Cream of the craft: A college students’ guide to drinking local beer

One of the most important aspects of college life is unwinding after a long week of classes and studying. And what better way to do that than with a cold beer? But not just any beer; even though it may cost a little more, you’re going to get one of those local craft brews that are everywhere. And with Victoria Beer Week happening from March 3 to 11, what better time than now to dive in and do some tasting?

Why? Well, you’ll be supporting local brewers, the local economy, local farmers, local industry, and the ancient art of brewing, all while sticking it to the man. Plus, if you’ve got a few bucks to spend on beer, don’t you want the best? Don’t you deserve the best? Of course you do. But where does one start? Well, follow along, my friends, and I’ll share with you my years of brew research. Beginning with lighter fare—the lagers and pilsners you’re probably more accustomed to—and ending up at the heavier end of the beer spectrum—double IPAs and Scotch ales—let’s take a look at some of the local craft brews, rating each out of 5 with our opinion on whether it’s worth your precious few student dollars.

Baby steps
Hoyne
Helios Dortmunder Golden Lager
6% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
4/5

You had me at “Hoyne.” This beauty is sure to please those that like a sweeter beer. It’s very sweet-smelling with a bit of earth that lets you know you are about to drink a beer. The colour is clear and light gold with a shadow of copper. It tastes wonderful, with a honey-like sweetness to it, if a little heavier than regular lagers. I never used to be a fan of lagers, but when I started dating the woman who is now my wife, we needed to find a beer we both liked. It’s this one—and, no, I’m not recommending this on sentimentality alone. This is a great starting point for people who want to try some craft beers but need to train their palate a bit before they take on more bitter offerings. We often have this with curries or chicken; it used to be seasonal but is now available year round.

Hoyne
Hoyner Pilsner
5.5% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
3.5/5

When most Canadians think of a pilsner, they probably think of that stuff in the green, red, and yellow label—Old Style Pilsner. Pilsners are originally Czech pale lagers from the city of Pilsen, and they used to be brewed in caves. Technically, beers like Labatt Blue and Budweiser are pilsners, but they’re much less flavourful than their predecessors or modern craft cousins. Hoyner is the opposite of so many wannabe pilsners; it’s full of real pilsner flavour. It’s true to form in that it pours out a nice golden hue with a bubbly head. It smells like warm cereal and a bit like biscuits, and it has a grassy floral hint. It tastes like a pilsner should, which is a bit sweet, light, and herbal, but it finishes dry. It’s delicious any time of year but is certainly a great summer refresher.

Moon Under Water
Light Side of the Moon India Session Ale
4.2% ABV
4 x 437ml cans or growler fill at the brewery
3/5

A great way to start building your palate toward the more bitter, hop-forward beers is to try an India Session Ale. They are developed to impart the flavour of India pale ales without being overly heavy or hoppy, and they tend to be much lower in alcohol. Moon Under Water contributes a great little hazy-blonde-coloured drink here that’s lightly fizzy and has a little head but packs a lot of flavour into its deceptively low ABV. It smells of flowers and bananas, has a citrus hit, and is very soft on the tongue. Dry and refreshing, this brew is made with rice and orange peel, which makes for a very friendly entry point to more flavourful beers. You can also try it at Moon Under Water’s pub without having to commit to a larger serving.

Phillips
Analogue ’78 Kölsch
5% ABV
6 x 341ml bottles or growler fill at the brewery
3/5

This has been a solid mainstay for Phillips since it debuted a few years back, and for good reason; this a beer you can become friends with easily. It’s a great, refreshing German-style brew that’s easy on the palate, with a crisp, clean finish. Drink it ice-cold and it will slake your thirst for a more traditional North American beer. The world would be a better place if this were the low benchmark for lager-style beers instead of the major-label brews like Coors Banquet, Miller High Life, or Molson Canadian. Analogue is a great beer for the beach, camping, and BBQ season. Keep some in your cooler for your friends who normally drink the aforementioned brews and see if you can’t turn them onto something new.

