The excess of the holidays often leads to remorse in the dark days of January as we count the cost of the party season, financially and physically. However all is not lost! Moving into 2014, let’s pledge to make a new beers resolution to stand us in good stead for the coming year. It’s up to you if you want to cut down a bit but let’s look at some ideas for positive changes:
1. Only drinking BC craft beer in BC – sure there are some amazing brews from the USA and back east but there’s some really great local stuff so let’s get supporting them over everyone else! Making the pilgrimage to Portland earns you the right to drink Oregon craft-beer.
2. Water – every 2 or 3 beers have a glass of water, you know it makes sense!
3. Try something new every week – when you grab your usual Fat Tugs why not see what’s new and try something a bit different, there’s so much variety coming out in small batches from Vancouver Breweries you really have no excuse to get out of your comfort zone!
4. Come to more CAMRA Vancouver Events – with our festivals like CiderWISE and Spring Sessional on the calendar there’s plenty to come to, but don’t forget that our regular education classes where you can learn and drink.
5. Get the most out of your membership – remember to check our website and ask for your CAMRA member benefits at your local participating establishment! Remember your membership works wherever there’s a branch, from Victoria to Powell River to the Fraser Valley so don’t leave home without it.
6. Staying away from Corporate “Crafty” Beer – so many great beers are being made by local artisans who aren’t secretly owned by the big beverage corporations, hunt them down and support them!
7. Visit the brewery – with so many new breweries opening you can’t have been to them all yet, so get out there and see them all! It’s wonderful to meet these people who are so positive about what they do and there’s usually something to try that doesn’t make it to the liquor store.
8. Make your own – Home-brewing is exploding in BC with some homebrew beers blowing even the best brewery out of the water. We all know someone who brews at home so why not ask to tag along on their next brew day and “collaborate”.
10. Start keeping track – either with a written journal of tasting notes or using an app like untapped you’ll find it easier to remember what was so good about that beer you tried and want to tell your friend about!
11. Get involved – CAMRA BC runs on volunteers, so whatever your skills and experience get in touch and even if we’ve nothing for you right away we’ll keep your info and hopefully you can join our happy family! Maybe you’ve found something interesting on the web and want to share it – send it to us and we’ll spread the word.
12. Convert someone – We all have friends who still drink commercial rubbish so this year try to bring them to the craft-side with a lighter “gateway” beer like a Kölsch or even a craft cider.
13. Try a craft cider yourself – CAMRA BC is also a champion of craft cider and 2014 is hopefully going to be CAMRA Vancouver’s Year of Craft Cider so why not grab a bottle of something a bit different, especially if gluten or hops don’t agree with you.
14. Take a beer-cation – as I said before there’s the pilgrimages to Oregon and Washington but there’s also big festivals all over the world so why not schedule your holiday to coincide with one or more of these, maybe even head over to CAMRA UK’s Great British Beer Festival in London.
15. Up to you! – why not post below your ideas and keep the conversation going.
Cheers!
Adam Chatburn,
President, CAMRA BC – Vancouver Branch
@mr_adam
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