Vancouver Craft Beer Week

Noticable improvement compared from last year.

Other years have been good. This year was crap. Don't waste your money. Avoid all feaster events at all costs.

It's Vancouver Craft Beer Week happening right NOW! I've amassed so many souvenir tasting glasses that I'm thinking of opening my own tasting room. Haha, I wish! This year's theme is "It's A Rap!", and with Prevail of Swollen Members hosting the opening event at Gossip, and DJ Flipout, & Hip Hop Karaoke All Stars as entertainment, I had such a blast! The venue was an odd choice because no one equates dark nightclubs with craft beer drinkers, but I think the organizers were successful in trying to get a wider audience to come out and try new beers. Last year, it was at the Roundhouse community centre, but probably too small for this kind of event. Everyone usually gets themselves into a tizzy about Hoppapalooza, the party where patrons basically take over Alibi Room for a day (rare beers come out of the cellar for one night only!)...so tickets sell out in minutes! If you didn't get a chance though, don't feel too bad. It's an amazing event, but I think the frenzy has gotten out of hand! There are SO many other events at varying price points, there's something for everyone. Battle of the Bartenders beer cocktail competition is always a hit...have you ever even HEARD of a beer cocktail? You've got Vancouver's hottest bartenders coming up with creative concoctions...and attendees doing the judging, so they've got to be good! One of my fave events is Brothers in (Hip-)Hops, where 4 Pacific Northwest brewers come together and showcase hop-heavy beers. This year we have the brewers from our own Central City, and Parallel 49, and Oregon's Gigantic, and Ninkasi! Gotta love those hops...even if you think you don't like hops, it's worth a try! Give your palate a chance to develop. There's also food and swag, so there's that too. :) For those who love the festival atmosphere, the closing fest is the one to check out! This year it's being held for 2 days on the Olympic Village event grounds. Who doesn't like sun, music, friends, and beer? Plus you get 3 drink tokens with your ticket, and each one after that is only $1.25...there are so many samples to try, I usually I get a group of friends to come with & we share a taste of everything. There's no way I would survive by myself! Bring your friends!

What a fun event! So many breweries, and even some cideries, to try! Looking forward to next years event!

I can't believe we never had a VCBW before this year! I only was able to to make it out to one event, the Women and Beer Night, but it was fantastic! I met so many amazing people in the beer and food industry. The beers were paired so well. It's amazing that a beer that you think you won't like, you try it and still don't like, but then pair it with a food and it can be fantastic! It was great exposure for me to more local brews. Of course, I already knew about R&B because they've been supplying my undergrad faculty beer gardens with golden nectar for years! I had no idea we were doing a good thing by supporting craft beer. I need to find out where I can get some Salt Spring Island Heather ale. From what I heard from other people, the other events of VCBW were hoppin'!

They took this event to another level. My girlfriend and I had a great time! Highlights: -controlled crowds - you actually have space to move -lots and lots of local and out of province breweries (selection of beer was limited at couple breweries) -good food at reasonable prices -lumberjacks! we just chilled with our beers while watching the lumberjacks compete. -clean washrooms. They had 20+ porter potties set up and none of them were stinky. I was pleasantly surprised. Note: We came here on the Sunday (free tickets courtesy of yelp). Crowds may have been different on the first day (Sat)

Terrible... Horrible... Long line ups for everything... more than any other event this type that I had attended... poorly organize and terrible customer services. Please don't waste your money with this overprice events.

VCBW beer gardens! Not recommended! WHAT A RIP OFF! Price??? Don't waste your money! $40 bucks to get in, only to line up in the sun with nothing to drink for at least half an hour. (yeah suck it up) Sure, wait until you're there and say that! Thats just the beginning. Line up for wooden beer nickels for another half hour once you get through the gates. You will line up the whole time you are there. Any good beer will have a 20 minute line up. You get your little taster and your back in the line. So my wife and I spent $80 to get in... $20 to buy beer and we didn't even have enough time to spend all of our 16 credits we got for $20 in the whole afternoon. Lets put this into perspective. We spent $100 to have less seven tasters each and with a panic to spend the rest... Okay didn't spend them all. Can I get a refund? Ha ha ha! Yeah right. Come back tomorrow. No thanks. What music? Sure I did have a good time. There are good people there. I went with good people! Who's not having fun, drinking beer and having good company? Lots of good beer to try. I've been to all sorts of craft brew tasting festivals but I will never come back to this one! F#cK You VCBW! We're done!!! What a rip off!

I came here after the Mini Maker Market this year 'cause it was in the same hood. A friend of mine had a plus one. I don't drink, therefore, was there for the cultural observation of it. Good to see some breweries whose place I've been to this year, a few new ones that had some innovative flavors and of course some alternatives to the alternative. Tickets are very expensive at $40 and on one of the hottest days of the week, the crowd seemed fun but grumpy. I get it. Line ups were really long which didn't make standing in the heat fun at all. I may do this properly next year with the guy I am dating with a little more planning instead of something that is last minute.

We went to the beer festival out at River Rock hotel. It was great, 40 or more beer vendors with over 100 beers to try, most of them were great! Kept the number of guests perfect (it was sold out) so we never had to wait more than a couple of minutes for beer. Not quite on the same level as some of the American beer fests, but this one has a lot of potential and appears well organized. Thanks for a great night!