How I spent my beer money in 2020
2020 was something else, and 2021 is merely a continuation of the same gong show. People have been coping in various ways, and suffice it to say I had my fair share of beer over the last year.
Taking a page out of the book of the Drunk Polkaroo, he totalled up his beer purchases over the last calendar year. This got me curious enough to go through my spending habits to see where my beer money went in 2020.
I knew it was a lot, but I didn’t know exactly how I spent until totalling everything up. And when you see that total number staring you in the face, it can be staggering.
But I keep reminding myself that there wasn’t a heck of a lot to do for the better part of the year. Kicking back with some beer while quarantined at home was about as adventurous as things got for me (for the early months of the first lockdown, at least).
So just like the Polk, I totalled up all my visits and orders to craft breweries this year. Here’s what the percentages looked like split between purchases from craft breweries, the LCBO, and The Beer Store.
A few things shocked me off the hop; I bought beer from The Beer Store only twice in 2020, and for $51.90 total. I assume that was to buy a few twelve packs of something (Muskoka Tread Lightly, probably?)
Once things changed during the first lockdown, I rarely set foot in an LCBO from late March to December, and often those purchases were for $25 or less. For whatever reason, the novelty of searching for the newest releases at the LCBO didn’t resonate with me once Ontario breweries had e-commerce shops up and running.
The number of purchases I made from craft breweries in 2020 were more than double of the number of LCBO visits I made. The bulk of those craft brewery purchases were online orders, but the odd purchase was in person at a brewery or bottle shop.
Here were the top five most frequented craft breweries of choice. No surprise that most of them are close to where I live:
5 orders — Willibald Farm Distillery and Brewery (Ayr)
4 orders (tie) — Collective Arts Brewing (Hamilton), Storm Stayed Brewing (London)
3 orders (tie) — Bellwoods Brewing (Toronto), Short Finger Brewing (Kitchener)
In retrospect, it makes sense why all these breweries are at the top of the list. Willibald is only about a 20 minute drive away, and they just over one year into canning beer at their farm now.
I’m also fortunate to be in one of the express zones for same-day delivery for Collective Arts, and I’d often pop into Storm Stayed after visiting family in London.
As we speak, I’m in the midst of a self-imposed beer ordering freeze for the month of January. I guess it’s my feigned attempt at “dry January”, except instead of not drinking for the month, I’m drinking what’s left in the fridge from December and trying not to order more beer this month.
I’m not confident I’ll make it to the finish line without replenishing beer rations, but this was an insightful exercise to at least see where my beer money went in 2020 — 76.9% to craft breweries and 100% to my waistline.
