Brews News: Local offerings in convenience stores disappointing

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Convenience comes with a cost. Don’t we know it in Ontario.

Speeding up the sale of beer, cider, cocktails and wine in convenience stores by one year cost taxpayers $225 million according to Premier Doug Ford. The Financial Accountability Office, however, is looking into it while the opposition Liberals believe the cost is closer to $1 billion to get beer sold in about 4,000 more stores.

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We love the modernization of beer retailing. The cost of impatience, not so much. Nor the early results based on a handful of stores I’ve checked out and media reports from other cities.

In no store did I see someone buying beer, cocktails or something from the store’s wine selection. I understand sales rise the closer you get to post-secondary school campuses.

Some are just junky, with jammed up floor and cooler displays from owners who clearly didn’t check the Labatt website (getstartedwithlabatt.com) for smart tips. It’s the polar opposite of the tidy setups we expect at the LCBO or the efficiency of rolling out cases at The Beer Store after returning empties.

The corner store coolers I’ve seen are heavy with Chicago-based Molson Coors beverages, but light on beers brewed in the neighbourhood. The deal is that 20 per cent of space is supposed to be dedicated to small Ontario producers. What I’ve spotted so far in London are beers from Steam Whistle of Toronto, Collective Arts of Hamilton and, give them credit for this, Cowbell of Blyth.

The opportunity lost is having neighbourhood stores and local small breweries boosting each other’s fortunes.

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That 20 per cent of space, tiny as it is, would’ve been better used as truly local. In London, that’s an easy get with an abundance of choice from the likes of Forked River, Anderson, London Brewing and Powerhouse. London’s also a big producer of premixed cocktails, led by Black Fly and Bangarang.

Local stores, local product. That should’ve been the mantra.

NEW AND NOTED

Where do retailers understand local? Stratford. Case in point is The Butcher The Baker on Wellington Street where there’s beer from breweries Black Swan and Shakespeare along with cider and wine from Shale Ridge in Thedford.

Black Swan goes from Stratford to Australia with The Galaxy Awakens, a pale ale brewed with fruity Australian Galaxy hops.

Powerhouse, the best atmosphere in London to enjoy a craft beer, has three German-inspired brews arriving to celebrate Oktoberfest. The first release is Powerhaus (see what they did there?) Oktoberfest Marzen. It was lagered – that is to say, stored – for two months. Flavours are caramel with hints of toffee and coffee. It’s 5.9 per cent alcohol by volume. Oktober Fall Fest runs for three weekends until Oct. 6 in the main gallery at 100 Kellogg Lane in Old East Village.

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If you’re fall colour cruising in Bruce or Grey counties, you know Formosa Springs is back with a vengeance. The rural brewery with a roller coaster past of ownership changes is proving locals have long and fond memories of the brand. The brewery is paying the love forward with community involvement from its new local owners, including putting its branding on a demolition derby at the Mildmay-Carrick fall fair. That’s not something done by Toronto breweries. Mildmay is famous for being country star Owen Riegling’s hometown and his Bud Light video was shot in the local pub.

Refined Fool of Sarnia has a new beer at the LCBO. Hazy Roy: A Hazy Boy is a six per cent alcohol New England IPA with flavours of passionfruit, grapefruit, peach and strawberry. The brewery says this recipe went through dozens of recipe iterations before settling on this version.

Harvest season is celebrated in Chatham-Kent with the annual release of Backyards by Sons of Kent. Brewed with fresh Sasquatch hops grown in Kingsville at Red Man hop farm, Backyards has classic flavours of pine and lime. It’s only at the brewery.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.

BrewsNewsTravels@gmail.com

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