Maybe this applies to other provinces too.. How come some bars hold special occasions, anniversary parties etc, and for 1 night have a ton of American beers on draft, but then the other 364 days a year its 100% Canadian content? Do they get special exemptions? I cant imagine they are allowed to carry US brands all the time and simply choose not to.
As a restaurant or bar they probably are allowed to get kegs from american brands all year however it probably costs them a fortune. They could always charge you to profit on what their paying however Canada and even Quebec alone make some fantastic beers. If I had to choose a nice west coast IPA at 9-11$ a pint or a Great Canadian one at 5-7$ a pint, it speaks for itself.
I won't argue with you about the quality point, but with the frenzy going on now, it seems like any beer bar could dedicate one tap to U.S or just Vermont, sell 12-15$ pints and sell them out very fast. If people are buying bottles of Mikellar at 20$+ when available at bars, the price would not be an issue.
It could work, my suggestion would be ask an owner or manager next time your in a place, Le Saint Bock as a few american beers imported in bottles but I dont see them on tap very often. The guy running the show in one of these bars should have a better understanding of laws and costs then we do.
$15 pints even for this crowd seems like a longshot. It seems like most bars are too caught up with local beer. Regardless of quality. The number of deals and relationships, payouts involved in taps is mind boggling. Sometimes it's just not that easy to look at your neighbour and tell them you're dropping their product for a more expensive, international brand.
I suppose they can import American beer through the SAQ the same way that consumers can, but I'm guessing it's both expensive and a big hassle. Probably not worth doing on a regular basis. I know that you can get bottles of Hill Farmstead beer at Vices et Versa in Montreal for the low, low price of $40 each.
In cases like that I had always kind of assumed that someone at the business would go to the US buy a couple cases, and then pay duties/import fess on them for commercial purposes (although that might not work because of it being alcohol). It would explain $40 price tags. If they were bought wholesale, imported or distributed here there is no way they'd cost quite that much. At least I hope not...
My guess is it's likely due to the challenge of shipping single kegs. Easy for a one time tap takeover that is intended to try and build business, but no one is shipping a keg or two once a week, especially with the USA dollar. Some import kegs go for $600+ whereas the locals are a third of that or less.
Bar owner here (not from Quebec)... for me the reason is two-fold: limited availability from the brewers (worth going through the extreme hassle of importing, anyway) and insanely high provincial liquor monopoly mark-ups. It's not viable to run a bar on special-order imports all the time, in most Canadian provinces anyway. Plus, if the local scene is OK (as of course it is in Quebec), it always makes more sense to put on fresh/local "everyday" beers anyway. Why put on a Stone IPA when you can drink fresh Yakima?
kind of on topic/not really. Is there some law in Quebec or Canada in general, where anything over 5% has to be labeled "strong beer"? When I used to live up there I noticed that anything over 5% had "bière forte" but never thought to ask if it was actually a regulation provincial or nationally. thnx.
