February 1, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VANCOUVER'S BEST IN BEER
Vancouver — The Vancouver chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale has announced the results of its annual members poll recognizing local and regional excellence in brewing and beer service. Steamworks was awarded Best Local Brewpub; The Whip Restaurant Gallery is Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant; and Brewery Creek, Best Local Liquor Store for beer selection.

"We chose to strongly emphasize craft beer and continuously make an effort to source brands no one else in the city carries," said Brewery Creek manager, Gerry Erith. "Not only does this award endorse our strategy, our success has meant that we will continue to improve our selection to accommodate the growth we’ve seen."

The past year has seen an increased interest in craft beer in Vancouver. In addition to the ever-present lager and pale ale, every brewpub now makes strong, robustly-hopped India Pale Ale. All will have, either seasonally or year around, a wheat beer and a stout with a various assortment of styles in between. We are also seeing Belgian fruit and abbey-style ales that defy Vancouverites' common conception of beer.

Food pairing has been getting more notice since acclaimed Brooklyn brewer-author Garrett Oliver ("The Brewmaster's Table") hosted a brewmaster's dinner at Gastown's Boneta restaurant last August. Subsequently, beer dinners have been held at Zin, the Pan Pacific, Mission Springs Brewing, FigMint, and The Whip. Surrey's BigRidge Brewing and The Whip regularly have special menus paired with their cask offerings and there have been a handful of beer and chocolate, and beer and cheese pairing events.

"Clearly, beer is not just for the burger and pizza crowd, said Rick Green, CAMRA Vancouver's newly-elected president. "There is a place for flavourful craft beer in fine dining that has, until now, been largely overlooked in Vancouver. Restaurants are beginning to recognize the broad palate of flavours available to them from the myriad beer styles."

Cask ale is another growing phenomenon. This is a traditional English method of beer production where real ale is matured in 40.9-litre firkins and served directly from the cask without filtering, pasteurization, or the addition of carbonation. Cask ale is available weekly at DIX BBQ & Brewing and The Whip, and monthly at BigRidge and Taylor's Crossing in North Vancouver. DIX hosts a summer and a winter "Caskival" that typically offer two dozen different beers from brewers around the region.

The results of the 2008 CAMRA Vancouver Awards are:
Best Local Brewpub
  Gold: Steamworks
  Silver: Central City Brewing
  Bronze: DIX BBQ & Brewing

Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant
  Gold: The Whip Gallery Restaurant
  Silver: The Alibi Room
  Bronze: The Railway Club

Best Local Liquor Store
  Gold: Brewery Creek Cold Beer & Wine Store
  Silver: BCLS Signature Store (39th & Cambie)
  Bronze: Firefly Fine Wines and Ales

Best Local Beer Event
  Gold: The Whip Real Ale Sundays
  Silver: DIX Cask Thursdays
  Bronze: CAMRA On a Mission to Mission

Best BC Brewery
  Gold: Phillips Brewing Co., Victoria
  Silver: Crannóg Ales, Sorrento
  Bronze: Storm Brewing Ltd., Vancouver

Best BC Beer
  Gold: Central City Imperial IPA
  Silver: Storm Black Plague Stout
  Bronze: Crannóg Back Hand of God Stout

Best BC Seasonal Beer
  Gold: Steamworks Grand Espresso Stout
  Silver: R & B Auld Nick
  Bronze: Granville Island Merry Monks Doppelbock

 
The Campaign for Real Ale
In 1971 angry beer lovers in England formed the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) to combat the replacement of traditional regional beers with "mainstream" factory beers. Affiliated with the now 84,000-strong CAMRA UK, CAMRA BC was incorporated in 1990 as an independent consumer organization to

• maintain consumer rights
• promote quality, choice, and value for money
• campaign for greater appreciation of traditional beers, ciders, and perries as part of our heritage and culture
• promote and preserve full-flavoured & distinctive beers and decent pubs

Media Contact:
Rick Green
President
CAMRA Vancouver
bodger@istar.ca
Tel: (604) 879-5548