Persephone Brewing Co., with Powell River’s Campaign for Real Ale, organized the inaugural Craft Beer Festival on the Sunshine Coast last Saturday, Jan. 31, held at the Gibsons Public Market. Ten breweries from around the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast participated, plus one distillery and one cidery.
“We’ve got lots of people here from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island,” said general manager of Persephone, Dion Whyte. “It just speaks to how much interest there is in craft beer and what an opportunity communities have to showcase their beer themselves on the back of an event like this.”
Whyte enjoys the fruits of his labours. “BC is now putting out some of the best beer in the world,” he said.
Cellarmen Lance McClure and Paul Goncalves from Howe Sound Brewing Company in Squamish showcased their Superduper (grapefruit flavoured) IPA and Wee Beastie Scotch Ale; 4,000 litres of the Wee Beastie is made only once a year to celebrate Robbie Burns Day.
Home brewers from Roberts Creek, Edward Towert and Erica Reimer, part of the Sunshine Coast Home Brewing Network, brew on their back deck. They featured a Smokey Porter and a Saison Pale Ale.
The event succeeded in raising over $4,000 for Sunshine Coast Community Living, surpassing their goal by more than $1,000.
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