Spinnaker's - Victoria, B.C. Canada

[DoctorJim]

Canada's first Brewpub, Spinnaker's has grown from the first tap room into a gastronomic extravaganza. Now brewing with water from an aquifer drilled below the brewhouse, the spent grains are fed to local fowl served on the menu, brewery grains used in their in-house bakery fresh daily. Spinnaker's has gone as far as brewing their own malt vinegars from some of their finest ales. The food is spectacular however a full experience would include a night or two in the adjacent Guesthouse. Its hard to top an evening on your own private garden patio with a call to the pub next door for any fare to be delivered in minutes. Not only great beer, great brewmasters as well - Spinnaker's previous brewmasters have started at least 3 other Brewpubs and a Microbrewery in the area, providing the discerning beer drinkers of Vancouver Island a wide range of craft brewed ales. CAMRA Approved.

Tell Doc (Paul) Hadfield that Dr. J. sent you and ask Brewmaster Lon for a brewery tour.

http://www.spinnakers.com

[Gotan]

Sounds like a great place. I would have thought there would be more than a few of these kinds of places in Canada though.

[DoctorJim]

CAMRA and the concept of Real Ales is very much in its infancy in Canada. Most successful ventures in Canada such as Spinnaker's have not been started by trained brewmasters but by a group of homebrewers who saw that the population simply had not been educated.

Unfortunately as a country we are stubborn to change old habits and the most popular Suds consumed in copious quantities are ice cold Molson or Labatt's Lager style brews. Admittedly they are very bright and refreshing beverages however most appear to have been brewed in one batch and the only variation is the label. As most Canadians grew up on them as the only beer available, we are hesitant to try anything outside of the norm.

The most common objections are that Real Ales are served too warm, not enough carbonation, and misinformation that darker beers are more filling. Canadians drink their beer to get pissed, "Light" beer containing 4.0%/abv is considered the absolute minimum so ales in the 3.4 to 3.6 range are just not accepted, even in Brewpubs. Canadians are also reluctant to experiment and brews containing fruit for example are not seen as "beer". Even names scare most people off, it is commercial suicide to market a Bitter, the style is brewed and sold as a Traditional Ale.

Slowly the population is becoming more sophisticated in our tastes. Those areas such as the West Coast have been experiencing a healthy growth of educated drinkers which is slowly spreading. It is still extremely difficult to find hand pumped cask conditioned ales, virtually impossible outside of a Brewpub. However it is worth seeking out as when you do find it, is almost always world class.

Cheers!