Tasting

What does beer from British Columbia taste like? Mostly of citrus, resin, and pine needles, with a firm bitterness at the finish that fades quickly. For beginners, a pale ale is recommended, being lighter and less demanding than an IPA.

Anyone wanting to taste should head to the tasting room, sometimes also called a taproom. Many breweries serve a board with four small glasses there, called a flight. This lets you compare several beers without overdoing it. The BC Ale Trail groups such visits into routes, including a 2024 pass covering 31 breweries in Vancouver.

Four breweries serve as good examples. Spinnakers in Victoria brews in-house by the harbor. Granville Island Brewing in Vancouver belongs to Molson Coors. Tree Brewing in Kelowna, on the market since 1996, represents the Okanagan Valley, while Okanagan Springs, founded in 1985, represents its older brewing history.

Beer is served in a pint glass, a simple, tall tumbler without a stem. That's plenty for an IPA, since what matters here is the hop aroma, and a wide glass lets it rise upward. The ideal temperature is around 6 to 8 degrees Celsius: serve it ice cold, and the aroma disappears.

It's poured using carbon dioxide, rarely from a hand pump. You can take beer home in a growler, a refillable glass bottle that the brewery fills straight from the tap. When pouring, tilt the glass and straighten it toward the end, so a firm head forms that locks in the hop aroma.