Here is the latest original writing and reporting from the contributors to What’s Brewing.
CLASS OF 1994
Iain Hill: From Shaftebury To Yaletown
July 1, 2020
As part of our 30th Anniversary, What's Brewing spotlights some of BC's beer pioneers. In The Class Of '94 series, we introduce you to some key BC brewmasters who started up a celebrated brewery in the year 1994. Iain Hill shares a hilarious memory from working at East Van's very first craft brewery. Right after that, he helped open Vancouver's first brewpub and began pushing the boundaries of BC brewing.
Issue: Summer 2020
30TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES
The Class of ’94: Sailor Hagar’s Heyday
June 25, 2020
As part of our 30th Anniversary, What's Brewing spotlights some of BC's beer pioneers. In The Class Of '94 series, we introduce you to some key BC brewmasters who started up a celebrated brewery in the year 1994 and began to push the boundaries of BC brewing. As head brewer at Central City Brewers & Distillers, Gary Lohin has had a distinguished career in beer. But he first had the chance to run his own show at Metro Vancouver’s first brewpub: Sailor Hagar’s.
Issue: Spring 2020
30th Anniversary Series
What Was Brewin’ in the ’80s
June 18, 2020
As part of What’s Brewing magazine’s 30th Anniversary celebrations, we’re proud to feature some of BC’s beer advocacy pioneers. Today, we present a retrospective by Gerry Hieter, the long-time former Chairperson of Great Canadian Beer Festival. Find out how BC's craft beer scene developed from Sir Gerry!
Issue: Summer 2020
30TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES
Big Bad John: The Story of John Rowling and CAMRA Victoria
June 9, 2020
As part of What’s Brewing magazine’s 30th Anniversary celebrations, we’re proud to pay tribute to some of BC’s beer advocacy pioneers.
In case you haven't met today's special honouree: he is one of the most respected names amongst long-time members of the BC beer community. He helped found much of what constitutes craft beer culture in BC today, and he's a true gentleman. In words and pictures, let us introduce you to John Rowling.
Issue: Summer 2020
30TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES
How The History of BC Craft Beer is Especially Relevant in 2020
June 2, 2020
WHAT'S BREWING 30TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE TELLS STORY OF BC CRAFT BEER
| | What's Brewing Vol. 30 No. 2 Summer 2020, released June 1st, celebrates the publication's 30th Anniversary. For this special issue, we’ve reached out to 30 craft beer community leaders for stories and memories. We've compiled a new history of BC Craft Beer with previously-unpublished images and vignettes, formatted chronologically into a seamless story arc, along with a special 'roll call' tribute acknowledging every microbrewery opened in this province since 1982.
Issue: Spring 2020
What's Brewing Biography | Cover
Merridale: A Story Of Apples And Passion
May 28, 2020
At Cobble Hill in southern Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley is the apple farm that’s home to the granddaddy of BC Craft Cider: Merridale Cidery and Distillery.
Issue: Spring 2020
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Meet Merridale’s Distiller, Rick Pipes
May 28, 2020
Merridale Co-Owner Rick Pipes first learned about distillation when he and Janet travelled to Europe to study cider making. The results from Rick’s inspiration have won multiple awards.
Issue: Spring 2020
TALES FROM ISOLATION
Thanks, Labatt: When Canadian Big Beer Shot Itself in the Foot
May 21, 2020
Big Beer in Canada had it good when I was a kid, and I didn't know any better than to drink their stuff. But thanks to a recent conversation with a Vancouver brewery chief, I can now pinpoint the moment that a giant brewer set me on the path to craft beer evangelism...by selling me the first beer I really enjoyed.
Issue: Summer 2020
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
BC College to Debut Brewing Education Program This Fall
May 11, 2020
For the past three years, I’ve been fortunate to be a Craft Beer and Brewing Essentials instructor at Simon Fraser University. Last year, I was approached by North Island College in Comox to help build a new Craft Brewing and Malting program from scratch. The online courses start this September, three evenings per week (with the hands-on course moved to 2021). This means that anyone could take this year’s courses, not just local Islanders.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Coping With COVID: Kent Orton & Wheelhouse Brewing
May 7, 2020
COVID-19 has forced BC’s breweries to temporarily close their tasting lounges. In this series, we spotlight BC breweries coping with change. Today, we feature Prince Rupert’s Wheelhouse Brewing in a conversation with co-founder Kent Orton.
IN REVIEW | books
Book Review: Drink Beer, Think Beer, by John Holl
May 5, 2020
Our in-house beer book connoisseur Ted Child delivers another really strong book review. In here, he outlines why Drink Beer, Think Beer— despite the occasional disagreement Ted has with a passage here and there — is a must-read for beer fans.
Issue: Spring 2020
DEEP DIVE
A Parting Toast, as Kelowna’s Boundary Brewing makes way for Welton Brewery
May 1, 2020
April 30th 2020 marked the last day of Kelowna’s Boundary Brewing after 3 years in business in its current location. Here's a parting Au Revoir to Boundary Brewing, and a hearty welcome with best wishes for Welton Brewing. Featuring a word from Boundary Brewing owner Oliver Gläser. Also featuring his impressive, articulate Dec 2017 telephone interview about the Antifa harrassment crisis. If you haven't met Oliver yet, this candid, passionate, yet impressively articulate discussion is a great way to get to know type of strong-willed person he is.