EDITOR:
Regarding “Changes to P.E.I. liquor law address serving hours, wineries and cursing”, June 14, 2018 in The Guardian.
It’s good to hear the news regarding the recent minor changes to the P.E.I. Liquor Control Act. Nice to know I won’t be tossed out of my local pub, or deported to America, for sitting on my bar stool and saying: “Damn, Donny, what really goes on inside the P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission?”
But it’s still disappointing to know that, although one brewing company can sell growlers of beer out of a storefront right next door to Hopyard Bar in Charlottetown, the folks at Hopyard Bar still can’t sell me a growler of their lovely, often superior-tasting beer, to take home after my dinner. Sure, they don’t brew it themselves. But so what? Hopyard happens to be the first Island bar I know of to bring a wide range of delicious off-Island, as well as Island-brewed, craft beer to thirsty Islanders.
So, what’s the deal, really? Is the commission protecting one or two local brewers against healthy competition? Are they protecting the large distributor who provides all that mediocre mass manufactured beer we see daily at the liquor store? Whatever their rationale, they are doing a disservice to a craft beer bar run by hard working people, as well as to Islanders who happen to prefer good beer. Let the ‘nectar of the gods’ run freely and get out of the way of innovation.
Colm Magner,
Victoria-By-The-Sea