but re: just young people being way less into beer - beer is still just as hard to get as when i was young, is way more expensive even comparatively, and you still cant drink in public.
Is that a local thing? I don't recall beer ever being "hard to get".
Beer in Ontario is a relative huge pain in the ass. It will likely open up over the coming years but:
-up until the late 2010s could ONLY be sold from LCBO or "The Beer Store" two monopolies that control alcohol in Ontario.
-ridiculous pricing, restrictive shelf-allowance ie. reserving huge amounts of shelf space at those monopolies guaranteed for the mega brewers.
-restrictive laws about handling it, drinking in public, buying from bars etc.
one thing is you only have to be 19 vs 21 in the states I guess.
-finally now it is allowed in SELECT approved supermarkets, not even most. but the premier is very much in favour of opening it up wide to destroy these stupid monopoly dinosaurs, and the unions are literally on strike right now. you can not buy spirits/liquor at the moment period in ontario except at bars, who will eventually run out if the strike continues.
in the 70s or earlier you had to basically get a license to buy booze at the LCBO, you'd go in and line up and choose from a billboard what you wanted. the clerk would go and get it and hand it to you. you could very easily be banned from buying alcohol if they deemed you a problem, a "drunk" (often applied in a racist manner) etc.
it is just nutty.