National Capital Region Beer News

[waterloowarrior]

Flora Hall Brewing opening on Friday at noon
https://www.facebook.com/florahallbrewing/

[rocketphish]

Nine more Ottawa grocery stores tapped for beer and cider sales

By: OBJ staff
Published: Feb 2, 2018 3:38pm EST

Nine Ottawa grocery stores are among 87 across Ontario that have been given approval to sell beer and cider starting in April.

They join more than 200 other stores already authorized to sell the alcoholic beverages in the province. About 70 of those stores can also sell wine.

The Ottawa stores include:

• Farm Boy, 3035 St. Joseph Blvd.
• Farm Boy, 1250 Stittsville Main St.
• Loblaws, 363 Rideau St.
• Loblaws, 1460 Merivale Rd.
• McDaniel’s Your Independent Grocer, 200 Grant Carman Dr.
• Real Canadian Superstore, 4270 Innes Rd.
• Walmart, 3651 Strandherd Dr.
• Walmart, 1375 Baseline Rd.
• Walmart, 5357 Fernbank Rd.

In a news release, the province said the grocers were selected in a competitive bidding process run by the LCBO. Of the 87 stores, 11 are independently owned and 76 are owned by large grocery chains.

The province says beer and wine were ultimately be sold in up to 450 grocery stores, with as many as 300 of those also allowed to sell wine.

http://www.obj.ca/article/nine-more-...nd-cider-sales

[rocketphish]

The Orleans Craft Beer Festival is coming up next week:

http://www.orleansfestivals.ca

[rocketphish]

Microbreweries crack case of provincial beer barriers

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 17, 2018



Flora Hall is a cheeky little brewery in a wonderfully restored industrial building, with big, shiny eyes on Flora Street on the edge of Centretown.

Many days they make ale. One day next week, they’ll make mischief — by running circles around the Canadian Constitution and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Founder Dave Longbottom, 54, wants to draw attention to the bizarre rules that govern the making, selling and transporting of beer between provinces in Canada — in theory, at least, a free market.

“To me, it’s about the principle.”

So, let’s crack the case open. Ideally, as a small businessman, he’d like the option of selling some of Flora Hall’s four core beers — and seasonal specialties — to bars or restaurants in Gatineau. But there’s no easy way for a craft brewer to move suds over the Ottawa River.

Longbottom, who spent 30-plus years in high-tech, would first have to involve the SAQ, Quebec’s version of the LCBO, which would take a slice of the action on pricing — plus add paperwork — and make small-volume sales unattractive. (The much bigger Beau’s, for instance, spent months and tens of thousands on consultants and warehousing to get its product into La Belle Province.)

But what if they brewed a Flora Hall beer in Quebec and sold it there? Bottoms up!

Longbottom says they’ve teamed up with Brasserie du Bas-Canada in Gatineau on an unusual collaboration: he’s sending a brewer to Gatineau to brew there and the Brasserie is sending a brewer to Flora to brew in Ottawa.

“We want to collaborate with them because we love these guys and we have a lot to learn from them.”

They’ll make the beer on the same day, probably June 21 — and it will be a new ale recipe in an 1,800-litre tank in each province. “It’ll be the same recipe. The only thing that’s different is the water.”

The brewers will then be free to sell the Ontario-plus-Quebec brew in their jurisdictions: meaning Gatineau will get a little Flora Hall flavour and Ottawa will get a taste of Brasserie — two solitudes in one keg. (The name of the bi-cultural beer has yet to be chosen but will likely reference both brewers.)

“A guy in Aylmer can’t drink my beer and I can’t go to the Brasserie and take their beer home,” said Longbottom, referring partly to the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that upheld barriers to transporting larger quantities of beer between provinces.

(You’ll recall the New Brunswick man dinged for bringing home a trunkload of beer bought in Quebec, a case that reached the highest court in the land.)

“We’re doing this to shine a light, effectively.”

Longbottom has travelled the world in the technology field (Bell Northern, Gandalf, Object Time, Chrysalis) and is familiar with trade restrictions certain countries might have on sensitive products. But within a country itself? Well, isn’t that our home and native land?

Marc-André Cordeiro Lima is a co-owner of the Brasserie, which has an annual output of about 150,000 litres of beer, which goes to dépanneurs, supermarkets, bars and restaurants throughout the Outaouais. He’d be happy to have access to the Ottawa market but says the provincial liquor authorities just present too much of a financial and logistical barrier.

“We want to show Canadians that it’s totally ridiculous that two breweries that are 10 kilometres apart cannot sell to customers around them if they’re on the wrong side of the provincial border. We find it ridiculous to have these barriers between our regions.”

He said Flora Hall is a good match because the breweries are roughly the same size and have similar brewing sensibilities.

Flora Hall itself is a marvel. The building was built in 1927 and operated for decades as Welch & Johnston, which specialized in automotive electrical works. That closed in the 1970s and the building flipped uses a couple of times before being shuttered around 2001.

