Hops are being harvested, fresh hop beers are pouring, and festival and awards season is here!
Breweries around the province don’t slow down this time of year. They speed up! In the next two months alone, there’s a brewery crawl, a street festival, a beachfront festival, a series of Oktoberfests under a handful of different names (Frogtoberfest, Dagtoberfest, and yes, Dogtoberfest), cask nights, anniversary parties, jam nights, BC Beer Con, the BC Beer Awards, and a full Craft Beer Week. All of it packed into two months!
It’s worth building a weekend around at least one of these events. Festivals like these bring a region’s breweries, cideries, and food vendors together for the afternoon. Support the small towns and neighbourhoods hosting them, and you’ll walk away with a better sense of what their beer scene is all about.
Here’s what’s on, where, and what to expect at each one.
Oktoberfest • Across BC
September and October
Harvest Haus at the PNE Forum (October 2–3) is the big festivity this year, in its 10th year, visitors can expect Tanzfläche dance floors, oompah bands, and more than 25 European and BC craft beers under one roof, plus a souvenir stein to take home. But, Harvest Haus is far from the only Oktoberfest on the calendar this fall. Between late September and mid-October, breweries all over the province are running their own versions: Dageraad Brewing‘s three-day Dagtoberfest in Langley, Lakesider Brewing Co.‘s sixth annual celebration in West Kelowna, and one-day parties at Field House Brewing Co., Dead Frog Brewery, Mariner Brewing, Kelowna Beer Institute, Red Collar Brewing, Sidekick Brewing, and Abandoned Rail Brewing Co., among others. Most of them are free to get into. New ones tend to get added as the season goes on, so bcaletrail.ca/events is worth a bookmark if you want the full list.
BC Craft Beer Month • Central Okanagan
October 1 – 31
October is BC Craft Beer Month, a celebration of the province’s 200+ independent breweries. In Kelowna and the surrounding area, the 19 breweries of the Central Okanagan Brewers Association (COBrA) are bringing back the COBrA Open, a city-wide mini golf tournament with putting holes at various breweries. You have the whole month to play each hole, record your scores and enter to win prizes.
Add weekly live music, trivia nights, a Fresh Hop Release Party at Buffalo Rouge Brewing and Kelowna Beer Institute‘s Brewphoria cask event, and there’s something on almost every day this month.
BC Craft Brewers Conference & BC Beer Awards • New Westminster
October 15-16
This is the industry’s own get-together with two days of seminars on brewing, business, and taproom operations, plus a tradeshow with more than 70 suppliers. But the public is more than welcome to join the festivities at the BC Beer Awards on the evening of the 16th, where the province’s brewers and cider makers get recognized for the year’s best releases. If you’ve ever wondered who actually decides what the best beer in BC is, this is the room where it happens. Tickets for the awards night are available now.
A Reel Street Fest • Kelowna
October 17
This is Rustic Reel Brewing Co‘s third annual street fest where visitors will see them take over the parking lot behind the brewery for an afternoon that celebrates beer, cider, wine, spirits, sodas, and coffee. Visitors will also be able to enjoy an artisan market, firepits, lounge areas, and carnival games. Tickets include a festival cup and four drink tokens, with early bird pricing at $35 through September 30 before it moves to $39. Dogs are welcome, it runs rain or shine, and capacity is limited, so this is one to book ahead of time, rather than show up and hope.
Brewphoria • Kelowna
October 24
Now in its 11th year, Brewphoria brings together 13 Okanagan breweries including Giant’s Head Brewing, BNA Brewing Co., Buffalo Rouge Brewing, Cannery Brewing, Copper Brewing Co., and Freddy’s Brewpub, each pouring a one-of-a-kind beer made just for the event. Tickets include all 13 samples plus a full 20-ounce pour of your favourite, with $5 pints and 15% off food for the rest of the night. Casks get tapped at 3 pm sharp, and once a keg’s dry, that beer’s gone for good. So, this is one where showing up early actually matters.
Vancouver’s North Shore Craft Beer Festival • North Vancouver
October 30-November 12
This event is a unique one and unfolds over two weeks, with a different North Shore brewery hosting each day. It kicks off with a Halloween launch party at The Pipe Shop on October 30 (costumes encouraged, proceeds going to North Shore Neighbourhood House), then moves through the neighbourhood: Bridge Brewing Company, North Point Brewing, Black Kettle Brewing, Wildeye Brewing, Shaketown Brewing, Beere Brewing Company, and Strathcona North each take a turn, among others, right through to November 12. It’s a good one that will keep you coming back for more. A Sip and Stay package is available for people planning to stick around the area for more than one stop.
Every Pint Tells a Story
