BC Craft Beer Takeout Pairings
and Food Collaborations

Calling all foodies!

The only thing better than beer from your favourite brewery? Beer from your favourite brewery alongside a killer meal. Learn how and where to pair BC craft beer with takeout and dine-in options. 

Whether you choose to dine in or enjoy takeout, many breweries across the province are teaming up with restaurateurs and food delivery services to make sure you don’t have to miss out on the wonderful combination of BC Craft Beer and delicious food.  Dine Out Vancouver, Dine Around Victoria, and Dine Around Interior BC are also in full force right now, which means some breweries are offering fantastic food features from their own kitchens. Spoiler alert: there are some great deals up for grabs.

Read on for a few noteworthy beer and food collaborations on the BC Ale Trail right now and learn how to pair BC craft beers with other takeaway favourites.

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BC Breweries and Dine Out Vancouver

Dine Out Vancouver is Canada’s largest food and drink festival, featuring fixed menu options at great prices at many of the city’s top restaurants and breweries. This year’s festival is on until March 7 and there are tons of scrumptious things up for grabs. 

BC Craft Breweries offering Dine Out options:

• Luppolo Brewing Company: Vancouver’s most Italian brewery has a great $25 3-course pizza menu available for dine-in. It includes a choice of appie, choice of pizza, choice of beer, and local artisan beer chocolate. In addition, they have a great option for takeout! For $50, get two pizzas and a 4-pack of tall boys to pair it with. Check out their menus.
• Faculty Brewing: Pencil in Faculty to enjoy their $40 set menu that includes two flights of their beer or Oddity Kombucha and two plates of conservas and chips. Check out their menu.
• Callister Brewing: Um, cookies and beer? Yes please. Join Callister Brewing and Half-Baked Cookie Co. on February 25 for an evening event pairing of decadent, flavour-contrasting cookies and beer for just $20. Check out their menu.

BC Breweries and Dine Around Interior BC

If that made you feel left out because you don’t live in Vancouver, never fear! Dine Around Interior BC is also in full throttle and there are some excellent breweries participating (some of which are doing great takeaway deals too).

Interior BC Craft Breweries participating in Dine Around:

• BNA Brewing: Enjoy their world-class kitchen and house-brewed beer, alongside their legendary bowling alley. Details here (no takeaway option).
• Freddy’s Brewpub: Grab Freddy’s $35 set menu and make it take-away, if you prefer, along with some of their delicious beer. Details here.
• Kelowna Beer Institute: One of Kelowna’s oldest breweries is offering a great deal with a $25 set menu, which is also available for takeout. Details here.

BC Breweries and Dine Around Victoria

Dine Around & Stay in Town Victoria 2021 is back by popular demand from February 19 – March 8, 2021. This follows the success of Dine Around earlier this year from January 14 to February 7. Dine Around’s return will include many of the same restaurants, as well as new feature menus for customers. With over 50 of Victoria’s restaurants offering $20, $30, $40, or $50 set three-course menus, Dine Around and Stay in Town is a great opportunity to return to your favourites or hit up that spot you’ve been meaning to try.

Victoria Craft Breweries participating in Dine Around:

• Canada’s original brewpub, Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub, will be offering $20, $30, and $50 menu featuring a variety of farm-to-table dishes. Check out Spinnakers’ Dine Around menus here.

Order in with Local Food Supply Co.

Local Food Supply Co. is a new “modern farmer’s market” and online food store that sources exclusively local food and drink all crafted or grown in BC. The initiative was started with Josh Vanderheid of Field House Brewing and offers a fantastic selection of BC craft beers to go along with their grocery and meal options. They deliver around Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Cultus Lake, Langley, Maple Ridge, and Mission and have everything you need to enjoy delicious local meals and beverages!

Order in with BeerVan

BeerVan is another online store and delivery service run by a  collective of small family-owned Vancouver craft breweries and beverage producers, including Faculty Brewing, Luppolo Brewing, and Powell Brewery. They also feature a variety of delicious food options (many of which are from Luppolo’s kitchen) to heat or cook at home while you pair with them beer they have in stock. They offer free same-day delivery in Vancouver 7 days a week and free delivery on Thursdays to North Van, Burnaby, New West, and Richmond. Check out the BeerVan store and the FoodVan store to plan dinner!

Order in with Spud Delivery

Spud.ca is a grocery and meal delivery service featuring tons of local food and beer options. BC breweries available for delivery in Vancouver include 33 Acres Brewing, Container Brewing, Driftwood Brewery, Four Winds Brewing, Russell Brewing Company, Steel & Oak Brewing, Strathcona Beer Co., and Yellow Dog Brewing.

Order in with TUTTI Food Delivery

Victoria’s only locally-owned food delivery service, TUTTI, offers access to some of the city’s tastiest local restaurants, plus delivery from Spinnakers Spirit Merchants. If you’re in YYJ, check out their app to order in your favourite dishes alongside some of the many BC craft beers available at Spinnakers Spirit Merchants.

Ask your favourite restaurants if they offer BC Craft Beer with takeout

Some restaurants are merging convenience with deliciousness by offering select cans of BC Craft Beer to-go or as a package with food. Ask some of your favourite local restaurants and taprooms if they do off-sales to save yourself some time and to further support both the restaurant and the breweries.

