What's Brewing Fall 2018

ipa Showdown • Contract Brewing • Ken Beattie • Brewing Awards • Homebrewers AssN • cider • Prague • Budweiser • BC Roundup

OU THE J

VOL.28 ISSUE 3 Fall 2018 AARON JONCKHEERE & IAIN HILL, SFBC

OV E EER M B T F 'S C R A OF BC L A N R

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LO CAT E D I N T H E H E A R T O F T H E V I LL AG E I N FA LS E C R E E K , VA N C O U V E R

Illustration: Montevarious

THE JOURNAL OF BC'S CRAFT BEER MOVEMENT VOL. 28 ISSUE 3

FALL 2018 CONTENTS EDITORIAL COLUMNS 09

MATTER OF BEER: WHY BREWING AWARDS MATTER

10

A VIEW FROM THE CELLAR: CONTRACT BREWING

12

ON THE RECORD: WITH KEN BEATTIE

23

AN IN-CIDER'S VIEW: PUTTING A NAME TO CRAFT CIDER

IN PROFILE 14

ULLAGE & SPILLAGE: THE CAREER OF IAIN HILL

18

WHAT’S BREWING BIOGRAPHY: STRANGE FELLOWS

21

WOMEN IN BEER: CHRISTINE MOULSON

BEER IQ & BREWING 24

TASTING PANEL HOP FIGHT: DOUBLING DOWN ON IPA

30

HOPS CANARY: CANADIAN HOMEBREWERS ASSOCIATION

33

HOMEBREW HAPPENIN'S: BREW CLUB INTERCOMPETITION

46

BOOKS IN REVIEW: READER BEWARE!

TRAVEL & TOURING 34

BEERSEEKERS ON TOUR: IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

37

BUDWEISER: EUROPE’S BIGGEST CRAFT BREWERY?

38

HAVE CAMERA WILL TRAVEL: NOOTKA BEER RETREAT

BC REGIONAL REPORTS 40

BEERS, BEACHES & BREWERIES: FALL IN THE OKANAGAN

42

NORTHERN NOTES: THE ART OF CRAFT IN PRINCE GEORGE

43

COASTAL CURRENTS: POWELL RIVER BEER FEST

44

SEA TO SKY BEER GUY: HARVEST AT THE BEER FARMERS

45

OUT AND ABOUT: ON THE ISLAND BEAT

What's Brewing Produced by Line49 Design Group Inc. 300-1275 West 6th Avenue Vancouver BC V6H 1A6 info@whatsbrewing.ca www.whatsbrewing.ca Social: @whatsbrewingbc Editorial Group Editor & Publisher: Dave Smith Co-Editor: Paul Morris Copy Editors: Ivana Smith, Wendy Barron Contact: editor@whatsbrewing.ca Hopline & Newsroom Associate Editor, Events: Edward Kaye Contact: events@whatsbrewing.ca Associate Editor, Newsroom: Navin Autar Contact: newsroom@whatsbrewing.ca Contributors: Adam Arthur, Warren Boyer, Adam Chatburn, Ted Child, Lundy Dale, Monica Frost, Kim Lawton, Chelsea McDowell, Lynn McIlwee, Stewart 'Scottie' McLellan, Sheridan Mohammed, Jeff Nairn, Mathieu Poirier, J. Random, J. Thunderfoot, Carnell Turton, John Rowling, Brian K. Smith, Paddy Treavor, Joe Wiebe, Malcolm Yates Chief Photographer: Brian K. Smith Illustrator: Emile Compion @montevarious Distribution & Booth Operations: Paul Morris, Jack Enwright, Alan Schroeder Web & Admin: Navin Autar, Ligia Margaritescu, Susan Jones Advertising & Corporate Sales: sales@whatsbrewing.ca © 2018 What's Brewing. Views and opinions expressed within are those of our individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the position of What’s Brewing

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MYTHS & CELEBRATIONS OF HARVEST

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t's about that time of year when BC beer fans give thanks. Not just for BC Craft Beer Month (all of October) but for harvest season too. Beer being the agricultural product that it is, we give thanks for our BC barley farmers, hop growers and cider orchardists. And let's remember especially our farm breweries, including the brand new one we tip our hat to on page 44.

Harvest is the hoppiest time of the year, so our Tasting Panel doubles down with dry-hopped IPAs in Hop Fight, on page 24.

A big part of harvest season tradition is around the spirits and goblins. This issue we feature a couple of Strange Fellows who love to celebrate cultural traditions like Day of the Dead. We also meet the person who makes the sometimes-supernatural characters they're often known to hang around with. Our three-part coverage starts on page 14.

Another eerie theme this round: the debate that's broken out this year around contract brewing, and its sometimes-close cousin, shadow branding. We tackle the myths of the season by asking big questions—then clearing up some confusion—in A View From The Cellar and On The Record. Our two-part coverage starts on page 10.

More myths of the fall: just in time for BC Beer Awards, Matter of Beer takes on superstitions about beer judging. New cider columnist Jeff Nairn clears up: what is craft cider? And Ted Child helps us figure out which beer books are tricks and which are treats, in Books In Review.

This is probably the most jam-packed issue of What's Brewing ever.

I know I've said that before but really, there's a lot to read and look at in here. Grab a beer.

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 6

Art Works • 604-838-6192

COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS Many thanks to these supporters who help bring What's Brewing to you! Find a printed copy at whatsbrewing.ca/find

BC CRAFT CALENDAR

Mr.Ed Kaye Meet our MC of Beer Events! Tune in to Upcoming Exbeeriences with Ed Kaye, every Thursday afternoon at www.hopline.ca.

GREAT CANADIAN BEER FESTIVAL: SEPT 7-8

Canada's longest-running craft beer fest. 9000 people tasting 200 beers from 65+ breweries. NEW: Alberta tent, BC Ale Trailer. gcbf.com

WHISTLER VILLAGE BEER FEST: SEPT 15-16 Beer in the mountains: 130+ beers & ciders from 60 breweries caps off 6 days of beer-fuelled fun at Whistler resort. wvbf.ca

BC HOP FEST: SEPT 29

4th annual installment of Canada’s only farm-based Fresh Hop Fest, with farm tours, food trucks and live music. bchop.ca/events/hop-fest

BC CRAFT BREWERS CONFERENCE: OCT 19

2nd annual industry conference & trade show. Featuring a full day of seminars, networking opportunities and gala afterparty. bccraftbeer.com

BC BEER AWARDS AND FESTIVAL: OCT 20 9th annual. This signature event of BC Craft Beer Month celebrates the very best in BC beer with over 65 breweries. bcbeerawards.com

COQUITLAM CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL: NOV 2-3 40 breweries paired with delicious food from 8 local restaurants and caterers. NEW: Women in Beer tasting room. coquitlambeerfestival.com

POWELL RIVER CRAFT BEER FEST: NOV 3

CAMRA Powell River hosts the 5th annual event. A yearly pilgrimage s in order for many beer fans. camrapowellriver.ca For the latest in BC Craft Beer news, opinions & event listings, follow or subscribe to the Hopline e-news. New issue every Thurs! @whatsbrewingbc | #hopline | www.hopline.ca

BECOME A PARTNER OUTLET Be in good company and carry our magazine. Support our cause, and help us support yours. www.whatsbrewing.ca/corporate Circulation: www.whatsbrewing.ca/mediakit To advertise: www.whatsbrewing.ca/advertising FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 7

MATTER OF BEER | editorial

Why Brewing Awards Matter

A

>> MATHIEU POIRIER

s I write this, we’re sitting between the two biggest awards events of the year for BC beer fans. The Canadian Brewing Awards & Conference (CBAC) was held in Halifax back in May. Next up is the BC Beer Awards & Festival on October 20th in Vancouver, for which buzz is about to ramp up.

Watch a brewer who just won an award and you’ll see nothing but happiness and excitement. Those honours can make difference between living hand-to-mouth and growing one’s brand exponentially. But not everybody shares their joy. That gets me thinking: it’s time I addressed the elephant in the room when it comes to awards events.

Why is it that beer geeks have a love/hate relationship with judging contests? The trophies haven’t even been handed out before you hear the comments: “How did that beer win? So and so’s beer is way better than that one. What are the judges thinking?”

Back in 2016, the Canadian Brewing Awards were held in Richmond, and recently the event came up in a few conversations for me. The number of macro-owned breweries that took home hardware that year seemed to have soured many. Unfortunately, the commotion over that flaw prevented many from noticing the 2017 CBAC announcement that only 100% Canadian-owned breweries would be able to participate going forward.

Strange Fellows at CBAC 2016, Richmond BC

A typical Western gripe with CBAC is that their events are usually held back East, which implies that they don’t represent us.

But this concern is easily dispelled by considering the consistent volume of winners coming from BC.

Another contentious issue for some is the use of BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) guidelines as a judging rubric. The refrain “Going by BJCP is dumb” is all too common from some beer geeks. Many would prefer to see awards going to the “best” beers in a category, not the ones that best conform to the predefined BJCP style.

The biggest problem here is that awards based on personal preference are subjective. By using preset style rules that are clearly available to everyone, judges can work objectively. It’s up to brewers to ensure that their submission matches guidelines for the style chosen, and that it‘s a good beer overall, compared to similarly styled beers.

Beer judges at work before the 2017 BC Beer Awards.

Buzz is ramping up for the 2018 event.

Are the BJCP Guidelines perfect? Of course not. The BJCP can be slow to react to new styles. Case in point: the recent recognition of New England IPAs, long after their addition to the Brewer’s Association guidelines. That delay was to ensure consensus on judging expectations, so a Double Dry-Hopped Double Milkshake IPA with three different tropical fruits isn’t being judged inappropriately against a true-to-style hazy IPA. If you look at judging guidelines like building codes and brewers like architects, it all plays well together. Brewing is an art, but there is a structure that can be adhered to while still designing amazingly intricate beers that blow people away, and also happen to win awards. The alternative—basing awards solely on personal preference—works well at certain events, but the judges will tend to have a different focus on the beer. In the end, they’ll make decisions that might not match with the general public.

One must decide whether to go with a group of beer aficionados using purely personal taste, or tell those people they need to look for specific qualities and mark based on how well those qualities are represented in each beer.

This argument will likely continue ad infinitum. At the end of the day, these awards were never developed in the interest of influencers, bloggers, and beer geeks. These awards are in place to celebrate good brewers following good brewing practices, meeting established guidelines that are understood, and attainable.

So the next time a brewing awards event rolls around, put down the pitchfork, pick up a pint, and toast the care that good brewers and beer judges show in order to help make craft beer better for everyone.

Mathieu Poirier is a homebrewer, beer reviewer, and the craft beer columnist for Monday Magazine in Victoria. Read more of his thoughts at matterofbeer.com.

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A VIEW FROM THE CELLAR | editorial

BUSINESS & POLITICS

A TALE OF CONTRACT BREWING AND SHADOW BRANDS

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>> ADAM CHATBURN

his year, I was surprised to learn that Ontario has a massive contract brewing scene, to the extent that dozens of “breweries” have no brick-and-mortar space and are just brands made in a giant factory-style brewery. This is one reason why, in my opinion, they don’t have the vibrant, community-focussed brewery taproom scene that we have created in BC. To some extent, contract brewing has been around for years here.

Some of the larger local breweries with a bit of spare capacity either helped other existing breweries “on contract” with their excess demand, or helped start-up, nomadic brewers or, in a few cases, enabled “shadow brands” (those pretending to be something they are not).

Even though contract brewing does not break any rules, the related “rules” have typically been vague and inconsistently enforced.

The topic has been of concern to the BC Craft Brewers Guild [Ed. Note: see following story], as it was to CAMRA BC during my time as President of the Vancouver branch. At the time however, it wasn’t considered an urgent priority due to the small amount of market it occupied.

Then came further explosion of the craft revolution. Craft beer was on everyone’s lips and new breweries with tasting rooms were popping up all over, growing quickly and making money.

So a few folks thought they would try to bring the Ontario model to BC and make a quick buck exploiting gaping holes in the provincial guidelines. Suddenly, we had beers that pretended to be from a real craft nanobrewery when they were in fact made in an Ontario-style contract production brewery. Is that a problem?

Does it really matter as long as the beer is good?

In early July, a number of BC “brewing companies” received cease-and-desist letters from Raymond Tetzel, Deputy GM of the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB). The gist was that by using the term “brewing company” in their business name and marketing materials (particularly their web presence) without a valid manufacturing licence, businesses would be violating the Liquor Control and Licensing Act (the LCLB police the Internet now, apparently). The letter warned of potential penalties ranging up to six-figure fines and/or a year in prison.

For this story, I contacted some actual contract brewers to find out if they had received similar notices, but most stayed tight-lipped, presumably on legal advice. One brand owner said: “We haven’t been served any such documents, nor do we operate in any way 10 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

so as to be in contravention of established BC or Canadian liquor laws.”

In late April the LCLB (now renamed the BC Liquor & Cannabis Regulation Branch, or LCRB) released the memorably-named “Business Technical Advisory Panel (Liquor Policy) Report and Recommendations”, compiled by lawyer Mark Hicken (known for his liquor law blog www.winelaw.ca) working with an industry panel. Recommendation number 18 reads as follows: “In respect of the licensing of manufacturers, there should be a review of the minimum production requirements for breweries. Current production rules have a loophole in that the bulk of production can occur off-site with a larger contracted manufacturer, defeating the purpose of supporting a small brewing sector through graduated markups based on their own on-site production. Breweries that produce some or most of their products at another site licensed by different ownership should not be able to include that production as part of their qualifying on-site production.”

The sticking point is that small breweries are assessed a smaller markup (tax to you and me) that reflects their relatively lower efficiency. This hard-won scale is intended to help them grow organically by reinvesting in themselves. Hicken notes above that it is “defeating the purpose” when businesses outsource most or all of their brewing to a large operator then still pay this lower markup rate.

What if that is taken to the extreme (and it is happening), where a brewery opens its doors with a small homebrew 40L system, then outsources thousands of hectolitres of beer annually, allowing people to assume it was brewed at their facility under their manufacturing licence? Is that fair? Hicken continues: “There should also be a related review of the rules for those products that are eligible to be served and sold in an on-site tasting room or lounge to ensure that the purposes behind such privileges are being upheld.”

