at the LCBO? The website is showing none available. And are they in the process of delisting some regulars? It's showing Paualner Salvator, along with a number of others that I thought were regulars, as N/A.

I can get the oatmeal stout and the salvator here in London. The masonville location has scads of both. I can pick some up for you and mail some to you.

Bobbyok wrote: So is there still some Sam Smith's Imperial left at the LCBO? The website is showing none available.

The LCBO has a bad habit of marking the seasonal release beers as N/A on their online stocklist (or removing them from the list entirely) once the promotion has finished, even if there are still bottles floating around the system. I picked up a few things from last September's release at the Atrium On Bay location just a few days ago, but they've been marked N/A online since sometime in December.

SteelbackGuy wrote:I can get the oatmeal stout and the salvator here in London. The masonville location has scads of both. I can pick some up for you and mail some to you.

Don't you mean Imperial Stout Len?

Jeff

GregClow wrote:

Bobbyok wrote: So is there still some Sam Smith's Imperial left at the LCBO? The website is showing none available.

The LCBO has a bad habit of marking the seasonal release beers as N/A on their online stocklist (or removing them from the list entirely) once the promotion has finished, even if there are still bottles floating around the system. I picked up a few things from last September's release at the Atrium On Bay location just a few days ago, but they've been marked N/A online since sometime in December.

So, is it possible that there's still some Orval or Rodenbach around the Ottawa area? My brother-in-law is heading up next month so I wanted him to pick up some things for me.

Also, today the LCBO site has all of those that were N/A removed from the site, including those that I thought were regulars. One of those was Petrus Oud Bruin - didn't they decide to make this a regular listing just after the Christmas gift packs came out?

All of the Winter beers are in stock including Orval...in fact, there are over 200 cases of Orval in the province including some still in the Ottawa warehouse. Call the Infoline at 1-800-668-5226 or 416-365-5900. If any of you like, you can write to kathy.messersmith@lcbo.com. and chris.robertson@lcbo.com. who are the Product and Category Managers for Beer and ask them why these items get dropped from the website. I've addressed the issue on numerous occasions but nothing has happened so it does not appear to be a priority to have accurate inventory info on the site. As an agent, I am frustrated that I have get numerous calls asking about a product and even I myself have to call the Infoline during the hours they are open in order to get inventory info.

Bobbyok wrote: Also, today the LCBO site has all of those that were N/A removed from the site, including those that I thought were regulars. One of those was Petrus Oud Bruin - didn't they decide to make this a regular listing just after the Christmas gift packs came out?

Yeah, it's a regular. There's plenty on the shelves at a couple of Toronto locations I've visited in the last week or so.

Email sent!!

Jon Walker wrote:I guess I should just be thankful that they still do the seasonal releases at all and just shut my trap.

Well don't be silly. If we can't speak our critical minds in a public forum (including rumors of LCBO payola) we might as well all be strutting around with jackboots and armbands!

Seriously, you'd think there was some benefit to their keeping all these great American products away from us. Beyond a perverse sense of power, what could possibly motivate these people? Makes no business sense.

Gunny, we've re-submitted the Smuttynose Porter a number of times and been rejected (even though they've bought the beer twice before, they insist on tasting it every time we present). If I sent you a list of the beers we've had rejected you'd cry in your beer.

Belgian wrote: Seriously, you'd think there was some benefit to their keeping all these great American products away from us. Beyond a perverse sense of power, what could possibly motivate these people? Makes no business sense.

How do you know that it makes no business sense?

Remember that knowledgable beer drinkers are still a very small percentage of the beer buying market in Ontario. I suspect that the "American beer is crap!" mentality held by many Canadian beer drinkers probably extends to all American beer, including the quality micros. That attitude combined with the massive marketing efforts that InBev/Labatt has put behind their European products probably means that the average beer drinker is more likely to turn to either a domestic micro or a European import rather than a US product when they're looking for "quality".

So these guys get to try all the great beers they won't allow us to try. Seems unfair.

esprit wrote:Gunny, we've re-submitted the Smuttynose Porter a number of times and been rejected (even though they've bought the beer twice before, they insist on tasting it every time we present). If I sent you a list of the beers we've had rejected you'd cry in your beer.

But if a store like Premier Gourmet can survive in Buffalo why could the LCBO not add a beer section to the big vintages stores in TO and Ottawa? Toronto could certainly support a small section of vintages devoted to better beers. BTW, I was in Premier for the first time over the weekend and if you haven't been it will only make you hate the LCBO more.