Oakes Weekly

2010 Winter Olympic Beer Guide to Vancouver

Welcome to Vancouver and the 2010 Winter Olympics!

Allow me to be your official beer ambassador to our great city. For the next few weeks, sports fans will be fixated on Vancouver and thousands upon thousands will visit. But even though we’re in the great nation of Cascadia, our beer scene is a little trickier. You can’t buy beer just anywhere, and there are a lot of pitfalls in searching for the good stuff. That’s why I am writing this guide. You – the beer lover – deserve to drink gold medal beer this Olympics, not some also-ran nonsense.

At the end of this article I have provided links to a couple of resources that may come in handy for beer lovers attending the 2010 Olympic Games.

Let’s start with the start. The official sponsor of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is Molson Coors. Their beer will be everywhere, and will have exclusivity at all official venues. Two things you must know about their beer. 1) It is not very good. It is bland industrial fare of dubious quality and it always overpriced. 2) It is local. You can drink Molson Coors product without feeling a sense of guilt because it actually is a local brew. They make it in the middle of the city, on Burrard Street. It is Vancouver beer, so at least it’s got that.

But moving beyond the official stuff, there is some great beer out there worth drinking. It is not always easy to find. The bar/pub/restaurant scene here is heavily oriented towards the corporate, far more than in other West Coast cities. So this guide will help you navigate what could be a bit of a minefield of overpriced industrial swill.

First, the brewpubs and taprooms. There are five of these in the city, all easily accessible to Olympic visitors. Three are downtown – Steamworks, Dix and Yaletown. Each of these makes a healthy range of brews, and generally to a high standard. Seasonal products are the most worth seeking out in almost every case. The big exception for me is Dix IPA, which has been awesome for years. Dix will do casks on Thursday evenings, if you are keen for such things.

Across False Creek from the downtown peninsula is Granville Island, a market/artist zone that is very popular with tourists and locals alike. There you can find the Granville Island taproom, which features seasonals brewed on site and some more forgettable brews trucked in from Kelowna. Dockside Brewing in the Granville Island Hotel has struggled of late, but has a new brewmaster now. They might be worth checking out because when his stuff goes on tap, it will be an improvement. Plus, they have an awesome patio. No, sitting on the patio at the Winter Olympics is not a stupid idea. It’s spring in Vancouver now. Also on Granville Island is Osake, an artisan sakemaker. I dig the microbrewed sake there – it’s not just for Japanese Olympic visitors that I make this recommendation.

Vancouver is a little weak for beer bars, but there are a few spots up and running that are worth checking out, particularly for those out-of-town microbreweries whose products on tough to find on tap. The best is the Alibi Room, located at the opposite (east) end of the Gastown neighbourhood from Steamworks. Along the way is Six Acres, another solid beer bar. St. Augustine’s on Commercial Drive lies southeast not far from the Broadway/Commercial Drive Skytrain station. Stella’s is at the other end of Commercial, and they have a location on Cambie as well, right near Firefly. The Railway Club is a live music joint first, but has long had one of the best selections of draught in town.

One feature of the Olympics is the different pavilions for nations and provinces. While all of these are going to be party destinations, not all will be good beer destinations. The Germany and Saxony (sure, why not?) houses will have big industrial bier from Deutschland. Many provinces are selling beer from their own provinces – Alberta, Saskatchewan, Atlantic Canada and the North for certain. The others – if I find out I’ll post it.

To get bottles to go, there are a number of good stores around town. Brewery Creek on Main Street is the best; also check out Firefly on Cambie and Viti, which is downtown on Seymour. These are all private stores – the big player in retail are the government stores. Most of them suck. The best in the city is at 39th & Cambie, south of Firefly and Stella’s. The best one downtown is on Alberni, between Burrard and Thurlow.

It should be noted that Vancouver is an exceptional food city. We have a great variety of cuisines, with the focus being on Asian. While there is a degree of hyperbole in some circles, make no mistake you can eat well in Vancouver. Drinking well with your delicious meal is a trickier matter. But you can do it. In Gastown, Boneta has some tasty beers on its list. Nearby, on Beatty Street towards downtown, Chambar has a Belgian orientation, the result being a handful of quality brews from that great beer country. Possibly the most famous restaurant in Vancouver, Vij, carries draft from Storm Brewing and the proprietor’s casual place next door Rangoli has a couple of nice options as well. It has been a slow process getting Vancouver’s quality eateries to embrace craft beer, but slowly they are coming about. Bin 941 is another good option for civilized food and good beer.

As for microbreweries, there are a number of them. The most local ones are R & B Brewing and Storm Brewing, both from the city and available all over town. Russell from suburban Surrey and Dead Frog from Aldergrove in the Fraser Valley are both well-distributed in town. Red Truck is the brand from the Mark James company that owns five of our brewpubs, including Yaletown and Dix. Other BC breweries are represented in town occasionally. Watch out for the non-micros. Rickard’s is a Molson brand. Granville Island is also now owned by Molson and aside from the stuff at the taproom their stuff is not made in Vancouver. Okanagan Spring is mediocre fare from national brewer Sleeman, who also masquerade as craft brew from time to time.

