Craft Beer — Best Places to Grab a Pint in Pemberton
Craft beer is booming in the Pacific Northwest of the US and Pacific Southwest of Canada. In fact, across both countries, small breweries are opening up faster than you can grow a row of hops (they grow really fast). And nearly as fast, British Columbia's antiquated liquor laws are opening up, allowing us to have a pint of beer in a more relaxed manner.
Pemberton is an excellent place to grab a pint, and we'd like to share with you a few of the standout locations to sample some of the finest craft brews in British Columbia. These choices are in no particular order, but we are favouring those which make a point to highlight British Columbia craft beer in their fine establishments.
- Mile One Eating House - The Mile One actually has a "BC Craft Beer Program" so they're effectively our number one choice. You can't go wrong sampling some of BC's finest at the Mile One. Their brews include a fat selection of some of the most innovative breweries in BC right now, including Phillips, Tree, Deep Cove and Central City.
- The Black Squirrel - The Black Squirrel, the restaurant on the Meadows at Pemberton golf course, carries two BC craft beers, and both are uber-local. Both Howe Sound from Squamish and Whistler Brewing Company are served. Whistler Brewing Company got its start in Function Junction in 1989 and still serves up excellent and interesting brews. Howe Sound is a staple of Squamish and has an excellent reputation for solid ales.
- Solfeggio Foods - Solfeggio serves a long list of craft beers from BC, with a few from elsewhere mixed in for good measure. They carry a gluten-free beer from Milwaukee, called Grist, for example. It's difficult to find good tasting and well made gluten-free beers, so hat's off to Solfeggio for sourcing a good one. (We'll excuse that it's not local.) They also carry a gluten-free brew from Oregon and have chosen to carry a beer from Toronto as well. But that happens to be because Mill Street makes an excellent organic ale, and it's great that Solfeggio supports organic breweries, local or not. Speaking of local, they also carry a great selection of British Columbia beers, including several organics. Notably, Nelson Brewing Company, one of the first fully organic certified breweries in British Columbia.
- The Pony - The Pony serves up a local BC beer on draft. Other than that, they don't carry any BC craft beers. But they are a Pemberton standby and are a great place for a pint, whether or not it's a BC craft beer.
- Big Sky - Big Sky makes the cut because they have two nights a week dedicated to beer-related specials. Tuesday's offering is tacos and "cerveza" (Spanish for beer), and Fridays is pint and a pound.
Last, this list would not be complete without a mention of Pemberton Distillery. Okay, you probably don't want to drink a pint of this, but it's an awesome community that can support its own organic, local distillery. Potatoes are sourced from the local "Across the Creek" organics, and the entire establishment is proudly Pemberton. Go for a tour, and have a sip or two.
Posted: Tuesday, July 07, 2015
