The Beer Store

Good to have a liquor store five minutes away from my place. I never have to panic in emergency situations. It’s a very stereotypical beer store — smells like beer all over, staff is well informed about beers and has numerous shady characters lingering around. Sometimes I carry used bottles all the way to the store, at other times I come across a homeless guy who asks me to spare change so he gets bottles. sigh
Unless I am buying something specific, I usually visit the LCBO; its a cleaner, airmiles laden experience.

OPEN TIL 10. ENOUGH SAID.

I used to always hit up an LCBO to grab some beer instead of the Beer Store because I always felt that the liquor store was a little more classy. But to be honest there’s nothing really that classy about beer anyway.
The Beer Store reminds me of my childhood when my father used to hit them up back in the day. The sound of a case rattling and rolling down those metal tubes is a beautiful sound. The smell of hops and the overall coldness of the Beer Store are sense I can appreciate.
The place I seem to hit up the most lately is the location on Brock. This is also probably one of the more sketchy Beer Stores downtown. They are open until 10pm on weekdays and fuel the Parkdale weirdos, so you might want to avoid getting your cans or bottles here late at night. Not that you’re going to get attacked or hassled but there’s some weird stuff going on.
I once saw a man taking a piss in the middle of the parking lot in the afternoon. Yeah, it’s just that kind of place. The freaks come out at night and line up to return their empties and buy one can of Lakeport. In no way am I saying I am above these people, but it sort of makes you second guess buying beer in the first place when you see people so down on their luck, scrounging for a sip of lager.
Anyway, the staff here are pretty cool. Relatively young people who will remember you each time you come in. I once got carded and the guy was shocked I was 34-​years old. He complimented me on my youthful looks and assured me that getting asked for ID should be seen as a compliment rather than an annoyance.
For some reason the Brock Beer Store parking lot is massive. You can park about 50 – 60 cars in there, but I have never seen more than 6 – 7. Not really sure why the lot is so large? But at least you will never have a problem finding a space.