Over 50 different breweries are coming to Penticton April 8 and 9, making now the perfect time to brush up on everything craft beer.
Joe Wiebe, the “thirsty writer” and author of Craft Beer Revolution: The Insider’s Guide to B.C. Breweries is speaking at the Craft Beer Revolution seminar and beer tasting taking place one day before Fest of Ale, April 7, at Bad Tattoo Brewing.
Wiebe initially was a hobbyist, travelling out of the way to breweries he’d never visited. His personal interest intersected with his travel writing career, as Wiebe was in the right place at the right time to write about his passion.
The 90-minute talk charts out the history of craft beer in B.C. from the early 1980s covering important events along the way. The audio-visual presentation also features five different beers, served at various points throughout the seminar, representing significant points in the history of craft beer in B.C.
Everyone at the seminar will also get a taste of a collabor-ale created by local breweries including Cannery Brewing, Bad Tattoo, Firehall Brewery and Tin Whistle Brewing coming together to create a special cask in honour of Wiebe’s visit entitled “Sloppy Joe.”
You can chart the history of craft brewing in B.C. back to 1982, the opening of Horseshoe Bay Brewery, the first modern day craft brewery in the province, though they were called microbreweries back then.
“It was the starting point after a long, long period of consolidation where all the big breweries, Molson, Labatt, and back then there was Carling O’Keefe too, they kind of just dominated the market for 50 years,” Wiebe said. “They kind of started everything there.”
In 1984 Spinnakers Brew Pub became the first of its kind in Canada, combining beer production with a restaurant pub setting for the first time.
“It continued to blossom and grow since then. The real excitement, I guess you could say, kicked in the last seven or eight years. It has really taken off,” Wiebe said.
Craft brewing grew slowly but surely for three decades exploding in 2011/12. The first edition of Wiebe’s book was released in 2013 with 50 craft breweries in B.C., since then the industry has doubled in size with nearly 20 breweries opening a year. The industry is expanding not only in urban centres, but smaller, rural communities as well.
Wiebe contributes the beer boom to a few different factors.
“I think there was an expansion in consumer awareness that happened between 2000 and 2010,” Wiebe said.
The growth wasn’t as exponential in that decade as it is now, but the slow, steady increase was seen in cold beer and wine stores converting into specialty shops.
“You’d see craft beer coming in from places like Oregon, Belgium and Germany, stuff that was way more exciting than the regular fare you’d see in the government liquor store,” Wiebe said. “That not only expanded consumer awareness but also kind of challenged the brewers themselves.”
Brewers started taking the market as a challenge, upping their game to compete with other smaller breweries Wiebe said.
Another expansion of the industry was more women getting into craft brewing.
“I think that had a lot to do with the quality getting to a point where it was a high enough standard, there are some scientific studies that say women have better, more well-defined pallets than men do,” Wiebe said. “That and craft breweries don’t market the way the big breweries do. They don’t market with bikinis and stuff like that. I think that turned a lot of women off beer before.”
He plans to continue his work charting the history of craft beer in B.C., hoping to expand into the history of craft beer across the country.
Tickets for the seminar are $25 available at www.eventbrite.ca/e/craft-beer-revolution-seminar-beer-tasting-tickets-21038940036
A Fest of Ale how-to
How does an expert like Wiebe approach the plethora of options at an event like Fest of Ale (April 8 and 9 at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre)? He’s not immune to indulging in the overwhelming amount of different craft brews.
“There’s so many options it’s hard to say no,” Wiebe said. “I generally look at events like this and say what breweries am I least familiar with and I’ll want to talk to them and hear their stories and try their beers. Try to avoid the styles you’ve had, try something new that you haven’t had before.”
Wiebe is going to be one of the judges at Fest of Ale picking the best of the fest. Tasting beer is not like tasting wine either, you can’t get a full sense of a beer if you spit it out.
“On Saturday morning I get to taste something like 50 or 60 beers and somehow stay on my feet the rest of the day,” Wiebe laughed. “When we’re tasting all these beers for judging you have to restrain yourself because sometimes you have a really good one and you just want to keep drinking it, you can just have a tiny bit of each one.”
As far as strategy for avoiding a painful morning after and getting the best tasting experience, Weibe recommends taking on lighter beers first.
“Maybe try not to go for the big, strong, hoppy ones, the big IPAs. Beers that have a significant hop profile can kind of blast your palette. If you’re a seasoned veteran like me, you might be able to handle it, but for someone who finds hoppy beers really potent maybe save those for the end, otherwise you may not be able to taste much else.”
Even more breweries at Fest of Ale
The 21st year of the Okanagan Fest of Ale is set to feature the most breweries in the history of the festival.
Over 50 different craft breweries are going to be on hand for Fest of Ale. There are more cideries getting added to the event as well.
“We’ve had feedback over the last couple of years and we’ve slowly integrated a couple of cideries,” said John Devitt, Okanagan Fest of Ale Society vice president and marketing director. “We thought we’d add a few more while still retaining the craft beer focus.”
Since expanding with an outdoor area last year, the event has been able to increase its size allowing for more brews. New this year are busking stations where roving musical acts will set up at different areas around the festival for brief periods.
Joining Fest of Ale is soon to be Penticton’s fourth brewery Highway 97 Brewery. Set to open in July on Eckhardt Avenue with a tasting room and retail store, Highway 97 is going to be serving up an Amber Ale, IPA, Scotch Ale and Pilsner. While Highway 97 isn’t open yet, event-goers are going to be able to try some of their brews early.
Brew profiles, ticket information and more is available at www.festofale.ca.
