The BC Ale Trail’s latest Tasting Passport contest includes some of the province’s longest-running craft breweries and some of its newest.
Between March 28 and April 30, 2024, visit at least three breweries from both Vancouver Ale Trails (Brewery Creek and Yeast Vancouver), get your passport stamped, and drop it off at a participating location to be entered to win the Grand Prize Giveaway. If you don’t manage to fill out the whole thing, you’ll still be eligible for other prizes so make sure you hand it in!
The Vancouver Tasting Passport’s 31 breweries, distilleries, tap houses, and liquor store are divided into two Ale Trails: Brewery Creek, where Vancouver’s very first breweries took root in the 1880s, and Yeast Vancouver, the birthplace of modern Vancouver craft beer back in the 1990s. On my journey through Vancouver this past week, I visited both Ale Trails to fill out my passport.
Brewery Creek
My first brewery was R&B Brewing, whose taproom features a large stuffed raven standing guard and shelves crowded with books and games. It’s just a brief walk from Main St. Brewing, Brassneck Brewing, 33 Acres, and Electric Bicycle, but R&B is the oldest of the bunch, having opened its doors in 1997. It didn’t get its own tasting room and food service until after its neighbours, but it’s now known for having the best pizza around – as well as award-winning beer (Dill Pickle Gose, anyone? It might sound a bit crazy for a beer, but you should try it).
I visited with some fellow beer history fans: Melanie Hardbattle and Richard Dancy of the Simon Fraser University craft beer archive project, and Mitch Taylor, founder of Granville Island Brewing. The tasting room was buzzing with happy energy when we arrived; couples with young children enjoyed flights, groups of friends gathered around game boards, and everyone was having fun. After ordering a couple of their fresh, homemade pizzas to accompany our beer, we sat back to catch up on one another’s news and chat about BC beer history. My flight included two fantastic IPAs (the Vancouver Special and R&B’s new Double IPA, Absolute Unit), the Stolen Bike German Pilsner, and the classic Raven Cream Ale – a much-loved Vancouver beer modelled after Shaftebury’s Cream Ale from back in the 1980s. And I couldn’t resist a taster of their cask ales, which were both served from a cask engine: a cask version of the Raven, and their East Side Bitter (R&B’s version of the classic English ESB – Extra Special Bitter). If a brewery has cask beers on the menu, I always recommend trying them. R&B did not disappoint.
A couple days later, my husband Rich and I stepped out into the Vancouver sunshine to visit one of the city’s newest breweries: Brewing August, which opened in the summer of 2022. Located near the Granville Island bridge, Brewing August is in a perfect location to capture the heavy foot traffic of, well, Vancouver in August. Or any other time of year. But August was their inspiration, according to co-founder Tate Lillies. Through casual backyard conversations at family gatherings, Lillies and his brother-in-law Travis Rea discovered they both had the same idea: to start their own craft brewery. Rea was a chef and a homebrewer, and Lillies had a wide range of business experience. With a third co-founder, Adam Jones, they turned their dream into a reality, creating a brewery and tasting room inspired by the long, warm nights of a Vancouver summer.
Brewing August has a street-level tasting area and an upstairs space as well. Both are light-filled, and you can enjoy looking out at the Kitsilano neighbourhood while sipping your beer. They don’t offer flights, but you can purchase 6-ounce pours rather than full pints, which gives you a chance to try more of their offerings. Their hazy IPAs are popular, but their flagship beer is really their Blonde IPA, a delicious beer that somehow balances on the edge of several styles but keeps you guessing (also, sip slowly – it’s a higher ABV than its taste suggests!). It has features of an IPA, a Belgian blonde, and maybe something in between. I loved it. I was also a fan of their Golden IPA and Rich loved their Tart Cherry Sour – another hit for a hot day. Our beers were accompanied by some of the best tacos I’ve had, delivered by neighbouring Las Autenticas Tacos & Tortas (you just text them your order, and it’ll come to the tasting room). I highly recommend checking them out if you enjoy Mexican food! The cherry blossoms on the leaves outside, combined with Brewing August’s beachy taproom, summery beers, and tasty snacks, made me anticipate the warmth and sunshine of Vancouver’s spring and summer.
From Brewing August it was only a ten-minute walk through Granville Island – crowded with visitors on this sunny Sunday – to reach the Aquabus terminal. Our plan was to commute through False Creek to reach our final Brewery Creek destination. We only had a few minutes to wait before Vancouver’s famed rainbow-coloured Aquabus came to pick us up and take us across the water to the Olympic Village terminal. Another ten minutes of walking and people-watching and we arrived at Red Truck Beer Company.