A further review might stop tasting rooms from selling or serving that brewery’s products if they were brewed offsite. This is the same rule that currently prevents tasting rooms from selling packaged product or growler fills if that exact beer wasn’t brewed on site—even collabs. That may seem like a draconian rule, but we must remember that the ability to do off-sales from a tasting room, indeed having a tasting room or lounge at all, is an endorsement on a manufacturing licence.

What doesn’t seem to be addressed in this is the “shadow branding” we mentioned earlier. A quick search on the Internet will reveal that such brands often don’t list a brewery address. Is this something that as consumers we should be worked up about?

Some individuals launching these brands seem very happy to talk about how clever they are to avoid the work, money and commitment needed to build their own brewery. Personally, I find that a bit insulting to the hard-working crews who laid it all on the line to open real craft breweries around the world.

The sudden rise of BC contract brewing has made it a bigger concern. One Guild board member posted his concerns about it on Facebook, saying “Our goal is to preserve the integrity of the craft beer industry as a whole. We want a healthy and vibrant craft beer scene in BC. We do not want to become Ontario, with 60-90 contract breweries that do not employ any staff other than a couple of sales reps. It muddies the waters, and dilutes the authenticity.”

If shadow brands were to be stopped here in BC, could some of your favourite brews be affected? We’ve recently seen Doan's Craft Brewing announce plans to abandon their microbrewery.

Unintended collateral damage could force other nanobreweries and contract brewing companies to close or fail to open. Is that an acceptable situation to protect the greater BC craft beer community? There are more questions than answers because it’s a divisive topic that isn’t going away soon.

We are Northwest Hop Farms—a full-service hop farm and hop distribution company based in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

From our family farm in Chilliwack, we harvest, package, and ship hops to 17 countries worldwide. In addition to our own hops, we partner up with the best farmers in B.C., U.S.A., and around the world, to offer over 180 varieties of quality hops to the brewing industry.

Our mission is to raise the profile of our many partner farmers in the area, as well as to promote the resurgence of hop farming in British Columbia. We are incredibly passionate about hops and the craft brewing industry and we are excited to share our passion with you!

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Adam Chatburn is a former president of CAMRA Vancouver. He has now closed Real Cask Brewing, and is enjoying his dotage.

Follow him at @real_cask on Instagram and @realcask on Twitter.

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Note: views and opinions expressed within are those of our individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the position of What’s Brewing

BUSINESS & POLITICS

ON THE RECORD | interview

ON THE RECORD: KEN BEATTIE ADDRESSING A BREWING CONTROVERSY

B

>> DAVE SMITH

ack in March 2016, the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB) asked the BC Craft Brewers Guild why ‘contract brewing’—the act of outsourcing production of a beer recipe or brand to a third-party (usually larger) brewery—hadn’t taken root in British Columbia to the extent that it had in Ontario [Ed. Note: refer to previous story by Adam Chatburn].

Like most provincial government departments, the LCLB (now renamed the Liquor & Cannabis Regulation Branch, or LCRB) has an interest in the creation and maintenance of BC jobs, including those in brick-and-mortar microbreweries. So their question came partly from a place of curiosity about how contract brewing might affect those jobs.

The Guild, which is made up of approximately 130 members of BC’s craft brewery community and steered by a seven-person representative board, responded that the first step was to define what a brewery is. Their definition started with the need for a manufacturing license, as well as a commercial brewhouse with fermenting tanks.

Ken Beattie is the Guild’s Executive Director. During our conversation on August 7th, he recalled that the policies the Branch wanted input on also included a “production minimum”, similar in nature to ones that had been set for BC’s wine and cider sectors.

The board began to work on the input the LCLB requested. “Then the policy person went away, and we didn’t hear from them for a year”, Beattie noted.

In the meantime, the Guild kept lobbying for further reduction to the “wholesale markup schedule”—a set of tax brackets—on products created by small brewers. In May 2016 the government duly adjusted markup from 97 cents down to 40 [cents/litre] for breweries under 15,000 hl/yr. Job done, for the moment at least.

But as to the LCLB’s earlier question, Beattie admitted, “We didn’t know why” contract brewing hadn’t really caught on in BC yet.

Then things changed. Back in 2016, Factory Brewing had not yet opened, although it was in the planning stages. The brainchild of former Russell Brewing part-owner Andrew Harris, Factory burst onto the scene in spring 2017 as Vancouver’s first dedicated contract brewing facility and was—no doubt to the surprise of its owner—immediately greeted with an enthusiastic reception by local breweries, desperate for space to create their ever-more-popular liquid products.

“Then we started to see some virtual breweries show up”, Beattie recalls. “And they were getting the same markup [relief] without a manufacturing license. And we’re like, wait a second.”

Beattie and the Board members wondered: how is this fair, if you don’t have a brewery? “The intent and purpose of markup re12 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

lief is to take that money, invest it into your business and allow you to grow further”, Beattie points out.

“What’s to stop [external breweries] from coming into BC and saying ‘We’re not going to invest in your [province], we’re not going to do bricks & mortar. We just want to do 20K hl/yr and we want it at 40 cents.”

“You can’t just Ken Beattie have a guy with a recipe who starts a marketing company getting the same relief because he’s got a head start to the guy who’s done bricks & mortar" Beattie explains. "And what will he do with the head start? It’ll be marketing funds and sales people. So, you can’t compete against that if you’re small because, when you’ve invested all your capital expenditure into the business, you don’t have much left for salespeople and marketing programs. Now you’re the sales person.”

In spring 2018, Factory diversified and rebranded as Craft Collective Beerworks, launching a house beer lineup and consolidating their brewery agency and marketing services.

To be clear, Beattie says the Guild is not against contract manufacturing per se. “We’ve never said ‘no’ to contract manufacturing”, he asserts. “It’s the only way that [some of] our small members will grow. Or if, God forbid, there’s an accident and tanks go down. It’s a safety net. But what you can’t have is a shortcut that everyone else didn’t have. When we have members that can’t get into festivals because shadow breweries are taking up space, that’s a concern.”

Beattie feels that virtual operators who present themselves as BC craft brewers can create a lack of transparency that potentially confuses the consumer and “dilutes the integrity of the craft beer community.”

It should be noted that certain packaging and messaging requirements are in place that mandate, for instance, Factory/CCB’s clients to display the beer manufacturer’s identity on beer cans and at festival booths. But long before Factory opened, “shadow brewing” (not always necessarily the same thing as contract brewing) had a negative connotation.

ON THE RECORD | interivew

It’s always been about transparency. Sometimes, educated consumers (read: beer geeks) have welcomed contract brewing, when the rationale is understood. A good example is the story of Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks, a well-respected former “nomadic brewer” which created its products under contract at more established breweries before finally building a Richmond brewhouse.

Asked whether a contract brand can become a Guild member, Beattie confirms the obvious: “One of our requirements since our incorporation is you must hold your own manufacturers license.”

He feels that if the Guild can’t send a consumer to a member’s location to experience their brews firsthand, then a key differentiator that attracts and creates loyal craft beer consumers is lost.

“We always worked with LCLB on three things" he goes on.

"Firstly, the definition of a brewery. Secondly, markup relief to help small brewers grow. The third was the 80/20 rule.”

80/20 rule? Beattie elaborates. “There’s an existing rule that 80% of your [storefront tasting room alcohol retail] volume has be produced on site, and 20% can be produced offsite.” Ken explains that the push for allowing 80/20 came from wineries that wanted to offer visitors variety, but it works just as well in brewery tasting lounges for those that don’t want beer.

“Because you already have the 80/20 rule, you can’t allow somebody to open a small brewery, produce 5000 hl/yr offsite, then bring it back and sell it [in their lounge].” He feels that the LCLB wasn’t enforcing this, and feels that it doesn’t matter that the offsite product happens to be the brewer’s recipe, if the amount is way over 20%. “It may as well be rum!”

But Ken insists he understands that there are legitimate reasons for some operators to brew a substantial amount offsite. He says that certain smaller members need the extra capacity at points of the year (typically summer) to keep up with demand. “We have members who opened with a very small volume facility and have had success that has outgrown their current space”, Beattie notes.

“The extra volume will allow them revenue to reinvest in their own expansion.”

Ken notes that the LCLB (now LCRB) has been completely overwhelmed dealing with cannabis lately. In April of this year, after years of working with the LCLB on three issues, the Guild was told that markup policy is the responsibility of the Liquor Distribution Branch. The same people responsible for collecting markup now also set the rates. “We are now dealing with two regulatory bodies who have different mandates. The LDB has a revenue mandate and the LCRB has a regulatory and compliance mandate.”

“At this point we had already proposed that anyone who contract brews their product offsite or does not have a manufacturing license pays the premium rate of $1.08/L.” Ken notes. “The theory was, if in three years from now we have 50 contract brewers [as in Ontario] who get 40 cents markup, and they have [an extra] $500,000 in their pocket, we don’t care what size your brewery is, you won’t compete.”

Beattie shared that some owners (presumably of smaller breweries that need to contract brew) view the rate recommendation as the Guild’s bigger breweries trying to squeeze smaller competition. “It’s not that at all” he clarifies. “Our opinion is we’re actually protecting [smaller members] against something that will happen in the future [if the markup rules remain unchanged]. We

had to make a recommendation that [for ease of government implementation] was black or white. In that decision unfortunately, there was going to be some friendly fire and some [collateral damage]”, Ken rationalizes.

There's the matter of whether the associated proposal letter presented to government, specifying full support of the Guild membership, actually enjoyed such. Ken admits that it could have been worded differently. Since then, he says, “We went back and got reaction from people who are contract brewing. We listened—better. Now we’ve said ‘OK, where’s the middle ground to that."

Ken notes that "Now we have two negotiations, not one, and it becomes problematic. Because one side, the LDB is working on a fiscal calendar that we really have to hit. On the other side, the LCRB is mired under cannabis, and don’t have the bandwidth to address our agenda on liquor at this time”. He offers as evidence his observation that the “Hicken Report” [a set of recommendations requested by the Province from liquor industry consultant Mark Hicken; see previous story in this issue] came out three months ago and has had zero attention.

“That’s why, when [members] say, ‘why didn’t you consult us?’, I think ‘I don’t know how I’d explain this to you’.” Beattie admits, “We’re not ready, and we have more negotiation to come.”

Upcoming on the Guild’s agenda is the topic of external brewery ownership, as determined by “worldwide production volume.”

Breweries with external ownership/affiliation [including a very small number of BC craft operators] are obliged to pay a higher markup rate reflecting their group’s total licensed volume. This would in theory also affect contract vendors like Factory/CCB. Applying this approach, if a contract facility brews for twenty clients, plus makes their own products, their markup rate will jump significantly.

Beattie admits that certain limitations in the contract model tend to keep it from running rampant. “When I was in Halifax (for the Canadian Brewing Awards and Conference) I listened to a panel on contract brewing”, he relates. “A number of guys like Brunswick [Bierworks, a Toronto contract vendor], that’s all they do.

It seemed to be the consensus of the panel that when you get to about 4000 hl/yr, it doesn’t make any sense to contract brew.”

Not to mention that BC doesn’t have anywhere the contract brewing supply necessary to worry about an “Ontario model” at this point. So, is it worth the Guild’s time to lobby for differences in policy between “real” and “virtual” brewers? Beattie’s mind is clear on this: “The legislation that will occur today will impact what will happen five years from now. If you talk to someone from Ontario, they’re wondering how they can close the door they opened.”

Next issue: stay tuned for “A Guilded Existence”, the What’s Brewing Biography of Ken Beattie, in which we learn about the man himself and how he found his way into one of the most unique positions in BC craft beer.

Dave Smith is Editor of What's Brewing, BC columnist for the Northwest Brewing News, and an accredited member of the BC Association of Travel Writers, He has has been collecting beer and beer experiences for two decades.

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ULLAGE & SPILLAGE | profile

What's Bruin:

The Career of Iain Hill

T

>> J. RANDOM

o the current generation of BC craft beer enthusiasts, owner and brewer Iain Hill might be recognized as one of the brains behind Strange Fellows Brewing Company. His influence on BC’s beer scene, however, runs more broadly and deeply than even longtime fans might know.

Iain inherited his early affinity for brewing directly from his father. Back in the late 1970s and early 80s, the senior Hill was conducting partial mashes at home in Maple Bay on Vancouver Island with malt extract, steeped specialty grains and cone hops.

The recipes came from Dave Line’s classic book, Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy. Iain helped with the brewing and, of course, the quality assessment.

In Canada prior to 1985, one was supposed to seek permission from the Federal Government to brew beer at home. Ingredients were hard to find, other than malt extract “for bread making”.

An exponential increase in Canadian homebrewers deciding to turn pro can be traced back to the relaxation of that legislation, along with the gradually expanded availability of homebrewing supplies.

Iain participated in collective homebrewing while studying Biochemistry at the University of Victoria. There, Dr. Nano (his real name) sparked an interest in obscure fermented foods. For a while they talked of a spin-off business in the manufacture of Viili, a ropy cultured-milk product from Finland via Sweden. It involves a mixed culture of yeast and bacteria; does that sound familiar to Strange Fellows fans?

By 1992, Iain and his then-girlfriend Christine were living above Frank’s Barber shop at 16th and Granville. He was working at Broadway Brewing, a homebrewing and winemaking store with operations in Kitsilano and Dunbar. His bible and cramming notes for brewing jobs was Charlie Papazian’s The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

But learning opportunities would arise that would dwarf any how-to book. Not only was Iain lucky enough to have a brewing father, he was also fortunate enough to work with the two founding fathers of BC craft brewing, John Mitchell and Frank Appleton, at key points in his career.

Shaftebury Brewing began operation in 1986 in what we now know as ‘Yeast Van’. John Mitchell was the primary brewing consultant there. Iain started in quality control at Shaftebury in early 14 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

Iain Hill drinking a Kriek from the Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen in Beersel, Belgium in 1996. Choice sideburns. Photo: Christine Moulson

1993, after applying for a variety of other jobs in the general area of food biotechnology. Barry Benson, who later became the “B” in East Van’s R&B Brewing, trained Iain in plating active yeast cultures and determining the status of packaged beer. They had a pressure cooker, incubator, and microscope in a closet with no plumbing.

