27 years after opening, Russell Brewing has just opened its tasting room this summer! This brewery was at the forefront of the craft beer movement in BC as it was one of the original 10 to open in the 1990s. Their core beers have become icons — A Wee Angry Scotch Ale, Blood Alley Bitter, … Continued
With milkshake IPAs everywhere these days, beer drinkers might be forgiven for thinking that a “cream ale” is the same kind of thing. An older American style that was popular in the 1980s, cream ales are starting to appear on BC breweries’ taplists again. But cream ale has no dairy in it, nor is it … Continued
Today, July 6th 2022, marks 40 years to the day since John Mitchell’s first craft beer inspiration was launched. Mitchell’s trailblazing quest for good ale continues to educate and inspire BC’s brewers. On July 6th 1982, in an unassuming enclave just north of metropolitan Vancouver BC known as Horseshoe Bay, the first pints were pulled … Continued
On May 15, 2021, Nelson Brewing Company celebrates its 30th anniversary. We dive into the company’s “richer than a chocolate stout” history, and uncover the characters who made this neighbourhood brewery a stalwart of the BC craft beer scene. Nelson Brewing Company was founded in 1991. The history of brewing in this small Kootenay town, … Continued
In this episode, Aaron visits Main Street Brewing in Vancouver, BC. The neighbourhood of Mt. Pleasant has seen a major transformation in recent years, and a key establishment that has played a major role is Main Street Brewing, part of the newly relaunched Brewery Creek Ale Trail in Vancouver. The historic building housing Main Street … Continued
You know what they say… behind every great beer name, there’s an even greater story. Once upon a pre-COVID time, I embarked on a road trip across the Kootenays. Dipping into breweries for crisp salvation, I came across a number of brow-furrowing, curiosity-sparking Kootenay beer names. Intrigued to discover the secrets and stories that lurk … Continued
From 2010 to 2019 the craft beer revolution expanded in British Columbia like never before! Back on December 31, 2009, no one in British Columbia — not even the most optimistic beer lover, myself included — could have predicted what the next decade would bring. There were about 40 craft breweries in BC at the … Continued
This blog post picks up where we left off in “The History of BC Craft Beer — Part 2.” Following its humble beginning at the Horseshoe Bay Brewery in 1982, the craft beer industry in British Columbia grew slowly and steadily over the next three decades. It enjoyed a mini-boom in the 1990s, and then … Continued
This blog post picks up where we left off in “The History of BC Craft Beer — Part 1.“ After helping create Canada’s first microbrewery in Horseshoe Bay, BC, Frank Appleton returned to his home in the Kootenays but soon found himself in demand as a consultant brewmaster. Over the next two decades, he would … Continued
BC Craft Beer—searching for a better way. Back in the early 1980s there weren’t any craft breweries in British Columbia. No one really said “craft beer” back then anyway — the term was “microbrewery.” Either way, there weren’t any microbreweries in BC then; there were hardly any anywhere. At the beginning of the 20th century … Continued