BEERSEEKERS: COMING HOME TO PENTICTON

COMING HOME TO PENTICTON

The attractive grounds of the Penticton Ramada

>> BEER SEEKERS

On a hot July day, we’re rocketing like a blue streak (quite literally, actually) towards not just any town, but Beer Town.

Penticton, long the focal point for BC’s South Okanagan summer playground, is something more for us: it’s a true craft beer community. As we detailed in our last issue, the long-running Okanagan Fest of Ale (felled only in its 25th year by the damn virus) planted the seed for a strong craft beer culture here early on. As a result, Penticton developed a beer scene years ahead of its bigger cousin Kelowna.

Kelowna now has double the breweries, but with only one fifth the population, Penticton easily wins the per-capita brewery comparison. That, again, helps explain why it has the nickname #BeerTownBC. Now, with that settled, let’s investigate where to find some friendly faces and cold craft beer in this warm, welcoming place.

Downtown Beer Crawl

Start your tour at Cannery Brewing. Operated by the Dyck family since 2001, it’s a rock in the tight Penticton beer community.

Although Cannery was severely affected by the March shutdown order, this is a family that was too experienced to surrender to panic. After temporarily and tearfully parting with staff members they consider their extended family, they kept hold of the steering wheel and brought things back under control in the following weeks.

Today, Cannery is better to visit than ever. In addition to their taproom and front patio, they have recently added “The Backyard”, a lovely, quiet green space adjacent to the north side of the brewery. The same beers are available here as in the taproom, rotating food trucks provide more solid sustenance, and one can (socially distantly) while away an afternoon with friends at shady picnic tables. Cannery continues to be the “place to be” in Penticton as illustrated by the fact that we met up with several industry insiders during our leisurely afternoon visit.

Bad Tattoo has had a great reputation since they opened. They make good, solid beer, some of the best pizza in BC beer, and were one of the first breweries to make hand sanitizer when COVID hit. They’ve expanded their production over the years but were hit hard by the spring closure. They laid off staff and started making sanitizer. Owner Lee Agur says that it’s been busy since they’ve gone back to beer, and they’re hiring again.

Slackwater Brewing is the newest kid on the brewery block. Owners Liam and Kelsey Peyton spent much of 2019 getting married, going on a honeymoon, moving from the coast, and starting a brewery, all at the same time!

By February 2020, their tasting room was frequently at 90% capacity, before everything came crashing down. Fortunately, Liam understood the significance of the virus and saw the shutdown coming, so he started working on an online delivery platform in advance and quickly shifted production to packaged product. Slackwater was therefore the first brewery in Penticton to start home deliveries.

On top of COVID challenges, Slackwater’s head brewer suffered a family tragedy this past spring, causing beer production to stall in May. When we visited in July, the perseverant brewery was back up to speed and serving beer and food again.

Coming soon: two major new brewery locations will open downtown Penticton, right along the path between the three already present. When Neighbourhood Brewing and Highway 97 Brewery open up in the city core, Beer Town will be one of the best brewery crawls in the province.

Sneak peek at the new Hwy 97 Brewery under construction, across the street from Cannery. Inset: Neighbourhood Brewing sign went up just before our trip.

Penticton West

Downtown may be Penticton's main beer nexus, but What's Brewing knows the benefits of staying at the Ramada Penticton Hotel, home of The Station Public House, and next door to Highway 97 Brewing Company. Be sure to reserve at the Ramada, and when you reach Penticton, you’ll check in to one of the stunning rooms there. The beautiful layout and poolside bar belie the fact that this is technically a motel. If you haven't stayed at the Ramada, you really must. Highway 97 Brewery's current location is only a block away. Spend an afternoon drinking fresh craft beer either on the patio or indoors, where you have the added bonus of watching the brewers at work just a few feet away. Their motto is “Life’s a Road Trip”, and the welcoming atmosphere pairs well with that sentiment. It’s as comfortable as being in your own living room, with better beer and no need to clean up afterwards. John Kapusty at Hwy 97

Many thanks to congenial publican John Kapusty for another great conversation at Hwy 97. We look forward to joining John and his family when they open their new, expanded brewery in downtown Penticton, tentatively slated for 2021.

