November 17, 2009
Best BCL that I know. The selection for the real beer is quite good, and the prices are as low as they go for this province. Good array of Belgians in particular.

July 8, 2009
Best government-run liquor store I’ve ever been in. Too many macro beers and not enough local craft beers. Oftern they’ll have an offering not listed on the BCLDB website.

May 31, 2008
It’s a bit cavernous and much of the floor space is dedicated to every wine you can get at the BCLS although there is a nice little grotto of fancy scotch if you’re into that. Servers can be slow and really treat beer as a commodity product. Selection-wise, it’s hard to fault them. If a beer is available in BC, it’s likely on their shelves unless it is only available at a specialty store or it has sold out. The good of that is at least they most likely have good turn-over of whatever you are buying so it should be relatively fresh.

June 30, 2006
I was surprised by the limited selection as I had envisioned a beer utopia. The large Belgian selection on their website is reduced to 3 shelves of a 4’ wall. No Abbaye des Rocs? (sob!) The staff were kind but work like ants in an erratic manner. They aren’t terribly beer knowledgeable but are more than keen to form a group of three and discuss: when they last had it, whether they’d ever seen it, how to spell it and confirm that they can order it to see what happens? Belgians available: Binchoise and Caricole. Local beers available: Whistler, Nelson, Granville Island, R&B, Cannery in bottles and Bowen Island in cans.

January 11, 2006
Probably the best place for beer in B.C. Recently renovated although skeptically. $600 bottles of wine improperly stored in warm wannabe caves (must be government run, hell yes!) Good selection of beer though, and a staff that knows shit but willing to order weird stuff if your willing to pay for an entire case.

May 18, 2005
Lots of local micros but often sold-out of the more obscure stuff. Still, if you only plan to visit one shop while in the city, this is the place. Service is totally hit or miss.

February 9, 2005
I didn’t have the same luck as some when I went. The nice thing about this store is at least they try and if you find something on the BC website it is more than likely here.

February 14, 2004 [ Updated September 18, 2008 ]
A veritable supermarket with very good selection

January 3, 2004 [ Updated January 8, 2004 ]
Best in Western Canada, especially in the way they represent local micros. Also, the beer buyer for BCLDB is a beer geek, which means the imports are much more well-chosen than in Ontario. Atmospherically it's still a government store with typical know-nothing union staff. You won't want to linger, but you'll get a trunkfull of good beer.