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!

GOOD NIGHT OUT | Local organization Good Night Out Vancouver just stepped up their game and added a slew of businesses to their list of partner establishments located around BC. If you’re unfamiliar with the group, they are volunteers committed to making going out at night safer for everyone by working with local businesses and providing training on how to prevent and deal with sexual harassment. In addition to several bars, three of the newly added business happen to be breweries: Faculty Brewing, Container Brewing and Sooke Brewing Company. Good on them. Find out more.

CONTAINER | This past weekend Container Brewing kicked off their new live music series, happening every Sunday evening all summer long until mid September. July’s full roster of musical performances is currently posted and available to purchase tickets for here, with later concert dates TBA. Take note that, as of now, reservations are required in order to attend all shows, as either a 4-person or 6-person table. So wrangle up a small group of your music-loving pals and get pumped to see live music again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY | A big birthday shout out to Callister Brewing! Celebrate the East Van’s six-year anniversary this Sunday, June 11th at the brewery with a day of eclectic live music courtesy of Salt Thief and Vietnamese fusion fare from Henry’s Hip Eats food truck (2-6pm). And plenty of beer too, of course!

BEER + CHICKEN | Head to Steel & Oak Brewing in New West this upcoming weekend to score some delicious fried chicken to eat with your beer when Juke and DL Fried Chicken pop up from July 9th to 11th. The three-day-only ‘Juke N’ on the DL Chicken’ menu features a killer spread of summery and picnic-friendly eats, including a collab chicken sando and potato salad. Find out more. Bonus: ICYMI, you can also now legally crack a cold one at seven parks around New West. Check out the map and plan your chicken-and-beer-nic by heading here.

BREWERY + THE BEAST | Here’s something to look forward to this fall: the Brewery & the Beast festival is returning for their 2021 iteration on September 12th in Victoria, and September 26th in Vancouver. This year’s all-day food and drink smorgasbord is going to go down a little bit differently than previous years’, in order to maintain a safe social atmosphere (think smaller events and thoughtful spacing). However, it’s still going to be jam-packed with delicious barbecue cooked up by a bunch of BC’s best restaurant talents and plenty of libations to go along with it, including beer from sponsoring brewery, Philips Brewing & Malting Co. Tickets for each event go on sale on July 7th (Victoria) and July 14th (Vancouver) respectively, with a portion of sales being donated towards the Chefs’ Table Society of BC. Stay tuned for more details and find out how to snag yours before they, inevitably, sell out here.

NELSON | If you happen to be in the Nelson area in the near future, be sure to pop into Gina’s Gelato for a scoop of their new Sour Beer Sorbet. The limited edition gelato flavour is made with local brewery Backroads Brewing’s “Who Spiked the Punch?” mango/guava/strawberry sour beer. Sounds like a perfectly refreshing summer treat!

BEER ATLAS | Looking to safely expand your beer-drinking radius? Transport your tastebuds to a sunny south-of-the-border beach with a visit to North Van’s La Cerveceria Astilleros. The Shipyards Brewery District establishment is the most recent addition to Scout’s ever-growing “Craft Beer Atlas of Vancouver”. Find more inspiration for your next beer-drinking expedition here.

DRINK THIS | Speaking of transportive beers, if New Zealand is on your travel check-list then you’re in luck! Both Main Street Brewing and Strange Fellows Brewing recently dropped new beers made with hops from the area. From MSB, there are two new hazy IPAs – ‘Betty‘ and ‘Bruce‘ – named after their hop blends and packed with flavours of passionfruit and lime zest, or fresh gooseberry, candied pineapple and orange blossom, respectively. SF’s ‘Odd Birds’ New Zealand dry-hopped pilsner pays homage to the country’s unique wildlife through the addition of three local hops, Motueka, Wakatu & Wai-iti. Bonus: all three cans also look pretty darned cute.