Iain really wanted to move into brewing. Operations were expanding, and none of the other brewers were keen to work a late Friday shift, so he volunteered. The first beers he brewed included Cream Ale, ESB, London Porter and Christmas Ale. (One of the consultants at Shaftebury was Malcolm Farvel of Rogers Sugar which perhaps accounts for the overuse of golden syrup and brown sugar in those beers.) Iain had very little experience in brewing, but that didn’t matter because neither did those around him. The beer was highly variable, often heavy on diacetyl, but it was new and different and sold well to those of us desperate for an alternative to big brewery lager.

The dream of operating his own brewery crystallized during his time at Shaftebury, but a lot of wort had to pass through the chiller before that dream came true.

One day, in one of those strange twists of fate, a friend of Iain’s overheard a conversation in a coffee shop about Mark James starting up a brewpub. Iain reached out to Mark and arranged a meeting at his Broadway and Bayswater headquarters. He was told to keep in contact.

Then a job opened up at Okanagan Springs because Gary Lohin (later of Central City Brewing/Red Racer fame) had moved to Sailor Hagar’s. It was in production and quality control, with a proper

WHAT’S BREWING BIOGRAPHY laboratory. Iain was offered the position. However, Christine was enrolled at Emily Carr and Vernon seemed far away. Iain passed on the opportunity and kept his fingers crossed for the Yaletown job. He got lucky. Mark James decided, despite Iain’s relative lack of experience, to hire the guy that wanted this job, not just a job.

BC brewing legend Frank Appleton, hired by Mark to design the Yaletown brewhouse, trained Iain on his new brewery equipment over a three-week period. Iain relates how Frank phoned up Chris Johnson, brewer at Swan’s (which Frank had set up in 1989) and said “send me my recipes”. The first beers brewed at Yaletown were based on what Swans was putting out, but under different names: Mainland Lager, Northern Light Lager, Red Brick Bitter (yes, they had the temerity to use The B Word), Franks Nut Brown Ale (affectionately known as “Frank’s left nut”), Double Dome Stout, and Indian Arm Pale Ale (not an IPA, just a local reference).

Once he got comfortable with the system, Iain soon began to tinker with the recipes. The beers evolved, the names changed, and new beers were introduced. Standouts in my memory were Brick and Beam IPA and Hill’s Special Wheat. One of the first to brew Hefeweizen in Canada, Iain was certainly the first to perfect it. Not surprisingly, that is one of the beers Iain is most proud of. Iain tells how, in 1996, Michael Leibinger, scion of the Ravensburg brewery family, had been studying ESL in Vancouver and drinking at Yaletown. He got to talking beers with Iain and, next thing you know, a friend of his brought over a liquid yeast culture from Leibinger Heimatsbrauerie. Iain has banked that culture ever since.

In 1996, a trip to Belgium came to have a huge influence on Iain’s brewing. He was captivated by the stunning variety and tried a wide range of styles. When back home, he obtained a Brettannomyces culture from a US lab and tried a brew with it. He added cherries and took it to the Brewmasters Festival at the Plaza of Nations, where only one person recognized the Brett character.

However, it was not until the mid-2000s that Iain brewed his first batch of Oud Bruin, a beer he was to become famous for.

That same year, Iain was visiting his friend James Walton, owner/ brewer at East Vancouver’s Storm Brewing. He was invited to taste some beer that had gone strange. Not an invitation you or I would have made, or accepted, but we are talking about James and Iain here. Iain said, “I think you have created something remarkably like (a Belgian) Lambic.” That was all you had to say to Vancouver’s mad scientist of brewing; it became his new beer.

Meanwhile, Iain and Christine were saving to start a brewery while also putting effort into a tea company that Christine helped found. However, life was about to throw them a couple of curve balls. Many of us have been through life-threatening experiences that caused us to re-think our lives. Sometimes these come out of the blue, some are self-inflicted. Iain and Christine had one of each. In 1997, Iain was diagnosed with melanoma. Fortunately, it was caught before it metastasized, but it spurred the pair to finally tie the knot. James Walton was Best Man and they toasted with James’ new Sour Kreik.

Then, in the early 2000s, Iain and Christine were backcountry skiing at Diamond Head and got caught out very late, in bad weather.

On the way back, Christine had a bad wipe-out on the side of Paul Ridge. They were not sure they were going to get off that ridge alive. Like many animals, plants and fungi under stress, Iain and Christine’s response was to reproduce. Kids meant a house and a house meant no brewery ownership, for the time being.

Iain today, with his barrel aging program. Photo: Olga Swart

During this same period, Iain was busy helping grow the Mark James Group (MJG) into a chain of brewpubs, eventually in Whistler (High Mountain/The Brewhouse), North Vancouver (Avalon/Taylor’s Crossing), Surrey (Big Ridge) and even just down the road on Vancouver’s Beatty Street (DIX). Although Iain still looked like the young upstart (he has the Paul McCartney gene), he was gaining experience and confidence. By the time Big Ridge and DIX were in the works, Iain was stepping forward to take charge as the Mark James Group’s lead brewer. Iain designed and supervised construction of Big Ridge and DIX in 1998.

This expansion begat the famed series of BC’s MJG-seasoned craft brewmasters. The ones Iain hired included Stefan Arneson (The Creek/Dockside, Mission Springs and now winemaker at Poplar Grove, Tony Dewald (DIX, Dead Frog, Old Abbey, Trading Post), Tariq Khan (Big Ridge and now Yaletown distillery), Peter Kistoth (later of Nanaimo’s Longwood), Mike Kelly (Nelson and Backroads), Dave Woodward (Tofino, Axe & Barrel and Mount Arrowsmith), Derrick Franche (DIX, High Mountain) and Dave Varga (now of 33 Acres). Varga would play a key role in Iain’s career, as will be explained in our story about Strange Fellows.

DIX opened in late 1998 with Iain as the brewer for the first six months. It was a barbeque house, focusing on lagers to differentiate from the other brewpubs. The first brews were Light Lager (Helles), Cascade Lager (a Pilsner – no Cascades anywhere near it) and Dark Lager (Dunkel), all Iain’s recipes. Then in 2003-04 Iain set up the Avalon in North Vancouver, helping select Dominic Giraldes (later Central City, Postmark) and Hamish MacRae (Red Truck, Bridge) as assistants for new head brewer Varga.

In 2010, Iain helped design a new Big Ridge brewhouse with brewer Tariq Khan. Beginning in 2007, Iain also helped design FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 15

ULLAGE & SPILLAGE | profile

and plan the large Red Truck Beer plant.

Other concurrent experiences included a stint consulting on the opening of Brasserie Trois Dames in St Croix, Switzerland and invitations to judge beer competitions in the UK and Germany.

The mid 90s through the early 2000s was the heyday of the brewpub in BC, when classic examples like Sailor Hagar’s, Steamworks, Mission Springs, Howe Sound, The Creek/Dockside, Longwood and Central City opened. Different styles were being tried and tested on increasingly knowledgeable consumers. Brewpubs had certain advantages that made them the place to be for an innovative brewer.

As Iain recalls, their brewers could put out a short seasonal or one-off without the hassle of packaging, marketing and

dealing with the BC Liquor Distribution Board. Consumers could also more directly influence the brewers. It is likely that BC breweries wouldn’t have had the courage to expand their range of styles back then if it weren’t for the impact of brewpubs on the craft beer scene. Iain was right in the thick of things as lead brewer for the Mark James Group.

Why did he stay with MJG for 19 years?

Mark James could be a hard-nosed businessman but he paid well, and Iain was mostly left alone to develop his craft.

When MJG’s executive chef Darryl Frost decided to open a startup called Central City Brewing, Iain flirted with moving.

But with a mortgage and three kids, plus the dream of owning his own brewery one day, he passed on the opportunity (which went to Lohin). He was generally

enjoying creating the new breweries and, starting in 2010, the Yaletown Distillery.

Iain is an animated raconteur when you get him going. but his eyes really lit up when the distillery was mentioned. “Other than the fermentation, I had to learn it all from scratch”, he said. Iain had pitched the distillery concept to Mark James years earlier, but often the best ideas must await their time. Okanagan Spirits had started operation in 2004, Pemberton Distillery in 2008, but craft distilling was still in its infancy in BC, so as Iain recalled, “Unlike with brewing, there were not a bunch of peers for me to talk to.” It was a steep learning curve.

Iain travelled to Kingman, Arizona to take a one-week distilling class. But, Iain says, “you can’t learn everything from a course.

They don’t tell you that spent grain stinks up the neighbourhood if you don’t dispose of it quickly. There were also problems with Vancouver City planning department. They had major fire and safety concerns with production of a flammable liquid like ethanol next to a residential area.”

Iain’s first batches employed wort from the brewery two doors down, so he ran a hose down Hamilton Street to get it.

He was particularly proud of his ideas around the vodka distilling process that reduced “sweet” aroma and made for an old-world flavor. He also created a gin recipe after a substantial amount of trial and error. However his pride and joy was Pear Eau de Vie, based on Poire Williams and using Bartlett pears. Iain loved distilling, but he handed over the reins to Tariq Khan in 2014, shortly before leaving the Mark James Group.

Iain was not one to seek the “rock star” status that other long-established BC brewers have achieved within BC’s craft beer community. Even when Oud Bruin took The Alibi Room by storm, he remained relatively unassuming. With stable, lucrative employment that was fascinating to him, and a growing family, why did Iain leave MJG after all those years?

The dream. And that leads us to the story of Strange Fellows, next.

J. Random is a former VP of CAMRA Vancouver and beer fan for 4 decades. Has been penning the Ullage & Spillage column for What's Brewing since 2003.

16 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

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17 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

WHAT’S BREWING BIOGRAPHY

ODD FELLOWS COME IN PAIRS >> STORY: DAVE SMITH >> IMAGES : BRIAN K. SMITH Aaron Jonckheere turns and squares his focus toward the writer across the table.

"Iain knows how I feel about him. We have a great partnership, but no one wants to hear about how I do great accounting or office work. I just want to say, that most of the time, I'd prefer for the brand that it's about Iain, and about who he is, and..."

His counterpart cuts him off with a guttural "Nooooo..."

Aaron responds, "I was going to say, but you never let me finish...”

Ruefully, Iain Hill mutters, "True. Here we go. Here we go..."

T

here was a time when it would have been tough to convince a bystander that strangers Iain Hill and Aaron Jonckheere would be able to engage in a fruitful merger and conceive an offspring as skillfully eccentric as Strange Fellows Brewing. Upon its opening, three and a half years ago, the brewery was so instantly accepted that local beer folk now often forget how relatively new it still is. Meanwhile, its two founders carry on like an old married couple, having conjugated their relationship after a period of wooing that began three long years before their baby was born. That passionate but strenuous courtship has solidified their bond, although if you scratch at it a little and their personal contrasts will surface.

Jonckheere is a Belgian name. Turns out that the co-founder of a brewery respected for its take on ales from the Low Countries comes by his interest in them genetically. "Being a Belgian guy, raised in a Belgian family, beer was always part of my life," Aaron shares. “I just always thought it would be a cool business to be part of.”

“I had been laid off, and I was trotting around with a brewery business plan. I met with a few beer industry people, but nothing was working out.” Aaron was a homebrewer, a hobby he had inherited from his father and grandfather before him. But he needed a ‘real’ brewer to make his dream work. Then he visited Taylor’s Crossing. There, three blocks from his home in the North Vancouver location that now houses Hearthstone Brewery, Aaron met with a gentle man named Dave Varga.

“David’s such a great guy,” Aaron relates. “Every time I see him, I’m like, ‘you are amazing’. He took my business plan and spent hours on it. He wrote all these notes. Then he gave it back to me and said ‘By the way, I’m not your guy. But I know a guy, and he might be your guy’. So that is when I got introduced to Iain.”

Matchmaker Varga set up the blind date at Iain’s workplace, Mark James Group sister property Yaletown Brewing.

Hill, as it happens, is not a Belgian name. The brewer who occasionally gives educational presentations on topics such as sour beers comes by his passion for Low Countries styles by way of exposure to the beers, including travel to Belgium in 1996. No doubt that he would have taken note of his young suitor’s ethnic background. But as a longtime high-profile eligible brewer, Iain had had a number of beaus come calling over the years. He had just recently come out of a serious brewery-planning relationship that had fallen apart. Now it was January 2012, and the jilted Hill was on the rebound.

But, as was just noted in our biography of Iain, he still had aspirations. Back in the 1990s, around the time of his early years at Yaletown, Unibroue had come out with its bottle-conditioned products and Iain was big on the idea of a Belgian beer lineup. He had begun planning his own project called Salamander Brewing Company that would have been along those lines. “Aaron wanted very much to have a Belgian brewery,” Iain confirms. “I knew he had his head screwed on right. If he had come to me ten years earlier, I would have been like, ‘Oh my God, we’re perfectly aligned’.”

However, Hill's idea of a dream brewery evolved while with Mark James, and his experience in a brewpub chain no doubt eventually tempered his original vision. “Belgian beer is great, and [at the time in BC] nobody else was 100% doing it. But the reality is it’s really putting all your eggs in one basket. There’s a broad world of beer out there. Talisman [Pale Ale] is [now] 50% of our sales.”

Once the rendezvous was over, Iain went back to work and thought little of it. However, it wasn’t over for Aaron. Asked for his most significant takeaway from the meeting, he concludes, “Iain didn’t say no”.

The opportunity to work with Hill wouldn’t have been lost on Jonckheere. Thinking back to his “craft beer epiphany” moments, Yaletown's seminal, Belgian-inspired Oud Bruin comes immediately to mind, many years before Aaron met its creator.

Ultimately Aaron shared his business plan, and Iain had a look.

He even came over to Aaron’s house. But he wasn’t committed at first. “I had 3 kids, a mortgage, a job that paid me pretty well and gave me a lot of creative license,” Iain recalls. But Jonckheere hung in there. Then, three months into their relationship, there was a moment when Hill finally said, “I’m ready to go forward with this”.

“Iain’s business card has the best title ever,” Aaron asserts. “He is the ‘Particularist’. He’s a details guy. We kept kicking the business plan back and forth, he kept inserting his ideas, and they kept sticking. We started on the long, winding road towards picking a name.”

The exercise of choosing a viable brand almost ended their relationship. The first name they pegged was the logical but underwhelming Low Countries Brewing, which stuck around long enough that it was formally registered. Next came Allegory, which might have worked well had it not conflicted with the FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 19

WHAT’S BREWING BIOGRAPHY | profile

ent the names. There’s no agreement. We don’t overlap on anything,” he remembers wistfully.

