B.C. Ale Trail highlights 50-plus beers

Vancouver – B.C.’s craft breweries are releasing more than 50 new summer-inspired beers to be promoted on the B.C. Ale Trail supported by Destination BC.

The lineup includes limited-edition beers and some that are available only at the breweries themselves.

The trail has an app that lets visitors collect reward points and redeem them for prizes and discounts.

According to the organizers, most B.C. breweries have outdoor patios or picnic spaces and many cities and municipalities also allow beer consumption in certain parks and/or beaches, making it easy to include craft beer in a picnic.

The province’s brewers used a wide variety of ingredients and techniques to create these summer beers: berries and fruits are featured in many of the beers; sours and hazy IPAs continue to be popular; and many are lower-alcohol styles. Some of these beers are also raising funds for good causes.

Check out the BC Ale Trail’s blog for the full list, or sample the selection of 16 different brews from nine craft breweries below:

Three summer selects from Barnside Brewing:

• Summer Days Farmhouse Saison (4.2% ABV): A mixed fermentation saison brewed with wheat malt and Barnside’s own farm-grown barley malt and hops.
• Westham Island Strawberry Sour (4.4% ABV): This berrylicious sour ale was brewed with more than 500kg of strawberries freshly harvested from Emma Lea Farms on Westham Island.
• Beermosa (4% ABV): This sour-based, mimosa-style beer has an effervescent, champagne-like character with a juicy citrus kick.

Dagvar Czech Lager by Dageraad Brewing (3.8% ABV): Clean and crisp with peppery notes and a subtle biscuit layer, the Czech Saaz hops are balanced, offering a gentle herbal character with minimal bitterness, all with a dry finish.

Sun Rider Tangerine Session Ale by Foamers’ Folly Brewing (5% ABV | 17 IBU): A refreshing, juicy, and distinctly citrus-forward session ale with dry-hop character and mild bitterness.

Two summer beers from Five Roads Brewing:

• Serenity Now Hazy IPA (6% ABV | 30 IBU): Light and fruity, dry hopped with Sabro and El Dorado hops providing coconut and pineapple notes.
• Double Whammy Passionfruit Mango Sour (5 ABV | 4 IBU): Tart and bursting with mango and passionfruit.

North Coast Trail Ale by Longwood Brewery (5% ABV | 26 IBU): This beer is a special collaboration between Longwood Brewery in Nanaimo and the Scarlet Ibis Pub in Holberg, the northernmost pub on Vancouver Island. It is a fundraiser with 25 cents from every can sold going towards making Cape Scott Provincial Park and the North Coast Trail even better.

Queen of Tart Prickly Pear Sour by Tin Whistle Brewing (5.3% ABV | 10 IBU): Made with over 250 lbs. of prickly pear cactus fruit, this unique beer is rosy red, tart, and very fruity. Five cents from every can sold will be donated to the Osoyoos Desert Centre to support their conservation and restoration of one of Canada’s most rare, fragile and endangered ecosystems known as “Canada’s Pocket Desert”.

Big Orange Beer by Torchlight Brewing (5% ABV | 20 IBU): Named for Nelson’s iconic Big Orange Bridge, or B.O.B as the locals call it, this Nordic wheat ale is stuffed with real natural orange puree, biotransformed hops, and Kveik yeast and is bursting with citrusy flavour.

Two summer beers from Trench Brewing:

• 1000 Peaks Belgian Blood Orange Witbier (5.15% ABV | 15 IBU): A traditional Belgian-style Witbier with spicy notes complemented by a bright citrus kick from the addition of blood orange.
• Intergalactic Mango Pale Ale (5% ABV | 20 IBU): This bright, fruity mango pale ale was masterfully dry-hopped with the elusive Galaxy hops bursting with citrus notes.

The Island Hopper Mixed IPA Pack from Vancouver Island Brewing includes:

• Farmhouse Double IPA (8.7% ABV | 80 IBU): A mixed fermentation process gives this beer a spicy and dry finish.
• West Coast IPA (7% ABV | 80 IBU): With its aromas and flavours of citrus and pine, this beer is a toast to the West Coast Trail.
• Broken Islands Hazy IPA (6% ABV | 57 IBU): Bursting with bold citrus aromas and flavours.
• Gewurztraminer Galaxy IPA (6.7% ABV | 60 IBU): This mix-pack exclusive brings together lychee and peach flavours of Gewurztraminer grapes along with passionfruit notes of Galaxy hops.

To see the full list of craft beers, visit bcaletrail.ca.