Good times are brewing, Victoria. On September 9-10, 57 craft breweries from around the world will be exhibiting their beers at the Great Canadian Beer Festival in Royal Athletic Park.
Local brewer Gerry Hieter and brewpub enthusiast John Rowling founded the annual event 19 years ago. Hieter has been the full-time chairperson of the festival since 2003.
Hieter is clearly a man who knows his beer.
Since there are 184 different beers coming to the festival, Hieter knows where to start. He recommends Stone Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, and New Belgium, three of the most successful American craft breweries. Newcomer Tofino Brewing Company’s IPA has also impressed him.
The festival’s goal is to help build appreciation for craft beer and real ale. There will be over two-dozen cask-conditioned ales at the festival. These real ales don’t undergo pasteurization and are allowed to ferment in the cask, which gives them a more complex natural flavour.
Of course, not everyone is drawn to the festival for purely educational reasons. Some people are just there to get drunk. But the staff and volunteers are ready.
A few minor fights have broken out over the years, but there have been no major incidents yet. And safety is one of the top priorities at the festival.
“We spend in excess of $30,000 on security alone. We hire eight Victoria police officers to be present on site just to help us and we have a huge security company,” says Hieter. He knows the future of the festival depends on the good behaviour of the patrons.
“Quite frankly, the whole thing is a house of cards. All it would take is one person, whether young or old, to drink too much at our festival, jump in a car, and have an accident. We wouldn’t get insurance again and it would be all over,” he says.
As for the festival’s somewhat grandiose name, Hieter cringes and admits he was never a fan. The board of directors voted in the name, he says.
“Because of the Great British Beer Festival, and the Great American Beer Festival, they felt that we should have a Great Canadian Beer Festival,” he says. “First year we were in business we were the Victoria Microbrewery Festival, and that didn’t seem quite right, either.”
But, for now, Hieter has higher priorities than a name change. The festival is fast approaching, and he’s got 20,000 litres of craft beer to wrangle.
Great Canadian Beer Festival
September 9-10, Royal Athletic Park
gcbf.com