As noted in The Tip Out yesterday, Strathcona is on the very verge of welcoming the highly anticipated Superflux Beer Company to the neighbourhood…

Owners Adam Henderson and Matt Kohlen tell me the opening is going to happen in two stages. First, the retail component will launch this weekend on Saturday, August 15th (daily from 12pm to 8pm). Here at the point of sale, a tilt of the head will afford all the beer and merch-buying customers and lookie-lous a view of what’s coming next month: a very slick-looking tasting room that will launch before the end of September.

This has been a project that I’ve been really looking forward to since my first sips of their beer, which had been brewed nearby at Callister back in 2o15, which is to say years before they secured this address — 505 Clark Drive, one block south of East Hastings. (Like many, I’m also as big fan of their excellent branding, which was the focus of a short 2017 Scout feature written by Thalia Stopa). So ever since I learned (pre-Covid) that they were going to be landing within a stone’s throw of my house I’ve watched the space with an eagle eye (by rerouting my dog walks).

While slinking by with eyeballs set to pry yesterday lunchtime I was busted by one of the construction guys, who kindly invited me (and my dog) in for a quick tour. As you can see from the cell snaps above and below, it’s a pretty unique set up for a tasting room with its wavy banquette and curvaceous hightops opposite a long bar, all of it dwarfed by the brewing operation under warehouse-height ceilings.

Anticipation of good beer sipped in a swell-looking spot aside, I was excited to see Corduroy Pie Co. chef/owner Graham Marceau toiling away in the kitchen. He told me he’s been brought in to help develop the tasting room’s food menu, with the focus being a line-up of specialty hotdogs. He seemed pretty stoked about it, and now I am too. (If you want an advance taste, they’ll be selling ’em for takeout only starting this weekend.)

If you live in the area or are a fan of craft beer, do them a solid and help them get their lounge license by emailing the relevant government nabob in Victoria with some words of support. That’s the General Manager, c/o Senior Licensing Analyst, Liquor and Cannabis Registration Branch — [email protected].

Now take a sneak peek inside…

Superflux Beer Company

Neighbourhood: Strathcona

505 Clark Dr.

WEBSITE