Spinnakers
Queen Bee Honey Kölsch
4.6% ABV
6 x 341ml cans or growler fill at the brewery
3/5

Like Phillips Analogue, this is brewed in the German kölsch style, but with some honey added in the brewing process. This softens the sweetness of the beer malt and any bitterness imparted from the hops. This is a light, thirst-quenching brew; it’s crisp, and it pours with a foamy head. Is it the best beer in this style? No, but it’s a good choice for those who are looking to explore the lighter side of craft brews or who want something for Taco Tuesday but don’t want to pay the ridiculous prices they charge for cheap Mexican imports.

Swans
Arctic Kölsch
4.5%
650ml bottle
3.5/5

This used to be called Arctic Ale, but—now that “kölsch” has entered the BC beer drinker’s lexicon—Swans has decided that it’s okay to call this beer what it is. This kölsch, like the others, pours straw yellow and smells a bit of wheat cereals and a bit floral. It’s light, crisp, and easy drinking. It’s good in the bottle but best from the tap at Swans. I’ve spent a few summer nights down there knocking these back with ease while listening to some local rock band play covers of ’50s and ’60s rock as tourists and locals get freaky on the dance floor. Good times.

Vancouver Island Brewery
Islander Lager
5% ABV
6 x 355ml cans or 15 x 355ml cans
2/5

This is probably my least favourite beer on this list. However, I included it because it’s a local lager, and if you are going to buy an American-style lager, go local. It rates about the same as Pabst Blue Ribbon or local cling-on Lucky Lager but tastes better than either. It easily trumps the major labels’ lagers. This is best served ice-cold and is perfect for those nights you want to overdo it and get inebriated enough to wake up with the taste of regret in your mouth and pain in your brain. Go get some.

Stuck in the middle with you
Canoe
Pale Ale
5% ABV
650ml bottle
4/5

Canoe’s best brew is this well-balanced creature. It’s got a beautiful bright amber colour and slightly earthy and sweet aroma, and it pours with a light head. It’s the right combination of malt sweetness when you sip it and hop bitterness on the finish. This beer was meant to be enjoyed year round and is light enough to have a few. It used to be called Siren Song Pale Ale, which was an apt title, as this beer has a strong draw. I’d almost forgotten its lovely song until recently, and it has me wanting more and more. Just imagine you and some friends sitting on a patio this summer, not a care in the world, sipping on some pints and sharing some laughs and food. This is the beer you’ll want to go with all that. It’s perfect with wings, too.

Category 12
Simplicity Ale
5% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
4/5

This one is a twist on a saison (French for “season,” sounds like say-zon). Made using spelt grain, this is golden and pearlescent in presentation. It’s a magical concoction that smells fruity and earthy, not unlike freshly cut grass. With notes of citrus and biscuit—think lemon square but with a slight bitter tinge—this has become one of my favourite local ales. It finishes dry but not too dry, leaving a creaminess on your tongue. Foamy and bubbly, one could imagine this being the kind of brew Halflings drink after farming all day; there you are, chilling in a little green valley under spring clouds and blue skies, relaxed and in love with life. Life should be as easy as this beer is to drink. Enjoy it alone or with some halibut or cod; I’d even have this to complement the spices in my family jerk chicken recipe.

Category 12
Insubordinate ISA
4.5% ABV
4 x 437ml cans or growler fill at the brewery
3.5/5

This is included here because it’s on the heavier side, flavour-wise, compared with Light Side of the Moon. More true to the idea of an ISA, Insubordinate smells a bit on the funkier side of things, with notes of pine, grass, citrus, and butter caramel. It’s brassy in colour, not unlike ginger ale, with little carbonation and a head that disappears quickly. It tastes more like its big brothers, being more toward the bitter end of the scale while maintaining a low ABV. It has flavours similar to the nose, hop forward and bitter, but not enough that it will turn a lot of people off. This is a great movie-night brew and would go well with caramel corn and peanuts on an autumn evening, either by yourself or with your snuggle buddy.

