BRITISH COLUMBIA – While most people’s European vacations have been put on hold, the BC Ale Trail is providing consumers the opportunity to explore Europe with 100 European-style beers, brewed right here in BC.
Monica Frost
The BC Ale Trail highlights a sampling of 100 beers produced by BC craft breweries (organized by country of origin) that allow British Columbians to “take a tour” of European-style beers without leaving the province.
“We wanted to give people the opportunity to feel like they’re on an ‘Ale-Venture’ while still staying close to home,” says Monica Frost, BC Ale Trail Project Lead. “Plus, it’s a fun way to explore some craft beer styles that folks might not be that familiar with.”
Organized by European country, the BC Ale Trail blog features the full list of 100 beers and recommends choosing a starting point – like a suggestion in a guidebook, that sends you to a neighbourhood in a foreign city you might never have explored on your own. Download the BC Ale Trail App, the insider’s guide to craft beer and start exploring!
Germany
Germany is certainly one of Europe’s prime beer travel destinations. Most breweries there make three core beers: a Helles (light lager), Dunkel (dark lager), and Hefeweizen (wheat ale with a surprising banana-like flavour). German Pilsners are very popular, too. Breweries in Köln are famous for making a light ale called Kölsch. In addition, there are seasonal beers like Märzen (Oktoberfest-style beers) and Bocks. There are even sour beers in Germany, including salty and sour Gose and light and refreshingly tart Berliner Weisse.
German-style beers produced by BC craft breweries:
- Trading Post Brewing Helles Lager (Langley)
- Vancouver Island Brewing Dominion Dark Lager (Victoria)
- Lighthouse Brewing Cloudburst Hefeweizen (Victoria)
- Three Ranges Mount Robson Kölsch (Valemount)
- Four Winds Brewing Holz Pils (Delta)
- Ravens Brewing Corvus Lingonberry Lime Gose (Abbotsford)
Czechia
Czechs are famous for consuming more beer per capita than any other country in the world. As the birthplace of Pilsner, it’s not surprising that is the main style produced. Light golden lager with slightly different regional variations dominates the beer scene for sure, but Czech brewers also make very good black lager.
Czech-style beers produced by BC craft breweries:
- Off the Rail Brewing Czechmate Pilsner (Vancouver)
- Wildeye Brewing Czech Dark Lager (North Vancouver)
Belgium
Every beer explorer eventually falls in love with the amazing world of Belgian beer. It is truly unique with its mix of ales, saisons, lambics and trappist beers.
Belgian-style beers produced by BC craft breweries:
- Dageraad Brewing Blonde and Amber (Burnaby)
- 33 Acres Brewing 33 Acres of Sunshine (Vancouver)
- Container Brewing Pour Les Mineurs Grisette (Vancouver)
- Driftwood Brewery Farmhand Saison (Victoria)
- Storm Brewing King Rattus Blackberry Lambic (Vancouver)
- Strange Fellows Brewing Reynard Oud Bruin (Vancouver)
- Red Collar Brewing Tripel Trappist-StyleAle (Kamloops)
United Kingdom
While the United Kingdom is not officially part of the EU, no European beer-cation would be complete without visiting the United Kingdom. In addition to British-style cask-conditioned beer, you will also find styles like brown ales, porters, stouts, ESBs and Scottish Ales well represented in BC.
UK-style beers produced by BC craft breweries:
- Spinnakers Brewpub Cask-Conditioned Mitchell’s ESB (Victoria)
- Hoyne Brewing Appleton’s Finest British Ale (Victoria)
- Fisher Peak Brewing Hell Roaring Scottish Ale (Cranbrook)
- Old Yale Brewpub Sasquatch Stout (Chilliwack)
- Howe Sound Brewing Rail Ale Nut Brown (Squamish)
- Smithers Brewing Bootlegger Brown Ale (Smithers)
