E-Malt.com News article: Canada, BC: Craft beer revolution in East Vancouver

There are a total of 13 breweries and brew pubs across Vancouver, with eight of them now situated in East Van — and more on the way — and that has quickly turned East Van into the craft-brewing centre of BC, the Province reported on March 6.

Victoria, which jumped on the craft-brew bandwagon before Vancouver, has fallen behind with just eight breweries listed on the B.C. Beer Guide website. Regina and Saskatoon each have 12 craft breweries and Toronto has 18 such establishments.

But the nine breweries in East Van may be a higher concentration than anywhere else in Canada, at least as far as beer booster Adam Chatburn knows.

“I would say that’s the case, especially with more and more going in there all the time,” said Chatburn, who is president of the Vancouver chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale Society in BC.

“This area is only going to get denser,” said Chatburn. “It’s likely already the densest concentration of breweries in Canada and it might well be in the whole of North America.”

This concentration of breweries in such a small area is unusual but that’s primarily the result of a city regulation which requires M2 industrial zoning for breweries, a condition that’s more easily met in East Van.

But more importantly, brewery building got a big boost from last year’s changes to provincial liquor rules.

Previously, patrons were only allowed to quaff free samples and buy one 12-ounce glass of beer on the premises.

New rules let brewers apply for a license that will permit beer drinkers to not only purchase product at the brewery but also stay for a few pints. And that appeals to beer drinkers.

Already located in the Brewery Creek area are R & B Brewing, Brassneck Brewery and 33 Acres Brewing Company. They will soon be joined by a new Red Truck brewery and pub, along with Main Street Brewing.

There’s also another cluster of breweries using the lower-rent industrial area northeast of Brewery Creek, an area that’s being called ‘Yeast Van.’ There, you’ll find Parallel 49 Brewing Company, Coal Harbour Brewing Company, Powell Street Craft Brewery and one of the newest additions, Bomber Brewing.

Soon to join the brewery district are Off The Rail Brewing, and Callister Brewing Company.

While the actual number of BC breweries keeps changing, executive director Ken Beattie of the BC Craft Brewers Guild said there are currently about 65 craft brewers in the province.

As for East Vancouver, Chatburn says it’s going to eventually be one long section of breweries one after the other.

The big brewers still dominate the market but craft breweries captured 19 per cent of sales last year. In 2009, craft brewers had just nine per cent of the market.


07 March, 2014