The 8 Best Canned Drinks for a Vancouver Beach Day in 2024

Having a good lineup of canned drinks is vital for boozey Vancouver beachgoing—after all, there’s only so many months in a year we’re permitted to drink on the beach, and even fewer months during which the beach is, well, not a soggy rainy mess. So open up your coolers and get ready to crack open the hottest (and chillest) new beverages of 2024… and, yes, they’re all from Vancouver-based makers.

Are Canned Drinks Allowed on Vancouver Beaches?

We would never suggest breaking the law! Drinking alcohol is permitted until September 30 at seven city-approved beaches in Vancouver: Jericho, Spanish Banks, Locarno, Second Beach, Kits Beach, Trout Lake and New Brighton Beach. Canned drinks (or any alcohol, for that matter) aren’t technically allowed anywhere else. That said, our list of ideal drinking locations doesn’t always take legality into consideration. Please do not show the beach cops this story if you’re somehow caught shotgunning at Wreck—we’re not liable.

8 Great Canned Drinks for Vancouver Beach Days

Lolo Honey Paloma Fizz

Vancouver-based Lolo is about as fresh as it gets—the company just had their launch party last week. Pretty good timing for summer sipping, if you ask us… these new canned cocktails are made with 100% agave tequila and electrolytes (no, this does not mean you don’t need to drink water, please don’t give Ken Sim a reason to revoke our park-drinking privileges).

While the brand is new, the cocktails themselves are mixed by the pros at Strathcona Beer Company. (New rom-com idea: guy who only drinks Strathcona Beer’s Big Sexy Funk IPA falls for another guy who only drinks tequila sodas made with fresh fruit juice.) (Yes, they’re both boys, Hallmark will be all over it.)

Ideal for: Fruity drink lovers and big tough beer drinkers who just want a sip, it’s no big deal
Where to get it: Strathcona Beer Company
Learn more: lolodrinkcompany.com

Backcountry Brewing’s Throw Me A Frickin’ Bone Here⁠ Hazy Pale Ale

Maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we often judge beers by their branding… and Backcountry Brewing’s collab with Sea to Sky Vet (a Squamish veterinary clinic) is a winner. Backcountry has notoriously long-winded beer names (a personal favourite: the “Why Can’t You Be Happy For Me And Then Go Home And Talk ABout Me Behind My Back Like A Normal Person” passionfruit orange guava sour), and this hazy pale ale called “Throw Me A Frickin’ Bone Here” is actually one of their more efficiently-named crafts. It launches this week and fundraises money for the BC SPCA—what’s not to love?

Ideal for: A dog-friendly day at Trout Lake park
Where to get it: Toby’s Liquor store and other local liquor stores
Learn more: backcountrybrewing.com

Nude’s Skinny Grapefruit Margarita

The locally born and cheekily named Nude Beverages (googling “nude guy Vancouver” when you can’t remember founder Julius Makarewicz’s name is an honest mistake that anyone could make) is known for their vodka- and gin-based cocktails, but they just launched a “skinny” (100 cal) version of a canned tequila drink that screams sunshine.

Ideal for: A lazy day at the clothing-optional beach, obviously—Nudes belong at Wreck
Where to get it: Darby’s Liquor Store
Learn more: nudebeverages.com

Bali Water’s Vodka Pineapple

Vancouver brand Bali Water is just a couple years old, and their drinks lean to the sweeter side—one sip of a vodka pineapple will bring you back to being 17 (I mean, 19!) sipping on cold cans of “you can barely taste the alcohol.” It’s made with rice vodka, carbonated water and fruit juices… an ingredient list you can count no matter how many you’ve had.

Ideal for: An English Bay volleyball day with the friend who makes a face every time they try a beer
Where to get it: Denman Beer, Wine and Spirits and other local liquor stores
Learn more: baliwater.ca

 

Superflux’s Silverado Pilsner

If you need some American charm to tie you over until your next Trader Joe’s trip, pack one of Superflux’s new Silverado pilsners in the beach cooler: this beer is a collab with Bellingham’s Structures Brewing. It’s cool, crisp and hopped with magnum, mittelfruh and tettnanger (whatever that means—we just drink it).

Ideal for: Listening to Cowboy Carter on the shores of Jericho
Where to get it: Superflux Beer Company
Learn more: superfluxbeer.com

Hard T’s Lemon Iced Tea

I first tried this drink a few weeks ago at Brewery and the Beast, which I’ll admit was not the ideal environment to sample an ice-cold, summery drink (see a video of the event and you’ll understand why). But even then, I knew it would be a go-to drink in the hotter months—finding a good, non-carbonated canned drink is harder than finding parking at Kits Beach. Imagine Twisted Tea if it didn’t taste like a cavity waiting to happen. All the nostalgia, none of the gross.

Ideal for: Drinking a whole six-pack and losing at Spikeball
Where to get it: Bimini’s and other local liquor stores
Learn more: hard-t.com

Fieldhouse Brewing’s Hull Melon Nectaron Sabro Hazy IPA

Another mouthful—not quite Backcountry level, but it’s getting there. Fieldhouse just launched their new IPA, and it’s got notes of coconut, passionfruit, peach, honeydew and berries. Sounds like a toes-in-the-sand day waiting to happen.

Ideal for: Catching a post-sunburn (oops) sunset on (you guessed it) Sunset Beach
Where to get it: BC Liquor and other local liquor stores
Learn more: fieldhousebrewing.com

The Strait and Narrow’s Out of Office Gin Cocktail

And one more brand-new one: The Strait and Narrow just launched this Out of Office cocktail that tastes as good as turning on automatic replies feels. Think calamansi lime, pomegranate and sea salt (and gin, of course).

Ideal for: Cracking open at Third Beach after a downtown meeting that could have been an email
Where to get it: Crosstown Liquor and other local liquor stores
Learn more: straitandnarrow.com