麻豆传媒映画

They say it鈥檚 a great time to be a craft beer lover in B.C., but you don鈥檛 have to drive far to discover we hosers are in fact getting hosed by a surprising lack of options for buying and consuming that sweet, sweet nectar. I recently took a road trip through Washington State, Oregon, California and Nevada and found that almost every town between Bellingham and Bakersfield had a bevy of options that doesn鈥檛 exist here 鈥� from breweries and bottle shops, to growler fills at bars, gas stations, and even pharmacies.

For those who aren鈥檛 familiar, bottle shops are like our own cold beer and wine stores 鈥� but on steroids. You can mix and match your own six-pack, fill a glass or a growler from a wide selection of breweries, even grab a cold one from the cooler and crack it open in-store. The shops also act as gathering places where suds-sippers can meet and mingle.

At first, I was only curious. But as the highway wound its way farther south, I became jealous. Even a rustic tavern in Crescent, Ore. 鈥� an unincorporated community of 581 people 鈥� welcomes travellers with a wooden statue of a sasquatch clutching a giant mug, and a sign reading: Now filling growlers. How could a world-class city like 麻豆传媒映画be upstaged by a bump in the road 50 miles south of Bend?

Beer advocate Christopher Pierce, the man behind the popular Twitter account agrees: our corner of Cascadia has some catching up to do.

鈥淚t seems like everybody [in Oregon] is doing the growler fill thing,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 your local grocery store, or there鈥檚 even some places that are like gas station-growler fill places, just little mom and pop shops.鈥�

And don鈥檛 get him started on the selection at those stores.

鈥淭he place where I buy my meat and my bread and my pizzas, they鈥檝e got between 900 and a thousand craft beers,鈥� Pierce says. 鈥淭hey hired somebody who was a beer expert to run the place, and it鈥檚 a tiny grocery store, and everything鈥檚 refrigerated. It has a larger selection than any bottle shop that I think I鈥檝e ever seen in Vancouver.鈥�

I didn鈥檛 make it as far as Arizona on my trip, but the Park Plaza Liquor & Deli in Prescott is a perfect example of the kind of meccas we鈥檙e missing. The 15,000-square-foot property includes a liquor store, restaurant, bar and cigar lounge, with more than 1,000 beers. Fill growlers? Duh. Build your own six-pack? Yep. Purchase kegs? Why not! How about drink and smoke a cigar while you shop? WHAMMY.

So why don鈥檛 we have anything like that here? The new assistant manager of Firefly Fine Wines and Ales in 麻豆传媒映画points to licensing, legislation and a lack of political will in B.C.

鈥淣o one鈥檚 running on a platform of 鈥業鈥檓 going to free beer鈥� and I don鈥檛 think anybody ever will,鈥� says Farees Kara. 鈥淧ersonally, I think what needs to be done is look at it as [an absence of] consumer advocacy. CAMRA was fantastic in B.C. in trying, but even they鈥檝e gotten away from advocacy. There doesn鈥檛 seem to be any organization that鈥檚 willing to fight for the rights of consumers and to fight for what we want. It鈥檚 all about taxation and regulation.鈥�

Kara says some local beer-based businesses have done a good job of expanding their offerings, like Jak鈥檚 Beer Wine Spirits. And he says the owners of Firefly are also taking a page from America鈥檚 playbook with plans for a major expansion of their Cambie Street location.

鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna make it a craft beer destination鈥� a good third of the store will be craft beer,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t will be probably be one of the biggest spaces allocated to craft beer in Western Canada. Maybe all of Canada.鈥�

He鈥檚 gunning for up to 5,000 sq. ft. of selling space. But of course, size isn鈥檛 everything.

鈥淲e plan to have taps,鈥� says Kara. 鈥淲e plan to have a private tasting room. So if a brewery wanted to come and do an event with some snacks and some beer, we鈥檇 be able to accommodate them, just like many places do for wine and spirits. We basically want to elevate beer to where wine is. There鈥檚 no reason why someone shouldn鈥檛 be able to come in and say, OK, you鈥檝e got four taps, can I get a sample of each one before I buy some bottles?鈥�

To find out what we鈥檙e missing, you don鈥檛 need to spend two weeks criss-crossing the West Coast like I did, or go all the way to Arizona. Just head to Bellingham, which is home to 13 breweries, a slew of dive bars and live music venues pouring local brews, as well as the famous Elizabeth Station bottle shop. But consider yourself warned: once you鈥檝e had a taste of the craft beer experience in other parts of the Pacific Northwest, it will surely leave you thirsting for more.

• You can find B.C.鈥檚 favourite craft beer guide at your local brewery, select private liquor stores, and on newsstands across the province.

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