Longbottom bought it and, starting in 2016, spent a year transforming the inside and restoring the heritage facade, which features a massive sliding garage door and beautiful windows.

On the ground floor, there is now a fully operational brew house, with five fermenting tanks, each capable of holding 1,800 litres. There is also a horseshoe bar and long communal tables (to encourage mingling), and a front-door retail shop for walk-out trade.

Upstairs, meanwhile, on the century-old pine floor, there is a full restaurant.

If this collaboration works, he said he’s open to trying it in other provinces, like B.C. The beer should be ready in mid-July, on tap and in bottles, the name to be determined.

Bitter Barrier Brew, maybe?

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...-beer-barriers

[rocketphish]

New craft beer app gives users access to discount suds

Paula McCooey, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: July 6, 2018

Craft beer lovers have one more reason to look at their phone. A new app launched on Friday gives users access to $2 craft beers at participating breweries and bars across Ottawa.

The Craft Beer Passport — free to download on iOS and Android — gives beer lovers an affordable new way to explore Ottawa’s burgeoning craft beer scene.

Visit any of the participating establishments on your “passport” account and be rewarded with a 12 oz. craft beer for only $2 (the legal minimum price). For example, Big Rig Brewery, one of the participating restaurants, typically sells a 12 oz. beer for $4.75.

A map on the app makes it easy for users to find the closest participating location. Each participating location has its own profile to help you choose your destination.

The Craft Beer Passport will be accepted in more than 70 bars, breweries and beer producers across the province. In Ottawa, there are several, including Big Rig Brewery, Covered Bridge Brewing, Dominion City Brewing, Flora Hall Brewing, Hintonburg Public House, Stray Dog Brewing, Vimy Brewing, Waller Street, Brewing Whiprsnapr Brewing.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-discount-suds

[rocketphish]

Buck-a-beer will fail, Ottawa brewers warn

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 7, 2018

Many brewers in the nation’s capital say they can’t afford to offer customers $1 beers because dialling sale prices back to 2008 levels – when the cost of everything it takes to make the beer have increased – is just bad for business.

“I certainly don’t want to have the same prices on my product as we did eight or nine years ago because the cost to produce that product has gone up significantly,” said Paul Meek, owner of Kichesippi Beer Co. “I’d be shocked if you saw a lot of breweries jump on this buck-a-beer thing.”

His thoughts are shared by Lon Ladell, brewmaster at Big Rig Brewery.

“I want people to have a fair price but you can’t keep raising the taxes provincially and federally on our product,” Ladell said.

“With the cost of ingredients, everything keeps going up every year. It’s hard. It’s a hard business,” he said. “The margins keep getting tighter and tighter and you want to invest in your company, to grow and create more jobs.”

At a news conference in Prince Edward County on Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford announced he would be introducing legislation to roll back the minimum price that brewers can sell beer for from $1.25 per 341 ml bottle to $1. He said the change will be made by Aug. 27, just in time for the Labour Day long weekend.

“Nobody is being forced to lower their prices and there will be no subsidies or tax handouts,” Ford said at the event.

The PC government is calling the move the “buck-a-beer challenge” and said the move is aimed at creating more competition in the market among brewers.

The $1 price is for 341 ml bottles only. It doesn’t apply to canned beer or draught. The caveat specifying that only bottles qualify for the price comes at a time when the LCBO and the Beer Store are pushing suppliers to ditch bottles in favour of 473 ml cans which are growing in appeal to consumers.

A check of the LCBO’s website shows that only one bottled beer comes close to the existing provincial minimum price. Stonewall Light from Cool Beer Brewing Co. sells for $1.45 per 275 ml bottle. Despite coming in a small container (76 ml less than a regular-sized beer bottle), it still costs 20 cents more than the current provincial minimum.

Even a brand like Laker, which once prided itself on its $1-a-bottle price point, is retailing at $1.95 for a 473 ml can. A 24-bottle case of Laker Light (341 ml each) sells for $33.95 at the LCBO, or $1.41 a bottle. Based on the current provincial minimum price of $1.25 per bottle, the lowest a 24-bottle case of beer can be sold for is $30.

The province’s move to try and roll back prices at a time when the cost to produce beer is at an all-time high is puzzling to many across the province.

“The mainstream brands are $35.50 (per 24). It’s interesting that there is nobody at the $30 floor,” said Scott Simmons, president of the Ontario Craft Brewers Association. “Nobody even jumps into that (price) from a promotional standpoint.”

Kichesippi Beer’s Meek sees the government’s announcement as a non-starter.

“I don’t see it being a thing. I honestly can’t see how a brewer can pull that off,” he said. “I don’t see any benefit to this at all. We have product sales from time to time. We have a customer appreciation sale around our anniversary, we do some Black Friday stuff, but it’s never been anywhere near close to that price.”

Taxes on alcohol sales in Canada have been steadily increasing for decades, with the most recent hike happening in April 2018 when the federal government raised taxes on local and imported beer by two per cent.

