A Swift Peak into the Kitchen
A peachy town, a lone wolf, and acknowledging the existence of bad beer
Do you like modern history, a bit of nostalgia, beer, and some conversation? Torch & Crown Brewing is hosting a panel discussion on Wednesday night, May 11th about something they may know a thing or two about: brewing in Manhattan. But while they’re poised to the first production brewery to open in the borough in a generation, the history of beer in Manhattan has a storied past, from New Amsterdam’s first forays into beer to Knickerbocker Beer to a brewpub boom to today’s more subdued-but-delicious scene.
The panel will be joined by Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, who kickstarted his brewing career at Manhattan’s first modern-day brewpub, Kirby Shyer, founder of Zip City Brewing, one of Manhattan’s most successful brewpubs during the 1990s, and Aaron Goldfarb, a drinks writer who penned a modern-day history of Manhattan’s brewing scene last year.
Oh, and I’m on the panel, too.
Tickets for the event, which kicks off at 7pm, include beers, snacks, and the panel discussion. Hope you can join!
Trip Report: Beer in the Okanagan
Sometimes, I travel to popular beer destinations and drink a bunch of beer. Other times, I travel to popular wine destinations… and drink a bunch of beer.
That’s the case with my trip last week to the shores of Okanagan Lake in the interior of British Columbia. It’s a gorgeous region lined by bluffs and volcanic peaks with soil that’s suited for grape-growing, and a whole lot of that goes on. But it’s also a great region for active recreation, and plenty of kayakers, hikers, and stand-up paddlers enjoy beer, too — and the region’s beer scene has grown tremendously in the past few years. Most of the breweries I visited were less than five years old, and many of them were clustered in a way that makes a day of walking between breweries remarkably easy.
At the south end of the lake, in Penticton, there were many standouts. Tin Whistle Brewery, the oldest of the region’s craft breweries at just over the quarter-century mark, changed hands in recent years and has evolved its beer to reflect more modern tastes. One of my favorites there — their Peach Cream Ale — reflects the region’s bountiful fruit orchards (“we’re a peachy town,” co-owner Alexis Esseltine told us — the next day, I spotted a giant peach on the waterfront that hosts an ice cream shop during the summer). The brewery is in an old cannery surrounded by other small businesses, and the taproom is filled with pallets of beer cases as the smell of an active brew day wafts into the room.
On the other end of spectrum is the much-newer Neighbourhood Brewing, a sparkling two-tiered space in downtown Penticton whose vibe and beer were both outstanding. There was a boisterous crowd even on a Wednesday night, some sitting by a fireplace, some downing some excellent Mexican food over beers like their Pursuit Pils and Gambler West Coast IPA. Elsewhere in town, Cannery Brewing had an awesome Baltic Porter called Kiek In De Kök, Slackwater Brewing served up a crisp Tight Lines Helles, Bad Tattoo Brewing wowed us with the lagers, and the brand-new Abandoned Rail Brewing Co served dialed-in German-style beers in a picturesque spot surrounded by wineries. For a town of just 30,000 people, Penticton punches well above its weight when it comes to great breweries.
Next, a friend and I went for a hike on Giant’s Head, a mountain with stunning views in Summerland, before going to a brewery in town that shares the name: Giant’s Head Brewing. The Classic Pilsner really hit the spot after opting for the most difficult trail up, and the White Noise White IPA stood out as much as the extinct volcano that towers over town.
From there, we spent the next three days in Kelowna, the largest city in the region and the hub for most activity along the lake. Now, I’m going to be as honest with you as the folks in Penticton were with me. I like to ask a question of brewery folks when I travel to help plan out my itinerary on trips, something like: “who’s making great liquid in Kelowna?” Now, there are eighteen breweries in and around Kelowna, and at first we figured that maybe it was just hard to choose one or two, but we really got the feeling that Penticton’s beer scene saw itself as superior, and that wasn’t just some sort of friendly rivalry between nearby towns.
Now, I’m a pretty positive person. I like to see the good in everything, often to a fault. But the first technically-flawed beer I had on this trip was at our first stop in Kelowna, and while there were flashes of brilliance during our first 24 hours in town (BNA Brewing Co. and Copper Brewing both made beers we really enjoyed, and the former even had a bowling alley), we were getting disheartened by the amount of uninspiring or downright undrinkable beer we found in crowded taprooms in town.
