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TRAVEL | OKANAGAN
KELOWNA'S EMERGING BEER DISTRICTS
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>> BEER SEEKERS
s has been widely reported, too many people celebrated Canada Day together in Kelowna this year. The ensuing viral outbreak and bad publicity caused tourism to drop appreciably in late July, to the detriment of the innocent businesses there. Recently, What’s Brewing headed to the Okanagan to check in on the breweries, whose traffic was affected by this.
Downtown & Cultural District The centre of Kelowna is replete with shops, restaurants and entertainment, even in these unusual times. You’ll want to grab a hotel room downtown, and your city tour will start amid a great food & beverage scene. Your first stop is just a few minutes away. The Downtown and North End
The North End: BC’s New Brewers Row With five breweries within essentially a one-block radius, Kelowna’s North End is the new BC brewery cluster to rival Port Moody Brewer’s Row. As with Port Moody, two of them are next door neighbours, and the rest are a one minute crawl each. And that’s if you’re actually crawling.
Kelowna Beer Institute
In 2016, we visited the Tree Brewing Beer Institute along the beautiful, bustling boardwalk located along Kelowna’s Waterfront Park. No, it’s not an institute of any kind, and it’s no longer branded as Tree either. Either way, the BI is an awesome space with a light menu specializing in spent-grain pizza. You can really enjoy a beer in the relaxed atmosphere of this great two-floor room and patio near the centre of the city.
BNA Brewing BNA Brewing & Eatery is two operations: a busy brewery, next door to a massive two-floor restaurant with its own entrance and opening hours. Thus, your tour will need to involve BNA twice: have drinks in the lounge on the way to your North End crawl, then dine in the Eatery on the way back. 28 WHAT'S BREWING FA L L 2020
We recently interviewed BNA Brewing’s Marketing Director Jill Jarrett about how things went during the COVID lockdown. See our COVID Comeback feature on page 8 and check out the full story on our website.
The first stop on your North End tour is Rustic Reel Brewing. Located just a short walk from BNA, this is a must-see for the beer enthusiast. Owner Susi Foerg has put her heart and soul (and love of beer) into this place. She wanted to create a place where women felt comfortable, and she certainly succeeded. The décor is a combination of modern and “rustic cottage”, with potted plants and fresh flowers placed strategically throughout. There is a small, revolving menu, and the beers are clean and solid. Especially recommended were the Amber Ale and the Rosenheim Hefeweizen.
