Going to Vancouver for the first time in a few weeks. It's easy enough to find a list of pubs and shops, but not the must-try local beers. I did my homework, went through the past few months of posts on this forum, and the list I made looks like this: Parallel 49 Fat Tug From East Van with Love Lord of the Hops Satori Harvest Hopnotist Driftwood Mad Bruin Belle Royale Lighthouse Belgian Black Howe Sound Pothole Filler Phillips Amnesiac Central City Imperial IPA Russell Hop Therapy IP'eh Tofino Hoppin' Cretin IPA Lighthouse Switchback Am I missing anything? Any beers on there that shouldn't be? It's pretty hop-heavy, too - any recommendations for non-IPA styles? Thanks in advance.
Hi, that list looks ok (although Fat Tug is made by Driftwood and not P49). Some of those beers are also seasonal and you likely will not find them around (such as From East Van with Love, Sartori Harvest, Hopnotist, Mad Bruin, Belle Royal, Belgian Black, CC Imperial IPA, Hop Therapy). Sartori was just released a week or so ago - it sold out in most places within hours - but you may be lucky enough to find a bottle somewhere. For beer stores try the following (in order of my personal preference): 16th Street. This is in West Vancouver (across Lions Gate Bridge) about 10-15 min drive from downtown but may be a bit too far for you to go. Chris the owner is a great guy and carries a great selection of BC, Belgian and US beers. Brewery Creek. This is on main street - also about a 10-15 min drive from downtown. Generally considered the best beer store in Vancouver. It can be hard to find BC seasonal releases due to its popularity. You can also find a very good selection in most provincial government stores. Selection of seasonals doesn't compare to the above private stores but you will find a lot of Driftwood, Central City etc there. I would seek out Driftwood (anything!), Lighthouse (Switchback and Red Siren), Central City (Red Racer IPA), Howe Sound (most of their line). Parallel 49 is a relatively new micro brewery that has been putting out good beer. You can go to the brewery. If there also drop by Powell Street that is about a block away and is a new nano brewery. Hope you have a good time - bring an umbrella, we have now entered rainy season.
Ugh, lost all the indenting off that list - sorry for the formatting! Those are good tips on seasonals; exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I didn't pay too much attention to dates when I was combing the old threads. I'm staying downtown and working on Terminal Ave, so I may not head as far as Parallel 49 this trip. One question: I read a lot about Brewery Creek - is it actually worth a detour or would I be covered by checking in at Viti and Legacy?
In terms of whether it's worth the detour... I live ~100m from Legacy and I spend at least as much if not more money at Brewery Creek! Wish I didn't have to, but especially over the last couple months they've just not gotten in things that BC's gotten plenty of- though in terms of locals and most belgians, they do pretty well.
Check out Four Winds Brewing, and Brassneck (which opened yesterday - beers only available at the tasting room/brewery). 33 Acres is close to Brassneck as well. Should be fresh hop beers out from P49, Powell, and Lighthouse soon. Your best bet if you want to try lots of beers is to hit Alibi Room or St Augs as they'll have the biggest/freshest tap lists. Parallel 49/Powell St/Storm are maybe a 10 minute cab from Terminal. Brassneck and 33 Acres would be a short walk from there on Main St. Vancouver might look big on a map but the downtown core is very tiny. Aside from rush hour getting around is very quick.
good news about Brassneck. I'm 5 mins away and didn't realise it had opened. Been hanging out for that one!
hmmm any idea of Brassnecks hours? Would consider it a good addition to their website. Doh stealth edit, found it on twitter Regular hours: Mon-thurs 2pm-11pm Fri 12pm-11pm Sat & Sun 11am-11pm
It's about 3/4 of a KM up Main (we just took Skytrain to the Canucks game and walked). It is tiny, and industrial, and AWESOME! Great beer, cool urban vibe...fun. Growler fills, sample flights......you name it.
I live 100m from Brassneck. My life was completed when they opened their doors. Pretty much all of their initial brews are pretty darn good. Nifty vibe too. If you walk into Brewery Creek and ask them to hook you up with the best local beers right now they will surely not disappoint. There are two guys at Legacy that I've talked to that are super knowledgeable as well, though I find their selection slightly spottier than Brewery. Still very much worth the stop though, since they are 5 minutes apart by car. If you're into picking up growlers, stop at Storm Brewing on Commercial. Amazing beers from one of the Godfathers of BC craft beer. Two awesome stouts, the best Canadian flanders red there is, and some great hop-forward options. Parallel 49 is only a few blocks from Storm and they have a great tasting room area with lots of bottles and growler fill options too.
I really liked the tap room for 33 Acres last time I drove through Vancouver. I'm sure they have more beers than are listed on BA. I'd never had a bad beer from Driftwood. Parallel 49 had the undrinkable (to me) Lil' Red, but is otherwise stellar. I also liked picking up a bunch of Cantillon.
Hit up Central City in Surrey if you have time and also Four Winds in Delta, it might even be on your way.
Good point - Four Winds is near the highway if you're headed up from the border! Probably my favourite local brewery right now.
While you're here grab a BC Craft Beer Passport. Available in different areas around Greater Vancouver, and the average price of a sleeve included is only $3! Good till Decmber 14th. Details here: http://yvrbeertweetup.com/craftbeerpassport/
