Part 4 in The Growler’s four-part series exploring the basic building blocks of beer. Make sure to check out Part 1: Water, Part 2: Grain and Part 3: Hops. So, after water, grains and hops, we come to the final […]
Elemental Series: Yeast
Elemental Series: Hops
When it comes to beer ingredients, hops are the revolutionary rock stars. These flowers of the humulus lupulus plant are arguably the driving force behind beer’s resurrection in the 1980s and 1990s, bringing eye-opening and mind-expanding new flavours to what […]
Craft dinners: How breweries are upping their food game to restaurant-grade heights
The brewery lounge concept has been revolutionary for B.C.’s beer scene in more ways than one. As well as offering young breweries a vital source of revenue through a store front, the legal requirement to provide food has pushed many […]
Elemental Series: Grain
Part 2 in a four-part series exploring the basic building blocks of beer… Beer starts with grain in just about every way. Even historically. There’s no canonical origin story for beer, but the myth goes that one of our […]
Elemental Series: Water
It’s fair to say we all take water for granted. Turn on the tap and there it is. It’s only when restrictions kick in during extreme dry spells, or the city cuts your supply as it flushes the damn […]
Island breweries clean up at B.C. Beer Awards
In a ceremony full of surprises, Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company of Parksville won Brewery of the Year at the 2017 B.C. Beer Awards, while a smoked lager collaboration between Victoria’s Swans Brewery and Nanaimo’s White Sails Brewing earned Best in […]
IBUs are totally overrated
Picture the scene: the Bomber Brewing booth at last year’s Whistler International Beer Festival. Bomber’s Choqlette Porter, a gently sweet, malty and smooth ale, is proving popular on what’s an unseasonably wet and chilly day. The punters are full of questions. Where are you guys based? […]
Has Victoria's beer scene lost its edge?
It’s the city of newlyweds, nearly deads and die-hard hopheads. Victoria has laid claim to B.C.’s craft beer throne ever since Spinnakers opened as Canada’s first brewpub in 1984 and it’s given the city a cutting edge to slice through those musty stereotypes. But a […]
How the BC LDB Is Crippling Craft Brewery Cashflow
Let’s say you’ve just set up Super Soda Co. It’s the culmination of your dream to sell premium pop made with high-end ingredients. You’ve put your business plan together. After much searching, you found the perfect production space. The equipment […]
Where's Surrey's beer scene, dude?
Perhaps you’ve already noticed, but B.C.’s craft beer boom has been consistent across the province. Smaller, more remote communities such as Cumberland, Invermere and Terrace have all staked a claim to the burgeoning industry, right alongside Vancouver and Victoria. There […]