The Beer Brief is a round-up of all the local beer news and events we think you should know about. Got news brewing? Send it to thalia [at] scoutmagazine.ca and we’ll do our best to include it!

WOMEN’S DAY | This Sunday is International Women’s Day. While you’re out making an extra effort to show your support for the people comprising over half the Earth’s population, don’t forget to give some love to the amazing women working in the beer biz! Even better, factor in a stop at Container Brewing for their special beer release event to raise money for vulnerable women in our own community. Keep up to date on the details as they come together here.

TIM-BEER! | There’s a one-of-a-kind beer collab coming down the pipeline that’s between 33 Acres Brewing and the Van Urban Timber company. What’s the connection? The beer was brewed using a specially commissioned portable open fermenter made from foraged cedar boughs, built by VUT for the brewery. The resulting quaff is a Cedar Hazy IPA, which will be at the centre of the release party being hosted at VUT on March 14th. If you live in Vancouver and want to get on board they’ve organized a handy shuttle service from 33 Acres to the Squamish sawmill just for that, which you can purchase tickets for here. More details on the event can be found here.

BREW GOOD | Also later this month, the UK based beer inspired water initiative Brewgooder will be bringing together six BC breweries – 33 Acres, Dageraad, Faculty, Field House Four Winds and Strathcona Brewing – plus a bunch of other local do-gooders (including DL Chicken & Tacofino) for a one day only party for a cause. Funds raised from the event will be donated towards Brewgooder’s latest endeavour to build water wells in Malawi. Yup, your beer drinking can actually make the world a better place. We’ll see you there! Find out more. UPDATE: THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.

TAP TAKEOVERS | There are quite a few good reasons to take a trip out to Kits’ long-standing neighbourhood pub, Darby’s, in the next few weeks. First up, there’s a tap takeover by Field House on March 14th featuring a colourful variety of beer styles from Pink Guava Gose to Gold Sour and Salted Black Porter (find out more); a week later, they host Montreal brewery Dieu du Ciel for their famous Péché Day of delicious Quebecois stouts (find out more); then the month of April begins on a super sour note, when the brewer behind the innovative Oregon barrelhouse, Cascade Brewing, pays a visit to the pub with five kegs and a selection of bottles previously unseen in BC (find out more). All three events are first come, first served, so if you want dibs on the most of these exceptional beers then showing up early is definitely recommended.

A PINT & A FIGHT | Like some brawn with your beer? Good news: the BC Beer Wars are back this April for another knock-out event in support of the DTES non-profit, Eastside Boxing Club. The EBC’s collaboration with the Boxing BC Association and Vancouver Craft Beer Week is your once-a-year opportunity to flex your beer-drinking muscles while cheering on your favourite contenders from the beer trade. If you’re getting kind of hot and sweaty just thinking about it, then simmer down by snagging your tickets ASAP. Find out more.

NEW WEST | Don’t you just love it when some of life’s tastiest elements – fresh fruit, coffee, beer – come together? You’ll love the sound of this: Another Beer Co. has teamed up with neighbourhood cafe Old Crow Coffee Co. to create a special Coffee Raspberry Sour beer. ‘You’ve Earned It’ is being released into the wild on March 13th with a party at the New West cafe. Find out more.

BEER BREAD | Beer bread isn’t new territory in Vancouver – 33 Acres and Nelson the Seagull have collaborated on a loaf and Purebread uses spent grain from a local brewery in their ‘Disfunctionale’ loaf, to name a couple iterations – but the most exciting development of late is a collaboration between New West’s Steel & Oak and Choices Markets. The bread is made using S&O’s Dark Lager, and is available only at Choices. Don’t forget to add this one to your next grocery list! Find out more.

IRISH BEERS | You know it’s coming: St Patrick’s Day. If March 17th conjures up unseemly and haunting images that make you want to book the day off and lock yourself up at home, we don’t blame you. However, if you decide to go that route, it doesn’t hurt to stock up on pseudo-celebratory provisions, including some local Irish inspired beers. Some suggestions: Persephone Brewing‘s or Ravens Brewing‘s respective ‘Dry Irish Stout’ (both are under 5% ABV, so they probably won’t be the catalyst for a holiday-related hangover); Lighthouse Brewing‘s ‘Keepers Stout’ (5.1% ABV); Hoyne‘s ‘Finnegans Irish Stout’ (5.2%); or Old Yale Brewing‘s hard-hitting ‘Irish Cream Imperial Stout’ (8% ABV). Most of these are currently available at either Legacy or the BCL, but I’d suggest calling ahead if you’ve got your heart set on a particular brew.

BEER DINNER | Tacofino’s popular Beer Dinner Series begins a brand new run on March 26th, and tickets for all five monthly dinners are now available! This month’s featured brewery, who will be providing the night’s special pairings, is Tofino Brewing. The dinners take place on the final Thursday of each month, through July, and each event includes a five-course Tacofino-style feast created by Regional Executive Chef Stefan Hartmann and Hastings Head Chef Daniel Echeverría. Although the featured BC breweries are far-flung, all of the dinners are served up at Tacofino’s Hastings Commissary location, during two seatings at 6 and 8:30pm. The succeeding breweries included in the 2020 roster are, in order of participation: Steel & Oak, Parkside, Strathcona and Four Winds. Details about the menus are still to be announced but if you know from previous experience, these dinners always sell out in advance. So, get your tickets, like, RIGHT NOW here.

ICYMI | If you’re a regular reader of Talia Kleinplatz’s “Intelligence Brief” column, then you’ve picked up on the latest local beer and international celebrity news: apparently, British comedian Ricky Gervais is a big fan of Parallel 49’s ‘Ruby Tears’ beer. That’s not a bad endorsement! Find out more.