Witnessing their awkward inability to deal with this fundamental challenge, Christine remarked that her husband and friend were just like the Odd Couple.

Something about that comment twigged, and over the course of a week or two they solidified the name as Strange Fellows—a perfect evocation of their identity.

name of a South American winery. Looking for inspiration, they gathered together a group of beer geeks and ran a market research focus group, but the two potential partners just couldn’t agree on a name from the fairly long shortlist it provided.

They had trouble dealing with this. Iain recalls that

by New Year’s 2013, “I was staying with a bunch of friends on Saltspring Island. I was supposed to be having a good time, but I was f*** depressed.”

“I can’t overstate it: that was hell,” Aaron relates. So he and his wife went over to the Hills’ for dinner and brought five names to compare with the five favoured

by Iain and his wife Christine. “We pres20 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

As for the distinctive design of their brand, it’s the work of the person who inspired their name. Iain recalls suggesting in his very first meeting with Aaron that if they had a brewery together, he’d want Christine, a longtime visual artist, to design the logo and graphics. “Turns out she does a pretty good job”, he understates, triggering chuckles of appreciation for their well-defined visual identity amongst those gathered.

Another important piece of the puzzle was their spacious facility, a former carpet warehouse. One day early in the process, Iain had picked up the phone to call Graham With of Parallel 49 Brewing. “By accident, I called this guy named Graham [Disher] who was a general contractor who used to work for Mark James. I was in this headspace where I was talking to a few people about things.

I went out on a ledge and said, “Hey, this might be happening.” Next thing you know, Iain and Aaron had a major investor who helped build their brewhouse.

“You hope for the best, and you plan for the worst,” Jonckheere philosophises.

Some of the inevitable trial and error is publicly documented for posterity on a Wordpress blog that Aaron had set up early on.

Google ‘Starting A Craft Brewery’, and you’ll probably find it at the top of your search results. It’s been a

valued resource to many, and still enjoys about 5000 views per month to this day.

As for the two Strange Ones now, Hill says, “We’re very different individuals, and that’s just life. We’re actually doing pretty good, because relationships are hard. “ Something Iain and Aaron agree on is the value of working with a partner to vet each other’s decisions. “You’re not just working in your own bubble; you’re working with someone else’s opinion,” Jonckheere reasons. “Iain is no different than the painter that has their artwork in the [tasting room’s Charles Clark] Gallery right now. We think there’s something really unique about creation, and the arts.

We celebrate some really cool, obscure traditions from around the world.”

“We’re all different", Jonckheere concludes. "It’s about being open to new things in the world. What Strange Fellows has become about is sharing your differences over a beer respectfully.”

Something Iain and Aaron apparently managed to do long enough to turn each other’s long-held dream into a reality better than they each might have ever imagined.

WOMEN IN BEER | profile

Christine Moulson: Brand & Story Teller Q&A WITH CHRISTINE WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS ROLE?

For many years Iain had wanted to open his own brewery and I was always keen to be involved in the marketing side. When Aaron came into the picture, I was part of the team from the start.

IS THIS YOUR FIRST JOB IN THE BEER INDUSTRY?

Yes. I do seem to have a thing for beverages though, as I was previously involved with a tea company and worked for many years as their Creative Director.

W

>> LUNDY DALE

hen I started the Women and Beer series in 2013, I focused on female brewers because it was such a male-dominated industry, and “brewer” is the person behind that great pint of beer! But there are many other responsibilities in the beer industry that are essential.

In today’s world, a brewery needs to stand out and be noticed. We all love to follow the latest newcomer on Instagram and read updates about a beer launch, with strong brand recognition and captivating visuals.

Often, branding is marketed before the beer is even made. How often do we think: who is behind that marketing? Who created the brand, the logo, and the images on T-shirts you buy and wear?

If you have visited Vancouver’s Strange Fellows Brewing or purchased a bottle of their beer, you may have noticed the unique block-print-style images that create the “look” of Strange Fellows. Let me introduce you to Christine Moulson, a partner of the brewery since its inception. She’s the wife of Iain Hill, the man behind the beers. She also happens to be the creative mastermind behind the branding.

WHAT KIND OF SCHOOLING DO YOU HAVE?

I studied Film & Animation at Emily Carr, not Graphic Design as one might expect. Although I did not pursue a career in Animation, storytelling is central to the work I do, both in the imagery as well as the copy, and how it relates to the product and to us as the consumers.

IS THERE MORE EMPHASIS ON VISUALS & MARKETING IN THE INDUSTRY THESE DAYS? Definitely. I guess because there is more considered marketing around beer in general these days, everyone has had to up their game, so to speak. Much beer branding and design has slowly started moving away from a traditional masculine focus and is more varied and creative.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB?

It’s a very creative industry. I love the challenge of creating and telling the Strange Fellows story. My job allows me to be creative and to research folklore and history, which I really love.

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 21

WOMEN IN BEER | profile

trip to Belgium. We came across a statue of Bayard in a small town and his legend stuck with me.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE VISUAL SIDE OF STRANGE FELLOWS? I like to think it’s very important. If you have a good product, that should be reflected in your visuals and in all written copy which tells the story of who you are as a company. With Strange Fellows, I hope our branding conveys our respect of and our roots in tradition (that’s the “Old World Inspired” part), through the use of old lore and archetypal characters.

WHAT ABOUT FROM ANOTHER BREWERY?

Orval. Iain and I visited Orval many years ago and we had such a great experience. We were treated to a lunch of food that was made, grown or harvested entirely by the abbey – cheese, bread, honey, beer, etc.

One of Christine's favourites

AS THE BRAND ARTIST, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT YOUR PROCESS?

We generally discuss the concept of the beer label as a group before I begin. I am lucky in that I am left mostly to my own devices.

I usually take my inspiration from the beer itself, as each beer has its own feeling, history and story, and I take creative clues from there.

Sometimes it’s what comes to mind when I first taste the beer in question. Like when I first tasted Popinjay, the image of a peacock just popped into my head. Sometimes it’s the feeling or tradition of the beer that suggests a name or a story. Occasionally I will make an image that will have to wait for the right beer to come along. Once a concept takes root, I develop the name, imagery, and the narrative. The story that follows the image is usually inspired by folklore, a collective truth, a shared superstition or archetype that somehow relates to the image.

I knew that I wanted the [Strange Fellows visual identity] to be bold yet classic, so I chose to use block prints as the imagery, for their boldness of line and the way it forces imperfections or naivety into the imagery, and their hand-carved nature reflects the craft of the product itself. The palette is black on ivory, with a sparing use of colour. The image style is inspired by medieval wood block prints and Japanese ukiyo-e prints.

DO YOU EVER HAVE ISSUES WITH CREATIVE BLOCK?

All the time! When that happens, I just have to go off and do something completely different. Inspiration usually comes unexpectedly in the middle of the night, or while doing grocery shopping or something banal like that. Sometimes I have creative block with a deadline looming and I just have to force an idea out, and surprisingly it works. The Strange Resemblance label for example, I did entirely in one day–concept, images, story and layout in about 6 hours.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE BEER OR LABEL AT STRANGE FELLOWS?

Bayard! Saison is my favorite style of beer, and ours is so good and classic–dry and spicy. The beer is named for Bayard the horse who appears on the label. Bayard is an old character, a magical horse with an uncontrollable free spirit who epitomizes the wild nature of the beer itself. I first became aware of the myth on a beer 22 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

It was just Iain and I and couple of guys that ran the brewery, and the meal was served to us by a little old monk in a long brown cassock, at long refectory tables in a room with soaring ceilings. The fish on the Orval label tells the legend of a miraculous fish that lived in the pond where the abbey was later established.

ANY LABEL YOU WOULD LIKE TO REDO? Talisman. I have never been entirely happy with this image and would like her to have a slightly more sinister look, carved in a slightly more naïve style not unlike the style of the Jongleur.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVOURITE BREWERY ARTIST THAT INSPIRES YOU?

I love Mikkeller Brewery’s labels, designed by artist Keith Shore.

They are so fun and convey a strong feeling.

DO YOU EVER CHOOSE BEER BY THE LABEL?

I am guilty of this all the time! I find it quite difficult to buy something with a bad label, regardless of how good the product inside may be.

PEOPLE IN THE CRAFT INDUSTRY HAVE A PASSION. IS THAT TRUE FOR YOU? Beer specifically is not my passion (am I allowed to say that?), but I do have a passion for all things culinary and I am an avid cook and baker. I appreciate things I know are made with intention and integrity.

NEXT UP IS A CAN LABEL RELAUNCH IN THE FALL. WHAT WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS?

In switching our cans from printed sleeves to actual printed cans the opportunity arose to redesign and I jumped on it. Our bottle label design is quite minimal, and I wanted to bring the can design in line with this. The images are bigger and many of the changes are subtle but overall effective and I am quite excited about it.

Lundy Dale Among her other contributions to the BC beer scene, Lundy is a founder of CAMRA BC's Vancouver chapter, Barley's Angels' Pink Pints Chapter and BC Craft Beer Month, and Past President of CAMRA BC.

AN IN-CIDER'S VIEW | editorial

WHAT'S NOT BREWING: PUTTING A NAME TO CRAFT CIDER

A

>> JEFF NAIRN

quick visit to your favourite liquor store reveals the confusion around cider: is it proper craft cider or not?

The typical private or government liquor store in BC stocks most canned ciders alongside Spiked Root Beers, Hard Cream Soda, and the ever-popular vodka soda coolers. Bottled craft ciders are sometimes found alongside craft beers, at the bottom of a display fridge, or in a category all to themselves far away from the beer and cooler selections.

It’s unfortunate that cider drinkers have to rifle through the alco-pop selection to get to their favourite craft cider. Even more unfortunate is that cider is still categorized among these Ready To Drink (RTD) beverages by the taxation overlords of our alcohol distribution and sales monopoly in the province.

Do the beverages in the cooler section of the liquor store come with a hallowed history and rich traditions dating back generations? Probably not so much. But a short exploration of the traditions and innovations in our cider selections point to the fact that proper cider should be considered a category in and of itself, and not merely a drink to be slotted in with a Hard Lemonade.

While some other provincial cider associations have created definitions within which cider is categorized, notably the Quebecois Association, to date no such definitions have been created here in BC. This would be an important milestone for our nascent BC cider industry. And while there is still a strong delineation between land-based producers and commercial, urban-based producers of cider, it should be noted that development of a true definition of cider needs to be a collaboration between all levels of the industry.

In the United States, the US Cider Association has embarked on a detailed program to define what cider is in that country. They currently define cider in several helpful categories:

•

Modern Ciders are made primarily from culinary / table apples.

•

Heritage Ciders are made primarily from multi-use or cider-specific apples.

•

Fruit Ciders are ciders with non-pome fruits or fruits / fruit juices added before or after fermentation

•

Hopped Ciders are simply ciders with added hops.

•

Spiced Ciders are ciders made with a combination of spices, herbs and/or botanicals

•

Wood-Aged Ciders are ciders aged in wooden barrels

•

Sour Ciders are ciders made intentionally sour using non-standard yeasts and bacterial fermentations

•

Ice Ciders are ciders made by concentrating the juice before fermentation.

Cider has been produced for millennia and has rich traditions in areas all over the globe; some families have been creating amazing ciders for centuries. Our Canadian, indeed British Columbian, traditions date back a scant century, having been interrupted by prohibition. The ciders of Spain, France, and Britain have left their mark upon many a drinker. Each has a distinct and long history.

While it won’t happen overnight, as our cider industry grows and diversifies in BC, it would be a strong move forward to have cider stand alone as its own category at our favourite retail establishments.

Jeff Nairn is the co-founder of Windfall Cider, a craft cider producer based in East Vancouver. His column tackles items fermented, not brewed, focussing on issues related to BC's burgeoning craft cider industry..

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 23

Photo: Lynn McIlwee

presented by

HOP FIGHT Doubling Down on IPA

LUNDY

Photo: Paul Pyne

WARREN

LYNN YOUR CONGENIAL HOSTS ARE: Warren Boyer, BJCP-Certified home and commercial brewer, and past President of CAMRA Vancouver.

PAUL

Lundy Dale, Western Canada's first female Cicerone®, reviews beer for TAPS Magazine.

Lynn McIlwee of Hops Canary: blogger, experienced beer event judge and homebrewer.

Paul Pyne of Drink Smarter: Certified Cicerone®, beer tutor and industry veteran.

MIKE

Mike Ansley, aka The BeerRater: offering an unfiltered view on the world of craft beer.

THE BEERS Products evaluated this round included:

ABV

IBU

1. Backcountry Widowmaker

6.7% 50

Dry hopped hazy IPA

2. Beere Mental Floss

7.9% 50

Double dry hopped hazy IPA

3. Boombox Rad Seeker

7.0% 50

Double dry hopped hazy IPA

4. Phillips 6IX

6.0% 69

Double dry hopped IPA

5. Superflux Barracuda

6.2% 65

Hazy IPA

6. Twin Sails Front Lawn Bench Press

7.9% 55

Double dry hopped hazy double IPA Products supplied courtesy Legacy Liquor Store. Neither What’s Brewing nor Legacy bear responsi­bility for the opinions expressed within, which are solely those of the individual panelists.

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I

t's hop harvest season! So we went cones-out and got ourselves some serious modern IPAs to taste. As always, Jordan Knott from Legacy Liquor Store was tasked with finding a sextet of beverages. It's was the first time the Panel would be rating IPAs, so we wanted hops, and lots of 'em. But a funny thing happened to IPAs in the years we were busy rating all those other styles.

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO IPA?

There was a time not long ago when IPA was the "cheeseburger" of North American craft beer. The West Coast, being close to the primary sources of hops, led the way with ever more highly-hopped beverages in a kind of green, resiny arms race. Eventually some fans suffered from hop burnout, and there was talk of (shudder) lager becoming the next "it" beer style in craftland.

Then a new way of thinking about IPA took root, based on concoctions from the northeast US. In BC, the tipping point was when Steamworks won Beer of the Year for it Flagship IPA at BC Beer Awards 2016. Since then it's become harder to find a "regular" IPA in BC, as "new school" breweries like Boombox have been doubling down on variations of NEIPA to great acclaim. Check Mike the BeerRater's telling monologue (overleaf) about Phillips' 6IX, the only beer on this issue's list that's not hazy and unfiltered.

