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 CBC Radio One in Edmonton this morning ran a story (you can listen to the whole story here) claiming that Alberta’s largest liquor store chain, Liquor Depot (who has 15% of all liquor stores in the province), is restricting supplies of Big Rock product in its stores across the city. The reporter, who contacted me for comment yesterday, contacted more than 50 Liquor Depot stores in the city and discovered most carried little or no Big Rock. This is a big change from a few months ago. Liquor Depot refused to comment on why they were restricting supply, but individual store clerks told the reporter that it was due to a feud between the large retailer and Big Rock.
 Today it looks like the Edmonton Journal and possibly other outlets are following the story.
This story is more significant than it may appear at first, in my opinion. For me this story isn’t about one brewer – if it was I would ignore it. I think it is a good example of what may be going wrong in the beer industry in Alberta. While no one is talking on the record, there are rumours flying like crazy that Liquor Depot is intentionally punishing Big Rock for some reason.
Let me state VERY CLEARLY I do not know what is happening in this dispute, so I cannot comment on its specifics. What I can discuss is the dynamics in the Alberta liquor industry and their relevance to this story.
In Alberta’s privatized system, nobody gets guaranteed distribution. Every brewery, winery, and agent must persuade each individual liquor store owner to carry their product. Obviously some of the players – the big corporate brewers, the large wineries, etc. – have an easier time of that than others. Who is going to refuse to carry Bud Light? However, for small breweries, it can be a tough slog.
And what it means is this. Continue reading Liquor Depot Restricting Big Rock
 Dave Rudge, the owner and Brewmaster of Winnipeg’s Half Pints brewery, is hitting the road at the end of September to do a bit of a promotional tour of the other prairie provinces. He will be hitting five cities to do a bit of beer business and in each city host a public event.
Here is the public itinerary so far:
September 28 – Edmonton Cask Night @ The Sugar Bowl
September 29 – Calgary Beer Tasting @ Kawa
September 30 – Lethbridge Tasting @ the Andrew Hilton store
October 1- Medicine Hat Booth @ Medicine Hat Beer Fest
October 2 – Regina Brewer’s Dinner @ Beer Bros
The quickest of you will have already noticed TWO special things in that list. The first is that Half Pints will be doing a CASK NIGHT at the Sugar Bowl while in Edmonton. Should be fantastic. A little birdie (one that would fit in a 250 ml glass) tells me that it will likely be their Oktoberfest seasonal with a bit of dry hopping. YUM!!
The second is Dave will be at the Medicine Hat beer festival. Huh? This, I must sheepishly admit, was news to me (and my in-laws live there, for heaven’s sake!). It appears to be hosted by the Medicine Hat Lodge and Trackside Liquor Store (whom I posted about here), and is promising 50 different breweries with NO crap beer). I am not sure I can be in the Hat that weekend, but I would love a report about it from someone.
I realize the schedule has no times yet, but call the local event location and they will be able to tell you. Or I may get around to telling you if you bug me enough. In all likelihood Edmonton’s will be at 5:00.
In other Half Pints news, the latest Phil’s Pils is out and available in Winnipeg and (I think) in Alberta as well (at least I hope those bottles I saw on the shelves the other day are the new batch…). Also, the Humulus Ludicrous is being released on September 15, same day as the Oktoberfest. Oh to be in Winnipeg that day…
 The date for the next beer tasting at the Sugar Bowl, hosted by yours truly, has been set. It will be Wednesday September 8 from 6 to 8 pm. The beer on offer will be Danish brewer Raasted, who I highlighted in a post here, including a couple of new arrivals in the province. The event, once again, will be informal and casual – more of an added value for Sugar Bowl customers. Samples of a handful of Raasted beer will be offered to patrons, and I will circulate among the tables to chat beer with anyone who wishes.
In other Sugar Bowl news, the next Alley Kat Cask event will be Thursday September 16. No word yet on the beer to be tapped. I missed this month’s due to another commitment, and I must apologize for neglecting to mention it on the website beforehand. I could say it was an oversight, but I think I was just moping about missing it. At any rate, those in attendance tell me the cask porter – from a recipe by Canadian Homebrewer of the Year Ray Duperron and brewing partner Patrick Doyle – was marvelous, possibly the best cask yet. It went in about an hour or so. And I missed it! Sob!
