Across a few trips to Vancouver last summer and fall I sampled the bounty that is that city’s craft beer scene. Vancouver is a favourite city of mine for a number of reasons – the direct flight from where I live, the ability to see mountains and water in the same place, the varied food scene, and definitely the abundance of craft beer.

Using a neighbourhood approach to exploration, I got one day kicked off in West Van at the earliest to open patio at Parallel 49. I created a tasting flight of a selection of hazy IPAs from that brewery and also from a couple of guest taps they had of Superflux. Luckily I was doing this neighbourhood tour by public transit and by foot, because these were all potent (and delicious!).

Next up was my first visit to Superflux’s brewery. I settled on their small back patio in the shade for a couple of selections by them. This brewery has quickly become a favourite and must visit location for me on every trip.

To round out this neighbourhood loop, I stopped at Luppolo (which is a great name as it is Italian for hops) where I sampled a couple of lower alcohol selections along with a some outstanding appetizers including this meatball and pizza dough.

I dedicated a portion of another day to explorations further afield in Port Moody. There is a cluster of breweries all within a short walk of a Skytrain stop. After spending some time on the waterfront for an early lunch of fish and chips, I took the breweries in turn – Yellow Dog (bottom left; always a favourite as I’ve been able to get cans of their beer in Saskatoon for quite some time), Twin Sails (top right; excellent citrus, fruity, hoppy beers), Parkside (what a great way to display a tasting flight!) and Moody Ales & Co.

Moody Ales’ patio was super dog friendly and I enjoyed sampling their beers with all the good doggo who all were pretty excited to spend some time on this patio too!

Back in the city, no trip to Vancouver is complete without a stop at the Alibi Room. They always have an exceptional tap list of beers I haven’t tried yet and you can’t go wrong with anything from their small but delicious menu. On my last visit, I paired mussels and fries with a diverse selection of BC craft beers.

Having made Vancouver a favourite quick get-away since moving out to Saskatoon, it didn’t take me long to find my “home base” craft brewery tap room in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. I usually pair a visit here with some urban art and mural exploring nearby. Brassneck always has a great rotation of newly crafted beers along with a solid lineup of their core beers. This tasting had two exceptional new beers – the Retrofuturism (left, American IPA) and the Changeling (wild raspberry ale, second from left).

Using the Skytrain on my fall visit I headed out to Burnaby and New Westminster for stops at Studio Brewing and Steel & Oak. The beers from Studio in particular were amazingly on point style-wise and I loved the relaxed vibe of their low-key taproom.

While I always like to explore the different nooks and crannies of the Vancouver beer scene, West Van has such a concentration of breweries that it’s hard not to make multiple trips to that neighbourhood. Over many, many visits to the ‘hood, I had never made a stop at Callister until my recent trip. The Hazyboi (second from left, New England IPA) was my favourite of this tasting, but my absolute favourite thing of this visit was getting to meet with good boy Pender and his human and talk craft brewing in Vancouver and Saskatoon.

North Vancouver has a great developing beer scene all a quick SeaBus ride from downtown. I opted on my last trip to visit three new to me breweries. First up (left, below) was a stop at House of Funk Brewery. I loved the sour beers here and the dumplings made a great early meal to get my tastings kicked off. Next up was North Point Brewing (middle, below). Their cozy taproom was a great place to spend some time and I was wowed by their Berry the Hatchet blackberry/raspberry sour ale. Last was Streetcar Brewing whose taproom was a hidden gem you could miss if you weren’t looking for it. The ability to order delivery to my table for a late lunch was a great way to enjoy a sampling of their creations.

I closed out my last night of my last visit to Vancouver last year with a series of selections from The Magnet, an exceptional beer bar in downtown. This is a place I visit every time for a meal and some unique beers from across BC. The dark lager below was from Brassneck and was a great way to close out my latest Vancouver beer tastings.

Until next time!