The Bar Towel

cratez wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

cratez wrote:That said, I believe they're the first Ontario crafter to ship to the States

Monkeys has been in the States before, maybe still are.

Which products, and where in the U.S.?

LOTS of Ontario Breweries are about to jump into the WNY Market. The number that are taking the plunge at once is kind of shocking.

rudolf wrote: LOTS of Ontario Breweries are about to jump into the WNY Market. The number that are taking the plunge at once is kind of shocking.

Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question regarding which states carry Flying Monkeys products. Also, any official confirmation/announcement from the Ontario breweries that are about to distribute to NY, like a news release, website article, etc? Again, AFAIK Bellwoods is the first out of the gate.

cratez wrote:

rudolf wrote: LOTS of Ontario Breweries are about to jump into the WNY Market. The number that are taking the plunge at once is kind of shocking.

Okay, but that still doesn't answer my question regarding which states carry Flying Monkeys products. Also, any official confirmation/announcement from the Ontario breweries that are about to distribute to NY, like a news release, website article, etc? Again, AFAIK Bellwoods is the first out of the gate.

I don't want to speak for those about to launch in NY, but Waterloo has been sitting on shelves at Consumers Beverages for over a year now. Not sure how quickly it moves, but its there. As far as I'm aware Bellwoods was the second Ontario brewer to distribute to the US. I've never seen Flying Monkeys stuff on shelves here in Buffalo. There is another Hoptical Illusion - perhaps someone was confused by that?

So, I'm a little confused. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that when Bellwoods opened their strategy was to by hyper local, as in a kind of "100 mile diet" distribution model and we would not see their beers far past the immediate community. Perhaps this was their stated goal or it was just passed on to me wrong by others.

Tapsucker wrote:Perhaps this was their stated goal or it was just passed on to me wrong by others.

Or perhaps the beer got to CA through "alternative channels". There's a chance they don't even know it's there (or weren't the ones who sent it). I have no idea, but it's a possibility!?

I was just as the Beer Temple in Amsterdam which has arguably a better selection of American craft beer than any bar I've been to in the US, and most of it (certainly the crazy rare stuff) I was told got there via the owner's suitcase.

Agree. I think someone at the store brought back a case of Bellwoods beer to re-sell. In America they call this 'Capitalism' and I like the sound of it.

Maybe stop assuming Bellwoods distributed the beer.

Belgian wrote:
Maybe stop assuming Bellwoods distributed the beer.

Really?

For what it's worth a friend say Witchshark in Chiago last last weekend as well. Same price.

Who knows, maybe an agent took a pallet stateside.

cratez wrote:

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

cratez wrote:That said, I believe they're the first Ontario crafter to ship to the States

Monkeys has been in the States before, maybe still are.

Which products, and where in the U.S.?

Peter's daughter (can't remember her name right now), who is the Sales Mgr, told me they were shipping into the States as well as Sweden. That was April '12. Bill Mactavish (who was there sales rep, now owner of Imbibe in Kitchener), who was present for said conversation, proceeded to complain about having beer for export but not having enough for all the bars. To which Peter's daughter replied "if someone wants to buy an entire skid in one shot, you sell them the skid."

Serving the local market first appears to be of importance if you look at what DFH and Founders have done... Pulled back on distribution until they had proper capacity to serve.

The sell a skid mentality appears to be short sighted as if you sell it and product sits on the shelves (no marketing to support it) then you may have issue convincing them to ever buy again.

Belgian wrote:Agree. I think someone at the store brought back a case of Bellwoods beer to re-sell. In America they call this 'Capitalism' and I like the sound of it.

Maybe stop assuming Bellwoods distributed the beer.

Ummm, I think that's a pretty strong assumption on your part Belgian.

Fairly certain this photo proves that they are legitimately being imported into the US.

I'm pretty sure I've seen Lake of Bays at a few US beer festivals. They were for sure at the Philly craft beer fest. I assumed at the time that meant they probably had a US distribution deal with someone or another, but I don't really know anything about it.

squeaky wrote:I'm pretty sure I've seen Lake of Bays at a few US beer festivals. They were for sure at the Philly craft beer fest. I assumed at the time that meant they probably had a US distribution deal with someone or another, but I don't really know anything about it.

I'm sure they will do well in a market that gets Russian River and countless other incredible offerings.

PeenSteen wrote:

squeaky wrote:I'm pretty sure I've seen Lake of Bays at a few US beer festivals. They were for sure at the Philly craft beer fest. I assumed at the time that meant they probably had a US distribution deal with someone or another, but I don't really know anything about it.

I'm sure they will do well in a market that gets Russian River and countless other incredible offerings.

Do they even do well in THIS market? I stopped buying their products long ago...

rudolf wrote: I don't want to speak for those about to launch in NY, but Waterloo has been sitting on shelves at Consumers Beverages for over a year now. Not sure how quickly it moves, but its there. As far as I'm aware Bellwoods was the second Ontario brewer to distribute to the US.

Huh, I'll be damned. Waterloo is pretty much the last Ontario brewer that I would expect to be distributing to the States, and I'm willing to bet only the most ardent tickers will be interested in their beers. But they are one of our largest and oldest crafters and they have huge distribution within the province so I guess the capacity is there.

MatttthewGeorge wrote: Peter's daughter (can't remember her name right now), who is the Sales Mgr, told me they were shipping into the States as well as Sweden. That was April '12.

Okay, so there's a good chance they're somewhere in that country of 314 million, we just don't know which beers and in which states. At least unlike Waterloo they have a product line that can actually compete with the better American crafters.