When you’re ready for dinner, head back to the Station Pub and you’ll find a great beer selection to accompany the distinguished menu. Dine outside on the stunning patio. When you’re ready for a nightcap, takeout craft beer is available to enjoy from your room’s patio or balcony.

Mid-town Beer Stops

Everything is close in Penticton...but if you don’t want to walk the

half hour from the Ramada, you can cab it to the next destination. Michael Nagy, Manager at Tin Whistle, repping his hometown #PenCityBeer

Tin Whistle Brewing, founded 1995, is the Penticton original. It has grown along with the craft beer wave. They had to lay off staff when COVID hit, but already had a strong online presence in place. As of mid-summer, their newly-expanded tasting room was re-opened, and they were slowly hiring back staff.

The Barley Mill

Manager Mike Nagy has added a few fun gadgets to the tasting area since our last visit, including a couple of pinball machines. If you’re into gaming, you’ll love hanging out on the couch with beer and a big screen TV.

Following Tin Whistle in 1997 was Penticton’s second brewery, the Barley Mill Brew Pub. Unlike many breweries of that vintage, they’re still going strong thanks to brewer Shawn Voisin. Make this your lunch stop. In addition to being a great food & beverage spot, The Barley Mill is a shrine to sports memorabilia, because former owner and Penticton native Larry Lund played alongside Gordie Howe in the World Hockey Association. His passion has left its mark on the walls of the brewpub, which is worth a wander around after you’ve finished your meal.

< Your friendly host Paolo displays the vast craft beer selection at JAK’s Penticton

Now you’ll want to head back to the Ramada to enjoy the impressive accommodations. Aside from the breweries themselves, the best place to pick up beer for your hotel room is JAK’s Beer Wine Spirits. They’re huge #BCCraftBeer supporters (and sponsors of the What’s Brewing Tasting Panel). This is where official BC beer community Legend (and Panel leader) Lundy Dale picks up her beer, so you should too.

Summerland

Nathan Rosin invites you to Detonate (your taste buds) >

On your way to or from Penticton, it's a piece of cake to stop in at Breakaway Brewing in downtown Summerland.

It's also worth the detour to check out Detonate Brewing on a suburban hill off Highway 97. Nathan Rosin’s tasting room is exactly what the craft revolution is all about: experimental batches by a homebrew beer geek gone pro.

The BeerSeekers Ivana and Dave Smith have searched for that next perfect pint in BC and around Cascadia for two decades. out of their houses for days or weeks meant that our arrival was a breath of fresh air—almost literally. We maintained our distance and made contactless deliveries, but they wanted updates about what things were like “out there”. What does Robson Street look like? How is the tranCider packaged up at Container Brewing sit system working? And the kind lady that passed me a tip at the end of a long stick. Our work as delivery drivers kept our businesses in touch with our customers at a time when we and they needed it the most. We became better businesspeople with a much more engaged sense of what “direct to consumer” marketing meant and how better to adjust our web presence and apps like Instagram to generate incremental sales. But what it boiled down to is that our respective delivery services kept us moving, focused, and alive during this strange period in our lives. It also gained all of us some good friendships. Our group became the faces that we saw, the only people we could talk to directly, joke with, and enjoy, for months. We still operate our respective delivery services. We’re down from seven days a week to three. We’ve shrunk our delivery area to focus more on our core region of Vancouver proper. And we’ve noticed that our typical delivery patron has changed as well. It’s no longer someone who couldn’t leave their home, but someone looking for a convenient way to get their cider or beer.

I’m still dealing with the after-effects of all of this. It’s been hard to watch the world turn upside-down in such a short period of time. People leaping out of your way as you walked down the sidewalk. The constant parGirl Guide cookies: a big hit anoia of catching a disease that has affected a very small portion of the local population. The sudden closure of the economy and the hobbling of almost every business that we know. This has been a crisis that hit very close to home as we saw some of our favourite establishments hit hard. Congratulations to all for getting through this mess and staying the course in the face of adversity. If cider is your thing, we’re happy. If it isn’t, be sure to check out Container Brewing, Sundown Brewing, and Powell Brewing— their beer is amazing!

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.