Why Grapes are Being Freed While Hops Remained Shackled

Over the past month BC wine consumers and the BC wine industry have had several reasons to pop champagne corks in celebration of changes to both federal and provincial laws which have benefited both groups.

First Bill C-311, a Private Member's Bill  introduced into the House of Commons by Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Dan Albas, prompted an amendment to the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (IILA) of 1928 which now allows, under federal law, that wine, and wine only, may transported or shipped across provincial borders by consumers.

Spirits and beer are still illegal to ship or transport across provincial boundaries as they have been since the introduction of the IILA.

Next the Provincial Liberals got in on the act by allowing consumers to buy direct from Canadian wineries and as an added bonus, they did not have to pay the BC Liquor Distribution Branch's (LDB) 123% mark-up! Even though the feds had allowed for cross-border shipments of wine, it is the provincial governments that ultimately have control of what alcohol gets imported into their jurisdictions so this move was critical to give Bill C-311 some meaning.

Again, these allowances were made for wine only, leaving laws unchanged in regards to spirits and beer.

If that weren't enough,  Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for all thing liquor in BC, next announced that BC wine lovers could now take their favourite bottle of wine to participating restaurants, pay a corkage fee and enjoy it with their meal. The allowance for Bring Your Own Wine (BYOW) was immediate and restaurants have been taking advantage of the freedom to allow BYOW since the announcement was made mid-July.

All of these great freedoms and allowances for wine lovers have craft beer drinkers crying into their sleeves. The moves definitely give the appearance that the BC wine consumers and  wine industry get favoured treatment from the BC Liberals, the LDB and the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB), and in many cases this is true, but in these cases I would argue that these wine-centric changes have been well-earned by the consumers of wine in this province who have organized, lobbied and gained the support from the industry to back their fight to change laws.

Groups like #freemygrapes, who Albas thanks on his website for their essential support, and Modernize Wine have been working hard to bring wine consumers together on issues and form loud, strong voices that the government and the wine industry have not been able to ignore. They have a small core of very dedicated people who are adept at creating a buzz, educating other consumers about the importance of supporting their movements and catching the attention of politicians. They are good at defining, ahead of time, exactly what it is that they want, creating an action plan and then going out and getting the results they want..

And contrary to popular belief, these movements are not heavily funded by deep-pocketed vineyard owners, at least not in the beginning.

#Freemygrapes and Modernize Wine are consumer-driven, grassroots movements. They use social media  to the maximum to create a buzz and focus attention on themselves. They often organize on-line chats, to discuss the issues at hand and keep people focused. They have email write-in and Twitter campaigns which target politicians and bureaucrats who are in positions to influence the changes they seek and put pressure on the various private sector groups to support them. More importantly than organizing these awareness-raising events is that they get participation in large numbers which is essential. They are determined and have been organizing for years now, which is one of the major reasons they are now seeing successes.

These movements being consumer-driven makes sense because many, if not all manufacturers, vendors and importers of alcohol in BC are afraid to stick their heads up and speak out about problems and demand changes due to the atmosphere of fear and the widely-held belief that voicing complaints and concerns will result in reprisals from the LCLB and LDB. I don't know how many times I have heard from licensees they feel both government agencies are "vindictive" when challenged either privately or publicly. You only have to look at the RIO Theatre saga, where RIO ownership publicly challenged the Liberal Government and LCLB in the media and paid the price with the process dragging on much longer that it needed to, almost costing RIO ownership their business, before Mr Coleman finally did what he should have done straight off, which is make changes to a decades-old liquor policy that had no place being enforced in the 21st Century.

It is a widely-held belief by many that the process involving the RIO's licensing issues was purposely delayed to make the RIO ownership pay for their direct public challenges. These are, of course, just rumours....

So it is up to us, the consumers, to lead the charge as we have less to lose in regards to what the LCLB and/or LDB can do to us. They cannot suspend our liquor license or hit us with some arbitrary fine for "contravening" liquor laws. They cannot lose our liquor order of products that fill our shelves. They cannot lose our paperwork, delaying payment for products sold weeks before.

They can ignore us, but in the end, if consumers make enough noise, with enough people, politicians, who ultimately call the shots for the LCLB and LDB, will listen because consumers are voters and in the end, politicians are all about getting votes so they can stay in power.

The craft beer consumer is not without options and does have CAMRA BC, and their branches in Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley, to rally around but CAMRA BC does have numbers, with close to 1,100 individual members and over 80 corporate supporters, but those numbers mean nothing if the majority of members are silent and/or unwilling to get involved. I made recent calls to individual members to write emails to LCLB General Karen Ayers and minister Rich Coleman in support of CAMRA Vancouver's Bring Your Own Craft Beer Campaign and out of the 250 or so who had signed our petition and our 700+ members, about 20 people responded (and my thanks to all who did respond).

A group like CAMRA and movements/campaigns are only as effective as those supporting it and until craft beer consumers learn to get as organized, vocal and supportive as wine consumers are, they are going to be like poor kids standing outside the candy shop with their noses pressed up against the window, jealously watching the rich kids inside the store sampling and buying their sweets.

So, craft beer consumers, if you want to #freemyhops, Bring Your Own Craft Beer or are against the LDB privatization of distribution, get active, get involved and support those groups out there, like CAMRA BC/CAMRA Vancouver, who are actively trying to make a difference. Write letters to the editor, get involved in tweet and email campaigns, sign petitions, get friends and family interested in supporting the cause.

And if you are waiting for the person next to you to fight your battle, don't because I have news for you, they are probably waiting for you to fight their's.

Craft Beer Drinkers Getting Short Poured Again

About a month ago I wrote about the discussions being held by provincial politicians looking at possibly changing liquor laws to allow for a Bring Your Own Bottle-style program in BC restaurants.