The price of beer cans has jumped in recent months because of the escalating trade war with the United States which has slapped a 10-per-cent tariff on aluminium. The minimum wage hike to $14 per hour has also played a role in pushing up beer prices, as has increased prices on the ingredients needed to brew.

For comparison, $1 in 2008 is equal to $1.16 in today’s money, once inflation has been accounted for. The PC government’s “buck-a-beer challenge” is really a challenge to see brewers produce beer more cheaply today than they did a decade ago, despite the higher associated costs.

“There’s definitely no money in it,” said Big Rig’s Ladell. “We would probably be losing at least half of that. The margins are so tight.”

Ontario Craft Brewer’s Simmons said he isn’t hearing much support for the initiative from his members.

“None of our members are going to be interested in participating simply because they can’t afford too,” Simmons said, adding that if the government wants to lower beer prices for consumers it needs to look at lowering the taxes applied against alcohol sales in the province.

“I’d like to pay less for a case of beer when I go into a store. But, I think the first place we need to start is looking at the provincial tax structure which would be the highest component of the retail price we pay.”

Even consumers don’t seem to be overwhelmingly in support of the government’s announcement. Many Ontarians took to Twitter Tuesday to voice their discontent with the “buck-a-beer” announcement, particularly in light of the government’s recent cancellation of a Basic Income Pilot project. Angry residents created the hashtag #boycottbuckabeer which urged consumers to avoid buying beer at any brewer offering beer for $1 a bottle.

A number of other breweries, including Great Lakes Brewery, Muskoka Brewery and The Napanee Beer Co., voiced frustration with the initiative and vowed that they wouldn’t participate.

https://ottawacitizen.com/business/l...a-brewers-warn

[rocketphish]

Ottawa brewery proposes its own Buck-a-Beer challenge

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: August 8, 2018



An Ottawa brewery is taking up its own “Buck-a-Beer” challenge, this one specifically designed to benefit charity.

Dominion City Brewing is jumping on the fallout of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s announcement Tuesday, asking the province’s breweries to drop their beer prices to $1 a bottle. The request from Ford, which comes with no financial incentives, is being widely panned by Ontario brewers who argue that selling beer for at 2008 prices of $1 a bottle can’t be done profitably in 2018.

Dominion City’s co-founder Josh McJannett agrees with others in his field. However, he is proposing a twist on Ford’s challenge that is aimed at helping the ever increasing numbers of refugees that are finding their way into Ottawa.

“As an independently-owned brewery, we can tell you unequivocally that it is impossible to sell a beer for a dollar without compromising quality,” said McJannett.

“So, we’ve decided to respond to Ontario’s buck-a-beer challenge in our own way, by inviting our customers to help refugees build a new life in Ottawa. As our contribution, we’re donating $1 for every can of our forthcoming Dominion City Buck-A-Beer Blonde Ale to support refugee integration efforts in Ottawa.”

McJannett said he plans to sell the beer for $3.50 per standard sized can (355 ml), which is smaller than the 473 ml tall cans that are increasingly appearing in retail channels.

The beer will be available at the brewery on Aug. 30.

The move comes as settlement agencies in Ottawa are asking for support from the community in order to help as many as 150 refugees that are trying to settle in the nation’s capital.

While McJannett’s initiative is particularly timely, it’s not unique. Other brewers, including Whitewater Brewing Co. and the Big Rig Brewery, regularly run charitable fundraising promotions.

Even the big brewers are actively involved in charitable giving. The Molson Foundation, which is operated by Molson Coors Brewing Co., annually distributes millions of dollars to charitable causes.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...beer-challenge

[waterloowarrior]

Spark Beer http://spark.beer/ (spash page only currently) coming to 50 Beech Street

[rocketphish]

Ottawa brewers team up to offer holiday advent calendar

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: October 2, 2018

A dozen Ottawa breweries have banded together to create the region’s first holiday beer advent calendar which promises to be filled with the best suds the nation’s capital has to offer.

The idea, spearheaded by Nita Brewing Co., will bring together 12 breweries from across the city who will group 24, 473-ml beers into a special package that will be hand-delivered to recipients in November. The package, which will resemble a calendar running from Dec. 1-24, will prompt the recipient to one beer a day up to Dec. 24.

(Impatient users can open as many as they wish, but that would spoil the fun.)

“We wanted to celebrate the collaborative nature of breweries in Ottawa by putting together this offering to bring more awareness to the Ottawa area craft beer scene. We have a lot of great beer in Ottawa.” said Andy Nita, owner of Nita Beer Company. “This is going to be a ton of work to get the logistics to work properly but the twelve brewers are in for the challenge.”

Brewers who will be involved in the craft beer calendar will include: Nita, Whitewater Brewing Company, Brasserie Tuque de Broue, Kichesippi Beer, Covered Bridge Brewing, Crooked Mile Brewing, Vimy Brewing, Cartwright Springs, Broadhead Brewing, Stray Dog Brewing, Whiprsnapr Brewing and the Clocktower Brew Pub.

