Good beers in BC

[Richard English]

I will be visiting BC next year - possibly Whistler and also around Penticton. Any suggestions as to which beer and/or pubs to try (and which to steer clear of, apart from the usual suspects!)

[chazwicke]

I was in Vancouvre and Victoria a few years ago. There were some decent brewpubs and in Victoria you'll find some hand pulled ales. Sorry I can't think of the pub names off the top of my head right now.

[markaberrant]

There is some real nice micros coming out of BC. Some of the best ones with decent distribution are:

Tree
Mt Begbie
Phillips
Cannery
Granville Island
Oakanagan Springs
Vancouver Island

Keep in mind that most of these breweries have a variety of offerings which range in quality. From personal tasting experience, Tree Hophead IPA and Mt Begbie Tall Timber Brown are both oustanding, while Vancouver Island Piper's Pale is disappointing. Phillips is supposed to be of very high quality, but I've yet to sample any of their offerings.

[Richard English]

Excellent. I will actually be staying close to a small place called Hedley (the nearest airport is Penticton, I understand) and it's about 2 hours drive from Vancouver. I might also have a business meeting in Whistler - hence my enquiry about that area as well.

But it's looking good already!

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by Richard English
Excellent. I will actually be staying close to a small place called Hedley (the nearest airport is Penticton, I understand) and it's about 2 hours drive from Vancouver. I might also have a business meeting in Whistler - hence my enquiry about that area as well.

But it's looking good already!

Cannery is based out of Penticton, as is another small brewery called Tin Whistle which appears to have a decent ESB.

[Richard English]

It gets better!

[stronk]

You couldn't have asked me a better question: I spent 6 months in Whistler about 2 years ago.

As far as getting beer in liquor stores goes: there will always be a section full of micros. My personal favourite (and we have similar tastes) is by far and away Granville Island brewery (based in Vancouver: Granville Island's not a bad place to stop by if you need to kill some time; the brewery has a tap pub next door). Next after that is Tin Whistle brewery, which brews an absolutely delicious dark ale called Killer Bee (think: what Honey Dew and Waggledance should have been).

In Whistler, there is really only one pub that sells any decent beer: a microbrewery called the Brewhouse. I think it's part of a chain, but the beer is passable. They also cask condition a couple of the beers, so it may be worth a visit just for that. The atmosphere gets quite loud at night, but there's a restaurant section that's not too bad on the left side of the bar.

Stay away from Rickard's Red and Keith's IPA: they are misrepresented as good quality beers (Keith's is actually worse than the dreck they call lager in England, IMO).

Good luck, and I hope you have more luck than I'm having here in France (Amstel... yeuch! And the few bottled beers that are any good are massively over-carbonated because I'm at altitude).

[Richard English]

Thanks for this. The information I am getting will help a great deal.

I sympathise with your predicament. France is not my favourite country for beer but some of the Bieres du Garde are reasonable - I try to buy the ones whose bottles are sealed with champagne type corks and cages. In the UK Jenlain is one such that is readily available and quite respectable.

[Richard English]

I have just been on the 'phone to my son who lives in Penticton and he tells me that his local will be getting Tin Whistle in! I am hoping they'll be getting some of the others mentioned here as well.

[ScottKingofBeer]

Originally posted by stronk


Stay away from Rickard's Red and Keith's IPA: they are misrepresented as good quality beers (Keith's is actually worse than the dreck they call lager in England, IMO).

Alexander Keith's IPA is astonishngly terrible. Imagine opening a budweiser, pouring it into the glass, the adding a few raw hop pellets and you have a very good idea what it tastes like. I have travelled all aound the world and ha many uninspired beers, but this is easily the worst beer I've ever had. Rickard's red wasn't nearly as bad, but was a pretty dull brew.