DIY Kindred Spirits

Jamie and I got to see the band Me, Mom & Morgentaler last night, and it got me thinking about how related indy music and indy beer are. Both survive on the diy (do-it-yourself) ethic, both are competing with global multinational corporations, and both are blessed with the most passionate fans--although I've learned to order more XXL shirts and fewer "Youth Small" in the beer business.

Me, Mom and Morgentaler were one of my favorite indy bands back in the day, a bilingual ska-rock-pop act out ofMontreal. They decided to rerelease an album and do a reunion show, and it was awesome - as good as it ever was when they were first around. I've been really lucky lately, getting to see some fantastic independent acts: C'MON and Bionic a month ago, GWAR the night before Halloween, and my old label mates the Heatskores and the Flatliners, too.

It amazes me how much this little band meant to me and my friends when I was a kid. 12 years after they broke up I still knew the words to almost every song they played. I was thinking about that; and how it seemed similar to a customer who drove an hour to get to my brewery store because its the only place they can buy Lug Tread in a bottle, and how they told me that they make all of their "going out decisions" based on where our beer is on tap.

Don't get me wrong, I'mnowhere near as cool as Gus-Van-Go or Kim Bingham, but I'm sure I felt a little like they must have last night, listening to fan after fan tell him how far they came to see their band play. Anyway, here's a pic of Jamie with Gus and Kim after the show - after playing they ran right to the front and said thanks for coming out to every single one of us. How cool is that? --Steve

Brewery on the run...

Its 4:38 am. Back in my rock n' roll days, it seemed that if you were doing an overnight drive to some distant city to play a gig paying less money than the cost of gas to get there, you could always find Band on the Run on some classic rock station at 3 am. Somehow, it made it seem ok. When I'm pulling an all nighter now, I still try to find the tune, it's very Zen, or something.

Tonight was the first night of the Ottawa Wine and Food Show, the only alcohol-related showcase I know of in the area (although I hear the organizers of the Guy Show are looking to start a beer-related Ottawa show soon.) From noon till 9 I was slinging 4 oz samples of beer to people begging me to serve them 8 oz … and I wish I could, but I don’t make the rules.

Serving size complaints aside, I love doing sampling shows. It's so much fun to get instant feedback directly from the customer; a real pat on the back. This is our second time doing the show and it's incredibly fun, super hard on the back and feet and I still have to get a regular days work in overnight to keep the wheels turning at Beau’s. Tomorrow night I’ll be heading out with Jason and Mike from Cameron’s Brewing Co. to support them at their event at the Highlander. Jason and Mike also came to visit us at Beau’s the other night and have promised to post up some rather embarrassing photos of their visit.

So, I guess I’ll get back to working on the stuff I’m supposed to be doing so that I can get an hour or two sleep in before my daughters wake up and start jumping on my head. Cheers, Steve

Working on the LCBO

So, in Ontario there are only a few ways a brewery is (legally) allowed to sell beer. Here they are:

1) The Beer Store. This is a private, for-profit company, owned by Molson (which is owned by the U.S.’s Miller-Coors) and Labatts (which is owned by Inbev, from Belgium). Okay so Sleemans (owned by Sapporo in Japan) owns something like 1%, but let’s not split hairs. Something ridiculous like 85% of all beer sold in Ontario moves through this juggernaut.

2) The LCBO. This is a government-owned company that focuses on wines and spirits, but does sell beer as well. The LCBO does not sell larger packages than the 6-pack, so customers looking to purchase a case of beer go to the Beer Store.

3) Brewery retail store. Breweries are allowed to sell beer out of their brewery. They are not allowed to open up stores off-site, which is too bad, ‘cause that would be cool.

4) Restaurants and bars. Technically only restaurants can get new liquor licenses in Ontario, which is why you see fewer taverns every year.

So as you can see, options are really limited for a little brewery that wants to sell in the Ottawa-area exclusively. The Beer Store is very expensive to get into. In fact, it would cost us about $20,000 to get listed in 20 stores selling the usual 6-pack, 12-pack and 24-pack. Furthermore, if we don’t meet sales targets, the Beer Store takes back the listing and bans us from selling in that store.

On top of that, the Beer Store is converting more and more stores to a format where you can pick up a case of Molson Canadian or Blue Light real quick and get out the door; OR try to find what you want on a tiny list of beer, then wait in line forever while someone in the back hunts for your beer. I suppose it makes sense — if I was the one who owned the Beer Store, I’d probably try to make it tough for them (Miller-Coors) to sell their beer.

The LCBO is a much better option, but still quite challenging to work with on a small scale. Because they sell all the wine and spirits for the whole province, they have very long lead times and most of their programs expect the supplier to be able to reach the whole province. As an example, the deadline to submit a seasonal beer is 12 months in advance.

On the flip side though, the LCBO is interested in higher-end beer and I’ve had very good experiences working with the beer team and the inside folks there. For my first listing, and because I asked really nicely, they were able to fast-track Beau’s through the process, shaving 4 months off the submission timeline. (The process involved in getting a listing is rather interesting and I’ll write a separate blog about that some time). So finally, the good news is that it is looking likely that Beau’s will be able to sell through the LCBO starting in January. Although we’ll miss you all coming down the brewery to get your fix, it’ll be nice to know people in Ottawa can say, “Let’s go buy some Beau’s,” and not have to gas up and pack a lunch for the ride to VKH.