There should be more cold beer made available in Saskatchewan's liquor stores, the province's New Democrats say.

The Opposition NDP was responding to a recent newspaper op-ed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation lamenting the relative shortage of cold suds in government liquor store coolers.

The taxpayers group said a "warm beer tyranny" was at work, forcing customers to buy Saskatchewan-made brands like Great Western at room temperature.

Premium-priced beers such as Coors Banquet and Moosehead are the ones that get put into the fridge.

The NDP said there should be more choices available in the cold beer section.

Liquor retailing overhaul under discussion

The background to all this is that the Saskatchewan Party government has proposed revamping liquor retailing, asking the public to choose from a variety of options.

Everything from the status quo to an Alberta-style privatization of all 75 government-owned stores is on the table.

The NDP leader Cam Broten has accused Premier Brad Wall of doing a poor job running the stores and wants the government to continue to own them.

In addition to more cold beer, there should also be better hours, greater product selection and more flexible pricing, the NDP says.

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