Whistler Village Beer Festival is a 4 day event of tastings, workshops, awards, and cask showdowns. The main tasting festival event was on Saturday and was open to the public with over 200 types of beer and 62 breweries. The event attracted over 3,500 people!
It was held in the Whistler Olympic Plaza surrounded by grass, trees, and mountains. What better place would you rather have a beer in hand? It’s really a beautiful location.
Early Bird tickets were $30, General admission was $35 and GateCrasher Tickets were $45. The only difference is that GateCrashers get early access to the festival grounds one hour before it officially opens.
Your ticket includes:
- WVBF Novelty Mug (4oz)
- 5 beer tokens
- $5 off-site food voucher
If you want additional beer tokens, you can purchase them during the event for $1.50 each.
There were long waits right when the event opened up, so it’s best to be a GateCrasher to get early entry if you hate waits.
The breweries that were in attendance were:
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- Bowen Island Brewing
- Stanley Park
- BrewHouse – High Mountain Brewing Company
- SteamWorks Brewing Co.
- Red Racer
- Whistler Brewing Co.
- Dead Frog Brewery
- Lighthouse Brewing Company
- Deepcover Brewers and Distillers
- Parallel 49
- Driftwood Brewery
- Old Yale Brewing Co
- Granville Island Brewing
- Canuck Empire
- House Sound Brewing
- Four Winds Brewing Co
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- Hoyne Brewing Co
- Postmark Brewing
- Mission Springs Brewing Company
- Cariboo
- Okanagan Spring
- Scandal Brewing
- Phillips Brewing Company
- Mt Begbie Brewing Co
- Powell Street Craft Brewery
- Fernie Brewing Co
- Vancouver Island Brewery
- Prohibition Brewing Co
- Big Surf Beer Co
- Red Truck Beer
- Bomber Brewing
- Russell Brewing Company
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- Mad and Noisy Brewing
- Steam Whistle
- Unibroue
- Glutenberg
- LTM
- Alexander Keith’s
- Big Rock Brewery
- Creemore Springs
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- Lagunitas Brweing
- Lost Coast Brewery
- Ninkasi Brewing
- Shock Top
- Sierra Nevada
- Pyramid Brewries
- HUB
- Lakefront Brewery
- Oskar Blues
- Samuel Adams
- Double Mountain
- ScuttleButt
- Worthy Brewing
- Brooklyn Brewery
- Magic Hat
- Deshutes Brewery
- Gigantic Brewing Company
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At each booth, they have a selection of beer for you to taste. Just exchange one of the beer tokens for a sample. Having a taste of new beers really gives you a sense of what type of beers you enjoy the most.
I discovered I don’t like beers with a high IBU rating, like IPA. I do enjoy lighter beers or fruity beers. At the Samuel Adams booth, a beer that I enjoyed was the Summer Ale, which has a crisp taste with a hint of lemon flavour. I know, I’m such a girl when it comes to beer. I’m looking for good beers that will pair well with my weekly fried chicken trips.
Talking to the people at each booth was great to learn more about the beer as well.
There is also live music too. This little group of four dressed up in their lederhosen, played some fun music that went well with the festival.
Most of the music played was German Oompah-style music. What better songs to have at a beer fest right?
They also had a section with beer keg art from artists. Some of them looked pretty awesome!
Of course the crowd needed some snack to help them drink more beer! There were a few food trucks and vendors in the area served up pies, pizza, and pretzels. There are also tons of restaurants in the Village if you need a beer break.
They also have a few water stations if you need to rinse your mug or just keep hydrated.
Prost! The Whister Village Beer Festival is great for beer newbies and beer experts! Fun for all those who are over the age of 19. M and I definitely had fun.
What would you do for the love of beer? Travel a few hours to go to a Beer Fest, thats what we did! Plus, some booths had a cool swag like beer openers! Samuel Adams had a cool one with their slogan – For the love of beer.
The next Whistler Village Beer Festival is set for September 17 to 20, 2015. So, keep an eye open for tickets to go on sale next year.