The beer included in the calendar will remain a surprise until they’re opened by recipients, however Nita promises plenty of variety.

Sales are open to all residents of Ontario. Nita Beer Company has received a license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to allow it to canvass for and receive orders on behalf of other breweries.

Orders must be shipped to a home or business address.

Sales of the beer calendar began on Monday. The calendar can be ordered online at Nita’s website. The calendar costs $110, plus applicable taxes.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...dvent-calendar

[waterloowarrior]

Building permit issued at 5546 Manotick St Main - Tenant fit-up in a retail building (692 Local Brew Inc.)

[rocketphish]

National Capital brewer Beau's retools as competition for craft brew heats up

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: May 8, 2019



Beau’s Brewing Co. is retooling its Vankleek Hill operation to deal with a market that is growing increasingly more competitive.

Once a standout in beer aisles everywhere during the early days of the emergence of craft beer, Beau’s is now up against more and more newcomers. According to the LCBO, at the end of its latest fiscal year there were 637 Ontario craft beers available on LCBO store shelves.

Once you factor in craft beer from other parts of Canada, or from international sources, the LCBO said, there are more than 919 craft beer products available in its stores. The number marks a major increase over the 647 craft beers it stocked in 2016.

The increased competition is pushing Beau’s to rethink its business strategy. The company, which employs 125 people, is about to undergo some belt tightening which will see it reduce its product offerings, rethink its marketing strategy and cut four or five positions.

“We’re pretty confident we’re still growing. But, we’ve got to be smarter about the way we do things. The old days where you made a beer and it was guaranteed that it would do well, that’s gone,” said Steve Beauchesne, chief executive and co-founder of Beau’s. “We’re doing some restructuring … we’ve learned a few lessons. We’re not talking anything for granted.”

One of the things that Beau’s has learned is that it can’t be pushing out dozens of different beers that are often only available for a limited time. Beauchesne said the firm has reviewed its sales and marketing efforts and that has helped it sharpen its focus. It is also bringing in a new chief financial officer and a new sales director, who is coming to Beau’s from French beverage giant Pernod Ricaud, which has more than $13.5 billion in annual sales.

Beauchesne said the company took a hard look at its business after sales for summer 2018 didn’t go as well as planned. Even the company’s flagship brand, Lug Tread, didn’t meet expectations despite a big marketing campaign that included redesigned packaging and a catchy tag line dubbing the season the Summer of Lug.

“Last year in particular, we took a hit on our Summer of Lug campaign. The repackaging didn’t do what we hoped it would. After the fact, the feedback we got was that people would go into the store and walk past it,” he said. “Then they’d say, ‘I can’t find Lug Tread’ and they’d buy something else.”

Despite the realignment, Beauchesne underscores that the company isn’t in financial jeopardy, nor is he looking to sell the business.

“I’d love to have more cash in the bank that’s for sure. I don’t think I’d ever say that I didn’t want more cash in the bank. But, we don’t have any dire concerns. Are we trying to free up some working capital? Absolutely,” he said.

As competition on store shelves has increased in recent years, several craft breweries have sold to large-scale breweries. In 2015 craft beer darling Mill Street Brewery agreed to be acquired by Labatt Breweries. Similarly, Quebec microbrew powerhouse Le Trou du diable Microbrewery agreed to be acquired by Molson Coors in 2017.

Beaus has been a darling in the Nation’s Capital since it was founded by Beauchesne and his father in 2006. Lug Tread is second-most popular brand of craft beer in the country. The company is the largest producer of certified organic beer in Canada and has won more than 80 awards. It sponsors numerous charitable initiatives, including the Beaus5K for Ovarian Cancer Canada and the United Way Charity Bike Ride to Beau’s Oktoberfest.

The annual Beau’s Oktoberfest has raised more than $700,000 for charitable causes including The Hawkesbury and District General Hospital Foundation. Beauchesne is also one of the founding members of Ontario Craft Brewers lobby group that has become key in petitioning various levels of government on behalf of craft brewers.

https://ottawacitizen.com/business/l...-brew-heats-up

[rocketphish]

More beer and circuses...

Ontario to end Beer Store deal — move would pave the way for beer in corner stores
While tabling today's bill, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said the current system is a monopoly that is a bad deal for consumers and businesses

The Canadian Press
Updated: May 27, 2019

TORONTO — Ontario plans to rip up an agreement with The Beer Store in order to allow the sale of beer and wine in corner stores, but employees with the alcohol retailer are warning the move will come with a steep cost.

The Progressive Conservatives tabled legislation Monday that would terminate a 10-year contract with The Beer Store that was signed by the previous Liberal government. The deal permitted an expansion of beer and wine sales to hundreds of grocery stores.

Premier Doug Ford has repeatedly indicated he plans to put beer and wine in corner stores, but he has to break that agreement to do so. While tabling Monday’s bill, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said the current system is a monopoly that is a bad deal for consumers and businesses.

