Food & Beer Culture

What do you eat with a West Coast IPA? Salmon belongs to the coast, and a bitter IPA pairs with it better than you'd think. The bitterness cuts through the fish's fattiness, and the citrus aroma more or less stands in for a squeeze of lemon. Wild-caught salmon grilled on a cedar plank is a common dish along the Pacific coast.

In spring, spot prawns appear on the table, a large shrimp species from the coast that, freshly cooked, often needs nothing more than butter and lemon. A pale ale with medium bitterness lets their sweetness shine. Then there's fish and chips, battered fish with fries, served at many pubs in Victoria and Vancouver.

For dessert, there are Nanaimo bars, a no-bake layered treat made of coconut, chocolate, and a custard filling. It's named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. A strong, sweeter ale pairs better with chocolate than a very bitter IPA.

Beer culture here thrives on festivals and trails. The Vancouver Brewers Festival ran for ten days in April 2024. In the Okanagan Valley, there's the Great Okanagan Beer Festival, and in fall, brewers celebrate the harvest in the Fraser Valley with fresh-hop beers.

Drinking happens right at the brewery, on the patio or by the harbor. The everyday rhythm of the province plays out in the tasting room, not at a regulars' table in a pub. Many breweries also offer regional food, and in the Okanagan Valley, breweries, orchards, and wineries sit so close together that a day with three stops is easy to plan. A beer here doesn't replace a meal, it accompanies it.