What's Banff like for beer lovers?

My apologies if this is too off-topic, but my questions about the
skiing in Banff were already answered in the earlier thread ;-)

Is it possible to get good beer in Banff? I'll be going there in early
March for a week of skiing. My experience in Canada has been limited
to the Maritimes and Manitoba, which, despite their many charms, are
lacking in the beer variety department. Can anyone recommend
restaurants or pubs that have a good selection of IPAs and other
non-lager beers? Or do I need to devote part of my carry-on luggage to
Sierra Nevada?

Cheers
--AD

(soma) writes:

Is it possible to get good beer in Banff?

Hey Walt, someone is asking for your opinion! :-)

Bye, Dragan 'who still remembers Walt''s old pre-Voelkl sig' Cvetkovic

--
Dragan Cvetkovic,

To be or not to be is true. G. Boole No it isn't. L. E. J. Brouwer

!!! Sender/From address is bogus. Use reply-to one !!!

Dragan Cvetkovic wrote:
(soma) writes:

Is it possible to get good beer in Banff?

Hey Walt, someone is asking for your opinion! :-)

Unfortunately, I've never been to Banff, so I can only extrapolate from
my other visits to Canada. Take it for what it's worth: I doubt you'll
have a problem in Banff. I wouldn't bother bringing my own.

Now, if you said you were going to Utah....

--
//-Walt
//
// Emeritus Official Beer Taster for RSA

soma wrote:

My apologies if this is too off-topic, but my questions about the
skiing in Banff were already answered in the earlier thread ;-)

Is it possible to get good beer in Banff? I'll be going there in early
March for a week of skiing. My experience in Canada has been limited
to the Maritimes and Manitoba, which, despite their many charms, are
lacking in the beer variety department. Can anyone recommend
restaurants or pubs that have a good selection of IPAs and other
non-lager beers? Or do I need to devote part of my carry-on luggage to
Sierra Nevada?

What's the name of that large Irish bar on the side street? They had a
ton of beers, plus a big selection of single malt Scotches.

Dave

Walt wrote:
Dragan Cvetkovic wrote:

(soma) writes:


Is it possible to get good beer in Banff?

Hey Walt, someone is asking for your opinion! :-)


Unfortunately, I've never been to Banff, so I can only extrapolate from
my other visits to Canada. Take it for what it's worth: I doubt you'll
have a problem in Banff. I wouldn't bother bringing my own.

Now, if you said you were going to Utah....


Now hold on a darn minute. There is absolutely nothing wrong with beer
in Utah. Just a few simple rules.

You cannot buy beer on tap. By law, all draft 'beer' is 3.2 beer, and
therefore not beer at all. You can buy beer in bottles in bars,
assuming you can get in the bar. Well, they're not bars, they're
'private clubs' which means they have to collect a cover charge which
goes directly to the state. Oh, and the clubs have to buy their beer
from the state liquor stores. Which means they have to mark up the
already marked up beer from a religious monopoly. But, you can go the
liquor store yourself, and then you can buy the beer by the bottle. And
there's no discount, whether you buy a single bottle or ten cases. A
bottle of Guinness costs $2.25. And since all the liquor stores are
state owned, it's the same price everywhere, which saves inconvenient
shopping around. Oh, and it's warm. They'll tell you that beer is not
supposed to be refrigerated, just to see what your reaction will be.
Oh, and all the beer in the liquor store (which they call strong beer)
is generally premium beer, meaning either import or microbrew. You
cannot get Bud or Miller or any of the other American mass market lagers
there, you have to go to the grocery store. There, they sell cold beer
but again, it's all 3.2. So, basically the state which is controlled by
the church controls the temperature, price, and selection of beer.
Which is sort of like fish making rules about birds.

Now, if you want a mixed drink you have to go to a club, unless it's a
restaurant. You can get a mixed drink, but no doubles, and the liquor
volume is monitored mechanically. There are lots of rules here too, but
here is my favorite one: If there is a bar in a restaurant that serves
food, one of two things must be true...either the drink must be mixed
out of sight of the customer, or else if it is mixed in view of the
customer the bartender may not hand the drink over the bar to the
customer but must instead walk around the bar and place it on the bar
from the customer's side.

Other than that, there is absolutely no problem at all getting a drink
in utah. Come on out, the greatest snow on earth! (Assuming you
classify Utah as "earth", but that's another post.)

in article , SkiFastBadly at
wrote on 1/23/04 10:57 AM:



Walt wrote:
Dragan Cvetkovic wrote:

(soma) writes:


Is it possible to get good beer in Banff?

Hey Walt, someone is asking for your opinion! :-)


Unfortunately, I've never been to Banff, so I can only extrapolate from
my other visits to Canada. Take it for what it's worth: I doubt you'll
have a problem in Banff. I wouldn't bother bringing my own.

Now, if you said you were going to Utah....


Now hold on a darn minute. There is absolutely nothing wrong with beer
in Utah. Just a few simple rules.
Oh, and the clubs have to buy their beer
from the state liquor stores. Which means they have to mark up the
already marked up beer from a religious monopoly.

Gratuitous Mormon bashing. EVERY state taxes beer. The federal gov taxes
beer. In my state, you have to buy your booze from the state, period.

But, you can go the
liquor store yourself, and then you can buy the beer by the bottle. And
there's no discount, whether you buy a single bottle or ten cases.

Prices in WA are higher than in Utah for booze. Go figger.

So, basically the state which is controlled by
the church controls the temperature, price, and selection of beer.
Which is sort of like fish making rules about birds.

No, it is sober people making rules about drunk people, which drunk people
always resent. Spoken as a former drunk person.


Other than that, there is absolutely no problem at all getting a drink
in utah. Come on out, the greatest snow on earth! (Assuming you
classify Utah as "earth", but that's another post.)

Sounds like a bunch of drug addicts bitching about illegal drugs. I never
noticed any shortage of drunken assholes in Park City, or here for that
matter: the Utah contingent seems to be unusually concerned about booze.