“The province’s current beer distribution system is owned by three global giants who were handed a sweetheart deal by the previous government, and who are more interested in protecting profits than providing convenience or choice for average people,” Fedeli said.

The Beer Store and its union have been embarking on a public relations campaign to push back against having beer in corner stores, with the brewers taking out an ad saying they keep prices down with their distribution system, and the union taking out ads warning that cancelling the Beer Store’s deal could cost taxpayers a lot.

The United Food and Commercial Workers local representing Beer Store employees said Monday that the government’s decision could cost thousands of jobs.

“We will fight this government and this premier to keep our jobs and to save the taxpayers the billions Ford is willing to pay to put beer in corner stores,” president John Nock said in a statement.

On Friday, the province’s special adviser on alcohol delivered a report to Fedeli on ways to improve consumer choice and convenience.

The Tories have also announced a number of loosened alcohol restrictions, including allowing alcohol to be served at 9 a.m., seven days a week, letting people consume booze in parks, and legalizing tailgating parties near sports events.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/polit...1-0255bc77b5ca

[J.OT13]

Idiots.

[rocketphish]

Festibière de Gatineau moves to Zibi due to flooding

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 7, 2019



Festibière de Gatineau is taking over a new spot in Place des Festivals on the Zibi lands Friday and Saturday.

The event, which is usually held at the Canadian Museum of History, was forced to move when swollen water levels in the Ottawa River threatened the location.

The festival will take place about a kilometre away just off Rue Laurier near the Portage Bridge.

The event, which starts Friday and runs through Sunday, is in its ninth year.

The annual event attracts more than 30 microbrewers who will be pouring hundreds of brews for beer fans in attendance. There will also be food trucks and 10 micro-distilleries on site.

The weather is expected to be fine for the event, according to Environment Canada. The forecast calls for clear skies and highs of in the mid-20s C.

Fore more information, go to the Festibière site.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ue-to-flooding

[rocketphish]

Quebec restaurant chain Foodtastic acquires Ottawa’s Big Rig Brewery

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Jun 10, 2019 4:10pm EDT

A Quebec-based restaurant chain has bought the Ottawa region’s second-largest craft brewery in a bid to tap into the Ontario food and beer market.

Foodtastic, which operates 55 restaurants under seven different banners, mostly in Quebec, announced Monday it has acquired Big Rig Kitchen & Brewery. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Big Rig brewmaster and co-founder Lon Ladell is boosting his equity stake in the brewery and will continue to oversee its brewing operations.

“We’ve gotten the business to a point where it was time to look at what the next steps are, the next level,” he told OBJ Monday afternoon. “We thought the best thing to do would be to bring in a new partner who could help us get there.”

Launched in 2012 by a group of backers that included former Senators defenceman Chris Phillips ?– whose nickname inspired the brewery’s moniker ?– Big Rig quickly gained a devoted local following, opening restaurants in Gloucester and west-end Ottawa in addition to a 16,000-square-foot production facility in Kanata.

Big Rig is now the region’s No. 2 craft brewer, employing 160 people and churning out four million litres of beer annually. Its products are sold in more than 1,000 locations across Ontario, including LCBO outlets, the Beer Store and grocery stores, and it serves more than 5,000 customers a week at its eateries.

The craft brewer’s signature Big Rig Gold brand and other varieties can also be found on shelves in Alberta, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Ladell says joining forces with Foodtastic will give it more marketing clout in those provinces and open doors to distribution opportunities at restaurants and other locations in Quebec.

“Having these guys as partners with their contacts will definitely help get us into those markets in a stronger footing,” he said.

Founded in 2016, Foodtastic operates restaurants under the Au Coq, Bacaro, Carlos & Pepe’s, La Belle et La Boeuf, Monza, Nickels and Souvlaki Bar brands. The chain has more than 2,500 employees and annual sales of $125 million, but currently owns just one restaurant outside of its home province.

Foodtastic CEO Peter Mammas said Monday the chain plans to open at least five restaurants in Ottawa and Toronto over the next 12 months under the La Belle et La Boeuf, Monza and Souvlaki Bar banners.

The company also hopes to double the number of Big Rig restaurants by next year, he said, with the goal of tripling the brand’s sales over the next 18 months. Mammas wouldn't get into specifics, but he said in a news release on Monday that Foodtastic is "already looking at locations in Toronto."

Mammas said bringing Big Rig into the fold gives the Quebec-based operation instant credibility as it prepares to make a splash in the country’s most populous province.

“They’re really well-known because they have great beer,” he said. “I think it helps us with landlords also because they know the brand in Ontario. Sometimes when you tell them ‘La Belle et La Boeuf,’ they go, ‘What?’”

Mammas said the Ontario government’s plan to allow convenience stores to sell beer could be the springboard to massive growth for small brewers, and he believes Foodtastic’s connections to alcohol distributors will give Big Rig a leg up in the competition for shelf space.

