One of the most difficult things about long weekends is the number of hard choices you have to make.

Do you spring for that $400 a night Maderia Park waterfront shack on VRBO, or stay in town knowing full well you’ll practically have the city to yourself.

Is springing for dry ice worth it for those three days off the grid in the Cariboo, or can you stomach eating cheese that’s been floating next to the Oscar Mayer wieners in three inches of melted Arctic Glacier ice.

And, most crippling of all, there’s the visit to the liquor store to stock up. Seriously, a person can stand there for a good hour trying to make a decision on what to spend their barista earnings on: imported Samuel Adams, homegrown 33 Acres French Blanchè, or the poor man’s PBR known as Black Label.

We can’t help you on the first two fronts, but are happy to offer a couple of long-weekend tips on the third.

One of the best thing about summer is the proliferation of sampler packs. Vancouver Island Brewing has rolled out a couple of them, each guaranteed to please the most discerning of craft beer aficionado.

The VIB Summer Outpost mix pack features four different offerings. The Ukidama Lychee Saison isn’t quite as exotic as its name suggests, with the lychee notes a little on the subtle side, but the Twisted Stalk Blackberry Helles definitely beats spending the day foraging for berries in Pemberton, the fruit showing up big and bold. Top marks also for the deliciously straightforward and unfussy Juan De Fuca Cerveza, which transports you to the beach of your choice at first sip. The pack is rounded out by a Broken Islands Hazy IPA, which delivers hoppiness without being overpowering.

Also from Vancouver Island Brewing comes the Everyday Carry Pack, cutely adorned with illustrations of a fishing pole with hooks and a rolled up sleeping bag. Inside are easy-for-summer-sipping cans of Faller New Pale Ale, Island Lager, Piper’s Pale Ale, and the gold-star Dominion Dark Lager with its light kiss of chocolate and coffee.

As sacrilegious as this might sound in Canada’s craft beer mecca, sometimes you need a break from the suds.

Although it would be nice tow the home bar behind you to Tofino, whipping up a Chocolate Choo-Choo or Strawberry Squashed Alleycat is a pain on the road. As for gin and tonics, or rum and cokes, not nearly fancy enough when you’re enjoying a perfect sunrise on Saturna Island.

Normally we’re loathe to recommend cocktails in a can, that having everything to do with a Seagram’s Zombie we once ordered on a plane to Kauai. But Muddler’s gets things right, that definitely being the case with its new locally concocted Moscow Mule.

As close as you’ll get to freshly made without whipping one up yourself, the canned cocktail not only promises the taste of fresh lime, ginger, and vodka, but actually delivers. Raid the mint patch at the B&B you’re staying at (or help yourself to a couple of stalks at the condo common area garden) and you’ve got a craft-quality drink at a price that’s not going to leave you eating Kraft Dinner this long weekend.