麻豆传媒映画

The times they are a-changin鈥�. It wasn鈥檛 so long ago that the vast suburbs surrounding 麻豆传媒映画were craft beer wastelands. While the city proper was undergoing a dramatic craft awakening, out in the 鈥榖urbs? Nothing. Well, almost nothing.

While Port Moody was quick out of the gates with the Murray Street crew, there was barely a pulse in many of the neighbouring municipalities. As it turned out, some civic governments were initially less than welcoming of craft breweries and their tasting rooms.听

But the 鈥榖urbs are coming around. North Vancouver鈥檚 Lower Lonsdale is set to rival Port Moody with two craft breweries already open and another three on the way. Maple Ridge has three breweries all within walking distance. Langley could see four new breweries this year. And in Port Coquitlam, a city that had exactly zero craft breweries less than a year ago, two breweries are open for business today: Northpaw Brewing and Taylight Brewing. And there could be as many as five before the year is out.

The Growler sat down with brewers Goldwin Chan and Dennis Smit of Taylight and Northpaw, respectively, to find out what鈥檚 different about brewing in the 鈥榖urbs.

The Growler: Why has it taken so long for craft beer to make it to the suburbs?听

Dennis Smit: Part of the challenge here was there are some pretty vocal pub owners, not naming names, that didn鈥檛 like the idea of a craft brewery coming in and opening a tasting room.

Goldwin Chan: The pub owners definitely wanted to keep us out. Some of them.

Growler: Was it that they felt entitled to a monopoly on liquor sales?

Smit: Yeah, it鈥檚 exactly that. It seems like they want to monopolize the whole beer scene, but at the same time, a lot of them aren鈥檛 willing to embrace craft beer. The John B Pub [in Coquitlam] is a great example of a pub that has embraced it, they鈥檙e open arms to craft beer, they have, what? Fifty taps?

Growler: Eighty, I believe. [Editor: It鈥檚 86, actually!]

Smit: Wow. So, yeah, no problem, you want Molson or a Budweiser, you can have it. But you can also have whatever craft beer you want, too, and they are doing just fine. Probably doing better now than they were 10 years ago.听

Chan: The pubs that seem to have a problem with craft breweries are the ones that are full of, you know, only old guys. And that鈥檚 fine, there鈥檚 a market for everything. But it鈥檚 different environment with a totally different clientele.

Growler: Yeah, I doubt you guys would be pulling people away from places like that.

Smit: What we鈥檙e doing is catering to everybody here, just look around [gestures at a nearby table of moms and young children]. You鈥檙e not going to see that at a pub.

Chan: A lot of people don鈥檛 feel comfortable in bars and pubs.

Growler: It seems like a lot of municipalities didn鈥檛 understand what craft beer is all about, as well.

Smit: I think that鈥檚 a lot of it. I think there was a misunderstanding, but that鈥檚 changed a lot, very recently. Especially in PoCo. PoCo has been great to Northpaw, they鈥檝e really helped us out and fast-tracked our process. But prior to that you saw the council in Port Moody have a lot of success with craft breweries. Not only fiscal success, but community success, too. It was very well received by everyone. It wasn鈥檛 just alcoholics and tradesmen, it was everybody, it was families.

Growler: Craft beer turned Port Moody into the funnest place in town.

Smit: Absolutely, so neighbouring communities like PoCo saw that and said, hey, we want craft breweries, too!听

Growler: But the first few proposed craft breweries in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, they met a lot of resistance from the municipalities, five, six years ago. There was even talk of putting in provisions so they wouldn鈥檛 be too close to schools.

Chan: Because the people who go to craft breweries are all rapists and pedophiles!听

Growler: They wouldn鈥檛 have an issue if a winery wanted to open up.

Chan: It鈥檚 the craziest thing. Beer is still treated differently.

Growler: Do you think there鈥檚 a difference in the suburban palate? Are there beers that might be popular in 麻豆传媒映画but wouldn鈥檛 fly out here?

