It’s no secret that Canadians love beer, and in the western provinces, the large number of successful microbreweries continues to prove that distinct beer—high-quality beer—is important to our national pint-lovers. Beer Quest West is for homebrewers and beer aficionados alike: this is your guide to the best of the west. Alberta and British Columbia are host to over seventy microbreweries, and that number is increasing every year. In this comprehensive field guide, each brewery is fully described, complete with location, the story of the brewery, profiles of the faces behind the brew and of course, their core list of beers. Terminology is explained, and author Jon Stott discusses the grain-to-glass process and the many different beer styles produced in the western provinces. Whether you favour an IPA, a lager, a porter or stout, you’ll find your pint between the pages of Beer Quest West.

It's no secret that Canadians love beer, and in the western provinces, the large number of successful microbreweries continues to prove that distinct beer--high-quality beer--is important to our national pint-lovers. Beer Quest West is for homebrewers and beer aficionados alike: this is your guide to the best of the west. Alberta and British Columbia are host to over seventy microbreweries, and that number is increasing every year. In this comprehensive field guide, each brewery is fully described, complete with location, the story of the brewery, profiles of the faces behind the brew and of course, their core list of beers. Terminology is explained, and author Jon Stott discusses the grain-to-glass process and the many different beer styles produced in the western provinces. Whether you favour an IPA, a lager, a porter or stout, you'll find your pint between the pages of Beer Quest West.

Brewing in New Mexico began in the 1850s when small breweries serviced short-lived boomtowns teeming with early settlers thirsty for brew. By the time Prohibition came in 1918, New Mexico breweries were completely tapped out. It wasn't until 1988, when the Santa Fe Brewing Company began slaking local thirsts, that beer was again brewed in New Mexico. By the late 1990s, New Mexico was experiencing a resurgence in local brewing. Today, the state boasts a craft brewing renaissance. New Mexican breweries receive national attention, including eight medals at the 2013 Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Join author Jon C. Stott as he recounts New Mexico's brewing history, collects hops heritage and samples local brewpubs from across the state.

Winner of a 2020 Gourmand World Cookbook Award The story behind Alberta's craft beer boom. An insider’s look that brings together tasting notes, social history, politics, and science. When Alberta eliminated its laws around mandatory minimum brewing capacity in 2013, the industry suddenly opened to the possibility of small-batch craft breweries. From roughly a dozen in operation before deregulation, there are now more than a hundred today, with new ones bubbling up each month. It’s an inspiring story, one that writer Scott Messenger tells in impressive scope. At a time when Alberta was still recovering from the plunge in oil prices in 2008, deregulation represented a path to economic diversification. Messenger takes readers on the road with him to investigate artifacts left behind by Alberta brewers dating to the late-1800s, to farms responsible for the province’s unrivalled malt, and into the brewhouses and backstories of some of Canada’s best new beer makers. It’s an insider’s look at history in the making. With humour, straight-talking tasting notes, and a willingness to challenge stereotypes, Messenger introduces us to key players in the industry. We meet Graham Sherman of Tool Shed Brewing, who helped spearhead the change in legislation; Greg Zeschuk, whose Belgian-inspired brewery is poised to put Alberta beer on the global map; the sisters behind Northern Girls Hopyard, Alberta’s first hop farm; and many more. Messenger winds up his narrative with a good, old-fashioned pub crawl, a fitting finale for the story of an industry that is, at its heart, about having fun with friends. Bringing together social history, politics, and science, Tapping the West is engaging and balanced—not unlike the perfect you-know-what.

The inspiring story behind today’s craft beer revolution is the subject of this lively memoir by Frank Appleton, the English-trained brewmaster who is considered by many to be the father of Canada’s craft-brewing movement. Appleton chronicles fifty years in the brewing business, from his early years working for one of the major breweries, to his part in establishing the first cottage brewery in Canada, to a forward look at the craft-beer industry in an ever more competitive market. Disillusioned with the Canadian brewing scene in the early 1970s, when three huge companies controlled 90 percent of the market and marketers and accountants made the decisions on what products to make, not the brewmasters, Appleton decided to “drop out” and brew his own beer while homesteading in the interior of British Columbia. He made a meagre living as a freelance writer, and his article entitled “The Underground Brewmaster” sparked the interest of John Mitchell, co-founder of the Troller Pub in Horseshoe Bay, BC. Their partnership launched the Horseshoe Bay Brewery in June 1982, the first of its kind in the country, serving the iconic Bay Ale brewed from Appleton’s recipe. Covering a range of topics, such as the difficulty of steering beer drinkers away from the “Big Boys” breweries and struggles with the BC Liquor Control Board, as well as brewing plant design and the complexities of the malting process, Brewing Revolution touches upon the foundation of what shaped the craft-beer industry in Canada. Appleton’s passion and innovation opened the gates for the scores of brewpubs and microbreweries that were to follow in both Canada and the US, and his story is of interest to anyone excited by today’s craft-beer revival.

The most detailed collection of craft beer breweries is now more comprehensive than ever! Since the first edition of Craft Beer Revolution was published, fifteen new BC breweries have opened and another eighteen are scheduled to open by the end of 2014. Joe Wiebe, the Thirsty Writer, revisits the established and explores the province’s freshest new hoppy IPAs and strong stouts in this completely revised and updated guide. Microbrewing has exploded into a significant figure in the marketplace—the market share for artisanal beer climbed to 19 percent in 2013—and craft beer has become prominent in restaurants, taprooms and craft beer converts are carrying home growlers of creative and delicious brews. From the Kootenays to the west coast of Vancouver Island, the craft beer scene is booming. With profiles of BC’s finest craft breweries, as well as tap lists, bottle shops and an insider’s look at the people behind the kegs and casks, this second edition of Craft Beer Revolution explains how to best experience the beer phenomenon that’s sweeping the province.

Winner of a 2020 Gourmand World Cookbook Award in Canada Hopheads, rejoice! Take the ultimate beer-lover’s road trip from Victoria, BC’s craft beer capital, to Tofino and Campbell River, visiting craft breweries and brewpubs in between. Your guide? Jon Stott, born and bred in Victoria—and beer enthusiast extraordinaire. In 1961, Vancouver Island had just one brewery. In 2018, Stott visited thirty-three breweries on the island—and three more breweries were slated to open within the year. For each brewery or brewpub, Stott shares well-researched backstories, examines the relationships between breweries and the communities in which they operate, profiles owners and brewers, and shares tasting notes for many of the beers each place offers. Beginning at Spinnakers, Canada’s oldest and longest operating brewpub, the book culminates at Beach Fire Brewing and Nosh House in Campbell River, and includes a directory of Vancouver Island’s Breweries and brewpubs, a glossary of brewing terms, and a guide to different styles of beer.