to purchase alcohol in ontario you have to head to an lcbo, which stands for liquor control board of ontario. it’s a state run store that sells beer, wine, and spirits. if you are just looking for beer you can head to the beer store, a privately owned operation that sells beer. it definitely seemed odd that you couldn’t just go to a grocery or convenience store for booze. i guess some u.s. states have similar operations though, like rhode island for instance.

the beer store was pretty interesting. it was like in the movie strange brew where you place an order and your beer comes out on a conveyer belt. you can also bring in your used bottles for money off your purchase, which gives you way more incentive to recycle. i was also impressed that they sold two litres of IPA!

i noticed that just because you worked at the beer store didn’t mean you knew a lot about beer though. i asked for the hoppiest beer they sold and was recommended best bitter by wellington arkell. it was neither hoppy nor especially bitter.

– ryan