just back from Oregon ...

[vandan]

And it got me wondering how many micro breweries/brew pubs we have here in BC , anyone have a link of source, i did a quick search to no avail

[flowbee]

Nowai! I just got back from a beer/food tour of Portland, OR too:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

Enjoy!

[fmed]

Great pics!

[grayelf]

Great pix flowbee and I'm cribbing for our Oct Pdx trip. Would you consider posting a link on the Portland board? I'm sure it would be appreciated!

[kinnickinnik]

"Put a Nerd on it"
Love it! :-)

[vandan]

i went to the highly regarded Rogue ( both at PSU and in the Pearl) and i gotta tell ya i wasn't really a fan of their beers, love my IPA's < but found theirs way too bitter on the finish, there was an Irish one of sorts that wasmy favorite but styill didn;t love it, in the IPas overall weren't to my liking, i ended drinking lots of hefs ( can't really go wrong there, unless they are apricot etc...) 2 beers that i really enjoyed were the mass produced( relatively) Deschutes Chainbreaker white IPA and in Seaside i tried ( and loved) Shock top Belgian wit beer , its actually brewed by A-B,

i did make it out to Pok Pok, got there about 11:20 am on Thurs ( they open at 11:30 got seated right away , had the much acclaimed wings, thought they were good, not fantastic and at $12 for 6 of them a tad expensive, also had the half game hen, tender and tasty, overall it was good but am glad i did not wait as i was nowhere near blown away by it

[kinnickinnik]

Northwest Brewing News lists 51 BC Breweries (incl brewpubs) (go to p 23 for the map and list)
http://nwbnonline.brewingnews.com/pub...

[fmed]

That's great - stats confirmed by two sources. The BC craft beer scene is doing very well.

[kinnickinnik]

Indeed - and two more on the way per the article on the next page: Wheelhouse in Prince Rupert and Sapperton in New West

[anewton]

I've been enjoying the Driftwood and Hoyne beers all summer and am happy that BC craft brewing has done so much "catching up" to what is happening south of the border.

Still can't say that the best in BC matches my fav Oregon and California beers (absolutely loving the Hopworks Urban Brewery's Rise-Up Red Ale). And my favourite lager, strangely enough, hales from Brooklyn (the fabulous Brooklyn Brewery Lager).

But Hoyne makes a great pilsner and a good bock, and Driftwood never disappoints with their Farmhand Ale and Driftwood Ale. What I find is not yet up to snuff in BC is the IPA scene. Our IPAs typically lack the vibrant citrus, pine, and eucalyptus notes that elevate the best IPAs from Oregon and California and help to balance out the dominant bitter taste of the hops. Driftwood, Hoyne and Central City all make decent IPAs but nothing to match the fruity Sierra Nevada Torpedo, the irreproachable HUB IPA, or Anderson Valley's IPA, IMO.

[flowbee]

We don't make good IPAs? Dems fightin' words!!! :)

imho we make some world-class PNW-style IPAs: Lighthouse Switchback IPA, Driftwood Fat Tug and Sartori Harvest, Central City Red Racer IPA (although I think it used to be much more aromatic than in the past year or so), etc. That said, SN Torpedo is a personal fave of mine too. And I love most everything that Lagunitas does.

[fmed]

Our top IPAs are not as good as the top ones in the US PNW, but I think they are on the same playing field.

I think the BC breweries need to work on the other styles - Belgian-style sours, darks, etc. I would love a good BC sour beer. I was not able to try Storm's Blackcurrant Lambic which was supposed to have been very good. I did try their famously sour 12 yr old Lambic - but hooooboy it was intensely sour. Too acetic for my tastes.

[vandan]

Yup close fo 150 tbese days, i was just trying to figure out just how far behind we are

[peter.v]

Let's see what I can do off the top of my head:

Driftwood
Hoyne
Phillips
Vancouver Island
Lighthouse
Moon Under Water
Canoe
Swans
Tofino
Longwood
Central City
Big Ridge
Red Truck
Yaletown Brewing
Coal Harbour
Parallel 49
R&B Brewing
Storm
Brassneck (forthcoming)
Cascade Group (forthcoming)
Mission Springs
Old Yale
Tree
Granville Island
Townsite
Plan B
Mount Begbie
Fernie

I've definitely forgotten some, but this is pretty close to the list I think.

[fmed]

According to Joe Weibe (who writes about beer) there are over 50 craft breweries now in BC http://urbandiner.ca/2012/07/25/thirs...

I think Oregon has over 120? About half that number (60) within Portland city limits. They had a head start of course. I remember way back in the late 80's when it was already the capital of craft beer in the US. They now rank 3rd in the US.

[vandan]

Hey Fmed what places are 1 and 2 ? figure Denver/Colorado must be one of them

[fmed]

As of Aug 2011 - California , Washington then Oregon. http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/article... (this article lists the states per capita so you'll have to pull out the actual numbers of breweries per state for comparison ). It could be different now.

[fmed]

If BC stats were included and the "over 50" number stated by Joe Weibe is correct, then this province would be respectable 7th in that list. Not bad at all.

And while we are on stats...Ontario has 47 as of this article http://www.ourwindsor.ca/2012/07/craf...

[vandan]

cool, hey i couldn't seem to find the BC stats Fmed

[fmed]

I couldn't find any definitive stats. Maybe CAMRA BC has it? I would be nice to have a craft beer directory. Found this list that I think is inaccurate. (Probably lists only members of the Association). http://bccraftbeer.com/bc_breweries.php

[vandan]

Ontario 47th eh, wow didn't think we were so high on the list and that they were so aheadof them in that respect, i knew i left there for a reason :)

[fmed]

Not "47th". They have 47 craft breweries. Now I am doubting the "over 50" number provided up thread. I'm thinking closer to half that here?

[vandan]

oh well, cool i am going home next month for a visit and will surely indulge :)

[peter.v]

BC is doing quite well for breweries I would think. Especially when you consider that it is virtually impossible to open a brewpub in Vancouver. If it were easier to brew your own beer for a brewpub here it would be a much more vibrant scene.

Adding to my list:
Spinnaker's
Dockside
Steamworks
Cannery

EDIT: Here's a list at http://www.bcbeer.ca/brewery.aspx - It's over 50, though some of the breweries listed are closed.

[fmed]

Awesome. Thanks Peter. I knew you would know where we can the info.

[vandan]

yup i can totally understand why so many people wouldn't want to jump through the ridiculous hopps that our government makes them jump through do undetake such an endeavour

[vandan]

thanks for the link , infortunately its not quite updated, as Horseshoe bay and Dix ( and maybe others as well) are both now gone

[peter.v]

Ugh, yeah, there are a bunch of shuttered breweries on that list. Better to go to the beerfly section on BeerAdvocate and search for BC breweries. Including some pretty small operations, there are still over 50. Probably about 56ish.