 The title is likely a dead give-away that this post is about a German beer. More specifically it is about my latest Vue Weekly column, which actually is from August 18 but for technical reasons didn’t get posted online right away.
The column reviewed Warsteiner, which seems increasingly omnipresent in pubs and restaurants. There is much to be said about this German Pils, including that it remains an independently owned brewery. It is not part of my usual drinking regime, in large part because German-style pilsners are not my favourite style. If I am going to go for a pils, I tend to drift toward the Bohemian version – I like its fuller body and sweeter finish. That is not a criticism of German Pils, just a personal preference.
I like Warsteiner but don’t love it. It has an odd finish that puts me off and it just simply isn’t sharp enough to keep my attention. I have sampled better versions – often homebrewed, I must admit. However, it is one of those beers if it is the best of slim pickings in a pub then I wouldn’t regret a pint or two (or, god forbid, one of those Übersteins from Wunderbar), but it won’t make my A-list.
By the way, Übertrieben is translated as “exaggerated”. I couldn’t resist the twist on “Deutschland Über Alles” (and, more relevantly, for guys my age, California Über Alles by the Dead Kennedys – if you are one of those young ‘uns who don’t know that DK was an unbelievably important band, feel free to buy me a beer and I will explain why they were…).
At any rate here is how you can read the whole review.
 I am a little late with this review of Paddock Wood’s summer seasonals. I have been busy and out of town a fair bit this summer and didn’t want to sample the bottles until I could give them a focused tasting. That finally happened and I am happy to offer my conclusions about them – even if it might happen to be too late to bump sales for PW (sorry Stephen).
At any rate, Paddock Wood went a British route this summer, offering two English-style beer on opposite ends of the spectrum. The first is Bramling Cross, what they bill as a tradition English session beer (at 4.5%). In the glass it is a lovely deep reddish copper – a perfect pale ale hue. It builds a cascading bright white head that stays present as an impressive lacing on the side of the glass. The aroma is a classic British ale: light crystal, toffee and caramel malt sweetness and just a touch of floral hop nose. Moderate fruity esters add complexity. A similar experience awaits me upon sipping. Light malt sweetness of nut, caramel and toffee. The bitterness builds slowly but never gets too overpowering. It is a soft, rounded hop that gently sharpens the flavour and body of the beer. The linger is of soft floral hop (my guess is Goldings).
It has a light body, the initial impression almost watery but with enough beer-ness to keep it interesting. Really, it is exactly the beer it promises to be – a summer session beer. Not too much of anything, easy to drink, and almost ready-made for hot weather. I sampled mine shortly after a couple of hours of lopping tree branches and it hit the spot wonderfully.
PW’s other seasonal is Black Friars, what they call a 17th century London Ale. I interpret that to mean Continue reading A Touch of England from Paddock Wood
 I reported recently that a new brewpub is slated to open in Saskatoon in the coming months. Shiny Penny is currently trying to finalize a location but in the meantime arranged to brew a beer at Paddock Wood, under their licence, to promote the company. It is a Witbier called Saskatchewan Wheat Ale. I am told it will be one of the regular beer at the brewpub.
The beer is available only at the Paddock Wood Brewery retail store for the moment, but I got my hands on a review bottle and had a chance to try it recently.
It is a very hazy light orange hue offering a voluminous white head that maintains a consistent blanket through the sipping. Quite an impressive look. I notice as I pour it that there is an unusually large amount of yeast sediment in the bottle.
The aroma has that expected sharp wheat quality, a touch of citrus and some earthiness and bit of a yeasty note. I take a sip and pick up orange and lemon citrus up front, with a touch of sharp sweetness. There is some background pepperiness. It has a soft wheat flavour I enjoy quite a bit. The finish is tart and has a bit of a harsh yeast bite.