Red Truck was immediately recognizable – a large white tower with the brewery’s name in red letters rose above the industrial surroundings, and many of the vehicles surrounding its Truck Stop diner were classic 1950s-style red trucks. These are modelled after owner Mark James’ original red truck, which he used to deliver his beer two decades ago. The tasting room is spacious, casual, and comfortable (and I was a fan of the bathrooms, too – I haven’t seen sinks made out of tires before!)
Red Truck is the place to go if you want some tasty diner food with your beer – and enough to take home in a doggie bag! We tried some of their appetizers – wings, fries, garlic fries, and deep-fried pickles – and the food was both filling and plentiful. While sharing our appies, we each sipped on a flight. The Red Truck lager is a solid example of the style (clean, crisp, and clear), but I was partial to their North West and North East IPAs, which have a good malty backbone to balance out the hops. These are approachable IPAs that are neither overly bitter nor super sweet. And this approachability is what I expect from Red Truck, which has remained a steady presence in the Vancouver craft beer scene since the company was founded in 2005. To my mind, this is due to its consistency – consistency in its branding and atmosphere, as well as in the beer styles and how it produces them.
Yeast Vancouver
Our first stop on the Yeast Vancouver Ale Trail was Container Brewing, tucked in on the north side of Hastings and not far from Superflux, Bomber, Off the Rail, and Strange Fellows. It may be hidden from the main drag, but once you turn the corner you see that Container is much larger than expected. With its two-floor tasting room and large patio area (with room for food trucks), it has lots of room for patrons and – in this case – musicians. We arrived just in time for an open-mic session, so we enjoyed local musicians while sipping our flights.
Container always has an interesting variety of beers on tap, and today was no exception. My flight included their Noch Mal German Pils, the Forgotten Trail West Coast IPA, a decoction Hefeweizen, and their Fresh Horizons Hazy IPA. There was also a hazy on a nitro tap and some Belgian and dark beers that I (sadly) didn’t get a chance to try – I’ll save them for my next visit. The creativity in Container’s offerings is balanced by solid brewing skill. Their current head brewer, David Dayco, came to Container from Red Truck. Combining the rigorous quality control practices and reliable recipe development learned at Red Truck with the creative flexibility of a smaller brewery has helped Dayco produce Container’s diverse yet consistently high-quality beers. I’m a fan of their branding as well – make sure you check out their gorgeous labels while you’re there.
East Vancouver Brewing was our next Yeast Van watering hole. Stepping into the brewery feels like you’re in a cozy beer cellar; the tasting room is below street level, furnished in warm wood, decorated with beer barrels and local artwork, and filled with natural light from its south-facing position. Open since 2017, it has found its niche in its East Van neighbourhood. We enjoyed flights while sharing an excellent beef panini with sauerkraut. I loved all four of the beers I tried, which included two award-winners, but my favourites were the Black IPA and their Back Porch Pilsner, which was *chef’s kiss* perfect. Rich tried the barrel-aged cherry sour, which he dubbed #1 on his flight. Kettle sours can be nice summer sippers, but there’s something about barrel-aged beer that provides an entirely different level of complexity. They were out of most of their IPAs when we visited, but I was told that a Brut IPA may soon be in the works.
Our final visit was to Powell Brewery, which was just a brief walk from East Van Brewing. Their small tasting room is warm and cozy, providing a sense of intimacy that I enjoy in a local craft brewery. Rich and I took a seat on two comfy low-set 80s-style chairs that brought up happy memories of my grandmother’s house. The familiar feeling made me want to stay there for the whole afternoon, just watching people and sipping on good beer. And there is definitely good beer there – Powell has won numerous awards over the years, including three at the BC Beer Awards this past fall. Big hits for me on this visit were their Belgian witbier and their Dive Bomb Dark Ale – this used to be their famous Dive Bomb Porter, but with a recipe tweak, the style has shifted. On our way out, we picked up a bottle of their Mystery Farmhouse Saison, a collab beer they made with Dageraad Brewing in Burnaby.
The Vancouver Ale Trail has so many craft breweries for you to explore – from the large to the tiny, the older to the brand-new. Take the opportunity to check out breweries you haven’t heard of or revisit old favourites. Wherever you visit, make sure you get your passport stamped so you can be entered to win the BC Ale Trail’s Grand Prize Giveaway!
Get all of the Vancouver Tasting Passport contest details here. Collect six unique stamps, three from each Ale Trail, and hand in your passport at any participating location to be entered to win the Grand Prize Giveaway. Multiple entries are encouraged, and don’t forget to turn in any partially filled passports for your chance at subsidiary prizes.
Not from Metro Vancouver? It’s the perfect time to plan a road trip combining Tasting Passport ale-ventures with a Sip & Stay package! Choose from a variety of accommodation partners and enjoy the best of Vancouver this spring.
