Have you seen The Growler?
You may have heard of it but never seen it. It’s eight inches long, thick (and getting thicker), and meant for adults only. You'd like to lay your hands on it, it's gone from taprooms as fast as a Driftwood…
Close Encounters of the Beered Kind
McMinnville, Oregon, is a small city of approximately 33,000 people in the heart of Oregon's wine country. Its main claim to fame, besides wine, is the famous UFO sighting in 1950 reported by a local farm couple. Mr. & Mrs.…
What the Heck is “Mild”?
Growing up in the north of England there was a beer in almost every pub called “mild” - sometimes it was called “dark” but it was all basically the same: a cheap, low-hopped, low-alcohol, malt-forward session beer. It was generally…
Vancouver’s New “Neighbourhood Brewery” Model
There is a new breed of craft brewery that has taken Greater Vancouver by storm. Recently opened outlets feature customer-focused tasting lounges where beer lovers can enjoy a flight of samples or drink beer by the glass, acting as “locals”…
Is the Middle Kingdom the Next Craft Beer El Dorado?
With the craft beer market share in BC at 20% and the number of craft breweries in the province approaching 100, the landscape is starting to look a lot like Downtown Vancouver’s skyline.
Recent Craft Beer Price Hike$
I know just a short month ago I stated I was packing it in as a blogger, but this latest BC Liberal move, which saw them randomly hike the prices of beers, mostly craft beers, without telling the breweries ahead of time or giving them a cut of the increase, has me foaming at the mouth and I feel compelled to vent here before I explode.
Out and About: Two Summers Underground
We’re Back! The craft beer movement gets stronger every year in every single corner and pocket of this Real Beer province. People talk beer with enthusiasm. Breweries open everywhere. You move it onwards by being a consumer and advocate. We…
BC breweries kick Eastern butt at CBA
I was asked for my thoughts on the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards. I thought: let’s break down the medals to prove that British Columbia is the best place in Canada to drink craft beer.
The Evolution of BC’s West Coast IPA
When the contemporary craft beer revolution began back in the early 1980s, it was led by styles that hailed from the British brewing tradition: pale ales, stouts and bitters. This was no surprise given the heritage of B.C.’s craft beer…
BC Craft Beer Month 2015: Year Five
In 2011, the Minister of Agriculture, Don McRae officially proclaimed October to be BC Craft Beer Month. It was a month of celebrating BC Craft beers, and of course, the brewers behind those great beers. We have never looked back.With…
Session Beers and India Session Ales
According to that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, a definition of 4.5% ABV or less has been proposed by beer writer Lew Bryson. I would heartily support that notion. In contrast, the Brewers Association has adopted a new session beer category within their Great American Beer Fest competition, with an alcohol content not to exceed 4.1% ABW (5.1% ABV).
Powell River Craft Beer Festival 2015
For the second straight year, the first weekend in October will see Powell River host a major craft beer festival, and the buzz is starting to grow in Pow Town. Last year, CAMRA Powell River’s President, Paddy Treavor, took it…
Trippin’ Out: Staycation BC heads to the Okanagan and Interior
In our Summer issue, we served up a batch of stories about the beer scene on the Island and Coast, featuring an 'Ale Trail' beer loop that a few of our regular writers travelled during the spring. Now, in the spirit of Staycation BC, we're embarking on a much bigger loop: the entire South BC Interior, including the Thompson/Okanagan, Kootenays and Rockies regions.
Book Review: On Extreme Beers
The very first thing I would like to mention about Adem Tepedelen’s The Brewtal Truth Guide to Extreme Beers is how much my pocket book and liver suffered from researching this book. This, of course, is par for the course…
BC Craft Beer Month Q&A with Ken Beattie
On October 1st 2015, BC Craft Beer Month kicked off with an event at the new Red Racer Pub. What's Brewing got in touch with BC Craft Brewers Guild Executive Director Ken Beattie to find out more about what to expect this year. WB:…
Craft Beer is Big Business now
A recent trip to Portland furnished a perfect opportunity to observe the tectonic collisions caused by the slow evolution of the craft brewing industry into a credible form of competition with "Big Barley".
Craft Brewing is an Ethos
Craft Brewery status has its privileges. The Oregon Brewers Festival, got itself into a pickle this summer by attempting to curate the list of 'craft breweries' presenting at their annual event, which has attendance of up to 85,000 over five days.
YeastVan Beer Walk
This summer, I took a long-overdue trip down to‘Yeast Van’ to check out Callister Brewing and Doan’s Craft Brewing Company. Simply put, it was great to finally visit these two welcome additions to the neighbourhood. Cycling down to the area was a breeze with the two-way bike lane past the Cordova Diversion and over the new Powell street overpass. There are certainly other ways to get down to the area by bike, but coming from downtown, this was the best.