Edible Vancouver Island Jan/Feb 2023

Neverending Pilsner at Small Gods Brewing in Sidney. Photo by Joe Wiebe.

Co. in Delta, and The Beer Farmers in Pemberton. What I find so exciting is how these breweries explore the terroir of their farms through their beer. They grow their own barley, which makes up the majority of any beer’s recipe, as well as other grains and hops, and share the results at bucolic locations that help the drinker understand that beer is truly an agricultural product. If all of this is perhaps sounding too good to be true, I should temper it with a dose of economic reality. While the pandemic didn’t necessarily deter people from opening new breweries, it did lead to a handful of closures and business sales, and a lot of B.C.’s breweries are concerned about paying off debts they incurred just staying afloat during the darkest days of the lockdown. Sure, they adapted quickly by adding a canning line and delivery service, but those items came with a cost that eventually has to be paid. And add to that the challenges of staffing in the post-pandemic world, whether it’s simply finding people to hire or expectations for higher wages. So, a decade into the “craft beer revolution,” what does the fu ture hold? Is the sort of growth we’ve seen over the past decade sustainable? Honestly, no: there is certainly a limit to how many breweries B.C. can support, but I don’t think anyone can actually say what that exact number is. I expect we will continue to see new breweries open, but maybe not at quite so dizzying a pace as we did in recent years. What excites me most about the future is to watch as brewers continue to improve their recipes, add new technologies and perfect their techniques. I can’t wait to see— and taste—what they come up with next.

The author enjoys a flight at Whistle Buoy Brewing. Photo by Glen Schachowskoj.

what is craf t beer?

Craft beer is incredibly hard to define. Many people have debated how to define this nebulous term over the past 40 years as the microbrewing movement morphed into the craft beer industry. An entire book has been written on the subject (UK writer Pete Brown’s Craft - An Argument: Why the term ‘Craft Beer’ is completely undefinable, hopelessly misunderstood and absolutely essential, published in 2020). In simplest terms, craft beer is made by an independent brewer using quality ingredients and traditional techniques. To plan your next brewery trip, find a Vancouver Island craft brewery at bcaletrail. ca/regions/vancouver-island or vancouverisland.travel/ itineraries/craft-breweries-on vancouver-island

44 JAN/FEB 2023 EDIBLE VANCOUVER ISLAND