The Bar Towel

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.

expect a lot more of this as we roll through 2023

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...

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

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!

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.

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?

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…

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.