Beer lovers flock to Vancouver pubs that brew their own suds

YALETOWN BREWING COMPANY
1111 Mainland Street
604-681-2739, drinkfreshbeer.com
Yaletown has blossomed into Vancouver's trendiest district, with boutiques and restaurants in converted 19th-century warehouses. As the first licensed brewpub in Canada, the Yaletown Brewing Company has been a mainstay since 1994. This year, Georgia Straight readers voted it the city's best brewpub.

The big brickwork joint seats 125 on the pub side, drawing weekend line-ups, and 245 more on the restaurant and patio side. "Our crowd is about 10 per cent locals, 35 per cent tourists, and 55 per cent people heading to concerts, sports events and the entertainment district," notes manager Brent Cummings. Complimentary trolley shuttles to BC Lions football games, Vancouver Canucks hockey games and rock concerts are offered.

As soon as you walk in, it's clear this place reveres beer. In the foyer, T-shirts for sale ($20) sport tongue-in-cheek slogans such as "Draft Beer, Not People" and "Give Up Bad Beer For Good." You can also purchase a 1.75 L (60 oz) growler for $20 and fill it with brewmaster Ian Hill's Belgian-influenced concoctions. Quaff a Hill's Special Wheat Hefeweizen with a slice of lemon, or a deliciously bitter Yippy India Pale Ale. The walls sport colourful Tiko Kerr paintings depicting the neighbourhood. Plus, the servers are as easy on the eyes as the beer is on the palate.

STEAMWORKS BREWING COMPANY
375 Water Street
604-689-2739, steamworks.com
Tapping into Vancouver's rich beer culture is a treat at this 1,393 square metre (15,000 sq. ft.) brewpub next to Gastown, the city's oldest district. Since opening in 1995, Steamworks has built an award-winning reputation under brewmaster Conrad Gmoser. While admiring the view of Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains, you can sip an aromatic, hops-laden Signature Pale Ale or a smooth Lion's Gate Lager, which suits just about any palate. Seasonal specialties such as The Great Pumpkin Ale and Espresso Stout make return visits worthwhile year-round. You can also buy ball caps, growlers, T-shirts and posters with vintage art deco themes representing the in-house brews.

The welcoming interior design features cedar-beamed ceilings and copper-encased fermenting tanks, and you can order casual West Coast fare such as grilled wild salmon filet and chicken satay skewers to accompany your pints. Hollywood VIPs Gene Hackman and Richard Gere have reportedly popped in, but Steamworks is more about chilling out than star-spotting. Cheers to that!

DOCKSIDE BREWING COMPANY
1253 Johnston Street
604-685-7070, docksidebrewing.com
Peter Haupenthal earned his Master's degree in brewing in Berlin, and since 2001, the down-to-earth German has shared his intoxicating craft with visitors to this spacious Granville Island establishment. "If the people like it, then it goes," Haupenthal says of his philosophy about introducing new malt beverages. A one-man operation, he brews up to two batches of 2,000 L (525 gal) each week.

At any given time, Dockside has six beers on tap and two seasonal ones, mostly of the lighter-coloured variety. The Jamaica Lager is infused with pink hibiscus concentrate that provides a refreshing sweetness. The Johnston Pilsner brings a classic bitter flavour reminiscent of the original Czech beer, while the Marina Light Lager, exceptionally smooth on the tongue, is a perennial best-seller.

Throw in a patio view of False Creek, a 15 metre (50 ft.) aquarium and a locally inspired restaurant menu featuring Fraser Valley free-range chicken breast and grilled Gulf Islands lamb sirloin, and it's easy to see why you might end up moored at Dockside for a while.

GRANVILLE ISLAND BREWING
1441 Cartwright Street
604-687-2739, gib.ca
For a behind-the-scenes look at how beer is made, there's no better destination than Granville Island Brewing (GIB). Tucked beneath the Granville Street Bridge, Canada's oldest microbrewery dates back to 1984, and the daily tours at 12, 2 and 4 p.m. are both educational and entertaining.

When explaining the ins and outs of the bottling process, Brew Crew tour guide Patrick Stewart quips: "We can't sell half-filled bottles -- that'd be kind of suspect -- so those ones become the staff beer!" You learn about how closely (or not) GIB adheres to the 1516 Bavarian Purity Law, the implications of the worldwide hops shortage, and what happens inside those big shiny tanks visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Tours are $9.75 per adult (19+), and they conclude in the high-ceilinged taproom with a tasting of four of the 12 to 15 craft beers GIB creates annually. The Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale includes a distinctively Canadian touch of maple syrup, while the Robson Street Hefeweizen is a classic unfiltered wheat ale with 5% alcohol. In the adjoining store, stock up on brewskis, plus GIB merchandise ranging from bottle openers and Frisbees to shirts and hoodies.

TAYLOR'S CROSSING
1035 Marine Drive, North Vancouver
604-986-7899, drinkfreshbeer.com
Local libation-lovers live it up at the North Shore's only brewpub, whose huge glass-enclosed brewhouse yields 5,500 L (1,450 gal) of beer a week. The venue burgeons with stained glass, dark-wood decor and maritime paintings, accentuating its appeal to British expats. Brewmaster David Varga keeps them coming back with five year-round microbrews, plus four seasonals. "Creativity is a big part of my work here," says Varga, who's previously toiled at seven other breweries.

Two Taylor's Crossing staples are Red Truck Lager, which has an easy-drinking, hops-tinged European flavour, and Red Truck Ale, an amber ale with a fruity, citrus quality. Modelled after an Irish dry stout, the Mad Scow Stout is puckishly likened to "coffee with booze in it" by Varga, and the Two Lions Pale Ale combines bitterness with a rich, creamy head.

HOW IS BEER MADE?
Beer has four main ingredients: malt, hops, yeast and water. Malt seeds are crushed and placed in a mash tun, where the mixture is converted into fermentable sugars. It's then boiled in a brew kettle, and hops can be added for flavour. After the liquid cools, yeast is added in the fermenting room, which converts the sugars into alcohol. When fermenting is complete, the beer is placed in cold storage to mature. Lagers take longer than ales both to ferment and to mature. Most beers are also filtered to reduce yeast cloudiness.