This week in the column, I talked about the growing trend for breweries to produce advent calendars. It’s a fun idea and one that I can get behind. With the short days and cold weather, you want to treat yourself nicely and a single high quality beer a day is […]
LCBO
The second of the studies that the Ontario Convenience Store Association released in August is a good deal more broad in scope than the first. It is entitled An Economic Analysis of Increasing Competition In Retail Liquor Sales in Ontario. It is also written by Dr. Anindya Sen from the […]
The OCSA vs. The Status Quo
I want to suggest something to you, and it may be something that has crossed your mind if you’re a brewer in Ontario. I think that we’re all aware that large brewers are, if not faltering, then experiencing a period of contraction. This is probably as the result of the […]
Hoppy Beers and Monoculture in Ontario
I was walking through the LCBO at Summerhill last night on the way back from Niagara College looking for something to drink. Not review, but drink. Sometimes you just want a beer with dinner. If I wanted to review something, I would have picked up a bottle of Trafalgar’s new […]
In Which I Attempt To Be Polite To Bureaucrats
Sunday, about the time that the Blue Jays were demonstrating how not to score any runs, I went to the fridge to get a beer. It seemed to me that there was very little point in yelling at Juan Rivera for being a goldbricking layabout while completely sober. It’s sort […]
In Which My Local LCBO Closes Down
An article in the Globe and Mail was recently brought to my attention, titled “If you really loved Ontario families, Mr. McGuinty, you’d kill the LCBO.” It’s essentially an example of how not to be taken seriously and a petulant tantrum on the part of the columnist. He starts out […]
Whiny, Petulant Man-Children
As you’re all aware by now, Sam Adams Utopias is on its way to Toronto. It’s going to be $115 per bottle. In order to get a bottle, you have to enter a lottery held by the vintages section of the LCBO! That’s some fancy stuff. There are only 70 […]
Sam Adams Utopias: A Public Service Announcement
I feel like yesterday’s update on beer distribution was, perhaps, overly inflammatory. It did, however, contain an interesting concept: What would the LCBO be like if it were run by foul tempered ogres instead of well adjusted citizens? That’s why today’s update takes the form of a fairy tale: the […]
The Ontario Beer Revolution – Distribution (addendum)
While it’s very important to take into consideration the wishes of the consumer when discussing Ontario Craft Beer, one of the things that you have to factor into the consumer experience are the various methods of distribution for independent Ontario Breweries. I know that there are an ever increasing number […]