This summer has been a scorcher so far and there’s still more than a month to go. Some locally-crafted liquid refreshment is just thing to beat the heat, so here are some favourites we’re currently quaffing.
Bottlecap by Twin City Brewing
Fruited sour ale • 5.6% ABV • 9 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
Well darn if this doesn’t taste exactly like those little sour cherry cola bottle candies you used to get at the corner store for like a nickel. Tart, fruity, dry and very yum.
Shower Beer by Faculty Brewing
Pale ale • 5.0% ABV • 21 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
The good folks at Faculty set out to create a perfectly refreshing beer for a hot, steamy environment, and they’ve succeeded with this dry, light-bodied, clothing optional pale ale.
Dreamboat by The Parkside Brewery
Hazy IPA • 6.3% ABV • 35 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
Big juicy notes of pineapple and citrus in this hazy IPA keep it tropical like a half-unbuttoned frangipani-print shirt fluttering in the breeze. Rupert Holmes would be all over this one.
Salted Lime Mexican Lager by Field House Brewing
Lager • 4.9% ABV • 15 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
If you’re going to be lounging in the sun all day, it’s important to stay hydrated and take in plenty of electrolytes. Now I’m no doctor, but this crisp, exceptionally balanced and easy drinking citrusy salted lager is just what the doctor (whom I am not) ordered. Again, I’d like to emphasize, I’m not a doctor.
Allfather by Ravens Brewing
Pilsner • 5.0% ABV • 28 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
If you’re like us, when you think of refreshment, you naturally think of the Norse god Odin. The Allfather himself only drank wine and mead, but if he were to crack into an ice-cold craft beer on a hot summer’s day, he could do worse than this crisp and thirst-quenching German-style pilsner.
Magic Hour by Vancouver Island Brewing
Gose • 2.4% ABV • 7 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
We’re thrilled this dad-strength summer sipper has made a comeback. A cross between a gose and a grapefruit radler, this salty, citrusy sour is perfect anytime with it’s modest 2.4% ABV. Why, yes! We do believe we’ll have another…
Comexico by Land and Sea Brewing
Pale ale • 5.0% ABV • 473 mL tall cans
This uber-refreshing kveik-fermented hazy pale ale from Comox’s Land and Sea Brewing is styled after the town’s nickname, earned for its hot sandy beaches. The juicy notes of tropical fruit and citrus will take you back to a time when international travel was still a thing. Sigh.
Jewelled Wings by Wild Ambition
Gose • 4.5% ABV • 473 mL tall cans
Kelowna’s Wild Ambition have been putting out some outstanding beers of late, and this lovely gose is no exception. Heaps of local blueberries went into this fruity little number, resulting in a tart but balanced sour ale.
Redemption by Steamworks Brewing
Saison • 6.6% ABV • 500 mL bottles
Generally, wine and beer don’t mix. Both are perfectly fine on their own and mixing them is nothing short of blasphemy. However, as Steamworks has discovered, when you combine beer wort and wine must, the result can be nothing short of heavenly. This “heretical” hybrid ale boasts vinous notes of stone fruit, gooseberry, cracked pepper and a whole lot of good-God-that’s-delicious!
My Best Day ISA by Tinhouse Brewing
Pale ale • 4.5% ABV • 43 IBU • 473 mL tall cans
And the end of a hot summer’s day, we all just want the same thing: something cold, wet, and preferably bubbly. Bonus points if you can drink, like, eight of them without getting sick of it. This light-bodied India Session Ale from Port Coquitlam’s Tinhouse Brewing is moreish and thirst-quenching, with just enough hops to keep things interesting. In short, it’s a crusher.