Driftwood
Whitebark Witbier
5% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
4/5

If I’m going to recommend a local wheat beer or Belgian witbier, this is the one. It smells fantastically of freshly cut fields in late spring with hints of citrus and flowers. It pours thin, as a lot of wheat beers do, and has a light foam. It tastes mild and earthy, a bit like dry Cheerios but with coriander and orange zest. Witbiers are mostly a summer beer; light and refreshing, they go well with a lot of lighter summer dishes, like fresh fish, salads, light cheeses like goat or mozzarella, mussels, clams, shrimp, or crab. If you can add a twist of citrus like orange or lemon to the dish, then this will probably work. I’ve also recently become open to the possibility of this being a breakfast beer, and why not? If you can have a mimosa or a Caesar with brunch, why not a witbier?

Hoyne
Dark Matter
5.3% ABV
650ml bottles or growler fill at the brewery
4/5

Dark Matter is, at first, an intimidating beer. It pours out dark as night with a light head, and it smells of malted chocolate, nuts, and toffee. It’s smooth, and while it tastes malty, with chocolate and coffee flavours, it’s easy drinking, like a lager. It’s very strange; it exists between the spaces, where you can’t quite pin it as one style or another, and doing so would be futile. It’s easy to enjoy this great brew, one of Victoria’s best, with a burger or a meat pie. If you’re a vegetarian, you could pair this with a pasta. It’s also great with fish ‘n’ chips and friends after a long study session. It’s a staple in my fridge; I like to keep some around to share with friends who stop by or to use in gravies and stews.

Phillips
Blue Buck Pale Ale
5% ABV
6 x 341ml bottles or growler fill at the brewery
3/5

When this English-style pale ale was first released, it was a revelation to me. Here was a local beer that tasted like the English ales I had tried on a trip to the UK years ago. It’s a beautiful dark red amber in colour, with a nice creamy head and a sweet smell with a bit of vanilla caramel. It’s more malty than hoppy so is a safe choice when getting into ale territory. It’s such a safe beer, however, that it has fallen from a beer that I used to always purchase to simply being an “old faithful.” This isn’t to say it’s bad or has lessened in quality; it’s just that there are so many choices on the market today that Blue Buck has been left behind, like a childhood security blanket.

Vancouver Island Brewery
Black Betty Saison
5.5% ABV
6 x 341ml cans or growler fill at the brewery
3.5/5

Warning: this beer can be dangerous, as it’s very easy to drink. I could recommend several traditional Belgian saison beers to try before you take on Black Betty, if only to get a solid idea of what saisons should be, but I think Black Betty is one of those beers that stands on its own and won’t taint your palate in a negative way. While it has a very strong smell of blackberries, it pours out golden and bright. It’s refreshing and tasty, as a saison should be; the berry taste is more tart than sweet, more seltzer than flavoured soda. You can knock back a few of these without noticing, until you reach for another and realize you drank them all.

In the deep end of the pool

Driftwood
Fat Tug IPA
7% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
4.5/5

Not for the faint of heart, and maybe not the India pale ale some would recommend starting with if you haven’t had an IPA or if your hop palate isn’t developed enough, this is on the list because this is the best of the best in BC, and maybe even the best in the world. It differs from original British IPAs—which were brewed with pale malts and strongly hopped to survive the long trip from Britain to India—by being even more hop-heavy and easy on the malts, and by weighing in at 80 IBUs, making it a heavy in the world of beer. But don’t let this turn you off; this beer smells wonderful, with notes of funky tropical fruit—think fresh grapefruit, mango, and melons. It’s a hazy, honey-coloured pint that will hit you with a strong floral taste of hops and citrus fruit rind. Delicious. It truly stands in a league of its own.

Moon Under Water
Creepy Uncle Dunkle
5.4% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
3.5/5

This falls to the deep end of the list because a lot of people who are new to craft beer, or who maybe even have a little craft-beer experience, are turned off by dark beer. You’ll constantly hear that dark equals filling. Nonsense. This could easily be put in the same category as the baby-steps brews but for its colour and robust flavour. Dunkles are dark lagers, but the malts used are brewed by way of decoction, which is somewhat like searing a steak; the grains are boiled in a way that produces a dark colour. They are usually low in alcohol and smooth in flavour. Creepy Uncle is malty, with a light caramel flavour; it’s sweet and very easy to drink. This is a popular beer for good reason—it’s well balanced and super tasty. It pairs with a lot of heavier, fat- and protein-rich foods, but it’s also great with nachos or on its own.

