Loplops goes digital to bring craft beer to Saultites

The Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer isn’t happening again this year, but that isn’t stopping Loplops owner Stephen Alexander from bringing unique craft beers to town. 

He recently introduced the Loplop Bottle Shop, an online shopping experience that boasts about 150 types of Ontario craft beer not available locally until now.  

“It appeals to your seasoned veteran craft drinkers, because it has everything they’re kind of looking for - all the different styles, all the different percentages and bitterness. But it also appeals to novice drinkers that are just getting into craft beers for the first time, and they want to check out what the buzz is,” Alexander said. 

After the first COVID-related lockdown closed Loplops in March 2020, it took Alexander a couple of months to figure out what the next steps would be. Ideally, he wanted to figure out a way to keep the spirit of the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer alive given its growth over the past nine years. Nowadays, Alexander is once again slinging craft beers after a 14-month hiatus, with plans to introduce more drinks to the online bottle shop in the near future. 

“Now we’re going to start introducing ciders and mixed drinks, some summer beers and some sours, and then we’re turning our focus in the fall into wines and different spirits that you can’t get here - small batch rums, small batch vodkas,” he said. 

Drink orders submitted before 3 p.m. will qualify for same-day delivery or curbside pickup. 

“I’m delivering a couple hours a night to different people, and it’s been a great response,” said Alexander. “People love that option.”

Alexander’s love of craft beer was born out of travelling around the world before settling down. 

“Every little community had its brewery or its local pub that had their own brand of beer, and what made it interesting is that you can kind of go back and identify parts of your trip based on the experiences that you had,” he said. 

And it's no different here in the Sault. 

“Craft beer is a community identity, right? It’s an art. It’s what our communities are offering to visitors, and it’s something to be proud of,” said Alexander. “We have two amazing little breweries here in town with Northern and Outspoken, and I think when people come to Sault Ste. Marie, they’re initially surprised at the quality and how amazing our beers are - but they shouldn’t be, because we have a great, talented community.”

Alexander says The Loplop Bottle Shop allows Loplops some time while the live music industry recovers, which could take a few years. When restrictions are loosened to the point where the pub and live music venue can host 100-120 people, Alexander will start offering live music, but in a limited capacity of about 12 to 20 shows per year. 

“I think that the bottle shop allows us to transition and maybe bridge a period of time that we’re going to need. The music industry is pretty rocked right now,” said Alexander. “Locally it’s strong, but bands aren’t touring, and I don’t see them touring for a while.”

Meanwhile, the bottle shop will become a permanent fixture at Loplops. The front of the establishment will be renovated so customers can either pick up their craft beers or stay and enjoy them. There are also plans to install garage doors and a patio in the front of Loplops as early as next year. 

For now, Alexander's craft beers can be found online, and there are plans in the works to sell some of those brews at the marina in Richards Landing this summer. 

“I can’t determine what that future is right now, so we’re trying to take cautious steps towards it,” Alexander said. 

The Loplop Bottle Shop can be found on the Loplops website.