Latest Stories from What’s Brewing

Our in-house beer book reviewer Ted Child turns in a review of this interesting book, which he says will have immense appeal for the science buff who likes beer. Find out what he thinks beer fans might think.

Colder months are generally more suited to beers that are stronger in both flavour and alcohol. I have talked about barley wine in past columns, so this year I thought I would suggest an Imperial Stout.

As a recent transplant to the North Island community of Comox, I had fun in the fall, social-distance visiting the local breweries. I noticed that a big seller was cream ale—both Gladstone Brewing and Land & Sea Brewing were serving it as fast as they could make it. Even Dave Paul’s nano-operation Love Shack Libations in Qualicum keeps a cream ale as one of his four core beers.

These are most certainly challenging times for independent craft breweries in Prince George and Northern BC. Yet many have stepped up in order to keep the spirit of the #BCCraftBeer community alive!

In these times of social distancing and closed borders, we still have opportunities to explore in our own backyard. Brian K. Smith takes you on a four-day trip to Vancouver Island’s west coast to check out the recent arrivals in the craft beer scene, easily and affordably.

In late May of 2019, Wildeye Brewing opened their brewery/tasting room in North Vancouver, an area that has definitely become a destination craft beer hub. The owner and conceiver is Samantha Lindeman, and she is not even thirty!

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions, regulations and rules, the South Okanagan craft beer industry has adapted and pivoted.

What can I say about 2020 that we don't already know? British Columbia confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in late January. Since then, the pandemic has evolved into an unprecedented healthcare crisis across our province and the world. Hopefully, one day, we will not have the wariness lurking in our minds and we will be able to socialize again freely.

Did COVID kill craft beer’s momentum? Is this wave of the craft beer revolution over? The returns are in: 2020 could have been a lot worse. With the opening of La Cerveceria Astilleros, BC avoids recording the first year since 2013 with fewer than 20 brewery openings. Find out how that fits into the big picture of the #BCCraftBeer revolution in this special look at 2020.

The BC Craft Brewers Guild is set to present their fourth annual BC Craft Brewers Conference in early February 2021 in virtual format. Tickets are on sale now. To find out more about how the conference will work, we had a word with the Guild's Executive Director, Ken Beattie.

Every three months, What’s Brewing gets together with JAK’S Beer Wine Spirits to create a new installment of our Tasting Panel series. This episode, for the first time ever, we reviewed six winter-ready rich, dark dessert beers! Also check out our live Virtual Tasting Panel as they Zoom in on our six-pack of beers in a new @PacificBeerChat podcast episode.

Longtime What's Brewing columnist J. Random tackles the theme of our Winter 2020 "Virtual Beerality" issue by looking into the future of craft brewing. Features a graph of BC brewery birth and death rate statistics. Were we already reaching peak beer?