In that post I pointed out that most of the focus was on including wine only to be allowed to be brought by patrons to participating restaurants and I have since had confirmed that the BC craft beer industry is once again being given no support by the Provincial Government while the wine industry is getting preferential treatment.

But this latest snub of the craft beer industry has a lot to do with the fact that the craft beer industry and the craft beer consumers of BC are just not as organized as their counterparts in the wine world.

NDP MLA and critic for the LCLB/LDB, Shane Simpson brought up the subject in the BC Legislature, prompted in part by discussions and email communications with CAMRA Vancouver who are pressing to have beer included in any BYOB discussions. When asked directly by Mr Simpson if beer, particularly craft beer, is being considered as a part of any future law reforms in regards to BYOB, Liberal Cabinet Minister Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for the LCLB/LDB, replied, "No. We (Liberal Government) have not even had any overtures from restaurants or bars in BC, with regards to that."

So, a combination of a lack of organization and desire to lobby on their own behalf by the Craft Brewers Guild combined with a lack of respect for the BC craft beer industry from the Provincial Government has once again placed beer lovers in this province in the role of second fiddle.

Those involved in and who support the craft beer industry and those who love craft beer need to get active and need to do it quickly. Check out what the wine folks have been doing to make sure the government knows they are interested in BYOB.  Sign the CAMRA Vancouver petition to show your support for craft beer and BYOB. Tweet Rich Coleman @colemancountry, email him at rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca or contact LCLB General Manager, Karen Ayers at Karen.Ayers@gov.bc.ca to let them know we want craft beer included in BYOB talks.

If not, we craft beer drinkers are soon going to be crying into our pints about how the government has once again short-poured the craft beer community in BC while local wine lovers are busy enjoying their favourite BYOB wine while out enjoying a meal.

BYOCB to Restaurants - A Win-Win Idea

Have you ever been seated in your favourite restaurant, noshing on your favourite meal and thought to yourself, "this meal would go perfectly with (insert name of craft beer or wine of your choice here), I wish it was on the menu"?

Yes, I speak of the fabled Bring Your Own Booze (BYOB) to restaurants, which is not just some far-out concept realized in liberal European nations. It is a reality in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba where no longer is there a need to salivate about what could have been, as you can, in participating restaurants, simply turn to your server and order one of the bottles of wine you purchased legally elsewhere, brought with you and handed over to the restaurant personnel upon arrival. It seems only wine has been included in the BYOB category at this point, but why not BYOCB (Bring Your Own Craft Beer), as there is no logical reason why beer could not be included.

Although the laws vary slightly from province to province, the basic idea is that restaurants have the choice to allow patrons to bring in their own bottle(s) of wine, which they turn over to the restaurant upon arrival. They can then order that bottle(s) of wine, as they would any bottle off the menu, and pay a "corkage" fee for their wine to be served to them.

All other facets of the liquor laws remain the same in regards to serving the BYOB wine. Servers must not serve to minors, must not over-serve, cannot serve to intoxicated patrons, the alcohol has to be purchased through legal channels, etc. The advantage to the restaurant is that they do not have to carry a large inventory of wines in an attempt to satisfy a wide range of pallets. Restaurants still make a profit charging the corkage.

The advantages to patrons is that they get to drink the wine they want to drink with their meal and are not restricted to what the restaurant may or may not carry on their menus.They may pay less for that wine as well, depending on the corkage fee charged. From the research I have done, the corkage fees run from nothing, in places like Montreal - yet another reason to love this great city - to up to $50 in Toronto - yet another reason...okay, I'll remain silent. Some restaurants in Ontario were even advertising reduced prices on traditionally slow nights during the week to try to lure in patrons.

With the Liberal Government's current promise to review the province's current liquor laws, it is not out of the realm of possibility that a BYOB law could be passed. In an email communication with VEBB, a Liquor Control and Licensing Branch spokesperson stated that the Liberals, "will consider 'Bring Your Own Wine' as a part of a larger review of liquor policy in the province." When queried specifically if the review was considering beer as well be included in the BYOB review, a "no decision has been made," response was all I received. I think it is imperative that those in the craft beer industry, consumers of craft beer and advocates for the consumers (are you listening CAMRA BC) make some noise and let the government know that it is not acceptable to make these changes without including beer in any BYOB program. I can guarantee you wine advocates are on this issue and making their voices heard, which is why wine was mentioned by the LCLB in their email.


Cafe Kathmandu owner, Abi Sharma, whose small Commercial Drive eatery does not have the room or the operating budget to inventory a large variety of wine or beer, is all for the concept of BYOB. His restaurant, which serves amazing food, is the perfect example of an establishment that would benefit greatly from allowing BYOB.


"It (BYOB) is a mutually beneficial arrangement for both patrons and restaurants so long as the (corkage) fee is reasonably good enough, for sure," stated Sharma. "I am willing to participate."


I can only think of one way to improve upon the experience of eating one of Abi's goat curries, that being able to enjoy the IPA of my choice with it. If BYOB came into effect, that experience could become a reality.


As the government would still be collecting their tax from the sale of the wine and beer originally and the corkage fee, they would not be out any tax dollars and as for the restaurants, if they do not see this as being beneficial for their bottom line, they would not have to participate. But for those who want to offer BYOB, like Cafe Kathmandu, this is a win-win concept that could only further enhance BC's growing reputation as a tourist destination and for cities like Vancouver, which is becoming somewhat of a Mecca for foodies and craft beer lovers, it would be a natural fit.


Let's hope those reviewing our liquor policies are thinking along the same lines. I, for one, cannot wait for the opportunity to take in a few of my favourite IPA's to compliment my already-out-of-this-world goat curry at Cafe Kathmandu.