Home of the BrewNosers

jonathanwil wrote:Furthermore, we would love feedback on what else we should stock that we aren't currently from you, the beer lovers.

Cheers,
Jonathan
Director of Operations

There is a high demand for Bad Apple Brewhouse beers among us ATM. Jeff just opened up his brewery on New Year's Eve and he is a Brewnoser. He has made an awesome Russian Imperial Stout (one version is barrel aged), and an equally impressive APA. He has worked in conjunction with Greg Nash to produce these beers.

Would you consider stocking BAB beers please? They have been very well received and you won't have a problem selling them. You also mentioned an interest in local beers and BAB is in Somerset NS.

Thanks

Jonathan, good to see you've made it to the forums and that you intend on taking the feedback we have, and using it to maintain/improve the already great beer selection at Premier.

Good to hear, Jonathan. I'm not sure if you guys even realize how unique and awesome this beer store has been. Has there been a better selection of NA craft beer at any other single store in Canada? I haven't seen it.

Something to be proud of, maintain, and, sure, grow!

Craig

I think the guys out in Calgary have a good store there. IIRC, Steve Trickett is working at one. But Premiere was definitely the place to go around here.

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mr x wrote:I think the guys out in Calgary have a good store there. IIRC, Steve Trickett is working at one. But Premiere was definitely the place to go around here.

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Sherbrooke Liquor in Edmonton is one of the best in Canada, but Premier is definitely the best I've been to aside from that.

GuingesRock wrote: There is a high demand for Bad Apple Brewhouse beers among us ATM.

We are on it!
JW

jeffsmith wrote:

mr x wrote:I think the guys out in Calgary have a good store there. IIRC, Steve Trickett is working at one. But Premiere was definitely the place to go around here.

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Sherbrooke Liquor in Edmonton is one of the best in Canada, but Premier is definitely the best I've been to aside from that.

I don't think the Alberta stores have any of the best Atlantic brews, do they? They have Pump House, probably, which is good, but they aren't seeking out the smaller ones, I don't think.

brufrog wrote:

jeffsmith wrote:

mr x wrote:I think the guys out in Calgary have a good store there. IIRC, Steve Trickett is working at one. But Premiere was definitely the place to go around here.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

Sherbrooke Liquor in Edmonton is one of the best in Canada, but Premier is definitely the best I've been to aside from that.

I don't think the Alberta stores have any of the best Atlantic brews, do they? They have Pump House, probably, which is good, but they aren't seeking out the smaller ones, I don't think.

Sherbrooke Liquor is a bit different than most stores in Alberta. They stock nearly 1000 different beers. I'm sure by now they likely have a decent amount of Atlantic brews.

The beer selection here in Calgary is far superior than what is available in Halifax. Way more stores available that carry all sorts of imports. Most are US imports and Belgian. There are. At least 12 premiere-like stores within a 10 km radius of my house. Co-op carry some
Of the best

And there are quite a few pubs that have rotating taps and nearly 50 beers regularly on tap.

They also stock propeller, pump house from what I've seen.

Needless to say the homebrew community here isn't what it is in Halifax. Good group of people just outside meetings not much goes on.







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brufrog wrote:I don't think the Alberta stores have any of the best Atlantic brews, do they? They have Pump House, probably, which is good, but they aren't seeking out the smaller ones, I don't think.

Which smaller ones would you put out there? You've got Uncle Leo's, Bad Apple, Rare Bird, Sea Level, Hell Bay, Propeller, Picaroons and Boxing Rock. More than half of those are works in progress, with issues from QC in the brew house, to packaging, to flat out denial of customer complaints. Without being there to see what's on the shelves in comparison, it could very well be that our smaller breweries would need to step up their game to compete for shelf space. There's beer being sold here now that needs work.

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Another thing is, the last time I was talking to Randy at Sea Level, he said he couldn't keep up with his orders. Other small local breweries are in the same position. Therefore, there's little incentive to "step up the game" as you put it.

The fact that a beer is local, will always demand a premium and give a beer an advantage in the market place. A Nova Scotia beer in Alberta wouldn't have that market edge, as it wouldn't be local anymore.

GuingesRock wrote:The fact that a beer is local, will always demand a premium and give a beer an advantage in the market place. A Nova Scotia beer in Alberta wouldn't have that market edge, as it wouldn't be local anymore.

