Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Usually the beer @ Costco is cheap swill...but the price is right. I read somewhere that Ottawa has one of the lowest sales per person of beer as so many people have given up on the Beer Store and either go to Gatineau or get beer from craft brewers.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Isn't the problem in Canada that people under drinking age can't even handle the stuff? I used to take the little wheels into LCBO and they'd pull the cart around and put the stuff in, now I see big signs everywhere saying they can't even do that.

Quebec has nearly the right idea- they don't subsidise it. Yet.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

I was in the LCBO a few months ago with my 14 year old son. He noticed an unusually named craft beer, picked up the bottle and showed it to me. An employee gave him a verbal warning not to touch the products as it was against the law, we put down what I was planning to buy, told them this was riduculous and haven't been in since (that was January). I usually just buy craft beer from local breweries.

A total nanny state we live in in regards to booze in Ontario. If this system comes into grocery stores in Ontario, how are they going to restrict it from the self-serve grocery checkouts where there is nobody to check ID.

Another beef I have with the LCBO/Beer Store system is if they are the only game in town and the province believes alcohol to be fundamentally evil, then why do they have an advertising budget to have glossy flyers in the newspaper and they publish that recipe book that invariably involves booze in every recipe.

Does anybody honestly think that this liberal government can successfully pull off this idea. As Kevin O'Leary said his scariest conversation is when he hears 'hi, how are you today. I'm calling from the government and I'm here to help you'

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

I heard a story last night from the barstaff about another bar, someone got hit crossing the road after leaving there. They had been served three drinks- when they checked the CCTV they found the person had been topping up under the table from a bottle in their bag. The bar is still being sued....

Getting more and more like seppo land every day this cultural creep might be the worst thing about Canada.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Do what BC is doing in the stores they are letting sell wine and make the store have a separate check out from the rest of the store, and not allowing booze to be bought at self checkout.

California doesn't even have an issue with self check out, they just banned booze from being sold via self check out. Granted other then licensing stores to sell booze and restricting sales from 2am to 6am, California largely does a hands of approach to booze.

Problem in Canada is the government wants to control every aspect of booze and makes things way more complicated then it needs to be.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Relatively indifferent actually.

I pass several LCBO's on the way home from work which tend to address any needs I have.

I'm not a perennial buyer of retail alcohol believe it or not. For the odd social function I'll grab some beverages but this tends to be restricted to 3 or 4 times every summer.

Very little alcohol is consumed directly in my household. Until a Hooters girl can pick it from the fridge and serve it to me this is unlikely to change.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Good point on the self check out situation. I know at the Sobeys store near me they have a person by self check out all the time so I expect the transaction won't complete when there is alcohol till they have vetted the ID.

I agree with the sentiment of Kevin O'Leary although I still think he is a bit of a knob.

The Liberals don't have a lot to pull of here. The Supermarkets will be desperate for the opportunity to drive in more traffic. All the government pen pushers have to do is collect their share of the tax revenue.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

It's not so much whether the LCBO is accessible or not, it's simply having the selection. Mr Schnooks likes craft beers and likes trying different things, and is frustrated that the LCBO/BeerSTore selection is so limited. Not to mention then that buying 24-packs can only be done at the LCBO...

We have started bringing our full allowance of 48 beers back from the US every time we make a trip down there, and it's now to the point where driving to Quebec (even from Oakville) becomes a more interesting prospect than trying to buy 24-packs from The Beer STore for their inflated, stupid prices.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Given the current boom in number of craft beers I don't see how this can be addressed.The government could allow the sale of alcohol unrestricted and you'd probably not see that many more for sale.

Every beer seller only has limited space and the easiest way to pay the rent on the space is to stock the beers where there is the most margin. The major breweries will always carry the control due to economies of scale.

Anyway next time you are out near Niagara on the Lake pop into "The Oast House". http://oasthousebrewers.ca/ My favourite craft in these parts.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

The stores I know that sell wine here- Sobeys and Walmart- have a separate wee booth somewhere near the entrance. They only sell Canadian wine. But it is handy for when I have the need for a 2-litre placcy of cider.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Moving to Canada has saved me loads of money on booze, I just can't bring myself to pay the prices.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

It cab be if there is only one adult and the under 18s are on all the tills. Bloody daft though, they can handle all that dosh but are deemed incapable of selling a bottle of Gordon's.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

Yes, ridiculous. The whole brown bag in public thing is equally ridiculous.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

You don't have one of those? oh, it seems to be included on my rental agreement.

Re: Beer Sales in Ontario
 

We can buy wine in Atlantic Superstore now, and have been able to for the last year or so. We just pay at the normal check out too. It's nice, because Atlantic have brought in lots of different types of wine, and have it in the chiller as well where the salads are, it all feels just very 'normal and cosmopolitan'. :thumbup: there are plans afoot for beer too I believe.