Incidentally, in a field of brilliantly marketed products from younger breweries, you have to give props to Phillips for the best beer name. With 6IX, a sly combination of Arabic and Roman numerals, they referenced the beer's 6.0% ABV, its 69 IBU, and found a way to get in a sophomoric sex innuendo too. Hand well played.

DOUBLING DOWN ON DRY HOPS

The word 'double' shows up a lot in these beers' descriptors, especially in reference to dry hopping. Alongside the migration towards hazy, we have seen the adoption of 'DDH' as a trendy badge representing hop gnarliness. Couple that with the separate concept of "Double IPA" and you get beers like the Twin Sails DDH DIPA, the kind of double-double you won't find at Tim Hortons.

Thanks to their inherent juicy fruitiness, dumping hops in NEIPAs doesn't make them more agressively bitter in the way that classic WCIPAs get. So this newer generation of IPAs wear their IBUs (Internationall Bittering Units) differently; you'll notice that only the "old school" Phillips entry has a number that could be considered high. It's not just about IBUs anymore, Dorothy.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Superflux's Barracuda took our blue ribbon this round, with an amazing score of 25.6 out of 30. That's not easy to get!

Interestingly, there were no losers: three beers tied for fourth place with 21.4, a very respectable score. This reflects the overall crowd pleasingness of NEIPAs and explains the recent swing back to IPA as the "cheeseburger"—the reigning default style, deluxe or otherwise—of BC craft beer.

ENJOYMENT

OVERALL CATEGORY SCORES A general overview of how these beers did as a group. Pie chart tip: start at top of legend and work clockwise from 45 degree mark (3 o'clock) >>

SCORE BREAKDOWN Panel scores include these five categories.

For a full list of individual scores, turn to next page.

BALANCE: MALT VS. HOP

DRINKABILITY

The category scored fairly well here, a reflection of the crushability of NEIPAs

MEET JORDAN KNOTT, CRAFT BEER EXPERT AT LEGACY LIQUOR STORE Got questions about craft beer? Talk to Jordan!

604.331.7900

info@legacyliquorstore.com

LEGACY LIQUOR STORE Online Order Desk: www.legacyliquorstore.com/shop 1633 Manitoba Street Vancouver, BC V5Y 0B8

WB SPRING TASTING PANEL RESULTS. MAXIMUM SCORE = 30

Backcountry Widowmaker 2.2/3

22 25 25 23 28

4.6/6

2.2/3

24.6/30 7.0/8

A fine example of a hazy IPA. Huge hop flavour dominates. Sweet malts, fruity yeast notes, hazy body. juicy. A bit over the top.

Choice of bitter and resiny hops complements the tropical flavours and cuts down on the sweetness that this style can have.

Well-balanced, lots of citrus, grapefruit, and a hint of bitterness. Great mouthfeel, lots of citrus aroma. Great beer.

Easy drinking, balanced, and refreshing. This is a great burger beer.

In my very humble opinion, this is everything that I want a Hazy IPA to be. Great balance between bitter and sweet, dangerously crushable, and it fits in my hand perfectly. The citrus notes in Widowmaker just scream breakfast, I would drink it with my pancakes and bacon. Some might call me crazy, but part of me wants to make a mimosa with it.

Phillips 6ix 2.6/3

25 20 19 23 20

8.6/10

21.4/30 3.6/6

2.2/3

6.0/8

Beere Mental Floss 2.2/3

20 23 24 22

Hazy IPA. Citrusy and "jui ples.

18

Mental Floss has me at a los Seeker (for me), it seemed a and 7.9% to ease into the af

2.6/3

Fruity citrus aroma. Toasty bready caramel malt backbone. Plenty of hop aroma with a very bitter finish.

23 26 26 26

Cloying sweetness on the nose akin to a lager, hop bitterness and astringent aftertaste linger on the palate.

Crisp and light with floral and pine notes. assertive bitterness makes this ideal with some sweeter foods. Tangy chicken wings would do the trick.

I can call this beer an old school IPA. Back in my day, we could see through our beer, they tasted like cozying up a Douglas Fir and went down just as rough. I'll take this beer on a long luxurious stroll through the woods in my plaid mac jacket, reminiscing about the old days.

Warren

Lundy

Lynn

Paul

Mike

Good balance of bitterness

Lovely citrus notes, some fl

Good example of the Hazy ical aromatics, subdued bi chos with this, please.

Superflux Barracuda

7.0/10

Citrusy or Fruity, Leaves, Grass or Hay, Hint of caramel. I thought it was fine.

4.4/6

27

4.8/6

Excellent hazy ipa. Juicy a too much.

Pineapple, coconut, vani or Woody, Tropical flavo more.

Tons of citrus on the nos the finish. Well-balanced,

Juicy and resinous with a white wine lemongrass m

The Barracuda is a ray-fin appearance and ferociou prized by recreational dr be consumed while hangi

SEE WWW.WHATSBREWING.CA/TASTING-PANEL FOR FULL SET OF SCORES

21.4/30 2.0/3

5.6/8

7.2/10

and sweet hops.

floral and mild earthy tones. Great balance.

y/Hoppy style that is on trend. Lots of tropitterness. Crowd pleaser. Gimme some na-

ss. I liked it, but coming off the heels of Rad a bit underwhelming. But still, easy to down fternoon.

25.6/30 2.6/3

7.0/8

8.6/10

and citrussy. Resiny. On the verge of being

illa aromas. Citrusy: Grapefruit etc, Piney ours. Heading to liquor store right now for

se and palate, with a touch of bitterness on light malt, a bit of earthy and floral notes.

a lingering bitterness. I'd like to try it with mussels.

nned beer known for its large size, fearsome us behaviour. Also, it's delicious. Highly rinkers, the Barracuda is recommended to ing out in the sun, clothed or fully naked.

Appearance

2.2/3

20 21 26 26 26

4.6/6

23.8/30 2.8/3

6.2/8

8.0/10

Hazy IPA. Not just juicy citrus. A bit more complex but still decent balance.

Hop flavour: Citrusy: Grapefruit etc, Tropical. Creamy or Silky on palate. I would recommend this beer to a friend.

Great balance, slight bitterness on the finish, lots of citrus, with floral and earthy notes.

Fruity and floral. Nice balance between malt and hops. Very drinkable with a lemon tart.

If you're seeking rad, you've found it! This bitter, hazy beauty from Boombox is perfect for beach or patio sippin'. I would recommend this beer for consumption during the summer on either a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or even Sunday up until about 4PM.

Twin Sails Front Lawn Bench Press 21.4/30 2.2/3

4.2/6

2.2/3

5.8/8

7.0/10

22 19 23 22

Massive fruitiness and hops up front in this hazy DIPA. The bitterness doesn't stay with you. 7.9% is well disguised.

21

This is a drink you have with a few buddies as you laugh at your neighbour who finds it necessary to lift on his front lawn for all to see. It makes me feel sassy.

Aroma

Bitter, Citrusy: Grapefruit etc, Herbal flavours. I thought it was fine Lots of citrus on the nose and palate with a hint of lingering hop bitterness, well-balanced.

Creamy and full. Very fruity and floral. Some back and forth between the sweetness and bitterness. Gimme a big bready crumble or pie with savoury spices atop.

Palate/Mouthfeel

Flavour

Overall Impression

Note: neither What’s Brewing nor Legacy Liquor Store bear responsi­bility for the opinions expressed within, which are solely those of the individual panelists.

icy". A bit more balanced than some exam-

Boombox Rad Seeker

HOPS CANARY | brewing

CANADA’S NEW HOMEBREWERS ASSOCIATION HAS LAUNCHED Like Kathy, Scott is BJCP Certified with Mead endorsement, has judged many homebrew competitions, and is passionate about homebrewing, cider, and mead making. What’s Brewing asked Scott why he and Kathy created the CHA and what they have planned for the future.

Q&A WITH SCOTT BUTCHART What was the impetus to create the CHA?

While there are several homebrewers associations across Canada, they all operate independently and up until now haven’t shared a formal connection. Longtime VanBrewers President Scott Butchart knew this and saw an opportunity.

As a student, Kathy Yan Li co-founded the UBC Brewing Club.

She got to know Scott as a local VanBrewers member, although she’s since moved around Canada and is now resident in Manitoba. Since becoming BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) Certified, she’s judged in over 30 homebrew competitions in six provinces and five states, and has the distinction of becoming the first non-US-based member of the prestigious American Homebrewers Association (AHA) Governing Committee.

In July 2018, Scott and Kathy took a big step by co-founding the Canadian Homebrewers Association (CHA). This non-profit association was created to unite and advance homebrewing in Canada through education and legislation. It pre-launched in June with a Kickstarter campaign, selling twoyear memberships to individuals and businesses with a modest goal of $1,000. By the end of the 45-day fundraising, they had crushed their goal, raising $10,436 from 273 backers. It’s evident from this initial support that the CHA is something Canadian homebrewers want.

To ensure a national voice and presence, Kathy and Scott recruited Board members across Canada and currently have representation in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan/Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes, and Northern Canada (YT, NWT, NU).

30 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

We want to bring valuable Canadian-developed content to Canadian homebrewers, work in committees on club development, competitions, diversity and inclusion, education, and legislation. We will hopefully effect some change in the myriad laws surrounding homebrewing.

Those are kind of the big goals we have, but as a member-run society those could change or be added to for sure.

Photo: The Province

ancouver has a vibrant homebrewing scene, a big part of which is the Vancouver Homebrewers Association.

VanBrewers, as it’s known, is one of the more active brew clubs in Canada, with regular meetings and coordination of members’ entries into national competitions.

Scott Butchart

Explain why it's beneficial to have a national association.

I think a national organization can focus on the big picture, rather than Kathy Yan Li on club or local matters. The legislation/rules part is a big reason for the CHA for me. It's all very disjointed and most clubs operate in a grey area to avoid any issues, which makes it a difficult hobby to promote.

We really want to get clubs to start operating less autonomously and band together. We're hoping to provide a spotlight for them.

We'd like to make homebrewing more inclusive as well; it's such a boy’s club at the moment and could really benefit from more diversity.

What is the benefit for a homebrewer to join CHA in addition to their local association?

Supporting a local club is awesome. I've been involved with VanBrewers for nine years or so and it's gone from a drinking club to one of the most advanced homebrew clubs in Canada. One of the CHA goals is to support local clubs and to try and elevate them, and I'd love to be able to get other clubs up to the same level.

Continued on p. 32

Photo: CHA Website

V

>> LYNN MCILWEE

Kathy and I just started talking about it last year during a mead judging exam that she was running.

We'd both been noticing the lack of connection across Canada between clubs (never mind individual brewers) and figured if anyone was capable of pulling it off, it was probably us...hahaha.

HOPS CANARY | brewing

We're hoping to offer educational components, help get them registered as not-for-profits, and I've started to look at getting insurance to make sure they're covered. The same goes for those without access to clubs. Rural brewers make up a good percentage of our hobby, and we have to make something that appeals to them as well. And the goal of our e-newsletter for members is to have information they can use to improve their brews.

Will you be coordinating competitions and education?

Absolutely. It's a bit of a challenge figuring out how we'll do this in person, but we're hoping to have a presence at events in the future. Some of the stuff we're planning includes malt and hop "tea" tastings, or off-flavour samples at beer events. Eventually we'd like to run a national beer contest but that's a little ways out.

We're already planning a national mead competition for late January with assistance from VanBrewers. The recent mead exam yielded a dozen certified mead judges so it's a great location for the first year. It doesn't have to stay in Vancouver; we're willing to move it around the country to other qualified judging centres if they want to take part.

Is your goal to emulate the AHA (advocacy, resources, discounts, events, competitions, etc.)?

they’re super interested in helping us where they can, but there is some stuff about it that doesn't work for us at this time.

Now that our Kickstarter is done, we're actively searching for stores, breweries and associated industries (maltsters, hop growers, yeast manufacturers) to take part in a discount/perk program. We have some members who can hopefully provide businesses with deals in exchange for increased business.

Is there any other information you'd like to highlight?

We have some pretty big goals, and some will take a while to pull off, but we're a volunteer-run organization that can always use help. Kathy and I are putting in somewhere around 30 hours a week collectively on top of our current jobs and we'd love some assistance. We're working on making content available in French with a few people who have volunteered to help out but we could always use more help to spread the load. And if you're a member or a business that wants to help make something happen please reach out to us! You can find our contact info through our website, www.canadahomebrews.ca.

It was really neat to be at HomeBrewCon down in Portland this year. It was the AHA’s 40th year and you totally could see the passion in the attendees, not just about homebrewing but about the sense of community. Homebrewing in the US is huge (the AHA has around 45,000 members) so it's a great model to shoot for and

Lynn McIlwee is an experienced beer event judge and homebrewer.

On HopsCanary.com, Lynn writes about our beer related travel around the world, beer festivals, local beer events and other beer topics of interest.

Recipe of the Season:

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Grain

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Schedule LME

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OG: 1.049 FG: 1.016 4.4% Target ABV: IBU: 21

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Craft Your Own Beer!

Visit Barley's Homebrewing Supplies for equipment, ingredients and guidance.

Barley's Homebrewing Supplies Shop In Store: 101-455 East Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC

32 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

Shop Online: shopbarleys.com Learn More: www.barleyshomebrewing.com Call Us: 604-553-1941

BREW CLUB CORNER

O

>> WARREN BOYER

n an overcast June day, I hopped aboard the Skytrain and headed to Sapperton for the first annual Lower Mainland homebrew club gathering. President of the Fraser Valley Fermentalists, Damien Walker, originally approached Curtis Van Marck of Brew Westminster to see if they might be interested in a club-to-club competition. After some discussions and contact with other clubs it turned into a five-way friendly competition (and a good excuse to get together and have a few beers).

The clubs involved were Fraser Valley Fermentalists, Brew West, VanBrewers, Full Barrel Homebrew Club and Tricities Brew Club. Each club was directed to create two beers, one a traditional style and one wide open. Curtis arranged to rent the Sapperton Pensioners Hall for the event.

Brew West brought a Blood Orange IPA and a Pre-Prohibition Pilsner. VanBrewers had a Dragon Fruit Saison and a British Golden Ale. Fraser Valley Fermentalists served up a North East Hazy IPA and a dry hopped Saison. Full Barrel showed off a Bordeaux Barrel-aged Saison and a Baltic Porter. And last but not least, Tricities Brew Club made a Red Hef with Hibiscus, and a Pale Ale.

