Tag: CAMRA Advocacy
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BC’s First Gluten-Free Brewery Ends in Heartbreak
Earlier this year at CAMRA Vancouver’s CiderWISE festival I met CAMRA BC members Dennis & Peggy Maynes who told me of their plans to open BC’s first Gluten-Free Brewery. For years Dennis had been home brewing a range of beers made from sorgum, rice and lots of other GF fermentables. Let me assure you, as…
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#FUSS Becomes an Election Issue in Vancouver
I was recently contacted by Scott Colbourne of One City Vancouver who told me of their “Fun City” Plan, part of which was to ensure that establishments that posted “a pint” serving delivered a 568ml pint. They call it “A PINT IS A PINT IS A PINT”. After I spoke to Scott I pointed out that…
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Growler Fill Update
Thank you everyone who contacted us about the possibility of growler fills in locations other than breweries and brewpubs. Discussions by email and on our Facebook pages are always welcome and in this case may even make a difference in the real world! Now that a Policy Analyst at the Liquor Control & Licencing Branch has…
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Growlers Coming to a Liquor Store Near You?
The government’s now notorious Liquor Review Recommendations have divided many groups of British Columbians especially: #68. Allow private and public retail liquor stores to sell growlers (refillable bottles) and operate refilling stations.
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#FUSS Returns to the Lamplighter
Last weekend CAMRA Vancouver’s treasurer Ryan Baker returned to the Lamplighter in Gastown to retest them based on their responses to our emails. When we first tested them last month there was some confusion over their serving sizes but I am very happy to report that they have cleared it up just as they promised.
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#FUSS Tour of Gastown Part 1
After the explosion that was our first #FUSS testing trip on Commercial Drive we decided to take a slightly different tack based on some of the hateful criticism directed our way. No live tweeting, we would record the tests in HD with a small sign and then email the individual locations with the results asking them…
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#FUSS Tour of Gastown Part 2
For background on this project check Part 1 out first..
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Fairness at the (Beer) Pumps – #FUSS goes Federal
Along with the BC Liberal’s announcement of the discount on bulk alcohol (20¢ /oz on pitchers) there was a small section that initially went unnoticed but it shows that the campaign we’ve been waging for almost 3 years is finally making a dent on the authorities:
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Partial Pitcher Minimal Pricing Victory
In their usual Friday announcement burial slot the BC Liberals announced a climb down on the Minimum Pricing of beer – but before we start celebrating there’s a catch (isn’t there always).
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#FUSS Update: Stateside Craft Change Glassware
After our first FUSS-testing trip on Commercial Drive we were surprised just how many places weren’t serving what they claimed. We contacted each of the locations via social media – most brushed us off or ignored us but Stateside Craft, the newest craft beer Mecca on the drive (40 taps of awesome) contacted us back…
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Let your #unhappyhour Letters Fly!
Since last week I’ve been cc’d on dozens of letters to politicians expressing their dismay over the new minimum pricing policy-as-law.
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#FUSS Comes Back With a Vengeance
How was your Saturday? I had a great time – Whitecaps won, Bike Rave was amazing and I even went for a few beers on the drive with my buddy Ryan. The last thing seems to have upset some people.
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Lots of Support for CAMRA’s #unhappyhour Stance
In the week since the BC Liberals dropped the ball (again) with liquor reform we’ve been inundated with emails and letters of support from the responsible beer drinkers of BC who are rightly outraged that the government has jacked up the price of beer for so many people. This gross betrayal comes after the mess…
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Outrage Over Minimum Pricing and Unhappy Hour
Beer drinkers like you and the media have really spoken out against the government for their mishandling of the (one would think) easy concept of happy hour.
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Unhappy Hour for BC Beer Drinkers
Finally, after what must have been months of work The BC Government has pulled a minimum pricing policy out of thin air. For those of you who want to know it’s $5 for a pint (20oz) and $3 for a 12oz glass before tax. The rule of thumb is now 1oz of beer must cost…
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Craft Beer Lovers Making a Fuss Over Serving Sizes
Craft Beer Lovers Making a Fuss Over Serving Sizes
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Taxation by Alcohol Volume
Many of you may be aware that taxation on beer is, basically, one size fits all. Until you get into really high alcohol (>12%) or really low alcohol (<3%) everything is taxed the same in BC. This has created a culture in BC where strong alcohol beers are the norm, we are all pretty used…
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CAMRA BC Summit #1 Vancouver
Electronic methods of communication have revolutionised our world, never has communication been so easy to do yet hard to do right. Email is notorious for creating misunderstandings, internet forums, twitter, facebook too, flame wars, online bullying, misreading between the lines all cause problems. I mention this because in 2013 the communication at the BC Level…
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Liquor Review Implementation Update
Today I was invited along with Powell River Branch President Paddy Treavor to a teleconference set up by John Yap MLA and Douglas Scott, Assistant Deputy Minister and General Manager of the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch in BC.
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Liquor Review Moves to Next Stage
On January 31st 2014 John Yap MLA and his team released their lengthy list of recommendations based on the liquor review last autumn. Until now we had heard a few tidbits of information about farmers markets (#31)and supermarkets (#20) however, the full review makes 73 points which seem to cover almost every aspect of alcohol in…