Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/288963
61 | bcliving.ca about new beer spot. Virtually every drop of beer produced there is sold on-site, either by the glass in the 50-seat tast- ing lounge or to go in three sizes of re llable growler jugs. Brassneck has seen fanatical support from local beer lovers since it opened last fall, and deservedly so. e secret to its success is simple: a constantly changing roster of great beers – brewer Conrad Gmoser perfected his craft over 17 years at Steamworks – served in a great room. Front man Nigel Springthorpe has a similar pedigree: he built up the Alibi Room to its present status as B.C.'s craft beer HQ. brassneck.ca 33 Acres Brewing 15 West 8th Avenue FOUNDED 2013 TASTING ROOM Yes GROWLER FILLS Yes BEST BEER 33 Acres of Life California Common Founder Josh Michnik suc- ceeded as a lm/television art director in London and Los Angeles before the age of 30, so he knows all about hard work. After helping his wife open clothing store Charlie & Lee in Vancouver's Chinatown, he set his sights on opening his own brewery. With its clean black- and-white aesthetic, 33 Acres's tasting lounge feels more like a café than brewery (inset left), but there's no denying the qual- ity of the beer, thanks to the skills of brewer Dave Varga who was lured away from Red Truck last year. 33acresbrewing.com Main Street Brewing 261 East 7th Avenue OPENING May 2014 TASTING ROOM Yes GROWLER FILLS Yes Restaurateurs Nigel Pike (Cascade Room) and Cam- eron Forsyth (Portland Craft) teamed up to bring Main Street Pilsner to life a few years ago with Surrey's Russell Brewery as their contract brewer. Now, they are bringing their agship beer home to Brewery Creek where ex-Russell brewer Jack Bensley will brew it along with a Session IPA, Robust Brown Ale and other seasonal styles. ough not directly on Main Street, their building has a his- toric connection: the "Brewery Garage" was originally a ware- house built for the Vancouver Brewery in 1910 and was then used as a mechanic's shop for decades before undergoing a major heritage renovation as part of a new development. mainstreetbrewingcompany.com Red Truck Brewing 295 East 1st Avenue FOUNDED 2005, but a new brewery is scheduled to open in May TASTING ROOM Yes GROWLER FILLS Yes Red Truck's new space means a wider variety of seasonal styles beyond the usual Red Truck Lager, Ale and IPA in bottles and cans. ere will also be a growler station and a full-service restaurant with a truck-stop diner vibe. (For geography and history nerds, the brewery is situated almost exactly where the original Brewery Creek once emptied into False Creek, although there is no evidence of that today.) redtruckbeer.com Steel Toad Brewpub 97 East 2nd Avenue OPENING June 2014 Steel Toad is part of a heritage restoration of the Opsal Steel building, which was originally built in 1918. e brewpub fea- tures a 270-seat restaurant with beer piped directly from serving tanks into the brewery, includ- ing some English styles (ESB and Stout) that will be served through a traditional English beer engine. Also look for a range of sessionable beers (less boozy and brewed to imbibe while wallowing the afternoon away), including a Saison, Bel- gian Pale Ale and a dry-hopped pale ale, along with a stronger West Coast IPA. No o -sales in bottles or growlers are planned. steeltoad.ca GRRREAT GROWLERS What the heck is a growler, you ask? It's a refi llable container, usually glass or ceramic, for your beer. Breweries often use them as a way to sell take-out beer, plus they just look fl at-out cool. Sizes may vary, but don't be surprised if you walk away with 60-plus ounces of brew. BRASSNECK BREWERY is the newest player on Main Street and has Vancouver's beer community foaming with excitement PHOTOS BEN OLIVER 3 4 5 6 p60-65_Beer_Hoods.indd 61 2014-03-19 9:12 AM