“We’re pretty confident that once the law goes into effect that you’re allowed to sell at convenience stores that we’re going to secure quite a few of them,” he said, adding he expects Big Rig’s beer output to increase by 25 per cent annually over the next few years.

https://obj.ca/article/quebec-restau...ig-rig-brewery

[rocketphish]

Big Rig acquired by Montreal restaurateur, Toronto location in the works

Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 11, 2019

A Quebec-based franchisor of various brands has acquired Ottawa’s Big Rig Kitchen & Brewery for an undisclosed amount.

The deal, announced Monday, will see a majority of the ownership of Big Rig shift to Montreal’s Foodtastic Inc. Big Rig’s head brewer Lon Ladell will remain in his role with the company. However, as a result of the deal, Ladell will acquire more ownership in the business than he previously held.

“I’m thrilled to continue being a part of Big Rig brewery’s exciting future! With the financial support from Foodtastic we can now expand our operations throughout Canada,” said Ladell. “It’s always been my goal to build Big Rig as big as I can.”

Foodtastic is a privately held company that owns several popular restaurant brands throughout Quebec including Nickels, a brand that was founded by Celine Dion in 1990, La Belle et La Boeuf, Carlos & Pepe’s and Souvlaki Bar. The company’s restaurants account for more than $110 million in annual sales.

The Quebec company received $47 million in investment from Oaktree Capital Management in November to help it fund acquisitions of restaurants that could help it expand its footprint nationally.

The acquisition of Big Rig is the second blockbuster acquisition that the firm has completed in 2019. In January, Foodtastic announced it had bought Les Rotisseries Au Coq, a chain of popular rotisserie chicken restaurants in Quebec.

However Peter Mammas, president and chief executive of Foodtastic, said the acquisition of Big Rig is key to the company’s future as it’s a brand that is already recognized across Ontario thanks to Big Rig’s availability in LCBO stores across the province.

“That’s one of the reasons we did it,” Mammas said. “We want to open in other parts of Ontario. Big Rig already has such a strong brand.”

Mammas said the firm will be looking to open as many as 12 Big Rig franchises over the next 24 months. He said opening in Toronto is a priority for the company and he plans to use the Big Rig brand as an anchor to allow other Foodtastic brands, such as Au Coq or Souvlaki Bar, to open nearby.

He also said that the new Big Rig franchises will be different from the original Ottawa locations. The brewing for the new eateries all across Canada will be done in Kanata and overseen by Ladell. He also said that will mean that the company will likely need to expand its Kanata production facility to keep up with demand from franchisees in the near future. The company already employees 43 people in its brewery operations. Mammas said the firm has started looking at space near Big Rig’s production facility in Kanata on Schneider Road to accommodate further expansion as demand increases from new franchises.

Big Rig was founded in 2012 by Ladell; former Ottawa Senator’s defenceman Chris Phillips; Pierre Cleroux, a founding partner at Clocktower Brew Pub and previous owner of Foundation restaurant in the ByWard Market; plus Jimmy Zourntos and Angelis Koutsos. The chain’s first location was on Iris Street near Ikea.

https://ottawacitizen.com/business/l...n-in-the-works

[rocketphish]

Kichesippi Beer co-founder Paul Meek on a quest to become the 'Ottawa thing'

By: Caroline Phillips, OBJ
Published: Jul 2, 2019 3:30pm EDT



Kichesippi Beer Co. owner Paul Meek has never forgotten his humble beginnings in the brewery business – as a school mascot.

He entertained the masses by volunteering as “the Husky” while a student at St. Mary’s University in Halifax. He eventually ditched the hot and uncomfortable costume but continued pumping up the fans and sports teams in his own wacky garb, until he caught the eye of corporate marketers who wanted him to promote their products on campus.

Finally, Alexander Keith’s Brewery came calling, offering him a $500 gift card and 25 cases of beer.

Meek has stuck with the industry ever since, acquiring the knowledge and networks to start his own brewery, Kichesippi, nine years ago.

“When we first opened, the first two questions we got were: What does it mean and why did you spell it wrong?” the 46-year-old entrepreneur and Stittsville resident says during an interview at his new west-end location, which features a brewery, tap room and retail store.

Kichesippi means “Great River” in the Algonquin language of the Kichesipirini people who lived farther up the Ottawa River near Pembroke. The more common English spelling is Kitchissippi, as in the municipal ward in which Meek’s business was previously located.

Kichesippi has taken over 10,000 square feet of space that used to be a car dealership at 2265 Robertson Rd. He delayed his opening until June due to the paperwork, permit and licensing process.

The business has moved from the Carling Avenue and Queensway area, where it had been located on a dead-end road in an industrial park.

“Even though we were there for years, not a single person ever said, ‘I was walking by and noticed you were here,’” says Meek. “You really had to go out of your way to find us. We were tucked away.”