That was all before we came across Jackknife Brewing on Saturday. In the town’s North End Brewery District, which boasts eight breweries with even more to come, Jackknife stood out with its beers, best described by its slogan: Weird Beer, Classic Pizza. I enjoyed the Arcane, a no-boil Lithuanian Dark Farmhouse Ale, and Resting Witch Face, a gin-inspired India Session Ale with juniper, spruce tips, and sumac. Hardly any of the beers fit into a style category, and most of them have a Nordic influence, and all of them use Kviek yeast. They all serve as a fantastic accompaniment to their delicious pizza, which was practically flying out of the kitchen on a busy evening. Just next door to Jackknife, Kettle River Brewing Co. serves up a sought-after food menu and had one of my favorite beers of the trip: the Alley Rats Social Club Premium Golden Lager, a crisp beer that I paired with a crisp Saturday evening out on their patio.
Our second day turned us around on Kelowna’s beer scene, and the final stop on our third day was a true gem, and it’ll be the Brewery Visit of the Week below.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,664
Total breweries visited in 2022: 135
Total breweries visited in Canada: 136
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2664, Unleashed Brewing Co., Kelowna, British Columbia (Visited 24-Apr-2022)
“Come on, Unleashed,” my friend said aloud as we walked up to the brewery’s taproom, knowing it would be the last brewery stop of our trip to the Okanagan. “Show us your stuff.”
Less than a year old and finally emerging into the busy summer tourist season in Kelowna after a slow start under Covid restrictions, Unleashed is one of those breweries that checks a lot of boxes on the brewery taproom bingo card. It’s dog-themed. The beer names are inspired by dogs. It’s got a patio, garage doors, and is in a new-construction building. But what makes it far less cookie cutter? The beer. The first beer we had recommended to us was the London Dog, a 4% ale with vanilla, bergamot, and Earl Grey tea. It was creative, offbeat, and tasted exactly as it was sold to us — like a London Fog. The Spruced Up Pup was one of many spruce tip beers I had in the Okanagan, but this one was so perfectly balanced by a rich malt backbone that made the spruce pleasant but not overpowering. The Jaker’s IPA was a dialed in West Coast IPA with pine and citrus and some malt richness, as this style should have.
We had great conversation with the staff here and were able to drink through the taplist, which was top to bottom great. Unleashed showed us their stuff. And their stuff was good.
Random Fact of the Week
Unleashed has a beer called Takaya, a Pale Ale with hibiscus, and the name is inspired by a story I hadn’t heard about. Takaya (which means “wolf” in the language of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation) was a lone male wolf that was first spotted on Discovery Island, a tiny island just two miles offshore from the city of Victoria, British Columbia. For eight years, Takaya survived, adapted, and thrived on the island, bucking the predictions of authorities and attracting the attention of a local photographer, Cheryl Alexander, who captured his movements and produced a documentary called Takaya: Lone Wolf. You can read the whole story of Takaya on the website of Takaya’s Legacy Project, which promotes wolf conservation in B.C.
Social Post of the Week
Long Read of the Week
I’m always a week behind on Courtney Iseman’s fantastic Hugging the Bar newsletter, but I put off reading last week’s until I had some fair time to dedicate to it, as it covers a topic that I’ve struggled with for a while: is beer not cool anymore? Honestly, looking cool is something I care less and less about as I get older (athleisure pullovers are a growing part of my wardrobe), and the mainstreaming of craft beer is something I long hoped for, but Courtney goes one step further to ask if being into beer is embarrassing (I don’t think it is, but I’m probably not cool anymore).
One More Thing
I’m heading to Northwest Arkansas this weekend to visit a town and museum featured on CBS Sunday Morning last weekend. It’s the makeup date for a trip I had planned to take six years ago this week, but had to cancel when I shattered my elbow when I fell while running two days before my trip. Needless to say, I’ve been much more careful this week. I’m looking forward to seeing another part of the country that’s new to me, and I’m even more excited to visit Arkansas when it isn’t 95°F (35°C) with 90% humidity, which I experienced in July one year in Little Rock and can be best described as inhumane.
Side note: if you thoroughly click on the links in this week’s newsletter, you’ll probably start to appreciate the subject line.
Cheers,
Chris
Jackknife has the most improbable origin story one could imagine, as they were set to open the very day that everything here was closed for COVID in 2020. I'm very happy they survived as they're one of the two real standouts here. It's unfortunate that you were unable to visit the best brewery in town, Wild Amibition. They've been closed since COVID shutdown everything and are finally reopening tomorrow.
Chris, good stuff. I love Cream Ales and Spruce forward IPAs so it looks like a trip to BC is in my future. Question for your, do you archive your visits anywhere? I'm driving from Lake Tahoe to Denver in 2 weeks along Highway 50 and am looking for a few places to visit along the way. Recommendations...?