It is unusual to see an ad in a store for a product you can’t buy there. In the uptown Valumart, a Loblaws store. There is a bannerstand with a big ad for a new PC beer.

The banner says:

Why pay through the nose for imported Belgian wheat beer?

NEW!

Belgian inspired
PC
Biere de ble
Blanche
Wheat Beer
(small writing)
341 ml • 5% alc/vol
Inspiration Belge
Exclusively available at The Beer Store

The most well-known Belgian wheat beer is, of course, Hoegaarden. So, you’d expect this PC brew to be an imitation of that beer.

The PC, which a brand of Loblaws, beers are listed as being from White Water Brewery. PC markets six, now seven beers, available at The Beer Store: PC Dry, PC Genuine Lager, PC Honey Red, PC Light, PC Low Carb 2.5g, PC Pilsener, and now PC Blanche Wheat Beer. The Blanche label was only added to the store’s website listing this week.

The White Water handle is just another layer of a name since the PC beers are brewed by Brick Brewing Co. Ltd. in Waterloo.

Brick announced on yesterday that they were “reviewing strategic alternatives for enhancing shareholder value.” Which mean they are looking at ways to make more money. Options include selling out, merging, or growing.

I read in the paper that Brick quadrupled its volume in the past five years and last year lost some kind of small brewer tax rebate, which is based on volume. Though Brick thitherto was making money, last year they broke even.

They are at a point that they need to grow. It was worth it for them to be small and it would be worth it for them to be big, but it’s not worth being in the middle.

It’s like I heard Jim E from EMJ say about when he grew his computer firm to a certain size and looked around there were no companies his size, they were all much smaller or much bigger. For a number of reasons, he couldn’t make money there.

Sleeman and Lakeport were both bought in the past year as well. After Brick what is the biggest independent brewery in Ontario, then?

This new beer is at the higher of PC’s two price points. It and the 2.5g one are $29.95 for 24 and the others are at the $26.40 for 24.

It is described as:

Brewed in the likeness of Belgium wheat beers, this exceptional PC wheat beer is hand-crafted using only the finest ingredients, including natural spring water, wheat and malted barley. Naturally cloudy. No preservatives added.

Oh yeah and you know how the Hoegaarden label says “since 1445,” that refers to the founding of the municipality of the same name. The brewery started in 1966. Yeah, that’s right, just like Stella said “1366,” but was founded in 1926.

Beer, like many things, is mostly marketing.