The Powell Street Brewery

The Powell Street Brewery was among one of the first craft breweries to open its doors to customers in 2012 when the craft brewery scene in BC was still unknown.  The brewery, which is often also classified as a nano brewery was created by a husband and wife duo of beer lovers that have managed to cement their reputation on the BC craft beer industry scene.  The first building to host the company has since been taken over by another small craft brewer in the region that is comprised of a duo of brothers. Powell moved houses into another larger location that doubled the company’s capacity.

The new Powell location is still situated on the same Powell Street, however, it is much bigger and able to accommodate more patrons.  Of course, the new location implies that the brewery no longer has nano brewery status, because of the new 15 barrel brewhouse and tasting room. This new location is not very old from the original brewery. It has a capacity to host more than 30 people for tastings, growler refills, and small snacks.

Powell Street Beers

The brewery is well known for its Jalopy Pale Ale that has won awards such as the 2013 Canadian Brewing Awards. Other varieties on offer for tasting include the Ode to Citra Pale, the Hoptdemonium IPA, and the Dive Bomb Porter.  The Ode is packed full of Citra Hops and it pours from the bottle as an amber colored ale with a fairly large amount of head. As the head of foam settles, it reveals wonderful and bold aromas of pine and citrus, which cannot be rivaled by other brewers in the vicinity.

Aside from producing great craft beer, Powell has also consolidated a reputation in the industry as developer of interesting beer making techniques, which has helped to shape and develop this fairly new industry.  For instance, one of its brews, the Whiskey Barrel Aged Porter is produced from bourbon barrels and is aged for close to six months in fresh whiskey oaks before it can be served.  The end result of this unique brewing technique is a big flavored barrel of aged beer that is light in its alcohol content.

Aside from the regular brews that clients have come to love, Powell has also released some sour brews as part of its Kettle Sour series. Powel used Belgian yeast and mosaic hops to impart an amazing flavor of citrus and tropical fruit. Although a lot of other craft brewers have entered the scene since Powell opened in 2012, it still plays an instrumental role in the industry and in the lives of craft beer enthusiasts in BC.