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“Sea to Sky Beer on the BC Ale Trail” on Shaw TV with a short segment about Backcountry Brewing. Producer: Malcolm Yates / Kristy Aleksich Camera/ Editor: Kristy Aleksich www.shawtv.com

Just beyond Vancouver you’ll find two other standout microbreweries worth a visit. Backcountry Brewing is a world-class brewery located a scenic one-hour drive north in Squamish – a town that was once considered just a rest stop en route to Whistler. Cleaning up five medals at the Beer Canada Beer Awards, all within its first 12 months, Backcountry Brewing also makes legendary pizzas.

At Backcountry Brewing, the long and wooden communal tables tucked inside a Squamish business park are packed with young families and their kids, wolfing down thin crust pizza that locals like to say rivals anything on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. “I don’t know if we would have been as successful as we are if we had opened a few years ago,” says co-owner and brewer John Folinsbee.

With almost a decade of events under its belt, Vancouver Craft Beer Week brews up a community.

This podcast contains a craft brewery feature on Backcountry Brewing as well as restaurant closures. There is also a neighborhood feature on Gastown, new restaurants featuring Hey Dumplings, Sopra Sotto, Centro Denman and Yum Sweet Shop and lastly the Taco Challenge.

Along the Sea to Sky Highway in British Columbia is the community of Squamish. Known as the recreational capital of Canada, this small town is home to a brewery that embraces that spirit to heart. I sat down with two of the co-founders Ben Reeder & John Folinsbee of Backcountry Brewing.

Backcountry Brewing Squamish, British Columbia Opened: April 2017 Long perceived as just a rest stop on the drive to Whistler, Squamish has become a popular option for urban expats fleeing the high cost of housing in Vancouver—an even more attractive move now that this town of 20,000 has three breweries. Backcountry, the latest to open, […]

You know what was fun last year? Ranking every brewery in Metro Vancouver. You know what’s more fun? Expanding this silly project to all of southwestern British Columbia. Why? Because there are so many breweries in this part of the world now, and some are great and some are good and some should be avoided, but it’s hard to know which is which unless you have damaged your liver are a seasoned expert, and we’d like to share our expertise with you.

There’s a new kid in the Sea to Sky’s craft-beer scene, and the industry has taken note. Squamish’s Backcountry Brewing was the big winner at last month’s BC Beer Awards, earning five medals in a number of hotly contested categories — despite only opening its doors in April.

Squamish’s Backcountry Brewing was one of the big winners at the B.C. Beer Awards last weekend, which, if you’re familiar with their beer or their story, should come as no surprise. These dudes (and dudettes) have been knocking it out of the park since they opened earlier this year.

This year’s Rookie of the Year Award goes to Backcountry Brewing. Their reward for this prestigious win includes partnering with our Craft Breweries and Distilleries team of lawyers on a complimentary package of legal services and advice for their company.

“Never hit the backcountry alone”. The crew at the soon-to-be-opened Backcountry Brewing is on a mission to have your back on any and all Sea to Sky adventures.

The recent flurry of brewery openings in British Columbia continued this past weekend with the opening of a new brewery and taproom in Squamish. Backcountry Brewing has been established by a group of five partners, including head brewer John Folinsbee (ex-Steamworks), and Ben Reeder, co-owner of Maple Bay Hop Farm where many of the hops used in Backcountry’s beers will be grown.

Squamish’s increasingly younger demographics and fast-growing population is prompting new microbreweries to capture a ripe market. A-Frame Brewing Company opened this past December and Backcountry Brewing is expected to open in March. Alongside the veteran beer makers from Howe Sound Brewing, this will raise the number of microbreweries in town to three.