Fall Releases

I assume you've never been to a top notch beer store in the U.S. then (or Québec, or Alberta).

 

Don't get me wrong, I agree with most of you in this thread saying that this is pretty poor overall. If you are comparing this list to what is offered in the US then yes, the beer selection in the LCBO is a complete joke. I too continue to travel to NY or MI to stock up on beer and bring it back. But if you compare these beers to what is usually offered in the LCBO there are definitely some decent beers on that list.

 

key word: decent.

I don't have the time, money or caloric intake so I can drink "decent" beer. If i'm cracking a bottle open, i want to really enjoy it.

 

It's a depressing list, with nothing interesting on it, and mostly English style/beers from England that have been in previous releases. I'll be buying none of these.

 

I think the legitimate bitch against the LCBO should always be quantity rather than picking on specific beers or releases. For example, a good beer store in the US, Alberta or Quebec will get 10x the number of new beers the LCBO does on a yearly basis. The ratio of crap beer to amazing beer is roughly the same everywhere, lets say 10:1, for sake of argument. Say the LCBO gets roughly 40 new beers a year, that's only 4 great beers per year. In the US or an open retail system that gets 400 new beers a year, there will be 40 or so that will knock your socks off. The ratio remains the same, it just feels worse because we have less access and thus selection.

It's the system that limits the number of beers that sucks.....not the release. For every Founders there are 10 shitty, boring breweries in the US. For every Heady Topper, there are 10 shitty, boring Impy IPA's. I doubt there are people working for the LCBO who sit in some backroom and say "lets see what we can do to make this release as boring as possible". They do what they can with the numbers thet have, agents working within the Ontario system and breweries willing to tackle the ridiculous system.

I'm not defending the system. I don't like it. I'm just a realist and know what I'm working with (or against)

 

haha hmm 2.5hours to ottawa for lcbo or 2.5hours to alchemist for some heady?

 

Now you are just showing off

 

You get as much good stuff going to MI

 

no, there are people who sit in an office and say "White people with English backgrounds live in Toronto the Good. They're likely to throw down money on non-beer store beer. whereas, black people will go to the beer store and buy their beer there and not care. so let's give the white people something they can drink so they can get back to their British or German heritage and feel good about themselves. And we can drive up sales and increase our bottom line."

and if you think i'm stretching the truth, take a moment to think about each of the LCBO's seasonal releases. they cater to white folk with British or German ancestry. this is why we don't see more US or Belgian beer. they're trying to maximize their bottom line and not bring in GOOD beer - just beer that their Air Miles program tells them will sell (and yes, that's why the LCBO has Air Miles. they microanalyze their consumers. they know where beer buyers live. they then find out the neighbourhood demographics and bring in beer accordingly.)

 

I think you may be stretching the truth.

Also, agents/breweries pay for Air Miles to be added to their products.

 

You mean black people don't like Porters or ESB? Wow, what an educational post! Seriously, what do "white people" and "black people" have to do with the LCBO selection? Are you saying they are catering to white people because they aren't importing from Africa? Please. They have lots of UK offerings because 1) the UK encompasses several countries, 2) produces some excellent beer (several of which are in the fall season offerings) and 3) because they are easy to import; UK breweries are ready and willing to do business at a reasonable price (you know, because it's a business). As for Germany, why in the name of all that is beer would you <i>complain</i> about a shipment of Celebrator?!

Also, don't tell me they don't import American brew because 5 of those beers on the list are from the US, 5 being greater than 4 (which is the number of UK beers you are getting). As peensteen also mentioned, breweries are on the hook for the Air Miles. They want you to buy their product.

Of COURSE companies like the LCBO want you to drink beer that is readily available and easily obtained at a good price. To go from there, however, and to suggest that it's all part of some grandiose scheme to deprive you of a quality product is ludicrous, especially when a lot of the product offered IS of good quality. They don't give a crap what you drink beyond how it will affect their gross revenue.

 

k, assume I am wrong.
then please explain how the LCBO decides on what they're going to bring in for their releases.
you don't think that any other countries other than the UK want to do business??

they are catering to their perceived demographics. the only ones, in my opinion, that don't fit my theory are Kwak, Karmeliet and La Trappe. otherwise, the rest of the beer would be styles that i would stereotypically say that white dudes drink. Oatmeal stouts, mocha beer. whisky beer and scotch ale - again, something that i feel like a white dude would buy to drink with his dad as they watch soccer on a Sunday morning.

 

It's not that other countries don't want to do business, it's that the UK can afford to do it better. The LCBO gets the best deals from them, hence their continued distribution.

And what makes a stout more of a white person beer than a tripel? It sounds more like you have certain skewed and preconceived notions regarding beer consumption: Most "white people" are likely to be drinking BMC while watching sporting events, and that's just plain fact.

Really, what you are looking at is, indeed, a seasonal beer list. Stouts, scotch ales, whiskey beers, doppelbocks... all traditionally consumed when it's cooler out than Summer. That's it. The styles have nothing to do with ethnicity.

 

Remarkably like the ratio in this thread oddly enough...

 

They decide what to bring in depending on their criteria (it's actually quite loose, sometimes), which is written out for every release, and then agencies submit beers that fit what the LCBO are looking for. The LCBO can't pick & choose beers if they aren't submitted in the first place.

 

But in a lot of cases, they 'criteria' are deadly. The price point they demand keeps people out (it would be like the government asking to build a new bridge, but telling contractors that they all had to do it for less than it would cost them...).

Let's also not discuss what they do to beers that they 'approve', holding them forever to meet lab tests or worse, like Cantillion Kriek.

 

Not really. It would be like the government asking to build a new bridge and then... picking the provider with the lowest cost. Let's not fault the LCBO for one of the things they do right (pretty great value for imports). Judging by the repeat sellers there are plenty of breweries who are able to meet the LCBO's criteria.

 

and what happened with last year's St Berny Abt 12 release that didn't happen?

 

Sorry, tried to consider what you have as a whole. It's nice from you assuming I never visited a US or Quebec beer store, or that I'm not serious. Keep on whinning about what you have, instead of enjoying what is done well. Anyway, no matter what you get locally, beer is all about hunting stuff from elsewhere in the world. When I drive to Vermont, I bring great, small batch, locally produced beer made in Quebec to trade/give to beer people I meet. My rare stuff is their boring locals, their rare stuff is my boring locals. I bring back HF, HT and Lawson's stuff, as much as I enjoy visiting Ontario to grab some of the nice offerings you get, as I did for Crazy Canucks, with is a world class dry hopped pale ale in my opinion, and still quite overlooked IMO.

Also, crappy beer is pretty much what sells, indeed. So the cash cow isn't the small, unknown micro brew from Italy. It's the mass produced cheap lagger. The argument of money being a lever to sell more micro is quite irrelevant. They do it mainly to be "good guys", to please beer snobs like us.

But, it's better to bitch about it. Enjoying stuff you get is a sign of weakness I guess?

 

As mentioned elsewhere, an agent can submit their product for lab testing well in advance of the order arriving, and therefore there will be no hold up once it arrives.