The Growler’s fifth issue is out next week at a brewery near you. In it, we’ve included the Growler Approved beers – five best brews you really ought to try this spring.
Since our third issue, we’ve chosen 20 Growler Approved beers. That’s too bloody high of a number for two reasons. It’s next to impossible to keep up with every new beer that every brewery is producing and it’s easier for our readers to reckon with.
By scaling our numbers down, we’re able to curate a more refined list of prime examples of BC beers. We try to think of it like is: If some snooty San Franciscan asks us, “Which local beer should I try,” we hope s/he wouldn’t be disappointed with any of these five.
These beers aren’t necessarily new, nor are they necessarily “the best” by any concrete Beer Judging Certificate Program metric. We’re merely offer suggestions that A) we think are delicious, B) haven’t been Growler Approved in two issues, C) will be available at some point over the next few months and D) we think you really ought to go out of your way to try.
One Trick Pony (Brassneck Brewery / Imperial IPA)
The BC Beer Award Best in Show winner is a single-malt, single-hop IPA utilizing pilsner malts as a base for rotating hop varieties. What stays the same? The hefty IBUs. Drink several pints of this and you’ll be, in the words of Brassneck staff, “One Trick Ponied.”
Photo by Jonny Healy / The Growler
Sri Lanka (Dageraad Brewing / Abbey Dubbel)
The folks at Dageraad have married the tropical flavours of Sri Lanka (hence the name) to a traditional Belgian abbey. The result is sweet, tart, spicy and delicious.
Elementary Lager (Four Winds Brewing / Lager)
This is a crisp, light-bodied lager with a bright, lemon-y flavour and a clean finish. Let’s call this an elegant barbeque beer – a lager for people who think they hate lager. A new classic? We think so.
Hoppin’ Cretin IPA (Tofino Brewing / IPA)
A light-bodied and generously hopped IPA that features notes of citrus, tropical fruit and pine and an extremely dry finish.
7800 Saison (Townite Brewing / Saison)
Here’s a classic unfiltered Belgian harvest ale, the name of which refers to the distance to brewer Cédric Dauchot’s Belgian hometown. An actual Belgian making Belgian beer? In BC? Imagine that.
–With files from Joe Wiebe and Jan Zeschky