For example, Session Taproom in Campbell River has an awesome selection of tall cans up for grabs. You can purchase 4-can beer mixers for $20 while you grab a pizza to go (or stay). They’ve even got bottles of Loveshack Libations available so Campbell River locals can save themselves the drive to Qualicum Beach.

In Penticton, Cannery Brewing has teamed up with a bunch of local restaurants who include great deals on their beer with the purchase of food takeout, including:

• BRODO Kitchen
• The Barking Parrot Bar 
• The Hooded Merganser
• Cambo Beach Restaurant
• Pizzeria Tratto
• The Pasta Factory
• Poplar Grove Winery’s Restaurant
• La Casa Ouzeria
• Bear’s Den Restaurant
• Smugglers Smoke House

Some have been quite creative, like the Barking Parrot, which offers a “Parrot Pack” for take-out. It includes either two cheeseburgers, a pizza, or nachos along with a choice of a Cannery Brewing 6-pack for only $35. Great deal!

How to pair BC craft beer with your favourite takeout dishes

If the takeout you’re craving doesn’t include a specific BC craft beer, you can still plan a perfect pairing. Put in your food orders and swing by your local brewery or liquor store to pick up a bevvy that complements your takeout in the best way possible.

When it comes to pairing food and beer, consider the “3 C’s.”

• Comparing/Complementing: citrusy hops with citrus, roasted malts with roasted meat or chocolate

• Cutting: crisp Pilsners cut through fatty dishes and cleanse the palate, a robust porter can stand up to a rich cheeseburger, and hoppy IPAs can handle spicy dishes

• Contrasting: looking for a flavour in the beer to fill in a missing flavour in the food like oysters with a dry Irish stout or a sour beer with a sweet dessert

So, for example, you might start by looking for comparable flavours, perhaps citrusy hops that complement lemon or orange in a dish; or a Belgian Wit, which is brewed with coriander, alongside a dish that features that kind of spice. Or, try roasted malts in a dark ale or porter paired with roasted meats or even a chocolate dessert.

If you want to go with a cutting effect, a crisp Pilsner or Kölsch will cut through fatty dishes and cleanse the palate. A hoppy IPA can also stand up to the robust flavours in things like a greasy cheeseburger.

When it comes to contrasting, fill in a “missing” flavour in food with a beer, for example, the roasted, chocolatey bitterness of a stout contrasted with the briny, sweetness of oysters. And you might be surprised to find out how well a sour beer can pair with a sweet dessert.

When in doubt, pair it with a Hazy IPA! This citrusy, juicy beer style works well with just about anything.

Here are a few of our BC craft beer suggestions for some common takeout favourites:

Cumin Beef:

• Belgian Single: The spicy/peppery undertones complement the dish’s strong and savoury flavour profile.
• BC beers to try: Dageraad Brewing Burnabarian, Gladstone Brewing Belgian Single, Townsite Brewing Sentinel Ridge Belgian Single

Ginger Chicken:

• Saison: the floral notes of a tart saison are delicious with ginger, or you might even match it with a Ginger-infused beer.
• BC beers to try: Driftwood Brewery Farmhand Ale, Phillips Brewing Ginger Beer, Longwood Brewery’s Super G Ginseng Ginger Cream Ale

Kimchi Fried Rice

• Try a light and citrus white ale to balance bold kimchi
• BC beers to try: Strange Fellows Brewing Jongleur Wit, R&B Brewing Beer Island ISA

Vindaloo or Chickpea Masala

• Brown Ales and porters complement the heat of a vindaloo.
• BC beers to try: Field House Brewing Salted Black Porter, Barkerville Brewing Hound of Barkerville

Thai Red Curry

• Really bold West Coast IPAs are excellent for cleansing the palate of hot spices.
• BC beers to try: Parkside Brewing Graffiti IPA,  Highway 97 Brewery Red IPA (more of a complement since it’s malt-forward but hoppy)

Beef Pho

• If you don’t have any traditional bia hoi or Thai iced tea on hand, try pairing with a gose beer or a lelmon-infused saison. The salty and sweet burst in a gose along with its light body nicely complements the broth’s rich and complex flavour.
• BC beers to try: Ravens Brewing Corvus Lingonberry Lime Gose, Bridge Brewing Lemon Gin Saison

Tacos Al Pastor and Carnitas

• To balance the fatty, crispy flavours of these dishes, you need something that can hold its own. Try a smoked porter or a dark amber lager like Dunkel. Or go for something that would cleanse the palate but still have a full body like a strong IPA.
• BC beers to try: Yellow Dog Brewing Shake a Paw Smoked Porter, Hoyne Brewing Dark Matter or Biergarten Altbier, Four Winds Brewing Vexillum Imperial IPA
  

Classic Beef burgers

• When done right, a beef burger and beer pairing is hard to beat. A hoppy IPA can stand up to the robust flavours in a greasy cheeseburger.
• BC beers to try: Whitetooth Brewing Sickbird Northwest Pale Ale (a hop-forward pale ale), Beere Brewing Dream Sequence (West Coast-ish IPA)
  

Pepperoni or Mushroom Pizza with Tomato Base

• The slightly spicy notes of the pepperoni and earthiness of mushrooms combined with sweet, tangy tomato sauce are excellent with an Italian Pilsner or a hoppy IPA.
• BC beers to try: Luppolo Brewing Company La Piazza Italian Pilsner, 33 Acres Brewing 33 Acres of Nirvana
  

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Tag us @BCAleTrail to show off your BC craft beer and takeout pairings and meals at your favourite local breweries!