Beer in Vancouver

Somehow the beer situation is worse in Vancouver than I remember. The biggest problem is the Byzantine liquor board system and their loosening monopoly on alcohol in British Columbia. Seattle is a haven for beer. My usual grocery store has, like, every beer under the sun. My favorite is the simple Alaskan Amber for about $14 for a 12 bottle box.

You'd think that since BC is closer to Alaska than Washington, that you could find Alaskan Amber here. But no! Even with the Canadian dollar at par, there isn't an influx of delicious PNW microbrew. Rather there is corporate beer and only local microbrew. I do like the Granville Island beers, but at C$11 for 6 bottles, I feel like I'm not getting my unemployed savings dollar's worth. So here I sit drinking a bottle of Granville Island Honey Lager (almost as good as the Alaskan Amber but not quite) thinking that this bottle costs almost $2.

The worst part is that the various pubs in the Robson area don't have happy hour. There are 2 approaches to bringing in the customers--happy hour or hiring only drop dead gorgeous girls--and the Robson bars take the second route. Moxie's has $3.99 pints on Monday (all day), but I'd rather have a happy hour.