by Chuck Hallett | Alright, it’s here! Vancouer Craft Beer Week (VCBW) starts this Friday, and continues for the next eight nights. There are lots of beer fests around town every year, and understandably aspiring beer geeks can’t make it out to all of them but, folks, this is THE event of the year. Other festivals try to be as awesome, but none can match the sheer intensity of good beer that is VCBW (BC Craft Beer Month – October – just seems watered down by comparison).

VCBW combines daily ticketed and walk-up events to showcase the world of craft beer, across all of its awesome styles. Sure, many of the marquee events have long since sold out, but there are still tickets for many quality events, and every day features a walk-up event with no cover charge. Which events should command your hard earned cash? Well, hopefully you can make it to all of them, but if you can’t here are a select few that I think will be very interesting…

June 1st: Four Winds Brewing Open House (no tix required) | Swing on by and say ‘Hi’ to the Lower Mainland’s newest craft brewery. Sure, they’re out in Delta, but did I mention that they’ll be sampling beer?

June 3rd: Biercraft Belgian Showcase | Bet you didn’t know that BC produces plenty of award winning Belgian beers, eh? Try those out side-by-side with the real deal and see which you prefer.

June 4th: Beer Cocktail Competition | The beer cocktail is blasphemy to many a beer geek, but it is an emerging art form and gosh darnit if they aren’t making some tastey beverages out there.

June 6th: Brothers in Hops | Big hoppy beers, paired food, and actual brewmasters all in one place? Rockin’. Expect beards.

June 6th: Riverboat Throwdown | 10 cask ales go head to head to see who brews the best (tiny) beers. Throw gambling into that mix and you have the recipe for… well… foreclosure on your house, I guess.

June 7th/8th: Closing Beer Festival  | A two night bash featuring pretty much every awesome brewery in the province. If you’re just getting into craft beer, this is an event you won’t want to miss, as virtually every good beer brewed in the province will be pouring for samples. Tickets here for the 6th and there for the 7th.

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Chuck Hallett lives and works in downtown Vancouver. His passionate obsession with craft beer borders on insanity. When not attempting to single-handedly financially support the local brewing industry through personal consumption, he spouts off on his award-winning beer-themed blog: BarleyMowat.com. If you’re in a good beer bar reading this, odds are he’s sitting next to you. Be polite and say hi.