Is there a beer in Canada worth tracking down?

Which part of the 9,984,670 km² area are you visiting? Would help pin something down. Distro is not nation-wide for almost everything.

 

Well what part of Canada it is a very big country and how exactly to you plan on bringing Pliny the Younger when it isn't bottled.

 

I hear Cantillon is more available up there, but that could just be those silly Canadians messing with us American BA's.

 

Please stop that rumour, it sells out as quickly as it does in the States and is just as rare.

 

It is now it's a valuable trading commodity!!! In days past we had 'Loons on most respectable stores shelves for many months. Now, folk from other provinces/states clear us out the minute arrives, leaving us who wanna actually drink it...... well rather parched!

Stuff to search out would be most stuff from Bellwoods in Ontario, most beers from Driftwood in BC, some special releases from Half Pints in Manitoba, also from BC you have Four Winds. It all depends on what you're after, and where you're going.

 

If you're staying in a Vancouver hotel, bring a growler - we have a tri-tap system in all the 4-star plus establishments; and most rotate through the LPs and Fou. Other than that... there's nothing exciting up here whatsoever. Enjoy your trip!

 

Then there is a host of great BC breweries you will have no trouble finding great stuff, just check which stores are best in the travel section of Beer Advocate and hit them up. Sure trading partners will be beer mailing you. I always enjoy the Albi Room for a tap room while in Vancouver.

 

If you're in BC you will definitely want to get your hands on Driftwood stuff. Their Fat Tug IPA, imo, is as good as many of the big name IPAs. Their New Growth Pale Ale is outstanding. I really enjoyed their Naughty Hildegard ESB.

All the beers I've had from Driftwood were solid...if not excellent.

 

Breweries/Beers you should check out in Vancouver > Four Winds, Brassneck, Strange Fellows, Steel & Oak, Dageraad, Parallel 49, Powell, 33 Acres, Main Street, Storm and probably more than a few I've missed. I've had amazing beers from all of those, maybe not consistently but that's beer. New ones popping up all the time.

Breweries/Beers from the Island > Driftwood, Lighthouse, Moon Under Water and a few others probably by now

Imports > We get a whole crap load of Oregon and WA stuff (which you may or may not have access to). Lately we've gotten Cascade & Pfriem for example. We just got Szech & Brett too. Logsdon, Breakside, Commons etc

If your only search is for Driftwood you'll be missing out big time. I love the Fat Tug IPA, but the scene has grown A LOT, and BA has not kept up at all in terms of BAers reviewing local beers here.

 

I keep hearing about Four Winds. I'd like to get my hands on some of their beer!

 

The BC IPA scene right now is quite strong in my opinion. Fat Tug has been the king for a long time, but it definitely has a lot of competition right now, and some would say it's been surpassed. Other high quality IPAs worth checking out that are always around include: Yellow Dog "Play Dead", Central City IPA, Brassneck Passive Aggressive (a pale technically, but it's in the wheelhouse for my palette), Four Winds IPA, and others.

 

+1 for Yellow Dog. Brewery is a bit out of the way, but they are easy to find in shops now, the Play Dead in cans is a thing of beauty!

 

It depends where you're going, man. There's a lot of amazing breweries in Canada; here are some worth checking out...

Western Canada; Alberta has Tool Shed*, Alley Kat, Dandy, Village, Brewsters*. Saskatchewan had Paddock Wood (get their 'monkey' beers. Awesome imperial stouts). BC has Moon Under Water, Four Winds*, Bad Tattoo*, Lighthouse, Driftwood*.

Eastern Canada; Ontario has too many great breweries to mention. Check out the Niagara region. Quebec has Dieu du Ciel!*, Unibroue, and tons of others.

Hope this helps a bit
*highly recommended!!!

 

Just read your post. Vancouver and surrounding area has Parallel 49, Four Winds, Storm, Powell Street. Definitely try to make it out to Four Winds, who focus on elevated European styles, and Parallel 49 who just make insane beers, check out the Rye the Long Face rye IPA and BBA RIS and the sours they've just started making. I'm headed out to Victoria in August and they have some amazing breweries and brew pubs. Cheers!

 

Contrary to what some of my Canadian brethren have said, I think a lot of the beer listed in this thread are not necessarily worth tracking down but are simply just examples of good Canadian beer. Few are likely to give you that mind-blowing, Pliny the Younger for the first time type experience you're after.

In my opinion, there are probably three beers brewed here that would fit the bill of what you're looking for: BA Peche Mortel, 4W Nectarous, and Sartori Harvest.

BA Peche you'd definitely have to trade for, small chance you could find an IP in Vancouver. Nectarous you might get lucky and find at the brewery or on store shelves if your timing is right, otherwise setting up an IP trade in Vancouver shouldn't be too difficult. Sartori Harvest will require you to get your timing right, it's a fresh hop beer which is usually released in mid September but could be slightly early this year since we've had an unusually hot summer.

Good luck on your hunt!

 

One thing the great things about BC's beer scene right now is I think there is a good amount of really great products out there. For example, I agree w/ Beervana that Nectarous and Sartori are great, tasty beers....and neither are my favourite beer that their respective breweries make!

 

I suppose you're right about a mind blowing beer in Canada. However, that got me thinking about the CDN beers I've had that did blow me away the first time I had them - in no particular order:

Aphrodisiaque
Peche Mortel
La Fin du Monde
Maudite
Trois Pistoles
Fat Tug
New Growth Pale Ale
Naughty Hildegaard ESB
Yukon Brewing Lead Dog Ale
Yukon Brewing Midnight Sun Espresso Stout
St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout
Alley Kat St. Portersburg Porter
Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale (no longer brewed)
Village Brewing Black Saison
Rebellion Brewing Double Cherry Stout
Ribstone Creek Great White Combine White IPA

I'm surely missing others. These are the ones that came readily to mind.