I find myself thinking that it was a mistake to pour all the yeast into the glass. Normally that is okay for Witbier, but I think the volume of it added a yeast roughness that detracted from the beer. I chalk this up to the fact it is a first-time beer – and my own haste. It is one of those things that is fairly easily corrected.
In fact I quite enjoyed the beer. It has a subtle complexity that sneaks up to you. Certain elements remind me of a Saison, interestingly enough. It is not as refreshing as my favourite Wit – Blanche de Chambly – but I consider it a fine first effort. It is on the bigger end of the style, offering a little more bitterness and more malt character than many versions. I find myself attracted to that boldness.
If this is what we can expect from the folks at Shiny Penny, it will be a destination of choice in Saskatoon.
 Onbeer’s honorary prairie brewery, Yukon Brewing, has just completed a redesign of a number of its labels. New artwork has been done for the Lead Dog and the Cranberry Wheat, giving them a simiar feel as the other mainstays.
They re-did their Gold and Arctic Red labels last year, part of an ongoing process of freshening the company’s image, making it more sophisticated and disctinctly northern.
At the same time they have re-christened the Discovery Fireweed Honey Ale as Discovery Honey ESB. Last year, the folks at Yukon asked for my opinion on what style the Discovery most resembled. After some thoughtful sampling (and re-sampling to confirm my suspicions — I have a great job!), I suggested it was closest to an English-style Extra Special Bitter, but with a unique twist. So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when they actually listened to me!
It is one of the things I most appreciate about Yukon’s beer – it often defies styles. The Gold is delicious but impossible to pin down to a particular style. It is like it possesses the qualities of a couple of styles. The Arctic Red is similar, seeming like an Irish Red Ale, but hoppier and crisper than an IRA. It is that way with the Discovery as well. What style do you think it is closest to?
I am glad they sent me that tidbit of news, as it reminded me I haven’t written about them much in the past few months, and that when I talk about the great folks at Alley Kat, Half Pints, Wild Rose, etc. I need to include Yukon’s Bob Baxter (and their Edmonton rep “Yukon Dave”) in that list. They are jovial and good humoured, serious about making good beer and admirably committed to their community. Which is why they have been deemed honourary prairie-sters.
 All I can say is “Holy Poor Public Image, Batman!” to this bit of news. Today the blog Canadian Beer News reports (apparently getting it from the Toronto Star) that Labatt brands destined for the U.S. market will from now on be brewed at Molson plants in Toronto and Montreal (here is a link to the CBN post).
I could go the cheap route and crack a line like – well, it only means switching the labels on the bottling line, anyway – or some other reference to how the two companies make beer that tastes the same. But there is something substantive in this decision that needs remarking.
The storyline is summarized well by CBN – it is fallout from the AB-Inbev merger a couple years ago and is an attempt to remain onside with U.S. Anti-Trust legislation. And the ludicrousness of making your product in your main competitor’s factory is bizarre enough to be a Seinfeld episode.
But this is why it interests me: I think it is a potent symbol for AB-Inbev’s long term corporate strategy with Labatt products. The Labatt brand is being slowly choked to death. The company is spending the bulk of its resources on its sales monster, Budweiser, and on its “premium” brands, like Stella Artois, Alexander Keith’s and Kokanee – at the expense of Blue and other Labatt mainstays. Think about it. When was the last time you saw a Labatt Blue TV ad?
I think the name Labatt is being phased out, ever so slowly. And by allowing it to be brewed at Molson breweries, they are sending a signal that they don’t really care about that line anymore. They would NEVER let Stella be brewed at a Molson plant! I fear that in a few years time, the name Labatt will fade away, which, despite what you may think of their beer today, will be the death of a hugely important chunk of Canadian beer history. Labatt’s came into existence in 1846 and has become a Canadian icon. The name matters.
I realize the decision to brew at Molson was not AB-Inbev’s – as they had sold Labatt USA. But even that decision is noteworthy for its lack of commitment to the brand. Plus who gives up ownership over the flagship brands, even in foreign markets? There were other ways to address the U.S. government’s concerns.
I may be wrong, but fear I am spot on the money. This decision only deepens my suspicions.
