It’s that time of year again, Great Canadian Beer Festival is back for another year—this time with a fresh new coat of paint! There’s also three amazing satellite event in Victoria this weekend, so it’s time to hop on BC Ferries and come to The Island!
Tonight, Smiths pub in Victoria is hosting a Backcountry & Persephone tap takeover. They’ll have five beers from each brewery on offer to get you nice and warmed up for GCBF.
On Friday evening and Saturday afternoon Victoria’s Royal Athletic Park is home to the 27th annual GCBF. This year’s festival features over 250 beers from 72 BC breweries and 25 breweries from Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, and Yukon.
At the same time, The Drake in Victoria is holding their annual Little American Beer Fest (see what they did there?). Essentially a weekend-long tap takeover featuring some of the best breweries from the US, this year’s event has an emphasis on farmhouse-style ales and sours.
On Saturday night, if you aren’t tired of drinking beer all day (as if!), head back over to Smiths for their Untapped GCBF after-party, where they will be pouring a selection of awesome beers from Dieu du Ciel! (Quebec), Bench (Ontario), Dandy (Alberta) and Winterlong (Yukon).
For those not coming to the Island for the weekend, on Sunday, The Red Accordion in Vancouver is hosting a tap takeover by Quebec’s Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! They’ll have 8 of lines dedicated to their amazing beers, Matthieu Yonkers from the brewery will be in attendance, and they’ll have swag!