The Great Canadian Beer Festival was first held back in 1993 as a tribute to Craft Beer. The beer has changed a lot over the course of the last 20 years and so has the festival. the 2013 event was once again held in Victoria BC’s Royal Athletic Park and sold out at 8500 attendees. With 58 brewers in attendance serving a whopping 195 different craft beers the 2013 event was bigger than ever before meeting every beer-desire imaginable.
The Beer Fans that flock to this event year after year are a passionate bunch. Custom t-shirts, costumes, beer paraphernalia and eccentricity turned up to 11 are a common site in the crowds in Royal Athletic Park. Working your way from line to line the highlights of the weekend include the Spruce Tip IPA from Tofino Brewing, Deep Cove’s Green Tea Saison, Central City’s Imperial IPA and of course the Steamworks Pumpkin Ale. The award for longest lineup of the weekend though goes to Tin Whistle Brewing and their Strawberry-based seasonal ale. People lined up for the better part of an hour fueled by the curiosity of such a long line and the power of word-of-mouth around this seasonal concoction.
If you have not made the effort to attend the Great Canadian Beer Festival perhaps 2014 is a year to reconsider. The best Craft Beer from BC and abroad is waiting for you and this is your best chance to try it all in one convenient location. It will sell out once again so mark your calendar to pick up your tickets for next year’s event!
What an amazing event in Victoria this year. I was bummed I only went to one day!