The drinking culture here is pretty bad, actually. Meaning, a lot of people drink. The reason, I believe, is state regulations on the matter. Since the 50s, there has been very strict regulations on what kind of alcohol you are allowed to buy in stores, and at which hours you can buy them, and it has resulted in a pretty vulgar drinking culture. Instead of enjoying a few beers and glasses of wine, there's a wide tendency in Norway to go binge drinking.
The reason for the high pricing is just that the Norwegian economy is really strong, and we have very high wages.