HOMEBREWING HAPPENIN'S | brewing

FIRST ANNUAL LOWER MAINLAND HOMEBREW CLUB INTER-COMPETITION!

First place for non-traditional style was Full Barrel with their Baltic Porter with coffee and cocoa. Runner up was Fraser Valley Fermentalists with their NEIPA. The prize table was covered in donations from Barley’s Homebrewing Supplies, Country Malt Group, BSG Canada, Topps Hops, and Chilliwack Hop Farms. The prizes were split between the two winning clubs.

At the end of the day the consensus was this will become an annual event. It was a good opportunity to meet other brewers and see what other clubs are producing. Everybody had a great afternoon.

It was such a laid back and casual event. I would highly recommend attending this event next year.

Now go make some beer!

Warren Boyer is an award winning homebrewer, Certified Beer Judge, former President of CAMRA Vancouver, and and occasional Professional Brewer. E: homebrewboy@shaw.ca

While we sampled each other’s creations and talked about technique and ingredients, the judges participated in a blind judging.

They were to pick a first, second and third place for each of the two categories. After some deliberation, judges Julian Zelazny, Nathaniel Senff, and Christopher Lay reported their findings.

First place for Traditional style was Brew Westminster with their amazing and delicious Pre-Prohibition Pilsner. Everyone in attendance agreed that this was the best beer of the day. The only problem with it was they didn’t bring a big enough keg and it ran out.

Runner up was Fraser Valley Fermentalists with their Dry Hopped Saison.

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 33

CZECH TRAVEL REPUBLIC

PRAGUE: OLD OLD && NEW PRAGUE: NEW

Old traditions meet modern macrobrewing money: Japanese-owned Pilsner Urquell in Plzeň

>> BEERSEEKERS

I

n late July we winged our way to the Czech Republic. Our visit was primarily a family trip, and beer was secondary—a sober reality we hadn’t dealt with in about a decade. Still, over the course of a week, we managed to work in some amazing moments with beers and the people that make them.

THE LAND OF LAGER

mouth-wateringly delicious that it was hard to associate it with the word “lager”. Even Germany, the Fatherland of Bier and the historical driver of a significant portion of Czech beer production, must tip its Tyrolean hat to this.

You’ll find three styles of lager commonly served there: light (ie, ‘regular’), dark, and “semi-dark” (ie, anything in between). The easiest beer learning ever, right? But that simplicity belies the range of pivo available. Their dark lagers often eat like a meal, more like what we think of as a porter.

In Czechia, as it’s alternatively known, you will find beer culture that is completely unlike ours. These people are, famously, the most fanatical consumers of beer (per capita) anywhere. They are fairly aware of the beer revolution going on in many parts of the world, and they have their own fledgling movement, but so far you’ll find relatively few “craft breweries” in the sense we’re accustomed to. The general beer-loving public just doesn’t need them. What they like is lager, and the quality of lager they have there is completely unlike what we comprehend here.

Unfortunately, nothing that comes all the way to BC in cans and bottles can reproduce what comes out of taps—often connected, not just to kegs, but to oversized serving tanks, even in regular restaurants—over there. We don’t want to take away from the lagers that some of BC’s craft brewers, many of whom have travelled Europe and had the same experience, have created. But let’s face it, to make lager the way they do there, you have to do it full time. In their breweries of any size, giant horizontal tanks are constantly aging beer in cold storage year-round. With that model, there’s no room to fool around making seasonal hazy sours.

Not to mention people would be too busy drinking lager to pay attention.

Being Canadian, we BeerSeekers have tended to avoid “regular lager” since we became craft beer enthusiasts. It’s the bad beer we ran away from when we found the good stuff. But when in the CR, we were able to regularly find beer that was so creamy and

So we’ve established that the beer is good. It’s also generally traditional, although as noted there is a growing craft scene. Let’s highlight a couple of old-school beer experiences in Prague and contrast them with some of the new kids on the block.

34 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

BEERSEEKERS ON TOUR | travel

WHAT'S OLD

Dark lager made in house at U Fleku

ed in 993 (Europe: home of three-digit dates!), though the current buildings are from the 19th Century. You can book a tour of this still-functioning Benedictine monastery, learn about its history, see ruins from the original stone buildings dating back to the 10th Century, then have a meal at the restaurant, sampling beers made on the grounds. You can even stay the night at their hotel.

While a tradition of brewing at the monastery goes back to at least the 11th Century, the current brewery has been functioning for only six years. Destroyed under the communist regime, the buildings have undergone reconstruction and now enjoy government protection.

U FLEKU

Look out for the schnapps pusher – the other server bearing a different tray. He insists that you try one or both flavours of their special Czech liquor shots. Oops, you made eye contact. Na zdraví!

Bottle-poured flight at U Kunstatu

U KUNSTATU

Nestled within the maze of narrow, winding streets near Old Town is U Kunstatu, an amazing beer bar and bottle shop.

Their massive menu boasts bottled treats from all over the Czech Republic, Europe and beyond. Pleasant surprise reminder of home: a Cascadian dark ale!

Established in 1499, and still home to a real Central European beer hall experience. On a hot summer Saturday, we arrived in their outdoor courtyard full of beer-drinking revelers loudly singing old Czech, German, and Russian folk songs along to a roving accordion player.

U Fleku brews only one beer: a delicious dark lager, famous throughout the city.

The waiters circulate with mugs on trays, catching the eye of anyone that’s ready for their next one, and (as in parts of Germany) tallying your beer count with pencil marks on simple paper chits. The beer keeps coming until you don’t want any more. Why don’t you want any more?

WHAT'S NEW

The brew crew at St. Adalbert

Our kind host Petr (on the right in above photo) showed us around not just the brewery, but also their substantial collection of breweriana in an adjoining lecture room. The brewery itself, branded as St. Adalbert, has an annual capacity of 3000 Hl. In addition to the ever-present Czech light and dark lagers, the brewery also produces an IPA, an Imperial lager and a very respectable Imperial Stout.

Amazingly, they’re willing pour you a custom six-sample taster rack and will open almost any of their bottles to do it.

Who does that here? Also, they do run a few taps, which during our visit included a Sour Passionfruit & Guava Berliner Weisse and a very good IPA. It’s easy to spend several hours here.

KLASTERNI PIVOVAR STRAHOV

A few tram stops away from Brevnov, you’ll find Strahov Monastery. It actually could be filed under “New” because the craft-style brewery on site is relatively recent. While there is a tradition of brewing going back to 1400, the current brewery is privately run by a family who lease the space. Sharp young son Marek Kocvera gave us a very North American-style brewery tour.

The imposing Brevnov Monastery

ST. ADALBERT AT BREVNOV

One expects to visit Belgium to see monastic breweries. But a visit to Prague’s St. Adalbert Brewery of Brevnov Monastery is a must-do on the beer traveler’s list.

First reason is the monastery itself, found-

Their flagship beer is an amber lager, accounting for 70% of production. Like micros in the Pacific Northwest, this craft brewery produces almost 20 varieties per year: three mainstays (including dark lager and IPA), and 12-15 seasonals on rotation.

Three of the beers at U Tří Růží

U TRI RUZI PIVOVAR Only a few minutes walk from U Kunstatu is U Tří Růží (Three Roses), a brewpub.

It is fairly small, but also serves food so it makes a good stop for lunch or dinner.

They had a handful of interesting beers on tap, including a Vienna Red Lager, a Summer Weiss, and a Peated Ale. FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 35

TRAVEL

BEERSEEKERS ON TOUR | travel

PILGRIMAGE TO PILSEN

In the tasting room at Pivovar Victor

PIVOVAR VICTOR

A craft brewery in a century-old building, home to a 3-star hotel. During our visit, in addition to the usual light and dark lager, they had their smoked semi-dark lager (rated a world pick by Stephen Beaumont) and a sweet cherry beer.

PRAGUE BEER MUSEUM

Not actually a museum, but a beer bar and pub. It’s a great location to find a wide range of good beer in the heart of the city. Featuring taps of beer from small breweries all over the country, giving special attention to beers that would otherwise go unnoticed. You can try one of their featured taster combos to get started or build your own.

The city of Pilsen (Plzeň) is the home of Pilsner Urquell, the famous golden lager created in 1842 by Josef Groll. While the brewery is now owned by a huge multi-national corporation, it is still worth a visit, and is only a 90 minute train ride from Prague. The factory itself is huge, and we recommend that you take one of the public tours to see everything. The tour takes you through the packaging facilities, the old historical brewhouse, the modern working brewhouse, and finally ends in the historical underground cellars where you are treated to a glass of Pilsner Urquell straight from the tank. This fresh beer is incredibly tasty, the tour is informative and interesting, and well worth the 90 minutes it takes.

THE BEER FACTORY

There are a handful of other small breweries in Pilsen. We made it the The Beer Factory, a modern craft brewpub with a tap list of seven beers. So identical to a North American craft brewery in appearance that one might forget that English is not the native language (until the server struggles to translate your bad Czech).

PURKMISTR

It is possible to make Pilsen a day trip and return to Prague in the evening. However, you can also make it an overnighter and venture further south via city bus to the Purkmistr brewery hotel and spa.

The spa offers many treatments, but one you can’t get here in BC is a beer bath!

Book a single or double bath and spend 25 minutes soaking in warm, beer-infused water while pouring yourself a Purkmistr lager (rated a world pick by Stephen Beaumont) from the tap right next to the tub! Heaven!

Yup, they have their own branded bus

Sign outside the Czech Beer Museum

Unlike other breweries, Urquell’s tours aren’t limited to just a brewery. The astounding Underground City Tour is a 50-minute guided hike through the seemingly infinite web of tunnels under Pilsen.

Carved into the earth and rock over hundreds of years, the city’s tunnels served as a clandestine after-hours meeting place for beer fans and lovers when the bars closed. Some of Pilsen’s treasures were kept safe in this labyrinthine hiding space during invasions and wars. As impressive as the stunning architecture above ground.

CZECH BEER MUSEUM Not to be confused with the Prague Beer Museum. Here is an actual museum chronicling the history of beer in the Czech Republic. They offer a tour and tasting of several Czech beers in their historical cellars. There is also the opportunity to bottle your own beer to take home as a souvenir. While a bit pricey for the CR (CAD ~$18-$30) they are a fun and interesting experience.

In the cellar with a glass of Pilsner Urquell 36 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

Your beer bath awaits, with tap and mug too

BUDWEIS

A 2-hour train south from Prague brings you to the picturesque town of České Budějovice, home of the original Budweiser beer.

Established in 1895, the brewery’s flagship brand is Budweiser Budvar, but this Budweiser is nothing like the one that we know from North America. Which just happens to be the topic for another segment, next.

The BeerSeekers Join Ivana and Dave Smith in search of the next perfect pint in BC and around Cascadia, at beerseekers.com

BEERSEEKERS ON TOUR | travel

BUDWEISER: EUROPE’S BIGGEST CRAFT BREWERY?

H

>> BEERSEEKER DAVE

ow do you define a craft brewery? For me, it’s ethos.

Here’s the story of how perhaps the world’s most famous name in massive, corporate beer also belongs to what might be one of Europe’s best and largest guardians of the craft ethos.

Most of the original history of what we tend to think of as beer is European, and one of Europe’s great brewing nations is the Czech Republic. In the CR, many of the greatest historic breweries are not in the capital city of Prague, but in smaller towns that you can reach by rail. One of those we visited is České Budějovice, a town that the Germans know as Budweis.

Long ago, the Germans nicknamed the really good beer from this town as ‘Budweiser’ (in the same way we have Pilsener, Dortmunder, and for that matter, Hamburger and Frankfurter--basically everything you need for a picnic and baseball game). The name made its way into the lexicon of a certain American brewing tycoon who incorporated it into his massively expanding 19th century branding plans, and soon the world outside Central Europe knew the name. They just didn’t know the original Czech beer.

Aleš Dvořák in the cellars, with his creation

There’s only one beer named Budweiser sold in the CR, and in Germany. What has for many years been Deutschland’s #1 import beer was, at a point in the late 19th century, debatably a German product simply being made in a neighbouring territory, thanks to the very large proportion of ethnic Germans in Budweis at the time.

The Bohemian (ie, Czech) population in Budweis eventually established their own “Czech Joint Stock Brewery” to compete with the previously German-dominated one, and it came to be a nationally-owned company known as Budějovický Budvar, národní podni, or in English, “Budweiser Budvar, National Corporation” (the ‘German version’ still exists as “Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu”, brewed in Budweis by Pivovar Samson, an AB InBev company).

Budvar is a made-up name, with the last half taken from ‘pivovar’, the Czech word for ‘brewery’ (the Czechs talk about ‘cooking’ beer; pivo = ‘beer’ and vařit = “to cook”). Thanks to state ownership, they don’t report to any international beverage conglomerate; in other words, despite being the #2 exported Czech beer, they’re not ‘macro’.

At Budvar, we met with 30-year verteran brewer Aleš Dvořák, the author of Budvar’s award-winning dark lager recipe.

CAN A STATE BREWERY BE ‘CRAFT’?

One of his many friends in the international scene once made a comment that Budvar, despite its size and state ownership, was the biggest craft brewery he knew.

I can tell you that after the considerable amount of time we spent at the brewery one afternoon, I left more than convinced that (no doubt due to the security of state ownership) what Aleš and others are doing falls into the same category of “care for craft over commerce” that I use to delineate macro mentality from micro.

Start with the fact that they refuse to age their flagship lager any less than 90 days. There are macro breweries smaller than Budvar that ship “lager” to market when it’s barely aged enough to earn the name.

Also a factor is how their 19th-century founders turned down other potential locations in order to build a large brewery above a well with the most outstanding local water they could find. That’s a recurring theme in Czech brewing. The world beer scene is dominated by products originally created in Pilsen and Budweis because of nothing but the stuff macro marketers brag about: they used brilliant natural ingredients and aged their beer, and unlike many macros, Budvar manages to keep doing that.

But the most sublime proof of the passion and reverence Aleš (what a name for a brewer who makes lager) had for their craft came when he took us down into the brewery’s bowels for a little quality time with their giant horizontal aging tanks. The nectar Aleš pulled out of four tanks for us left anything else we experienced during this trip in the centuries-old dust. We had just done the general public tour, also with cellar samples. But then we trudged with Aleš through hoses and puddles to get to where the herd cannot go, and as far as I’m concerned it made our trip. The look of delight on Aleš’s face when he saw our genuine pleasure drawing the soft, creamy liquid onto our palate told us the feeling was mutual.

