The eighth annual Vancouver Craft Beer Festival took place the last couple weeks, leading up to the VCBW Beer Festival this past weekend. Featuring over 100 craft breweries and cideries, there were over 300 beers to sample at the festival.
On top of that, there was plenty of interesting art installations thanks to Vancouver Mural Festival, live music, a handful of food trucks, a game area that included pinball and ping pong, a pop-up barber shop and a lot more.
The VCBW Beer Festival takes place at the PNE Fairgrounds, so it’s quite expansive! With your ticket you get 2 drink tokens and you can purchase more for $1.50 each, you’ll also recieve a 4 oz. souvenir taster mug that you’ll use for your tasters.
While there is a lot of breweries to cover, I’d definitely suggest checking out the ones you’ve never heard of or were curious to try. This is the best way to try Vancouver’s craft beer scene without having to drive all over the place! Many of the representatives from the breweries are super helpful and can answer any questions you may have.
I tried four different breweries and I went on a theme of easy, summer sippers. Here are my picks for Summer 2017:
- The Last Strawberry – Fuggles and Warlock
I started off at Fuggles and Warlock, a place I’ve already visited but enjoy! I’ve been meaning to take Brian to Fuggles and Warlock but he’s always busy so what better way to introduce him to it than at the VCBWBF. One of my faves is the Kiwami Plum Sour, but they had their “The Last Strawberry” on tap. It’s a Belgian Wit brewed with fresh strawberries and sweetened with lactose. This is definitely an easy beer to enjoy and is perfect for hot summer nights.
- Black Lime Gose – Luppolo Brewing Company
The next brewery I tried was Luppolo Brewing Company – they opened about 7 months ago and are located on Venables. Their brewery has a tasting room with food available – mostly Italian appetizers and sandwiches. I’m definitely putting them on my list of places to visit soon. At the fest I tried their Black Lime Gose – a German wheat ale with a deliciously flavourful tart beer. The flavour comes from a preserved sun dried black lime used in Middle Eastern cuisine.
- Wyld Raspberry – Hearthstone Brewery
Another brewery that I’ve been meaning to try it Hearthstone Brewery and their seasonal Wyld Raspberry. Another nice, light brew to enjoy during the summer. The beer is created with local raspberries and has a nice pink hue to it.
- Red Headed Stepchild – Merridale Craft Cider
The final brew is a cider from Merridale Craft Cider. They are BC’s oldest estate cidery located on Vancouver Island. I just had to try their Redheaded Stepchild – made with fresh ginger. This is a surprisingly light, not too sweet cider that has a nice, enjoyable taste of ginger to it.
If you haven’t checked out the Vancouver Craft Beer Festival, I highly recommend you check it out next year – they have plenty of events happening but even just visiting the Beer Fest is a fantastic way to get to know all the wonderful (and surprisingly numerous) craft breweries we’re lucky to have here in BC.
For more information on VCBW, check out their website here: http://vancouvercraftbeerweek.com/
