Local liquor retailer extends advent calendar spirit into 'Dry January'

Christmas may be over, but a local liquor store is still spreading cheer — of the alcohol-free variety.

Sherbrooke Liquor is extending the holiday spirit by continuing its popular December beer advent calendar into January and even February, but by offering non-alcohol beers instead in support of the 'dry' movement.

"A lot of our guests and a lot of our customers like to explore the non-alcohol options, and we thought it'd be a fun idea to offer a custom, hand-picked 24-pack of non-alcohol beers," Stephen Bezan, purchasing manager for Sherbrooke Liquor, told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday. "People seem to enjoy it, and the response so far has been extremely positive."

He said the retailer, which has two Edmonton locations, reopened re-orders for the Dry January advent calendar due to popular demand.

Bezan said those interested in the advent pack can visit one of Sherbrooke Liquor's locations to buy one or place a pre-order online.

"We went through our first batch quickly," Bezan said, adding that the selection and sales of non-alcohol options in beer, spirits and wine have increased in recent years to the point it's become one of their "highest-selling categories in the whole store."

"Especially this last year, we feel the tides have turned, and people are more accepting to try non-alcohol options," he said.

"There is so much better, higher-quality stuff out there than there's been in the past five-to-10 years. There are a lot of great local breweries that are doing some non-alcohol beer options. The selection out there is fantastic and there are so many different flavours."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch