Canadas microbrewing movement began in 1982 when John Mitchell and Frank Appleton built a small-scale brewery using old dairy equipment. The original Horseshoe Bay Brewery didnt last long but, in 1984, three other breweries opened in BC that are still thriving today: Spinnakers Brewpub and Vancouver Island Brewery in Victoria, and Granville Island Brewing in Vancouver. From then on, BCs craft beer revolution has expanded steadily. Today, you can raise a pint of local craft beer in communities from Tofino to Fernie and many cities in between.
Several breweries and brewpubs opened in Vancouver in the 1990s, but nothing new opened here after 1998, until last year when three new craft breweries opened in East Vancouver (see sidebar).
Operating in the city was just too expensive, mainly due to the cost of leasing. That factor, combined with a notoriously onerous municipal development process, made prospective brewing entrepreneurs leery. New breweries continued to open elsewhere in BC, just not in its biggest city.
And then, starting around five years ago, Vancouverites began to seek out craft beer like never before: thirsty beer geeks fill taphouses like the Alibi Room in Gastown and St. Augustines on Commercial Drive (90+ taps between them, pouring mainly BC craft beer) on a nightly basis and demand craft beer at restaurants that once only catered to wine lovers. Beer tickers, who use apps like Untappd to rate every beer they try, flock to private liquor stores like Legacy and Brewery Creek to find the newest releases, and breweries are working overtime just trying to keep up with the demand.
Vancouver has become the engine that drives BCs craft beer revolution: several BC breweries have already undergone major expansions to supply the demand here. Surreys Central City Brewing is opening a new $20-million brewery this summer, and Steamworks Brewing will open a new production brewery in Burnaby this fall. Nine craft breweries opened in BC in 2011 and 2012, and 11 more are expected to open in the province in 2013 six in Metro Vancouver alone.
Theres never been a better time to drink beer in BC, or, using the poker metaphor, to go all in.
Yes, there are a lot of thirsty customers in Vancouver, but opening a brewery in the city itself is still a risky proposition, both in terms of the costs involved and the prospect of finding a niche (and an empty tap) in the beer-soaked market. Three new breweries within a few blocks of each other in the Main Street/Brewery Creek area of Mount Pleasant are betting that its time to take a gamble.
I am more than all in financially, Josh Michnik told me in early May. My wife hates me right now because Im never home. Im here from before she gets up and until after she goes to sleep.
Here is 33 Acres Brewing (15 W. 8th, adjacent to the Anza Club), which will open in June. Michnik hopes to be popular among local residents and office workers HootSuite just moved in two blocks away who will be able to stop by the brewery after work to fill their growlers or pick up a bottle or two.
Michnik believes there is lots of room in Vancouver for new breweries. Its the more the merrier with craft beer. I think its just going to help educate people. The more were in their face, the more likely theyre going to try this, and the more they try us, the more their palate will develop, and the more their palate develops, the more theyll search for better beers.
That philosophy is also the driving force behind the Brassneck Brewery (2148 Main), which has many of the citys beer geeks perched on the edge of their bar stools in anticipation of its opening, which should happen around Canada Day. Thats because Conrad Gmoser, who has long been considered one of the citys best brewers, left Steamworks after 17 years to join with Nigel Springthorpe, co-owner and manager of the Alibi Room, which has grown into BCs craft beer headquarters since he took it over in 2006.
The heavily bearded duo both stopped shaving long ago when they decided to open a brewery together aims to create something truly unique in the craft beer market: a growler-only storefront brewery that will rely almost entirely upon pedestrian traffic along trendy and popular Main Street. They want it to be an inviting place where customers will sample a beer or two, chat about them with the staff or each other, and then buy a growler to take home.
It comes from having the Alibi Room, Springthorpe explained earlier this month, and enjoying the culture around the beer and people coming in to chit chat about it.
Brassneck will offer several rotating beer styles (Conrad unleashed is Springthorpes description) for tastings and growler fills in multiple sizes: the standard 1.89-litre jug as well as one-litre and half-litre versions. The building design features a stylish tasting room with peekaboo views of the brewhouse so that customers can see what Gmoser is up to while they sample the beer.
Theres a lot of thought, Springthorpe said of the design. Theres thought going into the thought of not making it look too thoughtful.
But as excited as the Brassneck owners are about opening, they are also exhausted and frustrated by the process. They first decided to open a brewery together more than two years ago, and endured numerous exasperating attempts to obtain a building suitable to their needs. Even when they did find the right place, the process of redeveloping the building into a brewery took far longer than they expected. When I first visited the brewery last July, they were aiming to open by February.
And now? We gotta be open by July 1, Springthorpe said, exasperated. Thatll be a year since we signed the lease. You know, its 6000 square feet on Main Street. Money is going down the toilet every day. Talk about going all in.
One block away in the historic Brewery Garage, a building that was once part of the original Vancouver Brewery a century ago, will be Main Street Brewing. The owners are a team of Main Street restaurateurs who also own the popular Main Street Pilsner brand, which has been brewed for them by Surreys Russell Brewing until now.
Co-owner Cameron Forsyth, who also owns and manages Portland Craft, told me last week they hope to have beer flowing by August, but with the inevitable delays, plus the fact that City Hall virtually shuts down in August, it is more likely they will open in the fall.
Forsyth has been meeting regularly with Springthorpe and Michnik, comparing notes and sharing lessons learned helping each other, in other words, rather than just racing to get ahead. Maybe its a better bet to go all in together?
I really think its going to make for a very cool spot in Vancouver that will be great for the neighbourhood, great for the city, great for tourism. People will come to the neighbourhood, and they might be Brassneck fans or 33 Acres fans, but theyll come and try Main Street because its close by.
Were all pretty excited to get our doors open, Forsyth said. No doubtand so are many eager Vancouverites who cant wait to quench their thirst with more local craft beer.
Vancouvers Craft Breweries:
Granville Island Brewing (1984)
Storm Brewing (1994)
Yaletown Brewing (1994)
Steamworks Brewpub (1995)
Dockside Brewing (1997)
R&B Brewing (1997)
Coal Harbour Brewing (2012)
Parallel 49 Brewing (2012)
Powell Street Craft Brewery (2012)
Coming Soon to Metro Vancouver:
Four Winds Brewing (Delta June)
33 Acres Brewing (June)
Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers (North Vancouver June)
Brassneck Brewery (July)
Main Street Brewing (Fall)
Bomber Brewing (Fall/Winter)
About Joe Wiebe:
Joe Wiebe is the Thirsty Writer. His new book, Craft Beer Revolution: The Insiders Guide to BC Breweries (see review page 3), will be published this month by Harbour Publishing. The launch is at Yaletown Brewing June 3. Enter for a chance to win his book here.
