Neighbors to the north, I'm heading up to one of my favorite places, Vancouver, for the weekend. My beer experience here has been pretty bare bones (Vancouver Island Brewing, Yaletown Brewing) with the exception of the fantastic Alibi Room. Here are some things I had in mind - am I missing anything or foolishly including something I shouldn't? If there is any local gems on the shelf, that would be good info as well. Beerfly is not overly helpful... Stores (Primarily seeking Cantillon, 3F, Driftwood oneoffs) Brewery Creek Legacy Firefly Viti (proximity to hotel) Breweries Parallel 49 Howe Sound (way back from Whistler on Sunday) Central City (way back from Whistler on Sunday) Steamworks - looks OK, location is such that I'll likely walk by and stop in Bars Alibi Room Chambar (Friday dinner) Black Frog? Six Acres? St. Augustines - Location may be too out of the way to logically fit Many thanks
Definitely do 16th Street - you will find more seasonal releases there (and Cantillon) in stock than the others above plus cheaper. For Breweries you should also hit Powell Street which is about 1 block away from Parallel 49. Is a recent nano brewery but has some great beers. You look like you're staying downtown - Central City may be too far and you wouldn't hit it on your way back from Whistler but would be worth going to if you are out in the Surrey area. One other bar I would go to (other than Alibi and Chambar) would be Bitter which is a block or so from Alibi. Hope you have a good time. P.S. Not sure if you are aware but it is currently craft beer week. You might want to check their site for events/tickets (mostly sold out). Many places have non-advertised events as well.
Sweet, thanks. Hitting Central City on the way back from Whistler to Seattle I don't think that adds too much time. Bitter looks cool - I stumbled across what appears to be a related joint, Salt, the other day which also looked pretty sweet.
Salt is there sister place that is similar but centers on wine while bitter is beer. Yes, Central City shouldn't be too much out of the way on the way to Seattle.
St Augustines is pretty easy on the skytrain, would take about ten minutes from the city. It is right next to the station, you would get off at Commercial (two stops east, any train from Chinatown station near Chambar). Then again for the amount of time your in town, looks like your cramming a tonne in. I agree with Fondue too, if your going to Parallel 49, definitely stop by Powell Street, it is a stone throws distance. Definitely check out Central City's liquor store while your at the brewery. Great selection and prices.
I agree that 16ST is best for Cantillon stock, but I found the last St Lamvinus in all of Greater YVR in Surrey at Big Ridge liquor store ya never know...
Great weekend up north - here's the report... Breweries: Parallel 49 was great fun - sampled everything and took some to go. Also had some of their taps elsewhere in the city. Hopnotist and Lord of the Hops were both real nice. Powell was closed for the weekend. Howe Sound was a nice stop up in Squamish. Central City was interesting - best mall brewpub I've seen, but still a mall brewpub. Skipped Steamworks as it looked very touristy with questionable beer quality per this site. Bars: Alibi Room was wonderful as usual though extremely heavy on Portland beer (commons, upright) which is a great thing for BC, but not what I was in the market for. Made it to St Augustines - didn't love the actual place but nice taplist. I thought Six Acres was a real fun place - sat outside both stops and split a bottle of driftwood belle royale. Stores: 16th street was a goldmine though Brewery Creek seemed to be the "best" store. Viti, Legacy and Firefly were all OK but no need to stop there if you can hit the other 2. Food: Fun lunches at Go Fish Ocean Emporium and Meat & Bread, Chambar was worth it, L'Abbatoir (not a beer-centric place) was absolutely fantastic in my opinion. Revolver for coffee is as good as one will find anywhere. Love Vancouver - until next time...
