Beau's fucked over by another brewery

[mr x]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/11/25 ... -homeless/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

By Kristy Nease

OTTAWA — Less than a day after an area brewery launched a home delivery service in conjunction with a local organization devoted to helping homeless young people find jobs, the service was shut down because another brewery complained.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario broke the news to Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company on Thursday, the first day that Buy Your Beau’s Online was being run by Operation Come Home. The commission would not say which brewery complained, and co-founders Tim Beauchesne and his son Steve said late Thursday night that they “have absolutely no idea” who complained.

Steve Beauchesne said by phone that it’s up to Operation Come Home — an Ottawa organization trying to end youth homelessness — to file an appeal with the commission. “And I really hope that they do, because if they do, they find out who the complaining brewery was,” he said. “So, it’s a little bit out of our hands at this point, but we have a close relationship with Operation Come Home and I hope that they still want to fight this because I think this is a service worth fighting for.”

Steve Beauchesne said the organization could also decide to continue the service with The Beer Store or the LCBO. He also said he understands why the commission made the decision after it received a formal complaint.

In a press release, Beau’s said the competing brewery’s complaint centered around a technicality in the home delivery service license’s wording. “It states that alcohol intended for home delivery can only be purchased from the LCBO (a crown corporation), or The Beer Store, a foreign-owned, privately held corporation run by the parent companies of big breweries Molson, Labatts, and Sleeman,” the press release explained. “The home delivery service license makes no mention of microbreweries or small wineries, whose presence in the market has flourished in recent years.”

Steve Beauchesne said he believes the wording is just an “oversight.”

“If we’re allowed to sell it in every other respect, I can’t see any logical reason why the Ontario government would want to deny access for local breweries. It’s so against everything else the Ontario government has been doing for local breweries,” he said.

Steve Beauchesne added that while he’ll do everything he can to have the license changed, Beau’s can’t afford a team of lawyers.

Twitter and Facebook lit up with the news after Beau’s announced on Thursday afternoon that the service was shut down. Many said they want to know which brewery complained so they can stop buying their products.

Tim Beauchesne said about 10 delivery orders were made on Thursday, and that Beau’s was allowed to fill those orders only. Two homeless youths who would have delivered the beer through Operation Come Home are now out of work again.

“It’s a lose-lose situation,” Tim Beauchesne said.

In a public blog post, Steve Beauchesne wrote that he was “simply aghast” at the news.

“The Beer Store is a retail outlet owned by three breweries. Why would they be allowed to sell to a home delivery service and Beau’s (or any other brewery) not be? It doesn’t make any sense, it’s anti-competitive and it restricts choice to the residents of this province.”

Representatives of Operation Come Home, including executive director Elspeth McKay, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday night.

Ottawa Citizen

[Graham.C]

Classic Canadian booze laws...

[chalmers]

This shit pisses me off. I hope the service appeals to find out the identity of the brewery that complained. Mind you, these sorts of complaints and appeals are usually necessary to have the laws changed, so in another sense, maybe I shouldn't be so pissed. OK, I'm better now, I've calmed myself down. Phew!

[mr x]

Possible good news.
Beau’s home delivery will be back on tap, minister pledges

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Beau+ ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen has vowed to act quickly to reinstate the home delivery of Beau’s craft beer in Ottawa.

“We are working out this situation as quickly as possible because we think it’s the right thing to do,” Gerretsen told the Ontario legislature Tuesday.

His answer came in response to questions from Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod, who asked the government when it would amend the “archaic law” that forced the shutdown of the innovative home delivery partnership between Beau’s and Operation Come Home, an Ottawa charity devoted to homeless youth.

“Your heavy-handedness cost jobs and fundraising opportunities for homeless youth,” MacLeod said.

She demanded to know why the government didn’t simply instruct officials at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to immediately reinstate the home delivery service.

MacLeod baited the minister: “You can be the Christmas hero in Ottawa if you just say, ‘Yes, we’ll do it today. We’ll save this Eastern Ontario operation.”

“Come on, Santa!” one MPP heckled as Gerretsen rose to answer during Question Period.

Gerretsen said the government wants the problem resolved as soon as possible.

“You may just want to remember,” he told his Conservative hecklers, “that it was your government that put in this law many, many years ago.

“And it will be our government, that within 48 or 72 hours of finding out about the situation, is going to correct something they created many, many years ago.”

Last week, the province’s alcohol and gaming commission said the home delivery service could not buy beer directly from the microbrewery. The province’s Liquor Licence Act requires delivery services to purchase beer, wine or spirits from the LCBO or The Beer Store.

But only a small selection of Beau’s products is available at the LCBO. The Beer Store does not yet carry any of the craft beer maker’s products.

