B.C. Beer Awards: 5 craft beers to watch: Port Moody to Kwantlen
Beer writer Joe Wiebe highlights breweries to check out, one on a university campus
"Beer has never been as good as it is right now in B.C., and it keeps getting better and better," said Wiebe, author of Craft Beer Revolution: The Insider's Guide to B.C. Breweries.
The province's craft breweries will be competing for awards at the annual B.C. Beer Awards and Festival on Saturday, Oct. 24, hosted by CBC host Stephen Quinn.
Here are the beers Wiebe said to look out for at the awards:
1. KPU Brewing
Kwantlen Polytechnic University's brewing and brewery operations diploma program is now in its second year, and the students will be serving one of their original, student-made beers at the awards on Oct. 24.
"They've got a great little brewery instruction lab, it';s a little custom-made brewery they have there at the university campus in Langley, and it's really cool," Wiebe said.
2. Twin Sails
This is a brand new brewery in Port Moody that just opened the week leading up to the awards (their official opening was Oct. 23)
"They told me how they didn't announce their opening, they just opened their doors...and they said within a couple hours they were full of people," Wiebe said.
3. Yellow Dog
Another Port Moody brewery: "Yellow Dog...won the top beer of the year last year, for their smoked porter, so it will be interesting to see how they fare this year."
4. Category 12
This new brewery in Saanich offers their Disruption IPA which is one of Wiebe's favourite black IPAs.
"I'd say look for Category 12 to pick up an award," Wiebe said.
"They've been making a lot of great beers and they've been getting a lot of attention for them."
5. Strange Fellows
Strangefellows opened last year on Clark Drive in Vancouver, after the 2014 B.C. Beer Awards.
"They, I have a feeling, will do quite well at the awards, because they're really doing a great job with their beers."
To hear the interview listen to the audio labelled: Beer writer Joe Wiebe talks BC craft beer scene, and what to watch for at the BC Beer Awards