Until recently, Meek’s business partner was his late wife, Kelly, with whom he proudly ran their family-owned enterprise together with input from their son, Alexander, 19. Their craft brewery was among the first in Ottawa (it sold its inaugural keg to Johnny Farina restaurant on April 29, 2010).

Today, Meek employs about 20 people.

“It’s a fun product. We’re not the get-drunk-and-party beer, we’re ‘good times with good friends.’ That’s what we’re about,” says Meek.

“I get to go to work every day and talk about delicious products with interesting people. It’s never boring. There are stressful days, there are crazy days, but it’s never boring.”

He remembers years ago listening to the head of a major brewery put it in perspective when he said: “I want you to think about that guy who’s paying his bills and feeding his family while having to sell cottage cheese. You have a really exciting and successful product that people want to talk to you about.”

Meek says he isn’t currently looking to follow in the foamy footsteps of competitor Beau’s by expanding beyond the Ottawa market. He’s working on building a brand that retains a strong local presence.

“I’m more focused on selling beer here and taking care of our home front,” he explains. “We just want to do a good job in this city. If it makes sense for us to sell more outside of Ottawa later on, then great. I still think we haven’t accomplished the original goal that Kelly and I talked about, of being that ‘Ottawa thing.’

“She used to say, ‘I want to be ‘the Keith’s of Ottawa,’” recalls Meek. “She was a proud Nova Scotia girl.”

Kelly, whom Meek met at university, died April 8. She had suffered for 20 years from a neuromuscular disorder that caused her muscles and nerves to slowly weaken and waste away. Her diagnosis, made two years into the Meeks’ marriage, motivated the young family to leave the Toronto-area rat race and come to Ottawa.

Even during her illness, she remained Meek’s sounding board for ideas and made some of the business decisions.

Kelly, who spent the last 14 years in a wheelchair, had been very excited when she finally got to visit the Bells Corners location. She passed away two days later. The family had seen a decline in her health but was not expecting her to die so soon.

“It was like a tank of water with a slow drip on the tap,” says Meek. “It’s dripping, dripping, dripping, and then, one day, there’s one last drop.”

Meek will launch a new beer in honour of Kelly on International Women’s Day next March 8. It will be named after the origin of her Irish Gaelic name: Warrior Woman.

Five things to know about Paul Meek

1. He was born in Jamaica, where his father – a banker with Scotiabank – had been transferred for work.

2. He was inducted into the Order of Ottawa in 2015, alongside the likes of Bryan Murray and Allan Rock.

3. Surprisingly, Meek is not a Forty Under 40 recipient. He applied once, at age 38, and got turned down.

4. The inspiration for Kichesippi comes from Meek’s childhood summers at his mother’s family farm in Quyon, Que. They’d often go to the Ottawa River to wash up after their chores. They’d also visit The Pop Shoppe, which inspired his Harvey and Vern’s Olde Fashioned Soda venture.

5. His best advice for entrepreneurs: Get a good accountant and get a good lawyer. “There are just things that they know how to do.”

https://obj.ca/article/kichesippi-be...e-ottawa-thing

[rocketphish]

Kichesippi Beer Co. taps into new revenue stream by selling hard-to-find brands

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: May 19, 2021 4:49pm EDT

Sales haven’t exactly been frothy for the Kichesippi Beer Co. over the past year as one of the Ottawa brewery’s principal revenue streams ​– sales to bars and restaurants ​– dried up in the wake of pandemic-related shutdowns.

But owner Paul Meek is hoping to tap into a new source of income ​– a retail outlet called Bottles and Cans Beverage Company that launched last week at Kichesippi’s Robertson Road production facility.

The new store features beers from craft breweries in other parts of the province that aren’t readily available at the LCBO.

“The feedback has been tremendous,” says Meek, who founded Kichesippi 11 years ago and now employs 20 full-time workers at the west-end brewery.

“People just love the fact there are certain products they can’t normally get in the area that they can now come into the store and pick up.”

Bottles and Cans (Meek chose the name partly because its initials match those of Bells Corners, where the store is located) currently sells suds from the Toronto and Hamilton areas as well as cider from Arnprior-based Farmgate.

Meek says he plans to expand the menu to include wine from Prince Edward County’s Rosehall Run Vineyards shortly.

For now, Bottles and Cans is offering pickup service only. Meek says he’ll likely expand to online sales and home deliveries eventually, adding he plans to add beers from other parts of the country as well as foreign wines to the product list down the road.

“There are going to be some really unique offerings,” he says.

Under provincial law, alcohol not produced on-site can only be sold for takeout with food. To that end, Bottles and Cans also has a small selection of chips as well as ice cream from Carp Custom Creamery.

Meek says the new venture is a much-needed boost for his business, which recently saw much of its sales evaporate overnight when the Ontario government reinstated bans on in-person drinking and dining at bars and restaurants in a bid to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

“It’s been a massive shift for us to lose half of our revenue and try and recoup it somewhere else,” he says.

