The Bar Towel

I have been to several Beer Stores in Markham (the ones on highway 7), and it seems to me like they are delisting all the beers produced by Unibroue. One of the managers told me that they got rid of the SKU's and another manager (assistant manager, i think) at a different store was surprised and seemed to have no idea as to why they were taken off the shelves, only venturing a guess that maybe Sapporo is scrapping Unibroue.

I don't think this is the case, and I'm pretty sure I would have read or heard something about it if it was... but does anybody have any idea what's going on? I've been too spoiled with the ability to pick up Trois Pistoles so close to home and I can't imagine a life without it!

I hope that is incorrect. I bought Trois Pistoles at the beer store at Yonge and High Tech Rd. (near Hwy 7) about a month ago.

Unibroue itself should be a hot property. Can't imagine Unibroue being scrapped. Sold maybe, but not scrapped.
As far as distribution into Ontario (LCBO and beer store) that is another thing entirely. Who knows there.

I would think it is a bit early for Sapporo to start making changes like this. Has this takeover even been officially completed yet, have the shareholders accepted the offer? I am sure it will go through but I would imagine the change of power takes a bit longer to change hands.

Maybe their just making room for the new "STEELBACK THUNDER" for beer drinkers with a taste for something special.

I just had one of the BEST pints I can remember, Blanche De Chambly at the Only Café on Danforth.

Sapporo would be insane not to exploit this product as a direct competitor to Hoegaaden - while HG is good the UB Chambly White blows it away in fullness and spiciness.

I saw such an irony in enjoying this amazing Belgian ale from a company that specializes in light-tasting lager. Well Sapporo, surprise us Canadians with some vision and diversity.

(Maybe this would be a good time to buy a few 24's each of TP, Maudite, LFDM, and BDC...)

I have been to several in Hamilton...I ask about Unibroue and get laughed at. One manager had the audacity to say, "I'm glad they're delisting all this stuff." I asked, "Why, so it makes more room for the generic stuff?" He says, "There's no difference between all this stuff." I replied, "You can honestly tell me there's no difference between Tankhouse Ale and Labatt Blue?" And he absolutely believed himself. I was flabbergasted. When the 750 ml bottles disappeared from my LCBO I was comforted that I could get 6s at TBS. It makes me pissed.


I was wondering...what determines a beer being sold at TBS?

Breweries pay for listings at TBS...if you want to be distributed in every store it's about $25,000 for each package size (that is $25K for 6 packs, $25K for 12's, $25K for 24's)...if you want select stores, I believe it's now $200 per store. Some of the micro guys out there might correct me but that's what I recall from the last time we looked at TBS.

Breweries pay for listings at TBS...if you want to be distributed in every store it's about $25,000 for each package size (that is $25K for 6 packs, $25K for 12's, $25K for 24's)...if you want select stores, I believe it's now $200 per store. Some of the micro guys out there might correct me but that's what I recall from the last time we looked at TBS.

Apparently I now stutter...

While you're on this thread, how do I email esprit agencies? The LCBO gave me a primus email address but I've seen like 3 different ones so I'm not really sure

Hamilton Brian wrote:One manager had the audacity to say, "I'm glad they're delisting all this stuff." I asked, "Why, so it makes more room for the generic stuff?" He says, "There's no difference between all this stuff." I replied, "You can honestly tell me there's no difference between Tankhouse Ale and Labatt Blue?" And he absolutely believed himself. I was flabbergasted.

You were preaching to the retarded. But no need to shoot the slobbering messenger.

So it sounds like UniBroue is really a goner? It's a rather sudden change after the Sleeman company sale, so can we say here is the empirical proof of Sapporo's intentions?

Ahh it's only beer. I will absolutely avoid all Sapporo-owned brands in future though, if Sapporo is hostile to supporting Unibroue in Ontario. Because it WOULD be a rather inelegant move for our sophisticated Japanese friends, so let's just see - it would be good to know their whole plan & not judge them too soon.
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The BS website merrily lists all Unibroue beers still being sold practically everywhere, but the BS website could just be a lot of BS.

Sort of allergic to providing information aren't they those BS-ers?

Jebus, you people really like jumping to conclusions, don't you?

The Sapporo sale hasn't even been finalized. And even if it had been, do you really think that they would be able to instantaneously kill off Unibroue and/or halt distribution of their brands into Ontario?

You can lay the blame for distribution problems that Unibroue might have right now squarely at the feet of the existing Sleeman management. It's been pretty well established that they have been taking a big run at the US market with both Unibroue and Sleeman brands - remember the uproar in Quebec last year when it came out that a new limited edition Unibroue beer was only going to be available south of the border? So it's not surprising that their other markets would end up suffering a bit.

Maybe Sapporo will gut Unibroue. Maybe they won't. But it'll likely be months until we know for sure, so pulling this Chicken Little crap now based on rumours and innuendo is just foolish.

for the record i said i doubted the problem had anything to do with sapporo. I was thinking that the blame would lie on sleeman in terms of distribution or just on TBS itself.

I have also experienced low supply of Unibroue beers at several North Toronto TBS. I don't like the sounds of all of this.

GregClow wrote:...pulling this Chicken Little crap now based on rumours and innuendo is just foolish.

Agreed. Nobody panic, because clear information IS forthcoming, as usual...

I don't actually care who's at fault for supply, or by what means I get those products - as long as the Unibroue is in my fridge. Waiting for clear information instead of stocking up may be foolish.