lower mainland – Beck's Beer Blog

happy hour

the ndp’s response to my letter of complaint to the liberals with respect to their happy hour legislation:

Hello Rebecca,
Thank you for copying me on your email to the Premier et al.

Small pubs, bars and restaurants are being hurt by the latest happy hour initiative from Premier Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals, making many small business owners wonder: is the government completely inept on the liquor file?

By adopting the highest minimum liquor prices of any province in Canada, the Liberals have created a situation where many pubs, bars and restaurants are finding it necessary to raise their regular prices to meet the new minimums, let alone think about actually implementing a happy hour.

The minimum $5 price point for a 20 ounce pint of beer will work for a downtown Vancouver bar with a regular price in the $8 range. They can lower their prices to create a special. But for many establishments outside of the Lower Mainland, or more moderately priced neighbourhood facilities that sell a number of beers for under $5, there is no opportunity to offer a special price. Instead, this minimum pricing will mean they have to charge their customers more.

Any review of liquor laws needs to balance the necessary and logical modernization of these laws with questions around health and safety. Minimum pricing makes sense, particularly to help address health and safety issues like impaired driving and over-consumption. However, we know that greater education and consequences for those who drive impaired is a larger need.

For years, New Democrats have called for a comprehensive review of liquor laws in this province. The B.C. Liberals finally made a start on this process in 2013, after nearly 12 years in office, but instead of a thoughtful and balanced review, British Columbians got a rollout of policies without any evidence of proper consultation and research.

These new minimum liquor prices were put in place without meaningful consultation. Now, it is time for the government to do the due diligence that has been missing throughout this liquor reform process and establish a price that is fair to everyone.

Regards,
Shane

**Please Note: From time to time, my office passes on messages from local organizations as a public service. My office does not warrant or guarantee the services or information described. If you have questions or concerns regarding this information, please contact the originator directly.

on the coast

if you missed me on cbc radio one’s on the coast with stephen quinn last week
and you’d still like to catch me getting all excited about the new craft breweries in the lower mainland that opened in 2013 and those touted to be opening in 2014
then all you gotta do is clicky and choose the january 7th show
i’m on about 10 minutes from the end, in case you wanna fast forward

i’m ba-ack!

i’m back from my whirlwind tour of burlington, hamilton and toronto!
two quick observations:
1. there is a much more vibrant craft beer community in the lower mainland than in megacity
2. i was only gone for a week, but while i was away did the cascadia ever hit the nitro!

and quickly, before i get back to work
the ginger pale ale cask at the yaletown brew pub last night was delicious!
in a cameo appearance, cory brewed this one with a big bag of fresh ginger and he hit one outta the park! it was not too gingery, no other spices to mess with the big ginger flavour, it was just right!

more when i’ve had a chance to catch my breath
(and unsprain my poor liver)

phillips

a new seasonal release from phillips in victoria:

July 30th 2012: While history may trumpet Captain James Cook as a brave explorer, master navigator and meticulous cartographer, we believe his greatest achievement lies in guiding his men to be the first Europeans to brew beer in BC! In March of 1778, Cook limped his ships, Discovery and Resolution, into Nootka Sound and, upon landing, went about repairing their masts and brewing a spruce beer from a mixture of molasses and fresh Sitka needles.

Our Evergreen Ale is crafted as an homage to Cook and BC brewing history. Just like the explorers of old, we set out on our own little conquest to gather fresh spruce for the brew but what started as a simple harvesting mission quickly turned into a full-blown backwoods adventure when things didn’t go exactly as planned…(Check the video on Vimeo or YouTube)

The story does have a happy ending though, in a beer endowed with a citrus-pine taste that might inspire you to become a history buff. Cook was only in Nootka Sound for a month, and this beer is only in private craft-focused liquor stores on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland for a limited time.