4 B.C. craft beer changes to look forward to in 2015

On the Coast beer columnist Rebecca Whyman says even though 2014 was one of the best years yet for the B.C. craft beer industry, there's still plenty to look forward to in 2015.

Here are four changes B.C. craft beer fans should expect:

More breweries

Dogwood Brewing should be opening in the next two weeks near S.E. Marine and Knight Street in Vancouver. It's an organic brewery and will be offering IPA, honey ale and stout. 

Off the Rail Brewing will be opening their doors at the beginning of February, across from Bomber Brewing on Adanac Street in east Vancouver. It's owned by Steve Forsyth, former owner of Vancouver's Railway Club. He will also be the brewmaster.

Forsyth has spent the past five years growing hops. Off the Rail will open with five beers: a lager, a pilsner, a pale ale, a red ale and an IPA.

Red Truck Brewing's long-awaited tasting lounge near First Avenue and Main street should be opening on March 15, 2015.

Growlers galore

Growler fans rejoice! A new website lists all the breweries in the province and provides contact information and hours of operation.

It will eventually will be an up-to-date source for which beers they have available for growler fills and in the tasting room. 

Currently, if you want to know about growler fills you have to follow all of the breweries on Facebook and Twitter.  This website aims to give craft beer fans one site to check for all of the listings. 

This will be a very useful tool if you are looking for a specific beer style as beer lovers will be able to sort by style, as well as open status and cost of fill.

2015: The Year of the Sour

"I think that 2015 is going to be the year of the sour in B.C.," Whyman told On the Coast host Stephen Quinn.

Storm has been brewing sours for many years and Driftwood for several. Townsite Brewing, Parallel 49 and Moon Under Water began brewing sours in 2014. 

StrangeFellows will be brewing sours shortly, and Whyman thinks we're going to see more breweries throwing their hats into that ring as well. 

Tied-house tasting rooms

A tied-house tasting room is an off-site tasting room or pub that serves primarily the beer of a particular brewery. By having one in a different city than the brewery itself, a brewery can expand its market without having to worry about getting tap space at someone else's bar or pub.

For example, Howe Sound Brewing in Squamish can have a tasting room in Vancouver where they can serve their whole line-up of beers. 

In 2014 Vancouver got two of these — Prohibition and Devil's Elbow.

Whyman would like to see more of them, and has heard that a couple more of these will be opening up in the Lower Mainland in 2015, but no confirmation as of yet.

To hear the full interview, click on the audio track labelled: Beer columnist Rebecca Whyman on B.C. craft beer predictions for 2015