Brewery Creek Liquor Store

Fat Tug IPA by Driftwood Brewery is a personal favourite and a huge seller in our store. This is for good reason. This beer is a fantastic example of a northwest style IPA and BC “hop heads” rejoiced when it was first released not so many years ago.

If you like spicy food, this beer is a clear winner. Especially with Thai or Mexican where the grapefruit, mango, melon and passion fruit hop profile is the perfect compliment to their bold dishes. Imagine having a Fat Tug with green papaya salad. Are you salivating yet? Even if you’re not hungry this beer is a winner. Beware though, it is VERY drinkable but at 7% you may stand up from your bar stool only to meet the floor moments later. It has happened, many times, and yet we never seem to learn. Or perhaps we know but we just choose to forget…

It’s been around 2 years since the Tug first rubbed shoulders’s with Red Racer’s red headed broad as the best IPA in BC and both of them are still holding their ground. Perhaps we’ll see Her Captaining the Tug one day in the future… Can you say collaboration? They seem to be all the rage of late. We’d like to see it happen!

Cheers! Happy Tuesday!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we want to give thanks to one of our favourite breweries in the Lower Mainland for making their amazing ESB. Central City, Gary, thank you for keeping our bellies full of tasty beer for almost a decade.

Over the years this ESB has raked in awards. This year it took Gold in the World Cup of Beer. Not to mention all the awards that already decorate it’s plaque from previous years. A North American take on an English classic, this beer is great for any occasion. If your belly is aching from turkey, pie and pumpkin beers, the Red Racer ESB is a natural cure. Cheers to a local classic!

In celebration of Thanksgiving dinners that are taking place all over BC today I thought we’d feature another one of the oodles of pumpkin beers that are gracing our shelves of late. Howe Sound’s Pumpkin Eater is one that we have been looking forward to. This big bottle contains a big beer. It’s 8% ABV and brewed with fresh roasted pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and star anise. I can just picture you all sitting around a turkey and pumpkin pie laden table, swirling around goblets of Pumpkin eater instead of the regular vino pairings.

This fantastic beer took Bronze medals for herbed/spiced beer in both the North American and Canadian Beer Awards. So you can feel like a winner as you stuff your bellies with cinnamon, spice and all things nice. Cheers and happy Thanksgiving!

Back when Victoria was still just part of a Colony of the British Empire, and the first breweries were being built on the Island, the first ever liquor law required that any establishment serving alcohol also had to provide food and lodging to their patrons. The folks at Spinnakers, more than a hundred years later, haven’t updated to the current regulations and we should be thankful for their delay. Not only do these folks brew an array of stellar beers inspired by local landmarks and their worldly travels, they also give you a fluffy pillow to rest your head on at the end of a long day of multiple refreshments. You can also expect to be well fed, with fresh ingredients sourced locally. Oh and as an added bonus during the cold winter months, some of their suites come equipped with fire places and Jacuzzi soaker tubs. I see a weekend away in my near future.

Their Blue Bridge Double Pale Ale is named after Victoria’s Johnston Street Bridge that opened in 1924. If you’ve ever been to Victoria, you’ve seen this eye catching piece of engineering. The beer is just as bold. At 8.2% it’s not a regular pale ale. Buyer beware! This well balanced beer will make you forget that it is quite high in alcohol. It may make you forget a few other things too. Good thing you won’t have to go far to get to your room. Just don’t walk out into the ocean.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Ok yes, it’s actually really on the 5th day but today was a little hectic with it being our
HUGE delivery day. Better late than never, right?

Anyhow, it seems that there is a trend towards a specific style of beer at this time of year. I’m not talking about the pumpkin obsession either. I mean all the “wet hopped” beers that we have seen in the past few weeks. First was the Sartori by Driftwood… we all now how that went… it was gone within hours of it landing in our cooler. Hoyne followed close behind and now we have our beer of the day, the “Time Warp” from Townsite. Think more Austin Powers than Rocky Horror. The label is groovy baby and the use of local hops is always a plus in my books.

Townsite is located in arguably one of the most beautiful parts of BC, Powell River on the Sunshine Coast. I would highly recommend making an excuse to hop on a ferry and spend a few days soaking up the suds, eh hem, I mean sunshine, before it vanishes into grey. If you can’t make it out there we do have their whole range of beers available in store for your drinking pleasure.

Happy “Wet Hopping” Season everyone!

Today’s pick is brought to you by our newest employee: Ben from Down Under. This spry young man has traveled the world in search of beer knowledge and found his temporary home, in Vancouver, at Brewery Creek.

His pick of the day is Coal Harbour Brewing’s Powell IPA. Fittingly, Coal Harbour Brewing is also a “newbie” in town. They’ve barely been open a year and they have already made a mark on Vancouver’s brewing scene. How could they not? With the lovely owner, Graham, often delivering kegs himself and rubbing shoulders with his avid fans at local drinking holes like The Whip. Not to mention that their Brewmaster is an avid musician who is said to nurture his yeast with his melodious musings.

But back to the beer. The Powell IPA is a great example of what us western beer drinkers look for in an IPA. Think red grapefruit and pine and at around 60IBU easily quaff able. As long as you’re from the West Coast that is. It is currently available in bombers but is rumored to be coming in 6pk format sooner rather than later.

Also, keep an eye out for Coal Harbour cask aged beers at your local pub. These guys are regulars at cask events around the city.

Cheers and happy Hump Day!

From the raspberries of summer we’re jumping straight into pumpkin season with Fernie Brewing Company’s Pumpkin Head Brown Ale. This seasonal ale is inspired by their First Trax Brown Ale but with the addition of organic pumpkins, cinnamon, nutmeg and numerous spices into the brew. They have been brewing the Pumpkin Head for three years now but it doesn’t sit on the shelves for long.

If you want to ease your way into the “dark beer season” this is a good way to do it. Pumpkin beers are becoming insanely popular and why wouldn’t they be? What better way to usher in fall than with a spiced ale to ward off zombies and cool winds.

Actually I am kind of fond of zombies. Cheers!