Tucked along the charming strip of Bloordale Village, 4th and 7 is one of Toronto’s most unique bottle shops, and likely one of the only shops solely focused on beer.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Jeff Caires had recently shuttered his revered Queen West bar, Tequila Bookworm. His attention quickly shifted to his second venture, titled “The Four Seven”, which he opened in 2014 alongside his business partners Andrew and Daniel Usher.
The spot, a cozy hole-in-the-wall-esque bar, became known as a delightful late-night spot to hang, eat and drink. But when Covid cases continued to skyrocket in and around Toronto in April 2020, Caires knew they had to change their approach.
“We were too small, we were like a 25-seat restaurant. With a menu that didn’t lend itself for to-go ordering, it was either this or close,” he said.
The answer? Ripping out their seating and installing shelves that were the length of the room and a few fridges to hold a selection of beers from around Ontario. The goal from the beginning, according to Caires, was to offer a highly-curated selection of beers––and as he puts it simply, their rule of thumb was, “as long as it isn’t in the LCBO."
Caires’ business relies on the abundance of interesting craft beers from around the province. Fortunately for him, there’s no shortage. His existing relationships with some of Ontario’s most beloved breweries has allowed him to feature beers that are hard to find, limited edition or just completely unique to the world of beer. You'll find beer from local Toronto breweries, like Left Field, Eastbound, Bellwoods and Blood Brothers, as well as ones from across the province, like Badlands Brewing Company in Cheltenham, Ont., Willibald in Ayr, Ont., and Sawdust City Brewing in Gravenhurst, among many, many others.
Before the pandemic, the only way to get these sorts of specialty beers was to head to a bar and get it poured for you there, or purchasing straight from the brewery themselves. What 4th and 7 is doing allows brew fanatics to casual beer drinkers access to some of the province’s most unique, one-of-a-kind beers you won’t find anywhere else.
On top of that, the brews available at 4th and 7 are as fresh as they come. Because of Caires’ curation along with the scarcity of the beer itself already, there are only so many special beers he can bring into the shop at a time. Caires says that when snagging a beer at an LCBO, the likelihood of it being past its freshest peak is higher than that of one at 4th and 7.
“The whole process of getting a beer into an LCBO is such a long process that by the time you’re pulling a beer off the shelf, it might be a month old, it might be three months old,” said Caires. “Some of these [beers], they were put in a can on Wednesday.”
That’s not to say that the LCBO only has old beer––according to Caires, some may even be as fresh as a week old. But because of 4th and 7’s smaller stock and limited shipments, their supply of beer is meager and never stays for too long, so when they arrive fresh from the brewery, they’ll likely be picked off the shelf fresh as well.
“We get such a small stock, like we’ll get a case of something. We just gotta sell 24 of them, once they’re gone, they’re gone. And then on to the next beer,” said Caires.
At 4th and 7, the selection of brews can alter significantly in as little as a week’s time. Caires says their approach is similar to that of a “rotating tap” at a bar.
“Here, you can come today and you can come in two weeks and half the beers are different,” he said.
The bottle shop carries around 250 to 300 varieties of beer at a time––from craft lagers to beloved IPAs to wicked specialty sours––there’s always a beer that’s perfect for someone. The shop also brings in around 30 to 40 new brews every week that replenish their sales from the past week. Unique beers are not uncommon here either. Breweries like Third Moon Brewing, located in Milton, Ont., are one of Caires’ favourites. One of the shop’s most popular beers this past summer were Third Moon’s "Epoch" collection, which features fruit-forward “slushie” sours that are meant to be served partially frozen.
Over the course of the pandemic, the restrictions around the sale of alcohol began to loosen up, and opened the doors for many bars to earn some profit while in lockdown. Amidst the first year of the pandemic, the provincial government allowed bars to essentially transform into bottle shops, and sell alcohol on to-go and delivery orders. While the move was meant to be temporary, the motion was later made permanent.
“Not every bar, people [don’t] go to for the food. Sometimes food is just secondary,” said Caires, noting that bars weren’t able to just do takeout during the lockdowns. “For a lot of places, 90 per cent of our sales were alcohol, so selling takeout… isn’t going to keep you afloat.”
Even now that restrictions have been lifted and restaurants and bars are able to operate at full capacity, Caires still doesn’t think he’ll return to a full-fledged neighbourhood bar, sticking with the local bottle shop the community has fallen in love with instead.
“Toronto needs places like this,” he said. “If you’re going to a party and you want to get something different, or you don’t feel like drinking whatever’s at your local LCBO and you wanna try something new.”
4th and 7 focuses on primarily beer, but also have a selection of local, Ontario-made ciders, seltzers and kombucha-based alcoholic beverages as well. The shop is located in the heart of Bloordale at 1211 Bloor Street West, just east of Lansdowne Avenue.
