Bay Ale, brewed at Horsehoe Bay Brewery by John Mitchell and Frank Appleton, was the first collaboration in the history of Canadian craft beer, and the spirit of that partnership is now being replicated in a new beer – The Transatlantic Collaboration IPA, a beer produced in collaboration with Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria and Fuller’s Brewery in England.
In 1982, John Mitchell was struggling to get a crazy idea off the ground: he wanted to brew his own beer and serve it in his pub, something no one else in Canada was doing. With the help of fellow British expat Frank Appleton, he managed to scrape together money for some brewing equipment (adapted from a dairy) and a brewing space. Appleton had the skills to create a recipe and make the beer. Mitchell managed to get the necessary permissions to open his Horseshoe Bay Brewery. But one magical ingredient was missing: yeast.
Mitchell’s appeals to various large breweries to use some of their yeast had gone unanswered or were rejected. No one was interested. No one, that is, until Mitchell reached out to one of the top breweries in his native England: Fuller’s Brewery, home of the famous ale London Pride. Under Appleton’s expert hand and using the yeast shipped over from Fuller’s, Horseshoe Bay Brewery produced a London Pride-style beer that they christened Bay Ale, the first keg of which they tapped in the summer of 1982. In his memoir, Appleton recalls the nervousness they both felt that first night, especially when the initial pour was cloudy. However, nerves proved to be wrong. Bay Ale was so popular that they soon found themselves selling out, and Horseshoe Bay Brewery became both a destination and an inspiration for other craft beer fans out there, including the people who would soon establish Granville Island Brewing, Shaftebury Brewing, and more.
Bay Ale was the first collaboration in the history of Canadian craft beer, and the spirit of that partnership is now being replicated in a new beer – The Transatlantic Collaboration IPA, a beer produced in collaboration with Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria and Fuller’s Brewery in England. This is the first John Mitchell Signature Collaboration, with more planned for the future. The proceeds of this beer and future Signature Collaboration beers will go to the KPU John Mitchell Legacy Endowed Scholarship. After much anticipation, the Transatlantic IPA was released this week at special events held at Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria and the Barley Merchant in Langley. To say that craft beer fans in BC were excited to try it is an understatement.
But why Spinnakers? Since Horseshoe Bay Brewery has long been closed, Spinnakers was the natural choice. Spinnakers’ history extends back to 1984, when John Mitchell helped architect Paul Hadfield realize his dream of opening a brewpub. As one of the few breweries in BC serving beer on cask and producing traditional English ales, it seemed only right that it was the site and the partner for this new Fuller’s collab.
John Mitchell’s longtime friend John Ohler spearheaded the collaboration, and planning began over a year ago. When Ohler first reached out to Fuller’s head brewer Guy Stewart, Stewart was initially taken aback: “Who’s this mad Canadian?” he recalls asking himself. However, as soon as he heard the history, he was on board. He contacted their yeast labs immediately and asked them to ship some to Paul Hadfield’s brewing team at Spinnakers. Along with the yeast, Stewart sent the recipe for Fuller’s famous Extra Special Bitter (ESB).
With the ESB recipe, Fuller’s yeast, and Hadfield’s vision for producing an old-world style IPA, the Spinnakers brewers got to work. After a couple of test batches, they arrived at that perfect balance of rich malt and earthy, slightly floral hops. The Transatlantic Collaboration IPA was born. A beautiful, clear, bright copper, it’s somewhere between an English IPA and an ESB, with a healthy dose of nutty malt richness balancing the moderate hop bite. It’s not your usual West Coast-style IPA; it is more subtle and points to its origins in the English ale tradition. It’s a beautiful beer, and fairly sessionable at 5.2% ABV.
The events at Spinnakers in Victoria and The Barley Merchant in Langley were crowded with brewers, brewery owners, and other supporters of the BC craft beer industry. Longtime industry advocates like Ken Beattie and Lundy Dale were there, and Guy Stewart himself flew over from England for the celebrations. This collaboration marks an important moment in BC craft beer history, so it was meaningful to see such a gathering of craft beer luminaries present to honour it.
John Ohler, who has worked tirelessly to support the BC craft beer industry and memorialize Mitchell’s legacy, agrees.
“It’s an important milestone in Canada’s craft beer history. Forty-three years after Fuller’s in England sent yeast to John Mitchell to open Canada’s first craft brewery, we’re doing it again!” he says. “And this is at a time when Canada’s craft beer industry is struggling. We need to recognize the importance of collaboration in craft beer – it’s what characterizes craft beer. Collaboration brings multiple people together to create an interesting product for the consumer. The industry desperately needs this.”
The Transatlantic Collaboration IPA will be available at various private liquor stores on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, including Vessel, Jaks, and Legacy.
Every Pint Tells a Story