The commission’s decision — it was acting on a complaint from another brewery — effectively shelved Operation Come Home’s delivery service on the day it was launched.

The service was priced so that $8.25 of every $15 delivery went directly to the charity.

It also allowed the charity to offer jobs to two homeless people.

[mr x]

The Friday staff meeting at Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co. started flat.

Their new home delivery service — run in partnership with a charity for the homeless — had been halted by the Liquor and Gaming Commission of Ontario eight days prior, on the very day it was to begin.

But 15 minutes into the meeting, the co-founder of the Ottawa-based brewery, Steve Beauchesne, got a call from his Liberal MPP Grant Crack.

The province had granted them a regulatory exemption — allowing the home delivery service to buy the beer from the microbrewery rather than from the LCBO or the Beer Store.

On Monday, the province amended the Liquor Licence Act to permit any licensed liquor delivery service to buy directly from small craft breweries and wineries.

It could be the first of many changes as the province launches a 15 month full-scale review of outdated liquor regulations, sparked by the Beau’s incident, said Crack, who represents Beau’s home riding, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. Stakeholders including social groups, the police and manufacturers will be consulted.

Meanwhile, Beauchesne said he is “not only impressed but humbled” by the provincial support for one small brewery and one small charity that got tied up in a technical rule.

And the review could get “fairness and access for the little guy,” Beauchesne said.

Regulations like one preventing different microbreweries sharing a truck to ship their beers to, for example Toronto, might be changed.

John Romano of Burlington’s Nickel Brook brewery, is hoping for a craft brewery store, rather than relying on the LCBO and the Molson, Sleeman and Labatt-owned Beer Store for shelf space. Allowing easier inter-province sales would be another boon.

A number of changes were made to the Liquor Licence Act this summer including allowing alcohol to be carried outside “beer tent” areas at outdoor concerts and festivals, and allowing the sale of all-inclusive holiday packages in Ontario.

This time, it was the little guy’s turn.

“Sometimes you have to have an example like ours to get things changed,” Beauchesne said. “It’s heartwarming (the decision) was so quick.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/arti ... vince?bn=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Graham.C]

Almost makes me want to move back to Ontario...
Maybe NS will follow suit, but I doubt NB is at all interested in doing a review of their liquor laws.

[benwedge]

Almost makes me want to move back to Ontario...
Maybe NS will follow suit, but I doubt NB is at all interested in doing a review of their liquor laws.

It's amazing that Ontario is changing so rapidly from what in some ways were the most draconian liquor laws to what could be Canada's most liberal liquor laws (excepting private store sales, but that's another matter).

I can remember travelling to Toronto with my dad and having a really hard time finding a place to eat after 8 because I was not of age. Even "normal" restaurants seemed to have weird restrictions. Perhaps we didn't look hard enough, I don't know, but being turned away for food service sucked.

Maybe the Maritimes will warm to many of these changes.

[derek]

Almost makes me want to move back to Ontario...
Maybe NS will follow suit, but I doubt NB is at all interested in doing a review of their liquor laws.

Not a chance that NS will follow suit. In the particular case, I don't think liquor delivery services are legal at all here. And, anyway, they're not interested in encouraging small breweries. They only tolerate Molson and Labatt because they are large corporations. Nova Scotia is still a highly Presbyterian culture.

[Graham.C]

Almost makes me want to move back to Ontario...
Maybe NS will follow suit, but I doubt NB is at all interested in doing a review of their liquor laws.

Not a chance that NS will follow suit. In the particular case, I don't think liquor delivery services are legal at all here. And, anyway, they're not interested in encouraging small breweries. They only tolerate Molson and Labatt because they are large corporations. Nova Scotia is still a highly Presbyterian culture.

I heard somewhere that the maritimes had the highest levels of beer consumption in the country. Before posting, I checked and found this neat little chart on wikipida sourced from stats can http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_ ... _in_Canada" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
So apparently we are not even close.

[benwedge]

Almost makes me want to move back to Ontario...
Maybe NS will follow suit, but I doubt NB is at all interested in doing a review of their liquor laws.

Not a chance that NS will follow suit. In the particular case, I don't think liquor delivery services are legal at all here. And, anyway, they're not interested in encouraging small breweries. They only tolerate Molson and Labatt because they are large corporations. Nova Scotia is still a highly Presbyterian culture.

Liquor delivery is legal. Premier and Bishop's both offer it within the province. Direct from brewery isn't, however.

[mr x]

Although Garrison delivers kegs to residences IIRC....

[benwedge]

Although Garrison delivers kegs to residences IIRC....

They sure do. So who knows what the laws are.