What follows is venue-specific information.

Downtown we have hockey at GM Place, the opening and closing ceremonies at BC Place and a whole host of stages set up for cultural events, and most of the hotels. Dix Brewery is the best situated here, right across from BC Place. Viti is the only serious bottle shop downtown. David Lam Park in Yaletown has a lot of cultural events, and is not far from Yaletown Brewing.

Short track speed skating and figure skating will take place at the Pacific Coliseum, out by the PNE on the east side of town. This area is a black hole for beer. My best advice is for pre/post-event drinking at one of the good spots in Gastown (Steamworks, Alibi Room, Six Acres) or at Stella’s on Commercial before walking over to Hastings Street and catching an eastbound bus. If you’re not from Vancouver, you should know that Hastings Street near Gastown is not a pretty sight. It’s the crappiest neighbourhood in all of Canada. It’s pretty safe, though, despite what it looks like. The folks there have got bigger problems than hassling tourists. Don’t worry about catching a bus there, it’s not a problem.

Some hockey takes place at the University of British Columbia. You would think this area would be better for beer, but it’s not that good. Most pubs should have a smaller brewery or two, but I would temper my expectations. Some of the stores out there – Liberty Wine Merchants at 10th @ Sasamat and Point Grey Beer and Wine on Broadway are worth checking out.

Curling is in the middle of the city near Queen Elizabeth Park. There isn’t anything good adjacent to the venue on Main Street, but further north on Main (towards the mountains) is The Whip, a good bar that has cask ale on Sunday evenings; and further north on Cambie is Stella’s on Cambie. In the area are three stores – Brewery Creek, Firefly and the government store at Cambie & 39th. If you must stay close to the venue, Locus (Main @ King Edward) has Phillips IPA on tap along with a couple of other micros.

Speed skating is in Richmond. There is a brewpub in Richmond, Big River, but it is nowhere near the speed skating oval. That kind of trek is recommended only for the truly dedicated. The Flying Beaver is not far, and it is owned by the Mark James Group (who own five brewpubs) but their selection of craft beer has always let me down in the past. Still, that’s not a great area for beer. And the Flying Beaver is always packed so you’ll get a raucous atmosphere no matter what you’re drinking.

Cypress Bowl in West Vancouver is home to freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The North Shore (as the area is known) has a few spots worth knowing about. Taylor’s Crossing in North Vancouver is brewpub in North Vancouver with some nice balanced beers, well worth checking out as the North Shore’s only brewpub. Sailor Hagar’s in North Vancouver – right near the Seabus terminal – used to be a brewpub. Their beers are now made elsewhere, but they are proprietary beers so would be worth a beer lover’s time. Not near the venues but worth checking out in North Vancouver is The Raven, a pub in scenic Deep Cove that carries a good variety of craft brew. Coming back from the North Shore on the Seabus drops you off across at Waterfront Station, across a small parking lot from the original Steamworks.

There are a lot of events in Whistler as well – most of the skiing, bobsled/luge, ski jumping and further north the cross-country. It’s a resort town, so they are well set up for partying, although in general this does not translate to a support of craft beer. High Mountain / Whistler Brewhouse is the only brewpub. They’ve got an IPA on tap all the time now, and some excellent seasonals. Hopefully they’ll have some good strong stuff ready to go.

It is also worth mentioning that in the town of Squamish, halfway between Vancouver and Whistler, Howe Sound Brewing makes quality brew, best enjoyed on the deck with a stunning view of the Stawamus Chief.

Intrepid beer hunters will find more craft beer outside the city. Central City is the most accessible. They are on the Expo Skytrain line, about 35 minutes from downtown. Exit at Surrey Central Station and head towards the mall. Don’t leave without both an IPA and an ESB.

Much further south in Surrey is Big Ridge; and even further in the Fraser Valley in the northern part is Mission Springs. Mission Springs is quasi-accessible on transit, via the West Coast Express. But you’ll have to stay the night in Mission to make that work.

The bold will find a further stack of breweries both on Vancouver Island via BC Ferries, and south of the border, where Whatcom and Skagit Counties both boast a clutch of breweries.

Links:

BC Beer Blog
YVR Taplister

Ratebeer Vancouver
Ratebeer Vancouver map
Ratebeer Whistler
Ratebeer North Vancouver
Ratebeer West Vancouver
Ratebeer Richmond
Ratebeer Surrey
Ratebeer Victoria

USA (Whatcom and Skagit County) links:

Bellingham
Deming / Mount Baker Highway
Mount Vernon
LaConner
Birdsview/Concrete
Anacortes

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