Two weeks into a strike at B.C.'s major beer distributor, local supplies of many popular beers are running dry.
About 300 workers at Brewers' Distributors Limited (BDL) in New Westminster went on strike May 1, seeking better pay and benefits.
The company, jointly owned by Labatt and Molson, provides about 80 per cent of the beer sold in B.C., according to Kate Paseika, a spokeswoman for B.C. liquor stores.
The main brands sold out first, according to Maureen Stalley at Gilligans' Cold Beer and Wine Store in Sechelt.
"The liquor store started running out of big brands by Friday [May 7]," said Stalley. "We were good for the weekend."
Some beer lovers engaged in panic buying. Stalley said people would come in and say, "You've still got Budweiser. I'll buy two flats."
Now Stalley's stocks of Bud are long gone, along with the Labatt, Molson, Kokanee, Miller and Heineken brews, which are also distributed by BDL.
"We can still get the micro-brewery beer, as long as you're right on the money before the trucks pull in," said Stalley.
Smaller breweries like Pacific West, Big Rock, Okanagan Springs and Granville Island are working hard to keep up with the increased demand. "This is a boom for all the little breweries," said Stalley. "It could hurt Labatt and Molson. [Their customers] might like these other beers and not go back."
Beer supplies varied at stores and bars around the Sunshine Coast. At the Blackfish Pub in Gibsons, bartender Tracy Thompson said the pub supplies were holding out well since they had just taken a big delivery before the strike was announced.
"We get the order once a week, so we have lots - enough to get us through two or three weeks," said Thompson. "Canadian draft is the only thing we're going to be out of. But the beer store is slim pickings for domestic."
Thompson said most people who can't buy their usual brew are trying different brands of beer. That's an opportunity for small brewers like Okanagan Springs to pick up customers, she said, but it's tough for them to supply enough beer to quench B.C.'s thirst.
"Beer drinkers - they'll switch to another beer before they'll drink wine," Thompson said. "Molson and Labatt have 80 to 90 per cent of the market, so it's pretty much impossible for the small brewers to keep up."
At the provincial liquor store in Sechelt, cases of Corona were stacked in place of the usual Molson and Labatt. Paseika said all the Kokanee, Bud and Coors Light were also gone from government stores in Sechelt and Gibsons.
"We're going with larger quantities of other beers as long as we can and as long as other beer suppliers can keep up with demand," she said. "All our stores have beer."
Another looming problem is the backlog of empties normally shipped out by BDL. At press time, the government liquor stores were still accepting returns of empty beer bottles, but many smaller outlets had run out of storage space.
