Beer in the Big V

[Duct Tape]

Hey All,

So i'm off to the National Drunk...er Grey Cup weekend in Vancouver this weekend, and was wondering if anyone knows any good beer bars or places to look at going for beers not available in Ontario. As much fun as the various FanClub events and supporters lounges are, one can only stomach the thought of having over priced molsons pushed at you for so long (and i have a long standing aversion to paying for that junk, let alone at bloated event prices)

I know the obvious ones like the Granville Island Brewery and the James group brewpubs (Dix & Yaletown).

I'm staying with friends in Downtown near Stanley Park, so any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Later

DT

[tupalev]

This has a couple of other suggestions:

http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowTour.asp?TourID=55

[Derek]

There's also Dockside Brewing, also on Granville island. The brewer has quite a few years and places (countries) under his belt, and makes some interesting stuff. Plenty of lagers.

Also, pick up anything from Old Yale!

[Josh Oakes]

There's also Dockside Brewing, also on Granville island. The brewer has quite a few years and places (countries) under his belt, and makes some interesting stuff. Plenty of lagers.

Also, pick up anything from Old Yale!

I strongly recommend against going to Dockside. The beer is really poorly made. With the recent improvements at Dix, I can't imagine why anyone would include Dockside in their itinerary. Foul, foul stuff.

Other quick notes - there are no beer bars in Vancouver. A random pub crawl will yield the odd micro but even the best places aren't especially reliable. Just avoid anything that even looks like a sports bar and you ought to find something. If it does look like a sports bar, it's Molbatt all the way.

Bottles? At a bar? Good luck.

Current seasonals...Yaletown has a diacetylly Pilsner last I checked but the next seasonal is hopefully imminent; Steamworks has NXNW IPA and Kriek. Granny has the usual Lion's Winter and Doppelbock I imagine, maybe the Oktoberfest still. Not sure what Dix has.

Dix...obviously if you know where this is located you know it will be slammed all weekend. The street is already closed out front for party preparations. The first choice for beer lovers by far, but for thousands of other people as well so get there when they fling the doors open would be my recommendation.

Otherwise...uh...Archer Ale House? Things just haven't changed much in the past several years out here.

[old faithful]

It has always surprised me that Vancouver seems devoid of a true beer bar since the Province has nourished many micros for a long time.

There is still I believe a large Fogg and Suds on Robson that isn't bad. The last time I was there they had a scattering of micro beers from the U.S. and other parts of Canada and a couple from B.C.. It has many macro beers, yes, this operation kind of straddles the older and newer concepts of a beer-oriented restaurant but it is always fun there and this weekend it should be packed I imagine.

My favourite place for beer is the B.C. liquor outlet on Cambie where there is an excellent selection of B.C. microbrewed beer. Sampling in the hotel room may be the only way to try a decent range since as Josh said you'll find one or two micro taps in some bars in the City but nothing in a concentrated form like we have with beerbistro in Toronto or C'est What.

Most of the brewpubs mentioned are pretty good and I've always liked Yaletown.

Gary

[Derek]

I was at Dockside on August 1, 2005. Maybe there's a higher turnover in peak season (kegs are fresher)?

I thought the quality good, but some of the recipes were a little different. They do a sample tray, and their only a couple minutes (walk) from the Granville Brewery... when in Rome...

Old Yale Pale Ale is an AWESOME Pacific Northwest brew (read lots of cascade hop flavour). I haven't tried the Sasquatch stout, but it gets great reviews. I'm spending Christmas Holidays in the area, so I'll definitely be checking it out.

Victoria is becomming Canada's Craft Brew mecca! I'm staying at Spinnakers for a few nights. There's four other brewpubs, and a couple of breweries there as well!

If you can do a roadtrip to Seattle, Bottleworks is simply AWESOME!

[Duct Tape]

I strongly recommend against going to Dockside. The beer is really poorly made. With the recent improvements at Dix, I can't imagine why anyone would include Dockside in their itinerary. Foul, foul stuff.

Other quick notes - there are no beer bars in Vancouver. A random pub crawl will yield the odd micro but even the best places aren't especially reliable. Just avoid anything that even looks like a sports bar and you ought to find something. If it does look like a sports bar, it's Molbatt all the way.

Bottles? At a bar? Good luck.

Current seasonals...Yaletown has a diacetylly Pilsner last I checked but the next seasonal is hopefully imminent; Steamworks has NXNW IPA and Kriek. Granny has the usual Lion's Winter and Doppelbock I imagine, maybe the Oktoberfest still. Not sure what Dix has.

Dix...obviously if you know where this is located you know it will be slammed all weekend. The street is already closed out front for party preparations. The first choice for beer lovers by far, but for thousands of other people as well so get there when they fling the doors open would be my recommendation.

Otherwise...uh...Archer Ale House? Things just haven't changed much in the past several years out here.

Thanks Oakes,

I spent a great hour and a bit at Steamworks sampling this afternoon in the rain, then left just in time for the double rainbow between Canada Place and the Container Terminal.

I will probably be at Granville, not sure about Dix/Yaletown, only because as you said, being so close to the Beatty Street/BC Place Stadium area, they will be rammed.

Looking forward to the game though, so far its been a relaxing start to my visit to Vancouver.

Later

DT