 It is official. After months of rumours, I have received confirmation that Granville Island is returning to Alberta. In fact three of their beer hit liquor store shelves last weekend or will sometime this week. This is actually pretty interesting news, even if you are not a fan of the beer.
Opened in 1984, Granville Island, generally promoted as Canada’s first microbrewery (there is some complexity to this question that muddify who earns the title, but I won’t go into it here), has an important historical place in Canada’s beer history. By the mid-1990s they had pushed into the prairie provinces, being some of the first craft-made beer available on the flatlands (along with Big Rock). They quickly developed a strong following among beer drinkers looking for something slightly different and original. I remember snagging six packs of the beer whenever I could find it in a liquor store because it beat most of the timid imports available at the time. However, in the early 2000s they retreated from the prairies due to growing demand in their home province and limits on production capacity.
The market in Alberta has changed markedly since their departure. There are now 10 B.C. craft brewers available in Alberta (all much smaller than Granville) plus dozens of other Canadian micros, so you have to imagine it miffs Granville like crazy to be missing out on the burgeoning market in Alberta.
Plus, last year they were bought out, officially by Creemore Springs in Ontario but ostensibly by Molson (who own Creemore). At the time on my CBC column (no link, sorry) I pontificated that the buy-out would lead to regional expansion, as the brewery gained distribution networks and access to production efficiencies. I predicted a return to the province in short order. Apparently I was right. Chock one up for me!
I am told three beer are in the first shipment: English Bay Pale Ale, Cypress Honey Lager and Maple Cream Ale. It does, I am told, seem to be a permanent re-entry, but I have not yet received confirmation on that fact. Also no word yet on when Saskatchewan and Manitoba might be on the list, or if other beer will be shipped as well.
I’ll admit it has been years since I drank Granville (save a trip to the Vancouver test brewery last year where I mostly consumed seasonals). I may have to try a couple six packs, just for nostalgia’s sake if nothing else.
 Reported in the Edmonton Sun today: Alberta has the highest beer prices in the country; Manitoba has the lowest. This surprises me not in the least, but it gives me a good opportunity to muse about beer pricing. First, what the article says (the author’s methodology was not well spelled out) is that a 12-pack of Molson Canadian sells for two to four dollars more than Manitoba – that is about a 10% price difference. The article offers a myriad of reasons for why that might be – mostly blaming taxes and such.
This is not the first time someone has pointed out that Alberta has a price disadvantage on booze. The CBC did a report last year finding similar results. I have also been keeping a personal eye on prices and my experience is that Alberta is more expensive. This has been the case for a while, I believe. For most of the last decade or so Alberta has had higher than average prices, trending toward the highest.
The hard question to answer is why? Here is my take. First, it isn’t because of taxes – at least not in they way the Sun article means. Alcohol taxes are complex beasts, but I recently conducted some research on tax rates for beer. Alberta is quite competitive and lower than most provinces, including Ontario and B.C. The tax regime cannot explain the price difference. However, I do know that back in 1995 when the liquor retail system was privatized, the government also altered the tax regime to effectively increase the take on low-alcohol drinks – beer, cider, wine – and decrease the mark up on spirits (at the time some said it was because the Minister responsible, who had something of a sodden reputation, had a preference for the hard stuff – I make no comment on whether that assessment was accurate or not). The effect was to mean that beer became more expensive relative to spirits.
So what is the reason? Partly it is how we handle distribution. During privatization, distribution was handed over to a private monopoly – Connect Logistics. It appears that handling and storage charges have jumped significantly since.
I also argue that privatization of retail is a culprit. No one Continue reading A Look at Beer Prices
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CBC Radio One in Edmonton this morning ran a story (you can listen to the whole story here) claiming that Alberta’s largest liquor store chain, Liquor Depot (who has 15% of all liquor stores in the province), is restricting supplies of Big Rock product in its stores across the city. The reporter, who contacted me for comment yesterday, contacted more than 50 Liquor Depot stores in the city and discovered most carried little or no Big Rock. This is a big change from a few months ago. Liquor Depot refused to comment on why they were restricting supply, but individual store clerks told the reporter that it was due to a feud between the large retailer and Big Rock.
