The Bar Towel

Peter. I noticed that Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale and Pale Ale were not released by the LCBO this fall. Does this mean that the Taddy Porter, Oatmeal Stout and Imperial Stout will not be coming this winter ? I sincerely hope not.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Publican on 2002-10-13 10:11 ]</font>

The only Smith beers in the pipeline are Winter Welcome, for November release, and Oatmeal Stout, for January release. After many years of offering Ontario consumers a good selection of Smith's on an annual basis, the powers that be in LCBO Beers & Special Markets declined to purchase the Nut Brown, Pale Ale, Imperial Stout and Taddy Porter. The earliest we could possibly see any more Smith's on the shelf is Fall of 2003 but those selections have not been made yet. Anyone concerned about this can express their disappointment to Chris Robertson, Product Manager LCBO Beers at chris.robertson@lcbo.com.. On a positive note, we have a shipment of Nut Brown and Pale Ale in 355ml bottles coming into the Consignment Program, however, we have to warn people that prices will be considerably higher than if they were being offered at the LCBO, however, they will be considerably lower than U.S. retail prices for these same great brews.

How odd - I was under the impression that the Brit beers were performing very well at the LCBO. I wonder if they are going to buy different beers to replace the Smith's, or just reduce the # brought in?

The Brit beers are doing well and you're right Cass, they are bringing in a broader selection from other breweries but a number of the Smith's are classics in their style category and the demand is high...it's just disappointing to see our volume go down after marketing the beers here for the past 10 years. We are also seeing a trend to fewer "one shot" beers in each promotion which is also a concern. The promos are including regularly listed items which make them look bigger than they are.
By the way, I erred in indicating that we were brining the Pale Ale into Consignment...it's actually the India Ale we're bringing in.