But don’t just take it from me. The European Union has the same warm fuzzy feeling for Budvar’s authenticity, based on the fact that it is a local heritage product created (unlike many wellknown “import” brands) only in the place from which it hails.

As such, Budvar has been granted “Protected Geographical Indication” status, the same type of accreditation afforded to Champagne wine.

Many thanks to brewer Aleš Dvořák and PR Manager Dr. Petr Samec, who was also generous with his time and a nifty gift: the brewery’s well-produced hardcover book chronicling the heartwarming “Czech people’s brewery” founding story.

If all this gets you thirsty to try Budweiser Budvar here in Canada, then you need to know that due to an 80-year-old legal resolution with Anheuser Busch, Budvar is known as Czechvar here. And no, after travelling halfway around the world, the bottled product will not match the “milk from the cow” experience we had with Aleš. But every Czechvar you drink is a vote for a Budweiser a craft lover can stand behind.

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 37

ON THE SCENE

AT THE CRAFT BEER & WILDERNESS RETREAT

TRAVEL

C

HAVE CAMERA, WILL TRAVEL | travel

>> BRIAN K. SMITH

raft Beer & Wilderness Retreat. Each part of that event title anticipates enjoyable experiences: Craft beer, something for which you presumably have an interest/ extreme liking/untreatable obsession. Wilderness, when combined with luxury is an undeniable draw. Retreat brings to mind isolation with beer geeks and brew masters - no hardships there at all! Blended all together, they produce an unforgettable experience!

Back in June, the first annual Craft Beer & Wilderness Retreat was held at Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This inaugural five-day retreat encompassed many activities, including yoga, kayaking, fishing, sightseeing, and a day of brewing a collaboration beer that will eventually find its way into all the participants’ fridges.

Historically, Nootka Sound/Friendly Cove is one of the most important places in the formation of British Columbia; James Cook’s ship once took refuge here. The first beer in BC was brewed at Friendly Cove in 1792. Spruce tips were used in it, providing vitamin C and preventing scurvy. It would have tasted quite different from the hop-infused ales we are used to today. But it was beer, and the crew was happy.

More than 225 years later, here we are at Nootka Sound with two kegerators, a selection of 18 craft beers on draft and a fridge full of bottles and cans. In each guest room there was a specially selected beer chilling on ice, a large cooler pack and a take-home gift: a growler-sized stainless-steel keg.

First, a chartered bus took us two hours west from Campbell River via Gold River on a logging road. Then a thirty-minute highspeed boat ride delivered us to the floating Nootka Sound Resort.

Here, the warm, friendly staff greeted us by name and escorted us to rooms on one of the four floating barges. The view, looking north, is both expansive and gorgeous.

The hosts for the five-day event were Dennyse and Brad Harris.

This couple has the combined passions and experience to make the retreat second to none. Dennyse is an experienced special events organizer. Brad, a doctor, is also a passionate homebrewer who donates his beer to fundraising for many causes. Brad states, “Our vision was to create something that couples can enjoy together, beer hounds or not.”

He continues, “I love beer in all its facets - drinking it, talking about it, making it, but even more, the social aspect of it. I wanted to share that with people, to make it a beer incubator for ideas and craft beer brewers. I love my back yard and wanted to share that too. We have travelled around the world (literally for 365 days) and while there is obviously so much to see, there is still so much to see right here. We thought we should combine forces and host this annual event.”

About selecting the VIP guests, Brad says, “We targeted Brent Mills first. I’ve loved Four Winds from my first sip of their Saison. Cedric Dauchot was the next obvious choice—Powell River is an “honorary suburb” of the Comox Valley. Cedric is Belgian, Townsite Brewing is awesome, and he’s one of the nicest people on earth. I asked Brent who he would like to share the retreat with and he came up with Michael Kuzyk. His homebrew background and PhD spoke well to me, and we asked him.”

I was curious what the challenges are in hosting an event like this in the wilderness of the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Brad states-“Logistical challenges; HAH! That’s part of the allure for me. Who in their right mind moves a nanobrewery, kegerators and kegs, 12 cases of beer bottles and $1200 worth of beer glasses to a floating fishing resort on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island? I kept waiting for someone to tell me it was stupid, but nobody did, so we just kept going. ” Brad talked about the beer created on brew day at the resort. “For my setup, we brought back six carboys. One has the wild yeast that we collected from Friendly Cove; it actually worked. It smells amazing; there is a distinctive tropical fruit aroma to the yeast. I used Brett Trois Vrai in another, and then one carboy had Saison yeast fermented very cold, and another had the same yeast fermented very hot. I plan to finish off and package the beer into bottles and we’ll ship the ‘suspended yeast samples’ to the guests."

"I do have 2 mason jars of clean wild yeast from Friendly Cove.

Matt and I picked berries and leaves that were growing out of the fallen totem pole and gave a little thank you to the spirits, so I have high expectations for that yeast in the future.”

I asked the brewers what they thought about the five-day event.

Brett said “I had an amazing time meeting new friends, sharing great beers, and exploring a part of the world I've never known.

The thing that surprised me the most was the history of the area from the first peoples to the European explorers. Just amazing!”

Cedric confirmed, “It was a super fun! Everybody was interested in craft beer and it was fun to be able to sit down, relax and talk about our industry. The resort and the environment were amazing and there were so many beers to taste and talk about.

The Nootka lighthouse and beach visit was really an amazing highlight for me. It was so nice and relaxing to walk around with the other brewers and guests, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks. That was pretty sweet.”

Michael Kuzyk states about the overall experience, “Absolutely lovely! It was very relaxing; the guests were delightful, and the beer and food was unparalleled!”

What are the plans for next year at CBW? Brad replies, “Next year we will be focusing on Brewsters—female brewers. We will have two Cicerones there to pour and talk about the beers. We’ll have them lead beer appreciation seminars, so it will be more formal than just chatting by the kegerator tap."

"I already know, for next year’s food pairing, I want foie gras done two ways, to complement and contrast with whatever beer we get for that course. There will be elk in a robust reduction; there will be smoked sable fish and hopefully oysters. We will work on the crabbing more consistently and hopefully cook up a lot of crabs.”

The next Craft Beer & Wilderness Retreat will take place June 8th to 12th, 2019. Stay tuned to craftbeerandwilderness.com

Brian K. Smith, MPA is an accredited member of the BC Association of Travel Writers, and is Chief Photographer for What's Brewing.

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 39

BEERS, BEACHES & BREWERIES | regional report

FALL IN THE OKANAGAN

S

>> KIM LAWTON

If you are planning a visit, be sure to visit www.BCAleTrail.ca to help plan your trip. There are breweries up and down the Okanagan Valley and throughout the Interior, so you have lots of great options on your craft beer journey. We just launched a new passport program for the Penticton Ale Trail. Visit all five Penticton craft breweries, get your passport stamped at each brewery, then drop your completed passport at one of the breweries for your chance to win prizes including BC Ale Trail beer swag, golf and ski passes, and tickets to the 2019 Okanagan Fest of Ale. Looking for a great reason to head to the South Okanagan? In September, there is the Vancouver Canucks Young Stars Classic, the Pentastic Jazz Festival, the Penticton Dragon Boat Festival, and the Freak ’n Farmer Adventure Obstacle Race. You’ll be able to find great local craft beer at all of these events, as well as at the Oliver Cask & Keg Festival on September 29th.

The 9th annual Penticton Oktoberfest will be held on October 20th, in a new location this year at the Penticton Lakeside Resort. Enjoy local beers from Cannery Brewing and Highway 97 Brewery, as well as German imports, local cider from Summerland Heritage Cider, mouth-watering food, and entertainment that will get you dancing. Check their website for hotel & ticket packages.

Also, mark the date for the 5th annual Dia de Los Muertos Cerveza Fuerte launch party on November 1st at Bad Tattoo Brewing. At the event, they will launch the 4th vintage of La Resurreccion.

Keep an eye on social media for details and ticket availability.

You can also enjoy a taste of the Okanagan at a number of upcoming beer festivals including Victoria’s Great Canadian Beer Festival and Whistler Village Beer Festival. There will be some great fall seasonals from our breweries in the weeks ahead. Watch for a Pumpkin Milkshake English IPA in September and a Salty Caramel Gose Sour in October from Bad Tattoo Brewing. Both new releases will be available on tap and in 650ml bombers at the brewery and craft-beer focused stores around BC. The Barley Mill Brew Pub is featuring an India Session Ale until the end of September, followed by a seasonal Honey Pilsner. Both are available only on tap and for growler fills onsite.

The team at Tin Whistle Brewing recently launched their first cans, starting off with their popular Peach Cream Ale. Watch for their new tall boy cans of 473ml beers from Penticton at a store near you.

40 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

Photo credit: BCAleTrail.ca

ummer is behind us, the kids are back to school, and we are now looking ahead to fall. However, if you aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to summer, why not extend that summer feeling with a fall Okanagan getaway? Many people love it, because the weather is still beautiful, the beaches are a little less busy, and there are lots of great festivals and events.

Highway 97 Brewery is launching a lunch and dinner menu at the brewery featuring gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, in addition to locally made samosas and steak and porter pies, to accompany their 11 different small-batch fresh craft beers. This fall they will also be featuring 2 fresh-hopped ales and the last of their Okanagan Fresh Fruit Hefeweizen, so get it while it lasts.

Over at Cannery Brewing, we are excited for the launch of our new Bonsai Rice Ale, the latest in our series of limited release beers that are available on tap and in 4-packs of 473ml cans. This beer features a gorgeous keepsake label by Penticton artist, Skyler Punnett. In September, we’ll also be launching the first release in our new barrel-aged series, Berry Kettle Sour in 750ml bottles.

All of us in the Okanagan are thankful to the firefighters and emergency service workers who worked tirelessly again this summer fighting the BC wildfires. As a tribute to those fighting the fires, Cannery Brewing’s limited release Wildfire IPA is back in September, this time in 473ml cans. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this beer supports the great work of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Kim Lawton is a craft beer fan, a long-time supporter of the craft beer movement, President of CAMRA South Okanagan and the Marketing Director at Cannery Brewing in Penticton.

Kim can be reached via Twitter @DogLegMarketing

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NORTHERN NOTES | regional report

THE ART OF CRAFT

IN PRINCE GEORGE AND NORTHERN BC

H

>> ADAM ARTHUR owdy and welcome all! The last time we met, I focused on how the craft beer landscape has changed in Prince George and The North over the past fifteen years.

Now Fall is coming, and students are making their way back to school. One of the things that has changed is the beer selection available at the University of Northern BC. When I went to UNBC, the place to drink was the Winter Garden. A local macro lager was the only choice. In 2009 the Thirsty Moose Pub opened, but the original selections were still macro brands, like Granville Island Brewing and Pacific Western. Fast forward to 2018, and the selections from independent BC craft brewers now dominate.

It was a most exciting summer with many beer-related events being held at places like CrossRoads Brewing, Trench Brewing, as well as the second annual sour-beer-focused Pucker Fest at Kask Taproom & Eatery. Craft beer events in Prince George seem to be popping up more and more. Nearby Valemount, BC featured the second Annual vALEmount Craft Beer Experience hosted by Three Ranges Brewing Company. The second annual Hazelton Hootenanny, hosted by Hazelton Hops, took place in August.

Both events are hybrid beer/music festivals offering brews from Indie BC Craft Breweries. The final CrossRoads Street Festival will be happening in September. On the music festival front, Arts Wells in Wells, BC, near historic Barkerville, once again had Barkerville Brewing as its beer sponsor. Many of the establishments in Wells also have BC craft beer available for event goers.

The recent announcement of a Northern BC Ale Trail is exciting news, since it will launch many of the Northern BC craft breweries into the spotlight. They have already banded together, but this will allow them to become an even stronger collaborative force in a developing market.

Last issue, I mentioned many of the craft friendly eating establishments and liquor stores in Prince George. Possibly the best place to go for a diverse lineup is The Copper Pig BBQ in downtown PG. What excites me about them is the diversity of 100% indie BC craft beer they offer, and how they rotate their selections. It’s cans or bottles, but it’s so good.

Other establishments that are craft friendly include the newly-opened Grand Trunk Tavern and the Northern Lights Winery Bistro. The Westwood Neighborhood, Shooters and BX pubs, plus chain restaurants like Original Joe’s and Browns Social House, are slowly coming around too. As a matter of fact, the latter has debuted the new Brown’s Craft House venture, one of which is in Fort St. John.

Some of the craft friendly liquor stores here include Alfredo’s and Noble Spirits. Even my local liquor store, Liquor on 5th, is starting to come around.

42 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

At Crossroads Brewing

As for breweries I didn’t mention last issue: Jackson’s Social Club & Brewhouse in 100 Mile House is the only craft brewery located between Quesnel and Chilliwack. But rumours abound about more Northern growth. Cutbank Brewing continues to be whispered about in Prince George, and there’s talk of a craft brewery opening in Dawson Creek. If these do happen, the North will be more vibrant than ever!

Adam Arthur is a craft beer fan since 2010 who’s glad to represent Northern BC and the city of Prince George. He supports Independent craft breweries in (and outside of) BC.

STAKE YOUR CLAIM™ TO THE QUESNEL CRAFT BREWERY WHOSE AWARD WINNING BEERS TELL THE STORY OF BC'S HISTORIC CARIBOO GOLD RUSH • • • •

Licensed Lounge & Tasting Room Locally-Sourced Food & Snacks Kids & Pets Are Always Welcome Get Your Growlers Filled Today

185 DAVIE S T REE T Phone: 1-778-414-2739 Fax: 1-778-414-1099 Toll Free: 1-855-922-7537

QUE S NEL , BC

Email: info@barkervillebeer.com Web: www.barkervillebeer.com Social: @BarkervilleBeer

COASTAL CURRENTS | regional report

ANTICIPATING POWELL RIVER CRAFT BEER FEST 2018

I

>> PADDY TREAVOR

must admit when I saw the call for articles related to Harvest Myths and Celebrations, I wanted to run for the hills screaming, knowing Christmas decorations at Costco are not far off. I am not too keen to look past this great summer we are having to focus on times bleaker and greyer. Thirst-quenching beers on patios are my world right now and the thought of pumpkin-spiced beers and 4 PM sunsets makes me want to start looking for the razor blades.