Phillips
Benefit Brew S.A.I.N.T.S. Rescue Imperial Pilsner
7% ABV
650ml bottle
1/5

Phillips likes to help out the community; every year, they have a contest asking the people of BC and Alberta to choose a charity worthy of some funding. They then brew a special limited-run beer, with the proceeds going to the chosen charity. This year, the recipient is S.A.I.N.T.S. Rescue, a palliative-care sanctuary for dogs needing extra care in their senior years. For this beer, Phillips crafted what they are calling an “imperial pilsner.” Unfortunately, this is just not a good beer. While it has a nice golden hue with plenty of carbonation and pours a nice, meringue-like head, the flavour leaves a lot to be desired. It smells grassy and earthy, like a pilsner should, but that’s about it. It tastes like damp baled hay that’s been slobbered on by old dogs, with a boozy finish. It left a slight metallic taste in my mouth. Be merciful and put this dog down.

Spinnakers
Blue Bridge Double IPA
8.2% ABV
650ml bottle or growler fill at the brewery
3/5

This boozy bugger is deceptively strong. It doesn’t smell or taste as funky as the words “double IPA” might imply, but don’t be fooled; this can have the vision swimming and the lips numbing quickly. Golden like candlelight in appearance, and with a sweet smell, this is smooth and goes down—as the English say—a treat. If you’re looking for a cheap buzz, this is the way to go. As with most IPAs, this has strong citrus flavours, like orange juice that has been added to booze to remove any sour tang. It’s not as complex in the flavour department as other strong beers, so just sit back and enjoy; it’s also a great winter warmer because of its booziness. Blue Bridge goes great with the bangers and mash Spinnakers serves up in their brewpub.

Swans
Berry Ale
7% ABV
650ml Bottle
0/5

Why, Swans? Why? Why does this continue to be in your lineup? Surely you can come up with something far more satisfying than this candy-coloured nightmare in a bottle. I get it—lots of people like Swedish berries, but that’s a candy to be enjoyed when smoking mass quantities of Vancouver Island’s other famous export, not a flavour to be imitated and bottled as a beer. Who buys this stuff? It’s horror-show-reddish in hue, with a pink head that doesn’t last long. It reeks of the aforementioned confection or the jelly inside a Big Turk, and is cloyingly sweet. Why does this abomination exist? To remind us that Swans needs new direction and someone to revitalize its place amongst the pantheon of Victoria brewers.

Swans
Riley’s Scotch Ale
8% ABV
650ml bottle
3.5/5

One summer afternoon years ago, before the massive BC craft explosion, I took a trip to Durrance Lake with friends. While sitting there soaking up the sun, I struck up a conversation about craft beers with a gentleman sitting with his family. He informed me that he was the brewmaster at Swans and offered me some of his latest brew, which was named after his son, Riley. He said it was a Scotch ale and not for the faint of heart; he was not lying. This is where beers get very boozy. While dark, this is very malty, sweet, rich, and slightly fizzy. It’s a bit smoky and peated like a scotch, but with dried fruit flavours, like figs and plums, as well as notes of brown sugar, like a Christmas pudding soaked in rum. This is not something to drink often, but it’s great for cutting the cold on a rainy Victoria night.

Phillips
Amnesiac
8.5% ABV
650ml bottle, 473ml can, or growler fill at the brewery
4/5

I was going to write an eloquent tribute to this over-the-top double IPA that Phillips has continued to earn attention with, but after drinking it, I really can’t remember the details. Pro tip: drink one of these and follow it up immediately with a Phillips Longboat Chocolate Porter for an incredible flavour experience. The bitterness of Amnesiac wreaks such havoc on your palate that the chocolate tones of Longboat will shine through like a lighthouse in the densest Victoria fog.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course; each of these breweries has several regular offerings sold year round and maintains a healthy crop of seasonal beers. Don’t be ashamed if you don’t like something right away; like any food or libation, you have to train taste buds and build your palate. If you do, I promise a world of magnificent flavours awaits; studies show that beer is more sophisticated than wine in its ability to develop flavour profiles.

Starting in a new column next issue, I will bring you reviews of local beers each issue. We’ll explore the latest and best of what Victoria has to offer in the world of craft beer.

Cheers!