MUSIC + BEER | There’s a new weekly live music and beer event going down in the recently finished Main Alley Urban Park at 4th Avenue and Quebec Street. The Thursday night shindig will showcase a rotating roster of local musicians with beers provided by neighbourhood brewery, Main Street Brewing. This week audiences can enjoy a performance by Cassandra Bangel. Find out more.
BLOCK PARTY | Head downtown to Central City Brew Pub on Friday, August 24th for a good ol’ fashioned Block Party. Labour Day might be around the corner but you can keep the summer vibes going by knocking back $4.50 pints of Red Racer beers and noshing on free snacks to live tunes.
PUCKER UP | On August 25th, Darby’s Gastown will host sour beer heavyweights Cascade Brewing from Portland for one super six-tap takeover. They will be pouring Cascade’s Sang Rouge, Apricot, Kentucky Peach, Kriek, Manhattan, Belmont St. Bramble and Fume Peche. Get ready to pucker up!
KELOWNA | Vice & Virtue Brewing Co. is the latest local operation to pop up on our radar. The Kelowna-based brewery and tasting room – the brainchild of a group of beer-loving friends – has been open since July 11th. Aside from the beers they make out of their 10 tank system, all which pay homage to the various vices and virtues (our fave name being the Love Potion Raspberry ‘BerlinerVice’), what sets these guys apart is the delicious stuff coming out of the kitchen. House chef Nelson Daniels is making elevated bar snacks, share plates and all kinds smoky BBQ goodness (from their very own smoker). The next time you’re in the Okanagan, be sure to pop by and welcome them to BC’s awesome beer community!
BASEBALL | A classic summer combination is beer and baseball. Colony’s final ‘Baseball Bus Crawl’ of the season is happening on the last Sunday of August. The afternoon kicks off at Colony’s Main Street location and includes the whole shebang: a couple of pre-game beers, a bus shuttle to and from Nat Bailey Stadium, and a ticket to the game (it’s the Canadians versus Boise). Tickets are first come, first serve, so avoid striking out (har har) and grab yours now. Find out more.
DRINK THIS | Brassneck Brewery just released a brand new “A Thousand Times, Yes” beer, named in honour of its spot as their 1000th batch of beer. My psychic beer-abilities drew me to the tasting room mere hours after they tapped the oak-aged farmhouse ale and I highly recommend making a trip yourself ASAP to get your fill of this funky brew before it’s all gone!
FILM | If you’re in Victoria the weekend of the 25th you can get your beer and film fix along with some fresh air “Under the Maltworks” in Phillip’s Brewing & Maltworks’ backyard with a screening of the cult classic, “Animal House.” The ticket price includes entry, your first beer, and a surprise. This one could get rowdy, toga-style…Find out more.
SURREY | This year’s epic Battle of the Brews event will see 27 BC breweries duking it out for one afternoon on Saturday, August 25th in Surrey’s City Hall Plaza. In addition to vying for your votes, they’ll also be pouring for a good cause since 100% of proceeds are being donated to local charities Athletics 4 Kids and Surrey Fire Fighters’ Charitable Society youth initiatives. Get your tickets and more details here.
MORE FILM | Looking for a chill Monday night activity or a cheap date? Bomber Brewing has you covered. The final film of the month in Bomber Brewing’s Monday Movies series is the aptly titled “Endless Summer” – the 1960s surf film documenting two surfers on their global search for the “perfect wave”. The screening and it’s accompanying free popcorn is open to all ages, but the $5 pints of core beers are a no-brainer for the 19+ crowd. Your search for the “perfect Monday” starts here!
To take nothing away from Reubens (who makes very good beer), let”s be honest about how beer “competitions work. Breweries pay to enter their beers both direct entry fees which can be $100+/beer and the costs of shipping/sending beer. Then the competitions, which are often run by private for-profit organizations, award several medals in each of dozens of beer categories. In any given competition, hundreds of medals may be awarded. So, any given brewery”s medal count is far more influenced by how many beers/competitions they enter than how good their beer is. Many breweries call BS on the whole thing and don’t enter competitions. Does that mean their beer is not as good as the “award winning breweries”? Maybe. Maybe not. Beer is a marketing driven industry, just like all other spirits. Drink beer, not brands.