I'm not sure Alberta is the best case for that argument. With so many Maritime ex-pats living in Alberta, the demand for Maritime-anything is huge. I was living in Alberta when Keith's first appeared on the shelves out there, it was pure insanity. They couldn't keep the stuff stocked. A couple of years later Pumphouse's blueberry ale showed up and it was the same deal.

That said, I think your argument is completely valid in just about any other province outside of Alberta.

Beer revolution in Calgary features tap take overs from eastern canada breweries such as dieu du ciel. I'd really like to see the Atlantic craft brewers come together and ship their stuff out here and do a tap take over. Even some of the smaller guys could collaborate to get this done.

Beers on the tap take overs typically last 1-2 days here


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Just to add some more 'local AB' knowledge, I know Gahan is on the shelves here, and I believe Garrison is as well (I just don't buy it.. too many other beers I've never had before to try). You can't really compare the selection at all..

On the other hand, there isn't a 'rotating tap' beer bar that is even remotely as good as Stillwell! I want more DDC seasonals on tap here!!

Ah yes, I forgot about Gahan.

GuingesRock wrote:
There is a high demand for Bad Apple Brewhouse beers among us ATM. Jeff just opened up his brewery on New Year's Eve and he is a Brewnoser. He has made an awesome Russian Imperial Stout (one version is barrel aged), and an equally impressive APA. He has worked in conjunction with Greg Nash to produce these beers.

Would you consider stocking BAB beers please? They have been very well received and you won't have a problem selling them. You also mentioned an interest in local beers and BAB is in Somerset NS.

Thanks

Hi, just an update: I reached out to these guys and there was no interest to carry them in our stores on their end. They said perhaps down the road for the barrel-aged beers, but they didn't know if it worth it for the others right now.

JW

I did talk to Gord about supplying Premier with beer at Christmas time. Asked about mark-up and how much product they took at a time et cetera. As of right now being Local, and well supported locally, I am content at the moment to keep my beers available FRESH locally here in the Valley. Were easy to find. It will be available in the city at some point, just not sure where yet.
Jeff

jonathanwil wrote:
Hi, just an update: I reached out to these guys and there was no interest to carry them in our stores on their end. They said perhaps down the road for the barrel-aged beers, but they didn't know if it worth it for the others right now.

JW

Thanks

New post on their FB page this morning: https://www.facebook.com/PremierWinesHF ... 4235036031" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Back in action after a little hiatus! Stop in and see us this weekend. Some of our big name beer is back in stock, and more arriving next week too.

Very little there yesterday!

Sandy

Has the wine selection been hurting too? Not that I really care, but just curious if it's taken a hit with the changeover as well. And if not, why just the beer?

New update today:
"Have you stopped by and seen the changes we've made? The beer now has it's own LEVEL! Not just a shelf, not just a pile. A whole floor devoted to beer. And more to come!"

Happy to see you're handling a lot of this Jonathan, but I'm still irked by the whole notion that one company is now controlling the selection of 3 of the 4 private licenses in the province. Unless there's some strategy here to get the NSLC to loosen those restrictions, in the long term I can't see this being good for consumers.

Bobby, I understand your side. I truly do. Obviously, I think this is a great thing for consumers, but perhaps I am biased . We operate the stores separately, and there is a unique experience offered within all of them. Will there be some similar product offered in all of them? Yes, but there always was anyway. We don't want to have all the stores the same, because quite frankly, the demographics are so different it wouldn't make sense.

One of the biggest complaints about the beer stock was that it always ran out. We want to have more of it to satisfy both our current retail customers, the new pop-up licensees plowing through it, and also for all of the people who will discover how great craft beer is over the next little while.

All we are asking for is a chance to prove ourselves, and enough time to make some positive change. I will put my and my team's passion up against anyone's, not just for the products we source/sell, but when it comes to pleasing our customers as well.

I can't speak to what the NSLC has planned when it comes to their regulations, licenses, etc. Our objective is to do the best job we can, and hope it gets noticed. I appreciate the honesty, and we will do everything we can to remove your doubt.

JW

I won't lie. When I walked in and didn't see any beer in the front of the store, I just about shat bricks. I then realized it was moved to the back of the store

I have been complaining about the beer being in that front window for a long time.

Beer is in the back but I didn't notice anything "new"

I got a Crafty Jack and a Hell Bay Dark Cream.

Sandy