ottawa foodies

It's a start and it will be interesting to see how it proceeds as well as the benefits and fallout along the way. I'm not getting my hopes up for cheaper, better beer selections.

www.cbc.ca

I never expected more choice or cheaper prices, but I detest going to the Beer Store.

Very happy to see Farm Boy on the list!

Ratty

Each location will have to apply for a licence though. This doesn't mean that every Farm Boy will be selling beer. Also doesn't mean that any Farm Boy in Ottawa will be selling beer as they've expanded into London. Gotta wait for more details.

There are only so many licenses available in Eastern Ontario (12 maybe). All applicants must successfully pass muster with the AGCO and I heard that it was not going to happen until late December. I'm not sure getting my beer from Walmart over The Beer Store will make me feel any better...

You're fractionally less likely to be asked for spare change while exiting Walmart.

We (licensees) should be able to sell 'off-sales'

We should remove the bottle/can collection from the Beer Store & create 'bottle depots' like they have in almost every province in Canada, maybe we could start recycling pop cans & bottles as well, cash is a great motivator to recycle (again as far as I know we're the only province that doesn't have a deposit on pop cans/bottles...

I agree 100% Terry both on the off-sales and the returnables.

In Michigan, where I am from, most cans/bottles (glass and plastic) have a .10 deposit. They have very little issue with discarded bottles/can because of the deposit. As a student, we collected bottles/cans for beer runs.

In Nova Scotia there are deposits on many bottles and cans, and bottle depots. Works very well. As well their recycling program for paper and other glass and plastic is MUCH more demanding than here. Garbage is in CLEAR bags and if they see recyclables in the garbage the bag stays at the curb. Also their green bins are designed for Canadian winters.

When I moved here in 2000 - I was absolutely amazed that you could only take empties back to the 'beer-store' ... 15 years later it's the same.

Sometimes this province makes me cringe...

What I do not get is that a lot of the Independent chain of grocery stores (owned by loblaws), they have the wine store in it and that is a grocery store.
I think they sell just wine and wine coolers and always seem to have free samples.

Also the Hartman's store, that location seems to always have homeless looking or people at the front of the store always asking for spare change.

Too bad we also can not get alcohol at the farmer's market in Ontario.
In Quebec the food/farmer co-op has alcohol and the producers sell it themselves and also go to a few local events in Quebec (where they have free samples,always nice to sample local stuff free).
I always end up buying alcohol at those events!

I have had a couple cider cans where there was a .20c return if you bring the can back.
But for my just buying 2 cans, spending so much time to return them is prob not worth it.

You can get alcohol at Farmers' Markets in Ontario but it's a relatively new thing. One of the Prince Edward County vineyards is at the Lansdowne market. Because it's a new law I guess few producers have taken up the opportunity. I don't know the details but assume it must be an Ontario producer and don't know if it's limited to wine.

According to Smokie from Smokie Ridge Vineyard yesterday at the Chesterville Christmas Farmer's Market only VQA wines are allowed to be sold at farm markets, and only approved grape varieties are allowed to be used in VQA wines - varieties which are not yet grown in abundance east of PEC - which is why no local wineries can sell at farm markets, though their wines can be sold in lcbo's if they can get listed. Smokie was offering tasting samples of his wines, which is legal, at the market.

And they're off, selling beer in grocery stores in Ontario. I read today that Loblaw stores will be 50/50 craft beers/big Brewers. I wonder how they define "craft brewer"? For example, where do Mill Street and Creemore fit in? Another bit I read says that the grocers selling beer are only allowed to sell beer under 7.1% abv; that might hurt some craft brewers and I wonder if they will lower the alcohol in some recipes to get under 7.1% or develop new recipes keeping that figure in mind.

Aaaaah. Limited to under 7.1%?

And I was counting on picking up my favourite malt beverage while getting a few bags of pork rinds.

Gawd I love that name ... Poppers Hard Ice X-tra.

No party is complete without some Poppers.

bensbeerblog.com

Here';s a list of beers. Can confirm that Loblaws College square has alot of good ones there. (Mill street is consider craft for the time being, but I think it was because the plan was made before the buyout)

Just a personal beef: you can only buy beer during certain hours, you can only pay for them in certain lanes, and you must show id (although I'm sure my grey hair would help;) Gawd I miss living in Quebec...

Link to today's Citizen article for more info: ottawacitizen.com

Depending on the store, but some Loblaws have Mill St and Creemore lumped in with their parents; the foreign owned conglomerates. It is early days but some stores have 50% of the available shelf space dedicated to Ontaio craft beers. That probably has to do with the fact that there are two end aisle displays. When their fridges get installed and running, you might see the stores maintain the bare minimum 20% of space allotted to Craft beer as is required.

If Loblaw stick to the 50:50 ratio it might be wise marketing, attracting more affluent craft beer buyers into the store. We'll see down the road what they do.

In the end I'll still have to go to the local brewers, lcbo, and Gatineau for a lot of my purchases, like last night's pick, Sawdust City's delicious Long, Dark Voyage To Uranus.

Awesome, the Costco in Gatineau will be a lot less crowded weekends . . . .

So, follow up on this. Hit the Loblaws yesterday around 10pm on my way home from work. The craft shelf was nearly empty, with the clerk stocking it, while the big brewers looked nearly untouched. Chatting wiht the cashier, (The only one they had) he estimated that 90% of sales were craft beer. So, it looks like that's pretty good for craft beer fans.

Does this make money for the province, or is it just a "bread and circuses" measure ?

It does make more than the beer store, in that the Prov. tax on beer sold in the supermarkets is higher than the beer store one.

Interesting, but doesn't the province get all the profit from beer store sales ?

Nope. Not at all. The Beer Store is actually owned by three beer conglomerates. Molson-Coors and AB-InBev each own 49% and Sapporo owns the remaining 2%. The LCBO is the province run one.

en.wikipedia.org

The Beer Store is also supposed to deliver most of the beer to the grocery stores. Small breweries can also use the LCBO system I heard.

College Square Loblaws has installed large fridges and (it appears) greatly increased their selection.

I was in there last night. There was alot from breweries I never heard of before.

nice.... maybe I should make a trip there :D

I kinda think I saw single cans for sale too. I didn't think that was allowed, 6-packs only, so I could be wrong...

Single Cans have been available from the start. I think you are confused. The limit was single cans and 6 packs only. No 12 packs or two-fours.

Good to know. (Though many brands were only sold in multi-packs)