Spring 2017 Archives - What’s Brewing Magazine

Sea to Sky Vacation Adventure

We in BC are blessed with one of the most spectacular scenic drives in the world. In the early years of my travels to Whistler, Highway 99 North was known as the most dangerous road in the province. After many upgrades, including the pre-Olympic mega-upgrade, the Sea to Sky highway is now a marvel of engineering that leaves you free to appreciate the beauty that surrounds you. I recently took a four-day shoulder season craft beer trip from Vancouver to Pemberton. Here's how it went.

Out and About: In the Community

Since the first issue of What’s Brewing, we have been out and about, looking for good beers, local restaurants and bars carrying the micro breweries of their time, giving rise to new employment and business opportunities in the local community.…

Insider tips for your Okanagan beer fest getaway, Part I

March 8, 2017
Dave Smith
Beer In The News, Breweries & Cideries, Events & Festivals, Travel & Beer Tourism
1 Comment

The weather in Southern BC may be stubbornly cold, but as I pointed out in our new issue of What's Brewing, festival season is warming up either way. Much of the anticipation is due to Spring season staples in one of our favourite parts…

Tasting Panel Spring 2017: Warm Weather Pt I: Fruit Beers

After the winter we’ve had, it probably seemed impossible that there would ever be warm weather again, but it’s coming. If it’s not, this issue’s Fruit Beer Spotlight feature will be pointless, and here at What’s Brewing we don’t do pointless stuff. Much.

Let’s make CAMRA BC relevant again

March 1, 2017
Paddy Treavor
Columnists & Editorials, Politics & Advocacy
2 Comments

Pictured above: Martin Williams, Paddy Treavor and Glen Stusek The Golden Age of Beer in British Columbia is alive and well. The craft beer industry in BC has exploded beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic beer lover. The industry…

Addressing macro beer apologetics: responses to a craft beer backlash

March 1, 2017
Ted Child
Business of Beer, Columnists & Editorials
1 Comment

Recently, I had a pint with someone who used to work in a brewery in the 1980s. He told me how, at a certain time of day, their bottling line would stop. Labels would be switched, and then the bottling…

Insider tips for your Okanagan beer fest getaway, Part II

May 4, 2017
Dave Smith
Breweries & Cideries, Events & Festivals, Travel & Beer Tourism
0 Comments

What's Brewing spent some serious quality time visiting Kelowna in 2016. Here are some beer visitor tips that we brought back with us.

Fathers of BC Brewing

I have noticed a trend in articles written about women in the beer industry, and it falls into an archetype that I don't think entirely applies anymore. When we talk about women, we almost always talk about motherhood. Why don't we talk about our industry's men as fathers?

Callister Brewing: the Community of One

March 4, 2017
Dave Smith
BC Craft Beer Profiles, Beer In The News, People of Beer
0 Comments

In an issue of a magazine dedicated to the topic of Community, and featuring a battery of public-minded businesses who manage to stand out in an industry replete with community-oriented owners, there should be no simple way to single out…

Heroes Of Beer

April 6, 2017
What's Brewing
Beer In The News, Breweries & Cideries, People of Beer
0 Comments

In celebration of our BC Craft Beer Community, we invited some of the many public-minded BC brewing industry folks we have the pleasure to know, to tell us more about their relationship with their local community, and within the brewing community. Their responses were voluminous and passionate. We've excerpted them here. We welcome yours too.

Homebrew Happenin’s

Craft Community Crossover: Home Brewers Visit the Pros >> At 7 a.m. on January 13, 2017, the Fraser Valley Fermentalists homebrew club gathered at Fuggles & Warlock for a collaboration brew.

Fest of Ale 2017: Behind the Scenes

I love beer festivals. They are an integral part of the craft beer culture that has captivated our province. And what better way to learn about beer than in an environment where you can rub shoulders with drinkers and brewers…

Golden ray of sun dawns in Yeast Van

March 1, 2017
Lynn McIlwee
BC Craft Beer Profiles, Breweries & Cideries
1 Comment

A visit to the newly opened Andina Brewing Company is like walking into a friend’s house. The ambience is lively with music and conversation and you are welcomed with open arms, a passionfruit black IPA, and a snack of plantain…

Women In Beer: Diana McKenzie

I first met Diana McKenzie at the Central City Winter Cask Festival in January 2015. This was Callister Brewing’s first event, well before their opening, so there was plenty of excitement around their cask. When Diana and her partner Christopher…

Fest Of Ale pocket guide: must-have and off-menu brews

We've been saying that the 2017 iteration of the Okanagan Fest Of Ale, BC's second-longest-running beer event, is looking particularly compelling. But now that we're in the final week countdown, we thought we'd run one last check on what we…

The Importance of Clean Lines

The hoses that connect beer kegs and casks to taps—the lines—need regular cleaning. Dirty lines adversely affect the flavour of beer. Contamination in the lines can also lead to foaming the beer and unexpected hangovers!

Ullage & Spillage: a decade of community service

When I think about pillars in the BC craft beer community, the first person to emerge from my random-access memory is What’s Brewing’s very own Monica Frost. In 2017, she celebrates ten years of craft community service. Here’s how she got her start.

The orchard cidery that grew out of ALR red tape

May 3, 2017
John Rowling
Breweries & Cideries, Cider, Columnists & Editorials, People of Beer
0 Comments

Tod Creek Craft Cider began when Chris Schmidt bought an old rundown dairy farm to house his construction company.

Beers, Beaches & Breweries: Ten Hoppy Years

March 1, 2017
Kim Lawton
Beer In The News, Columnists & Editorials, Travel & Beer Tourism
0 Comments

As I write this column, I am days away from celebrating 10 years of being a part of this wonderful craft beer community. In my 10 years in the BC Craft Beer industry, I’m sure there were difficult times. But as I reflect through my beer-coloured glasses, I only have the hoppiest of memories.

The Hopbine: Spinnakers Opens 9 Days After Fire

March 1, 2017
John Rowling
Columnists & Editorials, Events & Festivals
0 Comments

Paul Hadfield doesn’t take no for an answer. When Victoria’s Spinnakers Brewpub caught fire on Wednesday, November 23, 2016, the insurance company told him that there was no way they could do an evaluation, settle the claim, and pay out…