The Bar Towel

Last weekend on the CBC program Venture, there was a feature story on Ottawa's Hart Brewery. It focused on the fact that it is now owned by a group of investors from the Caribbean, and is run by the two daughters of the main investor. It also appears that they are concentrating almost exclusively on brewing the Caribbean beer Banks and the non-alcoholic Malta.

This got me wondering - what exactly is the story behind the whole Hart/Robinson merger and split? I know that they teamed up in 2000, and I've heard that there were some subsequent legal issues that I assume led to a split and/or bankruptcy.

There is also still a website up at http://www.hartrobinson.com but it seems to only include the products that they started selling to the US market in 2001.

So does anyone know the scoop on this? Not a huge deal, it's just that seeing that story on TV got me curious.


Greg

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: GregClow on 2002-11-18 11:15 ]</font>

Greg,
Your description of the website is at least one of the causes of the former partnership's demise. I knew both Mike and Lorne well and they were good guys interested in beer. Unfortunately looking to the US as an opportunity to solve problems already mounting at home has never been a good strategy. The same bad decision knee-capped Upper Canada a few years prior.

The reality is that small breweries enjoy a cache of being identified with locally. The further from home you get, the more expensive it is to distribute and the less likley it is to tell your story well. It often takes a producers eye off the ball, and then the corresponding operational and product quality issues ferment:).

I don't know the new owners, we haven't seen too much of the re-emerged production in the Ottawa market. The upside of the story is that my buddies at Welly took over the old Hart draft engines and have maintained a nice selection of cask conditioned beers in the Ottawa core.

Cheers

As a footnote to my previous post - a websearch brought me to the site of Banks Canada (http://www.banks.ca), which is the name that the new owners of Hart are using. It appears that they've abandoned the whole Hart product line and are just brewing Banks and Malta.

Greg

Banks is brewing Hart Amber and Finnegans Red. They have no plans to re-introduce Festive Brown or Dragon's Breath.

Hello Perry,

I called a couple of weeks ago and they still had some Pumpkin ale, in cases of 12 or 24, but they only sell at the brewery...dont know if its old stuff or if it was a limited run...

Santé

Luc

I seriously doubt that Banks brewed any Pumpkin Ale this year or last year. I would be more than a little wary of buying it.

I bought a bottle of 650ML Hart Cranberry (Special Holiday Reserve) at the LCBO two years ago around Christmas time. When I spoke to Mike Robinson about it, he explained that this is old stock and the LCBO should not be selling it. In fact, he was surprised that it did not go skunky, as this beer was anywhere between 3 to 4 years old.

Well, I tried it the next day at home and this is a very tasty brew! So, I went back to the LCBO and bough the remaining 11 off the shelf. I've been enjoying a bottle here and there within the past couple of years and they've all been excellent.

I have but one left now and will be especially enjoying it during this Christmas season, as I know I will likely never see this beer again.

I have noticed a distinct lack of Harts Amber at my local beer store in the last few weeks. First the Harts disappeared, then the Finnegans. All that is left is the Banks. I don't know if this means the Banks is selling well, or not. I hope it means that Hart cannot keep up with demand

Well i had the Finnegan's last week at Carleton Heights Curling Club, which they didnt have for the last year...sweeter and maltier than what i remembered in the past, and it seemed to be going off a little. Much prefer the Heritage lager and dark now...

Saw 12 packs of Harts amber at the BS on Ogilvie...btw, the new Brick bock is in in Ottawa.