Smit: I don鈥檛 know that it is a lot different. There鈥檚 a lot of knowledgeable beer people in Vancouver, but one of the things that we benefit from is that people are moving from Vancouver. Housing is a lot cheaper out here. So those people are coming and they鈥檙e finding breweries. We鈥檝e had to start doing kettle sours, because people are coming in and asking for sours. That鈥檚 not a beer you make if you鈥檙e just selling cream ales. Obviously, a barrel-aged sour would be great, but we just opened and kettle sours are nice and easy.

Chan: And we do have regulars who come in just for our lagers, sure. They like their Budweiser, and they want to drink something that鈥檚 local.

Growler: So these aren鈥檛 鈥渃raft beer people,鈥� necessarily, but they like beer and they want to support a local business.

Smit: Local is a very big word. And people who aren鈥檛 really in to craft beer will come in because they want to support local, and that鈥檚 what something like a cream ale is for. And they鈥檒l enjoy it, and then they want to try something else.

Growler: So gateway beers are still important. You鈥檙e educating the market, to a certain extent. At least part of it.

Smit: Absolutely. We get those people everyday. Maybe they鈥檙e biking by or walking their dog and they come in and want a beer, but all they know is Budweiser.听

Growler: That鈥檚 something craft breweries in places like Victoria and 麻豆传媒映画dealt with years ago. Not so much anymore.

Smit: Which is why you see more specialization in Vancouver, for sure. That鈥檚 going to happen when you have so many breweries. Out here, you can鈥檛 have a menu of only huge IPAs or 12% imperial stouts.听

Growler: Those beers can be intimidating to someone who鈥檚 unfamiliar with craft beer. At the very least they likely haven鈥檛 had the same exposure to craft beer that someone from 麻豆传媒映画or Victoria has.

Smit: Exactly. In places like East Van now, you鈥檙e almost being forced to find a niche market, whereas here we don鈥檛 have that. You have to have something for everybody.

Chan: You know, people just want something that tastes good, so try to give them that. Very approachable, nothing too crazy. We鈥檙e not like Electric Bicycle out here, we鈥檙e not throwing ramen into the kettle. But we get to experiment with our pilot system. Hazys and IPAs are still really popular, though.

Growler: The hazy style of beer, honestly, is revolutionary for craft beer. A lot of people who thought that they hated hops because they had some 100 IBU monstrosity like 10 years ago are coming back to craft beer because of hazy IPAs. It offers all of the fruity aromas and flavours of hops without the bitterness, so it鈥檚 totally approachable.听

Chan: We still get that, people coming in and saying, they don鈥檛 like hoppy beer. But they love our hazy pale ale! But that鈥檚 true hoppiness鈥攖he aroma and the flavour鈥攏ot the bitterness. We鈥檙e not going after the high alpha acid hops that large commercial breweries use anymore. That used to be all that was available.听

Smit: They wanted the highest alpha they could get so they could use the least amount of hops possible, because they鈥檙e brewing on such a large scale and all you want to do is get your 15 IBUs.听

Chan: We probably put similar amounts of hops into our IPAs as there is in an entire brew of Molson Canadian, and that鈥檚 a 650 hL [65,000 L] brew. It鈥檚 about a garbage can worth.

Growler: What鈥檚 the craft beer market going to be like five, 10 years from now out here? Can PoCo support dozens of breweries?

Chan: I think we opened the floodgates. These guys opened up and we opened up soon after, and there鈥檚 going to be at least two or three more that we know about. Port Coquitlam isn鈥檛 a huge city, but we鈥檙e going to have a good spread. I don鈥檛 know that we鈥檒l see many more than that, though.听

Smit: I think the reality is, you鈥檙e going to see our products and Taylight鈥檚 in local stores, maybe spread out a bit more in the province somewhat, and that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 going to be.听

Chan: I see the breweries evolving, and becoming more different from each other.

Smit: And you see that in Brewers Row in Port Moody. Every one of those breweries is different.听