The one bright spot for me during the six months of Wet Coast drudgery we know as Fall and Winter is the Powell River Craft Beer Festival. This year’s festival, on November 3rd, marks the fifth anniversary of the event. I know I am biased, as Powell River is my adopted home town, but if you have not been to Powell River, or this festival, it is well worth the trip. The festival, which has grown and sold out every year, has developed a cult-like following. It is basically a weekend party, with a solid craft beer festival thrown in for good measure. I love the fact that the brewers and their representatives have a blast and I have noted that many brewers are starting to show up even if their brewery is not participating just to hang out and soak up the small-town vibe.

The best way to describe it is an over-sized house party with outstanding BC beers, ciders and spirits. The atmosphere is unique since most of the locals know each other; there is a comfortable familiarity and high level of mingling and socializing that you may not get at bigger, urban festivals. Powell River is a friendly place and locals go out of their way to make visitors feel welcome, both at the festival and the brewery where most seem to end up at some point during the festival weekend.

This year’s event will be held in the 91-year-old Dwight Hall, which has been hosting great events since it opened in 1927. The beautiful Tudor-style building, located in the Townsite, is just steps away from the Townsite Brewery tasting lounge and a few hotels which make getting to and from the festival easy.

POWELL RIVER’S FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD BREWERY

At the 2017 Festival

Over the first four years of the festival, I have heard few complaints.

The most frequent issue voiced is from people not being able to attend due to the event selling out in advance, which is very unusual for the wait-until-the-last-minute mentality that exists in Pow Town.

The second complaint I have heard at the three different venues the event has been previously held at, was that the space was too hot and crowded.

Both of those problems should be addressed this year as Dwight Hall boasts a 5,000 square foot, wooden dance floor which should be more than enough space to accommodate the 400 patrons, 29 breweries, three cideries and three distilleries expected to be there.

It is a large room, with a significant side room where people will be able to find space to bend an elbow, without fear of knocking into someone else, and 400 tickets is an increase of 100 over last year’s sold-out ticket count.

Do yourself a favour and get yourself to the event. Tickets go on sale on-line Sept 1 and you can check out CAMRA Powell River’s website, www.camrapowellriver.ca and their Facebook page for more details. Tickets will be $25 for CAMRA members and $35 for non-members and include your souvenir glass, and three drink tickets. Food will be available but details are not yet finalized.

Plans are in the works for a pop-up liquor store, a merchandise table and a significant portion of the proceeds go to local Powell River non-profit groups and charities. Last year approximately $4000 was donated by CAMRA Powell River back into the community.

Paddy Treavor has been President of CAMRA BC and two of its branches.

Self-described hophead, craft-beer advocate and wannabe reporter. Read more from Paddy on the VanEast Beer Blog

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 43

SEA TO SKY BEER GUY | regional report

HARVESTERS OF BEER

S

>> MALCOLM YATES

See those droplets condensating on your glass of cold beer? Bubbles rising from the depths, travelling through an amber liquid made from toil the likes of which most of us will never experience. Farmers tirelessly working the field, collecting the bounty, storing their grain or their hops. Once those raw products are ready for the next stage in their journey the burden transfers to the brewer, whose wisdom and work-ethic mix and match and make those precious crops into an elixir fit for kings.

And you, and me.

The theme of this season is Harvest, and who better to bring to bear the backbreaking, beer-bringing reap than actual farmers?

I spoke to Will Miller of The Beer Farmers in Pemberton to gain some insight into this autumnal time of year and just what goes into that gorgeous glass of beer.

The Beer Farmers are unique in that they grow both barley and hops on their farm, with each crop maturing around the same time: late August-September. And while the summer is relatively peaceful (watering, watching and waiting) once autumn hits, it’s all hands on deck. “Long days, big crews,” recounts Will. “Battles with the clock and nature: floods, rains, damp in the morning then 30 degrees in the afternoon. It’s a big push for us.”

The Miller family has been organically farming this land for four generations, and while potatoes are the primary crop, barley has recently entered the fray. And chief among the hurdles they encountered was the fact it had never been done before in the Pemberton area. Part and parcel of this adventure into uncharted territory was the chiming-in of naysayers, telling the Millers they couldn’t grow barley here. That it wouldn’t thrive. To which Will replied, “How ‘bout you leave the farming to us?”

Sure enough, the grain grew and got great scores with regard to plumpness and protein percentage (important factors in malting). This fall will mark their third crop to be harvested. And how do you actually harvest the grain? “We bought an ancient Massey-Ferguson grain combine from up north,” says Will. The rustic, red devil looks like it belongs in a field painted by Norman Rockwell but, “We got it running and it gets the job done.”

As for hops: those cone-shaped buggers need harvesting too! And while this is no small task, Will says, “It’s never too hard to round up a crew when there’s work to be done. Especially when beer’s involved!” In addition to the traditional toil, memories are also harvested, enough to last a lifetime. And what comes shortly after the harvesting of hops? Wet-hopped beer, baby!

“We’re very excited to brew some wet hop beers,” says Will. The Beer Farmers figure a wet-hopped SMASH (single malt and single hop) would be the perfect conduit for showcasing their locally grown ingredients, “while teaching people about the beer making (process) and how it relates to farming.” I couldn’t agree more.

Grab yourself a locally-crafted beer. Before you quaff, consider the toil that came before the spoils and I’ll see you in the field.

44 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

On the farm, at harvest time

PEMBERTON VALLEY BEERWORKS: THE BEER FARMERS Raising hops. Growing barley. Brewing beer. In The Beer Farmers’ case, they do it all.

But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and you can’t finish off a reaping season without a little celebration.

The Beer Farmer’s Fall Harvest Party will take place on the farm (naturally!) on October 27th to coincide with pumpkin patch season and you just know that it’s gonna be a barn-burner. Well, not literally a barn on fire but… well… you know what I mean.

FALL HARVEST PARTY October 27, 2018 Pemberton Valley BeerWorks 8324 Pemberton Meadows Rd Pemberton, BC V0N 2L2 www.thebeerfarmers.com

Malcolm Yates is a guy in the Sea to Sky region who digs beer, BC, and the written word. Check out his musings at the Sea To Sky Beer Guy blog.

OUT & ABOUT | regional report

OUT & ABOUT WITH SCOTTIE:

ON THE ROAD SUMMER 2018 in a jovial mood, happy and engaged in dancing, socializing and generally grooving on the whole scene.

>> SCOTTIE MCLELLAN

GREAT OKANAGAN BEER FEST

I could see just how big an undertaking this is. Spokesman Dan Reid said they get 6000 to 8000 people a day; and to accomplish this with everything involved, takes a well-organized team. If you have not visited this event, put it on the calendar for next year.

ROTARY BEER FESTIVAL

KELOWNA, MAY 11-12

QUALICUM, JUNE 29

I attend this festival every year. Kelowna folk are a beer-educated bunch. The weather co-operated for this annual showcase, which spills out on the waterfront. It’s an upbeat location for an event.

The gates opened and the event hit the day flying and went hard all afternoon till close. The majority of the crowd was young and energetic.

This was one of those open the doors and serve non-stop for the brewers and cideries, and liquor purveyors. It was supposed to be an industry portion for the first hour, but somehow everyone seemed to flood in right from the beginning. All the reps and the presenters were ready and keen. I paid particular attention to the more regional up-island breweries, and distillers. The crowd was civilized and keen for knowledge.

In this region of the province, cider is growing in leaps and bounds because of the great fruit and the movement towards all things craft.

In speaking with presenters and guests this event is an all round success. Whats Brewing visited the Mt Arrowsmith Brewing and sampled their beers and chatted with their friendly staff. Lots of reps also in the room doing the same thing. Cheers Parksville!

In speaking with presenters and guests this event is an all round success. Whats Brewing visited the Mt Arrowsmith Brewing and sampled their beers and chatted with their friendly staff. Lots of reps also in the room doing the same thing. Cheers Parksville!

PHILLIPS BACKYARD WEEKENDER PHILLIPS HOPOXIA VICTORIA, JUNE 9

This is a Victoria hometown event and everybody seemingly returns year after year. It’s one of those “go two steps and you run into someone you know” events.

Not all the beers were hoppy which made the event even more interesting.

New breweries were there showcasing their products. There was a summer buzz of enthusiasm in the air. Phillips Team provided an after party for brewers and guests at their new tasting room facility.

Well done Phillips team!

VICTORIA, JULY 20-22

I had never covered this hometown Victoria event. This year, I went on the Sunday and caught the first 3 acts. People had room to spread out and the weather was summer spectacular. The grounds were huge, creating a fun city within itself.

Ticket sales for beer were organized, Phillips beer and Merridale cider easy to get (no big line ups), and served by pleasant volunteers. There was a food truck street created on the site, and people were taking advantage of the many varieties on offer. It was a good feeling, with people

Dan and Alanya at Howl, 5 weeks old

HOWL BREWING

NORTH SAANICH, AUG 4 I came by this new startup, which was in its 5th week at the time. I spoke with owners Dan and Alanya; they explained that their malt is Gambrinus from Armstrong, the hops from Chilliwack, and the fruits are local. I had 3 samplers and a quick visit. The crowds just kept coming, keeping them going hard at it!

WINE AND BEER FEST GALIANO, AUG 11

This small country festival sells out 500 people each season. Ferries from the Mainland and Island make it easy for people to come and go same day. People enjoyed the local brewers, cideries and wineries dispensing a wide array of craft beverages. It is civilized and relaxing and well done by all the volunteers.

Scottie McLellan is a craft beer industry veteran and longtime supporter of BC’s Craft Beer Movement.

He has written for What's Brewing for over a quarter century.

FA L L 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 45

BOOKS IN REVIEW | reading

READER BEWARE:

A GUIDE TO NOT-SO-GREAT BEER BOOKS

THE BEER WENCH GUIDE TO BEER

ASHLEY ROUTSON A solid, entry level guide book with tons of information, its author gives you the downlow but also throws in her well-informed two cents, with good results. Routson knows her beer but is also a comfortable writer with a strong wit. This book is fun to read and, I predict, will have a long shelf life.

BEER SCHOOL: A CRASH COURSE

JOHNNY GARRETT & BRAD EVANS This isn’t the place to discuss the recent trend of internet celebrities (such as Youtubers, bloggers and creators of popular websites) writing and publishing books. If you’re a big fan of the Craft Beer Channel and its creators then you might forgive this book its flaws. For the rest of us, this reads like a homebrewing manual that lost its identity halfway through. Give this book to your beer novice friend who refuses to read anything that isn’t juvenile or foul-mouthed with very large print. For the friend that you actually want to stay friends with, recommend:

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>> TED CHILD

good beer book should increase your knowledge, deepen your appreciation, clarify your confusion and, if you are lucky, be enjoyable to read. Unfortunately, not all beer books are created equal. Almost every beer book, even the poorest ones, will have something to offer, some nugget of information you might have otherwise have missed.

But unless you have the time, money, and commitment to read every book published on beer, you do have to choose one book over another. The worst outcome would be to take the time to read a beer book but be so underwhelmed that you never go back to it.

As a beer book reviewer for the last few years, let me give you some hints on the books you should seek out and some that, well, maybe wait till you find them in a discount bin.

BEEROLOGY

MIRELLA AMATO This book, written by a Master Cicerone and Canadian, created a brief stir of anticipation when it first hit shelves. Unfortunately, the final product couldn’t stand up to the hype. Not overly well written and oddly uneven, this book often reads like a Cicerone’s flashcards while the section on hosting tastings seems disproportionately large. If you work in the industry and host beer tastings then you might find something here. Otherwise, check out: 46 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2018

HOW TO HAVE A BEER

ALICE GALLETLY Galletly’s claim to fame is writing a beer blog in which she drank and blogged about a different beer everyday for 365 days in a row. Don’t fret that this is just a bunch of cobbled-together blog posts because it isn’t. Well thought out, and written, as well as witty, concise, honest and self-deprecating, this is a perfect gateway beer book for those beer novices who don’t know where to start. At just a hundred pages, this book is not very intimidating, will have you wanting to read more, and will make you laugh out loud while doing it.

BEERS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

LEO BUIJS It might seem unfair to pick on this already-out-of-date-when-itwas-new example, but I worry that some poor reader might have picked up this very basic (in production quality) book and never bothered with another beer book after. If you want to know about BC beers then the must-own book is:

CRAFT BEER REVOLUTION

JOE WIEBE Although a few years old, this is still a great resource and a great read for BC beer lovers. You can also usually chat with the author at almost any beer happening in the province. Hopefully, a third edition will be on shelves soon (hint, hint).

S U M M E R 2018 WHAT'S BREWING 46

We Live Great Beer In a world filled with mass-produced stuff, being connected with the things we consume brings us joy.

Distinct, local, and our commitment to never cut corners on quality, character or style.

driftwoodbeer.com @driftwoodbeer

Here are the books Ted recommends!

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF BEER NANCY HOALST-PULLEN & MARK W. PATTERSON

Although I generally like this book and was excited about the possibility of taking a long look at how history, culture and geography have influenced beer and beer cultures around the world, this book lacked the depth I expected from National Geographic.

The small amount of actual beer recommendations, plus the price point, mean that, when I hunt down a long-sought after import, I turn to:

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THE WORLD ATLAS OF BEER

TIMM WEBB & STEPHEN BEAUMONT Although it might miss some of the historical details the National Geographic Atlas of Beer has, there is just so much more substance to this book. Newly revised, much of the content here is concerned with the very recent, particularly how craft beer has drastically changed the beer scene in many countries. There is a strong, well-informed authorial presence here that makes for great reading. As for beer and brewery recommendations, this book is heavily peppered with them throughout.

It would be a dereliction of duty if I failed to also recommend some other must-read authors, specifically Randy Mosher and anything by the late, great beer critic Michael Jackson. Mosher’s Tasting Beer remains an indispensable resource to beer lovers, while Jackson laid the groundwork for almost everything we know and believe about beer, from history, styles, customs, appreciation and food pairing. Some of his books have aged better than others, but all are worth checking out and many can be found cheap in used book stores. I hope this will help you enjoy reading about beer as much as I do.

Ted Child is a Recognized BJCP Beer Judge and award-winning homebrewer. He is also What's Brewing's in-house book reviewer. Look for his assessments of the latest beer books and publications in each issue

Note: views and opinions expressed within are those of our individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the position of What’s Brewing

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