The province’s on-again, off-again shutdowns have made forecasting production levels a challenge, he adds. When restaurants and bars are forced to shut down with little notice, breweries with kegs ready for delivery to those establishments are left holding the bag, Meek says.

“Because it’s a perishable product, it’s a tough thing for us to work (around) for sure,” he explains. “Sometimes the beer just gets thrown out.”

When the business relocated from the Carling Avenue area two years ago, Meek opened a taproom in the 10,000-square-foot space with seating for up to 100 customers.

But between construction and permitting delays that pushed back the original opening date and the effects of the pandemic, the concept has yet to come close to realizing its full market potential.

“To be able to take that building for a spin and really maximize the reason we moved in there would be something we’re looking forward to for sure,” Meek says.

“We’re looking forward to having some normalcy in terms of having a balance of some e-commerce, some walk-in retail customers, some sit-down-on-the-patio customers and our restaurant wholesale business.”

https://www.obj.ca/article/local/ret...rd-find-brands

[rocketphish]

Here's to 10 years: Festibière de Gatineau celebrates a decade of taste testing
This year’s outdoor event features beer samples from approximately 30 vendors.

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Aug 05, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 1 minute read



Festibière de Gatineau — Gatineau Beerfest — is marking its 10th anniversary this year.

This year’s outdoor event features beer samples from approximately 30 vendors, plus food and a wine and spirits bar, at Place des Festivals Zibi on Jos Montferrand Street in the Hull sector.

Festival hours are 4-7 p.m. and 8-11 p.m. on Aug. 6, 11, 12 and 13, as well as 12 noon-3 p.m. on Aug. 7 and 14.

There’s no kids’ zone at this year’s festival, which opened on Wednesday.

Patrons are asked to wear a mask until seated at a table, and also when waiting in line for drinks or food, while also keeping a two-metre distance away from others.

Tickets are available online only at www.festibiere.ca .

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-taste-testing

[rocketphish]

Beau's lands exclusive beer deal with Porter

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Aug 30, 2021 2:42pm EDT



After seeing half its revenue wiped out by the pandemic, Beau’s Brewing Co. has tapped a new corporate partner as it tries to lift itself out of the doldrums.

The Vankleek Hill craft brewery has signed on as the exclusive beer provider for Toronto-based Porter Airlines. Terms of the contract were not released.

Beau’s Lug Tread ale will headline a rotating selection of the brewer’s products that will now be offered as part of the airline’s complimentary in-flight beverage service.

“We’ve never really done anything quite like this before,” Beau’s co-founder and CEO Steve Beauchesne said. “We’ve worked with lots of great partners over the years, but getting beers in planes is kind of a next-level thing for us.”

In 2019, Porter served 250,000 cans of beer from the previous supplier, Toronto’s Ace Hill brewery. While Beauchesne said it might take a while for volumes to hit that level as the airline industry recovers from the effects of COVID-19, he’s hoping the deal will help put his business on the map with beer lovers beyond its traditional customer base of eastern Ontario.

“We know that this is going to get our beer into lots of people’s hands,” he said. “That volume alone is going to be big, but then on top, what we’re hoping is that a lot of people who’ve never heard of Beau’s before also get to try it. There’s still a lot of people in Toronto, in Halifax and (places) like that that still need to get introduced to our beer. This is a great way for us to do it.”

Founded in 2006, Beau’s has become a mainstay of the eastern Ontario craft beer scene thanks to Lug Tread and other styles such as its Wag the Wolf IPA and Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale.

But Beauchesne said widespread business shutdowns aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 have wreaked havoc with the brewing industry. Half of Beau’s $30 million in annual sales before the pandemic came from bars and restaurants, and his brewery saw those revenues “disappear overnight.”

Beau’s tried to recoup some of the lost sales by introducing new product lines such as a hand sanitizer it produced in partnership with Dunrobin Distillery.

While the sanitizer sales helped, the brewery still had to lay off 30 of its 100 employees as it struggled to make ends meet.

“We made the best of the situation, but it’s been really tough, not just financially, but emotionally,” Beauchesne said. “It was pretty stressful and incredibly challenging.”

Since landing the deal with Porter, Beau’s has started hiring again, bringing on about half a dozen new employees as it prepares to ramp up production.

“We’re growing now after 18 months of contracting,” Beauchesne said. “It’s much more fun.”

Still, the veteran entrepreneur says he’s not taking anything for granted with COVID case loads rising again as the delta variant takes hold.

“We’re seeing things improve, but we’re not through it yet,” he noted. “We’re hoping that this (contract) is a huge boost for us, but we’re also being prudent and cautious in terms of our projections as well.”

Porter operates flights to nearly two dozen cities in Canada and the U.S. The airline, which currently has a fleet of 29 Q400 turboprops, announced last month it plans to launch jet service to Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Porter has been grounded for more than a year due to the pandemic and is scheduled to resume service early next month.

https://www.obj.ca/index.php/article...er-deal-porter