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Entries from July 2008

Troy Burtch’s Point of View

July 12th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Troy Burtch, an all-around nice guy and author of the excellent beer blog Great Canadian Pubs and Beer, has posted an extensive perspective on the beer retailing system in Ontario in light of all the recent happenings in this area.  Be sure to give it a read.

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Tags: Media · Perspectives · The Beer Store

Beer Petition Coverage in The Star

July 10th, 2008 · 1 Comment

The Toronto Star continued its coverage of the recent groundswell of support about reforming the beer retailing system in Ontario. The article centers around a recent online petition created by an Ontarian named Derek Forward, which to date has received over 3,700 signatures. Every little bit counts in raising the awareness of how our beer […]

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Tags: Media · The Beer Store

Dalton Says, “It ain’t broke”

July 9th, 2008 · 4 Comments

Continuing its series on the beer retail system in Ontario, The Toronto Star published some quotes from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty today about his thoughts on the issue. He said, “I like the system as it’s found at present” and continued to use the social responsibility excuse as a reason to prevent change. How unfortunate […]

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Tags: Government · Media · The Beer Store

Ontario’s Beverage Alcohol System Review

July 9th, 2008 · 32 Comments

Three years ago next week, the Ontario Government received a report which itself commissioned to review the distribution and sale of alcohol in the province. This was called the Beverage Alcohol System Review, the full report available online. The lead finding from this report was “the consumer would get greater convenience and choice and would […]

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Tags: Government

Beaumont’s Call for Change – 10 years ago

July 9th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Recently I came across an article, still online, written by Stephen Beaumont entitled “The Trials of Beer Buying”.  Stephen is one of the most respected beer writers around, an successful author in both the printed and virtual worlds. In this article he discusses the ownership of The Beer Store and suggests some changes that could […]

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Tags: Media · The Beer Store

The Beer Store is not government

July 9th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Contrary to what you might believe from the look of it, The Beer Store is not a government organization.  It sure looks like one – the bland store layouts, lack of shopping experience, functional ordering procedure, etc.  But it is a private enterprise, and one of, if not the most archaic retail dinosaurs in our […]

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Tags: Media · The Beer Store

FreeOurBeer.org

July 8th, 2008 · Comments Off on FreeOurBeer.org

Ontario’s beer retail system is flawed.  At least it is, from a craft beer point of view.  That’s what this site is going to be about.  In Ontario, it is not necessarily easy to be a craft beer fan.  The province’s beer retail sales are tightly controlled, and it does not benefit beer fans.  FreeOurBeer.org […]

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Tags: Site News

Toronto Star series – Bad Brew

July 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment

The Toronto Star ran a series of articles over the past few days entitled “Bad Brew” – shedding some light on the problems with the beer retail system in Ontario.  Be sure to give them a read: Part I: The real reason your beer costs more than it should Part II: Cornering the beer market […]

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Tags: Media · The Beer Store