The Great Canadian Beer Festival – Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, an historic city with a population of only 335,000, is very British. Local brewpubs and the Great Canadian Beer Festival, held for two days the weekend after Labor Day, emphasize cask-conditioned, or “real” ale. Here, English hops like Fuggles and Goldings rule the day, although the influence of nearby Washington and Oregon mean that Cascade, Mt. Hood and other American hops are also commonly used.
The GCBF is held outdoors at the Royal Athletic Park. Admission costs $20 to $25, depending on the day, and tickets must be purchased in advance. The festival sells out almost every year, so purchase your tickets early. Out-of-towners should visit the festival website (http://pacificcoast.net/~patkinson/gcbf2006/index.htm) to have tickets mailed to them.
Beer tokens cost $1.25 with most 4-ounce beer samples requiring only one token, though a handful of high-gravity beers will require two. For the brewers, admission to the festival is only upon acceptance by the festival, meaning only those breweries deemed worthy are allowed to present their beers. You won’t find mainstream, mass-market lagers here. Almost all of the brewers are from western Canada, though a few American breweries make the trip north to be in attendance. The emphasis at this festival is on quality, not quantity, with a significant percentage of beers served by hand pump.
One of the best things about the GCBF is its significant seating area. Grab a beer, sit down and meet some local beer lovers. They’ll tell you to try the beers of Phillips Brewing. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you can taste the dedication of a brewer in his beer, the Phillips beers will remove the doubt. Rumor has it that brewer Matt Phillips was forced to sleep on the brewery floor in the brewery’s formative years, the rent associated with both a brewery and a home being too great at the time. You’d have to be either really passionate or really crazy to sacrifice your home in the name of great beer. Thankfully, in the case of Phillips, you can’t taste the crazy, just the passion.
Also worthy of a special visit are the beers of Crannôg Ales, from the interior of British Columbia. Running Canada’s only certified organic brewery, these brewers are down-to-earth in every respect. The Back Hand of God Stout and the unhopped Bansidhe Ale must be sampled in order for a visit to the GCBF to be considered complete.
Victoria is a city that appreciates its ale and features four brewpubs: Spinnakers (308 Catherine Street), Swan’s (506 Pandora Street), Hugo’s (625 Courtney Street) and Canoe (450 Swift Street). The latter three are within walking distance in the downtown area while Spinnakers is accessible by a delightful water taxi through the city’s harbor. Spinnakers was Canada’s first brewpub and has done such extreme things as brew beer from hops that had been in outer space.
Beer retailing is still primarily government-controlled, though the province is now experimenting with privately-owned liquor retailers. Most notably, close to Spinnakers Brewpub is Spinnakers Spirit Merchants (130-176 Wilson St), which features the best bottle selection in the city.
Other Festivals
If you don’t think a beer festival is reason enough to visit a town, keep in mind that wherever you might choose to vacation, you might be fortunate enough to attend the local festival.
Penticton, British Columbia hosts the Okanagan Fest-of-Ale (www.fest-of-ale.bc.ca) each April. Penticton is home of the Canadian edition of the annual Ironman Triathlon and is located in the heart of the British Columbia wine country. While the festival doesn’t offer anything you won’t find at the GCBF, Penticton offers the opportunity to bike through gorgeous vineyards, and is home to the Barley Mill Brew Pub and microbreweries Tin Whistle Brewing (try their Killer Bee, which is made with five different kinds of honey) and Cannery Brewing (with an ever-popular Black Berry Porter).
Vancouver, British Columbia hosts the one-day Autumn Brewmaster’s Festival (www.autumnbrewfest.com) each September. Again, the emphasis is on British Columbian brewers, so there will be nothing here that you can’t find at the GCBF, but Vancouver is a beautiful city with the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east. It will host the 2010 Winter Olympics and features many microbreweries and brewpubs. When in Vancouver, a special effort should be made to try the eclectic beers of Storm Brewing, which has a reputation for unbridled creativity. To be honest, unbridled creatively can be hit or miss, but Storm hits more often than they miss. From Echinacea Stout to spontaneously-fermented, oak-aged “lambics,” its beers are deliciously unpredictable. Be prepared for something completely different.
On the other side of the continent, Moncton, New Brunswick hosts the one-day Atlantic Beer Festival (www.atlanticbeerfestival.ca) each May. While the size of the festival is relatively small (Moncton is home to a humble population of 100,000), you can’t beat Canada’s Atlantic provinces’ natural beauty and splendor (see “Beer in the Atlantic Provinces” sidebar).
Whatever your favorite beer style is, you will find plenty of it in Canada. From farmhouse brews in Quebec to cask-conditioned ales in British Columbia, Canadians are proud to wear their culture on their pint sleeves.
