Hey guys! I'm pretty new to craft beer and this is my first post so cut me some slack! Being from Ontario and even large picture Canada our craft beer scene is lacking in comparison to our neighbours to the south, and because of government regulations it's not just as simple hopping across the border for an hour and loading up on beer without taking out a second mortgage on your house to pay the duty you'd incur. I'm lucky enough that I can to university out of province so twice a year I travel through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. I always pick up bottles there but after that I'm out of luck. This means that a lot of beers I want to try (Great Divide, Deschutes, Lost Abbey, The Bruery, Goose Island, Avery etc) I would like to trade but with not a lot of beer to trade up North it makes it difficult to find someone willing to trade and possible end up not getting great stuff back. Also its not cheap and customs can be a pain In summary my question to you guys is how can I get some of these beers that I want to try. I'm not talking about any rarities, just stuff that I can't get that I'd love to try Thanks for you're help guys, Cheers!
Deschutes and Bruery are available here, the rest you or someone else would need to go to the US to acquire in some shape or form. All those brews can easily be found on US Beer Shop websites, what a lot of people in BC do is order, ship to the border and then pick up. Of course it's easier since Vancouver is so close to the border. Duties are rarely charged as long as the quantity isn't too crazy and Nexus lane helps a lot they tend to just wave through unless they're bored. My advise would be either setup some trades with those awesome Vermont beers, or setup a US based shipping receiver to get an order sent before you go travel. You can setup a 'mailbox' pretty much anywhere in the States with kinek.com Hope that helps a bit
Great Divide, The Bruery, Goose Island, and Avery are all available in NY and probably in Vermont bottle shops as well. If you are traveling through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, try picking up some Alchemist, Lawson's, Hill Farmstead, NEBCO, or Maine Brewing Co. on your drive. You will have people beating down your door to trade with you. Also, as @JonnyBeers suggested, you can buy online or setup trades and have them shipped to a ship-it shop at the border you regularly cross at. People in Ottawa use Ogdensberg all the time.
When crossing the border back into Ontario the border limits and duties are actually pretty reasonable. If you do a "dash" across the border, you are allowed to bring back up to 45 liters of beer for personal consumption, and the duties on such can be affordable if you are willing to pay a slight premium. Last time I crossed the border at Hills Island (Gananoque) I had $125 worth of beer with me, about 11 liters. The total duties and taxes (yes you have to pay tax on it) came to about $22. As mtomlins said, some of the breweries you are looking for are available in NY, as are some Belgians we cannot usually get here in Ontario (Westmalle for example). Sounds like you are going through to the NB crossings...NB has some of the highest duties on beer in the country. They basically rob you blind (about 80% of value of price you paid). You are better off taking a two hour detour north to Quebec and crossing there. Now that the highway is twinned through NB its easy to get from north to south.
Sounds like you are going through to the NB crossings...NB has some of the highest duties on beer in the country. They basically rob you blind (about 80% of value of price you paid). You are better off taking a two hour detour north to Quebec and crossing there. Now that the highway is twinned through NB its easy to get from north to south.[/QUOTE] I'm lucky enough that I go the university in New Brunswick but spend close to five months back at home in Ottawa so no problem getting across the border! I think I'll probably end up ordering online but also picking up some beers in Vermont to trade and just have them shipped to the border. Thanks for you're help guys I appreciate it!
Hey, depending on what you have to trade, I might be able to help you out. For some reason your profile does not allow people to start a conversation with you, so if you want to chat, start up a conversation with me...
