Archives: Press

Mike McCardell has the last word on a man who builds some of the most important parts of the craft beer experience.

VANCOUVER — A B.C. brewery’s fundraising effort has more than doubled its goal, raising $11,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation with a reissued batch of its award-winning pale ale.

Squamish-based Backcountry Brewing won a gold medal at the BC Beer Awards in 2018 for the brew it called “Suck It Trebek” in homage to the famous SNL Celebrity Jeopardy! sketch.

Then, in March 2019, Alex Trebek announced his diagnosis. The Jeopardy! host told the world he had stage four pancreatic cancer. If Backcountry wanted to release the brew again, it would need a new name.

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Memory of beloved Squamish artist Chili Thom lives on in ‘Suck It Cancer’ donation drive.

Squamish’s Backcountry Brewing raised $11,000 to fight cancer with the help of some friends and in collaboration with the estate of beloved Squamish artist Chili Thom, who succumbed to cancer in 2016.

The brewery relabelled their previous gold medal winner at the BC Beer Awards “Suck It Trebek” and called it “Suck It Cancer.”

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It seems like every week a new brewery, cidery, or distillery opens up in The Sea to Sky region of British Columbia, but one of our favourites has always been Backcountry Brewing. When we heard about their newest release with our late, great friend Chili Thom (who we featured on the cover of our Mountain Life Coast Mountains publication), we had to share.

Our own Feet Banks knew Chili well, and he couldn’t be more stoked:

“This collaboration just made sense. Chili was all about creativity, community, connecting with people and getting outdoors. Backcountry Brewing has always taken a really creative approach to how they do things—their beer names, their special events, their projects—and they’ve built a solid community through that. Having Chili’s art on a beer that will bring people together while also raising awareness and funds for Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research is a win-win. ALso, the cans have a metallic sheen to them that really adds a new look to Chili’s incredible art. I’m stoked on this and I know Chili would be really pumped as well.”

The beer, dubbed “Suck It Cancer”, will honour Chili Thom, who passed away after a battle with cancer in 2016. The beer will be a Double Dry Hopped Pale Ale, and we can’t wait to try it.

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BC is full of amazing breweries, so many that it’s hard to keep track of what’s new and whose pouring the best stouts, IPAs, sours, etc.

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of some of the breweries around the province pouring the most interesting beer. This list covers a broad scope of the province, so no matter where you are, you should be able to visit at least one of the breweries on this list. Don’t see your favourite brewery on the list? Let us know in the comments why it should be included!

Halfway between Vancouver and Whistler, Squamish is the perfect place for a quick pit stop, and Backcountry Brewing is the answer to that problem. Creative and bold, the beers from Backcountry tend to be big and juicy, something that is very on trend.

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In a world where craft brews are everywhere, coming up with a catchy name can help separate you from the rest of the pack: New York City-based Ruckus Brewing Company touts its Hoptimus Prime; across the pond in North Yorkshire, England, Black Sheep Brewery offers up its Monty Python’s Holy Grail ale; while, in Whistler, B.C., Coast Mountain Brewing presents its dramatically named Death Before Download Pale Ale (a nod to the notion that any respectable skier would rather do anything than ride the chairlift down the ski hill).

A visit to Squamish, located down the road from Whistler, may take some of the mystery out of the naming process. All Backcountry Brewing employees are encouraged to suggest names from popular culture for its limited-release beers. Memorable movie lines and song lyrics inspire many seasonal beer names such as “Don’t Call Me Shirley” (from Airplane!) and “Hold me Closer Tony Danza” (a play on the line from Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”).

The most popular names are debated before a final vote. In the event of a tie, it may go to a game of darts with the winner having the final say on the name. “Naming our beer makes me giggle,” says co-owner Marc Roberts.

“I like to order a pizza to-go from Backcountry Brewery, have a cheeky seasonal while we wait, then grab a couple of tall cans of their Trailbreaker Pale Ale and go sit in the back of the truck with some comfy blankets at Tiampo Park on Spit Road at the Squamish estuary. It’s pretty stunning to be sitting at the foot of all the surrounding mountains of Squamish while enjoying well-made pizza and beer.”

Squamish has changed — what used to be a gas-up point before hitting the mountains is now a nexus for noshing.

From vegan-focused breakfast baking and boutique coffee beans to a bustling Saturday farmer’s and maker’s market — not to mention some of some of the best cider poured in the province — there is an amazing amount of choice available to the 20,000-plus population to enjoy.

There is always an extra seat at the tasting room table for out-of-towners, too.

Tourism Squamish has launched the Squamish Craft Tasting Trail for hungry and thirsty travellers to use as template.

There are that many places to go visit and more coming on tap in time to sustain everyone from revellers at the inaugural Squamish Constellation Festival(July 26-28 at Hendrickson Park) to hikers who spent the day on the trail network you reach from the Sea to Sky Gondola.

Pick up a craft tasting trail passport from the Squamish Adventure Centre, consult the convenient trail map and plan your trip.

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Squamish has a funny bone and this April Fool’s Day is no exception. Read on for a compilation of all the best jokes shared this April 1, 2019.

SQUAMISH, BC – Backcountry Brewing has announced the release of beer created with Counterpart Coffee Roasters especially for an upcoming festival that brings together craft brewers and artisan coffee roasters from British Columbia and beyond.

Everything Is Awesome Brown Ale (6.3% abv, 35 IBU) is the official beer of the Hopwired Festival, which will be taking place on Saturday February 23rd at the Croatian Culture Centre in Vancouver. It’s described as follows:

To emulate the experience of getting a coffee at Counterpart we brewed this brown ale with speculaas cookies baked in the Backcountry Kitchen. We then aged the beer on spices and coffee that was selected and roasted by Counterpart Coffee Roasters.

Everything Is Awesome is out now in 473 ml cans and on draught at Backcountry, with cans also available at select private beer retailers in the area, and it will be featured alongside several other brewery and roaster collaborations at Hopwired.

Source: Bring Your Porter to the Slaughter
Photo: Backcountry Brewing Facebook page