Beer Delivery in a Brave New World

 

The changing landscape of Ontario beer will no doubt be shaken further by the current pandemic, even with the pivot to delivery, same day and otherwise, some of your favourite places will struggle as the nation hunkers down and tries to slow the spread of Covid-19. The taproom explosion of the last couple of years has screeched to a halt and the money invested with hopes of an expanded in house experience driving sales has definitely evaporated into the ether. This is the crux of what we will see in the coming weeks as the cash flow turns slower, people who have stocked up and bought far more than they usually do in an attempt to support the industry will have to come down to earth about their ability to order $50 to $100 of product at a time, with or without delivery charges. The challenge will be to find value for every purchase, balanced between regular offerings, seasonal and a potential dwindling of new beers as taking chances on things not proven to appeal to consumers on a larger scale will be a risk many brewers will not be able to take. Look for lots of hazy IPAs, kettle sours and other things that can return money to the coffers with some reliability.
  With all this in mind, let's take a look at how some of the factors will play out as we look to get more of our favourite beers delivered to our door and stay the fuck home. All of this is anecdotal, stuff I see and hear out on the fringes of the world. 

Selection
  This will be the first and most difficult thing you will see at a lot of places. While you may have become accustomed to a wide variety of styles and options when you would stop in at certain breweries, many have a much more limited online offering and that is no mistake of oversight. Be it less staff or volume to brew new things, a focus on core brands to generate revenue in the 4, 6, 12 or 24 pack format or a realisation that people are looking to drink a little more comfort beer (i.e. styles and brands they know and trust), brewers wanting to keep the lights on and the mash tun in water, malt, yeast and hops will cater to what brings the dollars in. Lagers will remain an easy hit for larger brewers who have the space to properly store them until ready, while we may see a spike in Kveik yeast beers because of their quick turnaround times. Hazy, sour and crushable will see a rise as they remain the go-to for so many who drink craft beer, either new or long time adherents.

Delivery Charges/Schedules
  I will admit, this is where I struggle the most for beer online, the added cost of shipping will temper what many of us can spend simply because adding $10 to $20 dollars means less for actual beer. Whereas I would stop in at various LCBOs around town a couple times a month and buy 1 or 2 of the new stuff , I now have to factor in a shipping charge and my beer budget doesn't grow accordingly. Lucky that some close by breweries have free local delivery (over a certain amount spent, of course) and many still have curbside, pre-order contactless pick up, so that option remains if you have transportation and the time to do it as we try to stay out of the crowd to protect our family and slow the growth rate of this virus. I understand the need for the charges, eating them would almost certainly bankrupt some folks, it is nonetheless part of the consideration now.

Formats/Minimum Buys
  Never a popular thing, the forced 4 pack (or more) buy rankled some folks even before the events of 2020 changed how we buy our beer. So many of us are looking to buy 1 or 2 of everything new and rarely buy a 24 of anything, sprinkling favourite beers into the mix on a weekly basis. Now with the move to online ordering, smaller staffs and the need to move enough beer to make shipping viable, we see the rise of minimum buys as the norm. Some brewers have only 12 or 24 packs, others allow the mixing of 4 packs to fill 24 or 48 minimum orders and some don't care as long as you hit their minimum dollar amount to ship it out. I completely understand the logistics of the smaller staff, spreading people out to minimize contact as they pack all these orders and continuing to support them as best we can. But I would like at least the option to make my 24 4 different 6 packs at a minimum, that's all I'm saying.

Time
  I used to stop by various local breweries on a semi-regular basis to get whatever new stuff happened to be out, maybe a couple of favourites and be on my way. LCBO on the way home from work, easy and simple. Now things are much different and if we want to help flatten the curve, we need to stay home and that means avoiding the LCBO or any sort of public space whenever possible. But if you want delivery, you need to take into account the time factor, how long it will take from order to glass and that will drive a lot of folks even more hyper local. Many breweries are using staff who would otherwise be laid off to help deliver beer in a local circle, from a small handful of postal codes close to home for the smaller ones to cross province same day for the ones with the staff and logistics to get that done. A nominal fee of $5 or more likely than not free will drive people closer to home and I am proof of that with Nickel Brook, Collective, Merit and Clifford all getting beer to my house on the cheap. But you have to plan far more than you would, the lines especially will be long at provincial liquor stores this weekend, crowds are not your friend during a pandemic. Order, but make sure you know when and how long it will take to get to you so you can ration and keep yourself stocked up.

  I have no special insight, no crystal ball as to how this all turns out. Best case scenario, we see the curve flatten, summer may see a slight lifting of restrictions and some normalcy, but the more likely scenario is that we are in this for a long haul. September isn't out of the question and even then we will not go back to life as it was in early 2020. How many breweries have the resources, the ability to pivot to delivery and curbside and the appeal to keep people interested in their product has yet to be seen, but I have little doubt we are weeks away from a few shuttering their doors. Not all of those will be temporary and while it is a small thing in a sea of bigger concerns, it breaks my heart to see people lose a dream when they did nothing wrong except have it in the time of reckoning for a world that wasn't ready.

Want to find out who is delivering, how much and where? Check out the Ontario Beer Delivery Index  or What's Brewin.Ca for more info.

Stay safe, support your local brewery, stay home and be kind to each other.

Polk