Opposition is Mounting Against Beer Lounge Recommendations - Public Hearing Tuesday, July 9

Ever since NPA Councillor George Affleck set in motion the chain of events that has Vancouver on the verge of allowing on-site lounges in breweries, distilleries and wineries, there has been overwhelming support for the idea.

Tuesday night the final step in the process takes place with a Public Hearing, held at 6 PM in the City Council Chamber, where submitted letters and emails will be reviewed and those who feel the need to voice their thoughts directly to City Council will have their opportunity to speak.

Despite the support, their are a few who do not like the proposed changes to Vancouver's by-laws and the restrictions being placed on the lounges outlined in a report received by Vancouver City Council from the Vancouver City General Manager of Planning and Development Services.

Campaign for Culture (CFC), who describe themselves as, "an association dedicated to the enhancement of the social and cultural fabric of British Columbia," believe the proposed changes don't go far enough and have started an email campaign in an attempt to get Mayor Gregor and his crew to lift some of the restrictions recommended for on-site lounges, specifically the size limit of 860 square feet, the 11 PM closing time and the limit of having only ability to host only 2 special events per month. CFC organizers believe that lounges should have the ability to be much larger, open later and host more events if they so desire, more in line with Provincial regulations.

At the time I am writing this post (Sunday, July 7) there are 13 items of correspondence related to this issue that have been sent for the Public Hearing and 12 of those are in the "oppose" column, all identically worded letters that have been generated by the CFC email campaign (read here). Despite the fact the CFC are not against the lounges existing, but instead are opposed to the restrictions being imposed on the lounge and special event areas, the letters are being considered by Vancouver City Council as opposition. Having spoken to the CFC folks, I have been told many more letters supporting their campaign are going to be sent to Vancouver City Council.

The problem with CFC trying to bring about these changes in this way is that by showing strong opposition to the recommended changes, especially when only one letter of support (read here) has been received, the whole process could grind to a halt and be rejected, meaning the status quo would remain and no on-site consumption lounges within Vancouver City limits even though Vancouver City Council passed Affleck's original motion and accepted the recommendations made by the General Manager of Planning and Development Services.

And although they have not made any official opposition known via the Public Hearing website, the Alliance of Beverage Licensees of British Columbia are not too keen on these lounges existing and could still mobilize their opposition. If ABLE gets rolling, it could be the death of the proposed changes as they are very well connected politically and have a lot of sway in the province when it comes issues related to alcohol.

Personally, I am okay with the regulations being proposed. I see these lounges as being small, intimate places, family friendly, where you go for to taste a few of your favourite brews right at the point of production, not places to go out with large groups of friends to get swacked on a Friday night until the wee hours.

I know the local craft beer industry is okay with moving forward as is in regards to the recommendations as they were part of the consultation process and were well aware of what was happening. For the first time in a long while those from the Vancouver craft brewing industry organized and worked together to help get Vancouver City Council to this point by making the Vancouver craft beer industry wants and needs known in regards to on-site consumption lounges. All brewery owners in Vancouver I have talked to do not want to have a lounge open until 2 or 4 AM at their brewery and would not staff one and stay open until those late hours even if they were allowed.

I am very disappointed that there has only been one letter of support and that did not come from any of the brewery owners who would benefit from these changes. I am also embarrassed to say that until I found out that there was no official support being shown for the changes save the one letter, I had not written in despite the fact it was my yelling and screaming about the issue that got the attention of George Affleck which resulted in a meeting between us and the motion that set all of this in motion.

I have rectified this and written my letter and if you love craft beer in Vancouver and want to support your local breweries and have the opportunity to enjoy some of their great beers in lounges at the breweries, I recommend you do as well. It takes 30 seconds to write an email of support that could result in permanent and positive changes to our local liquor policies. This type of thing is specifically what groups like the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) are designed for and members should get active and support the cause. Getting these recommendations through the Public Hearing and changes made is a win-win-win situation for Vancouver, the local craft beer industry and craft beer consumers.

Email mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca and let's get this thing done! Remember the hearing is Tuesday at 6 PM so emails should be sent before 4 PM on Tuesday.

Putting the CAM in CAMRA Vancouver

There was there was a full house and a festive buzz in the air at CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Vancouver's Annual General Meeting held Sunday, Januray 23rd, at Surrey's Central City Brew Pub and the party atmosphere was due to more than just the free pints of Gary Lohan's two great casks creations and the $3.50 pints that are the norm on Sundays at Central City. Over the past few years, CAMRA's executive have worked very hard in regards to raising their public profile, recruiting new members, organizing/sponsoring events and supporting local businesses which has created positive energy that is quite palpable in the Vancouver craft beer scene. People interested in craft beer are beginning to sit up and take notice of CAMRA Vancouver as they present themselves as a more polished and professional group acting with purpose. This was my first CAMRA AGM and I was impressed with the membership support and with the new executive's plans to get members, beyond the executive, more active and involved.
A sign of the times that CAMRA Vancouver is actively trying to define their roll, focus and relate to their membership and beyond, is the open letter sent electronically, via their weekly newsletter and distributed at the AGM, entitled "CAMRA Vancouver, greater than the sum of its parts". This open letter, dated Dec 14/10 and authored by then President, Lundy Dale and current President (then Vice President), Martin Williams, defined what CAMRA Vancouver is all about. In the opening of the letter, Dale and Williams hinted at the fact that many, not involved in CAMRA's executive, did not have a clear picture of what it was CAMRA Vancouver does. The letter defined what CAMRA was all about, where they are today and where they were planning on going in the future and challenged the membership to get involved to guide the group's future direction and actions.
"Its getting there," states Martin Williams in regards to CAMRA Vancouver achieving its goal of being an effective consumer advocacy group. "We (CAMRA) are young, only eight years old in Vancouver. There is a desire to be more active and to have more to say. CAMRA is membership driven. The volume of the voice is dependent on the number of voices working in concert.
"What I would most like to see is membership in CAMRA increase and become more active. If 10% of our membership spent 2 hours a week doing some research into why we can't get the beer we want and served the way it should be served, we would have enough ammunition to make demands for real change to the rules that are holding us back. As it stands right now, we really don't know. We have a fairly good idea, but we don't have the facts to back us up. A more active membership would make for a more effective voice working on behalf of the craft beer drinkers." 
Until last year, I avoided buying a CAMRA membership because, to tell you the truth, I really did not see any reason why I should join. I have been aware of CAMRA since the 1980s, when I came across CAMRA beer festivals while living in the UK and came in contact with the group here in BC in the mid-1990s, but I could never really figure out what they were actually doing locally to campaign for real ale and craft beer. From my perspective, CAMRA, at least locally, was nothing more than a beer appreciation group who really had no obvious or definable campaign other than to organize the odd beer festival and discounts on craft beer. It seemed like a small, select group who used the name of CAMRA as an excuse to meet and drink beer. I often felt the CAMRA members I came across in bars and at festivals were nothing more than beer snobs who actually set back the campaign to promote craft beers by annoying and/or offending those who did not drink craft beer instead of trying to introduce them to and educate them about these wonderful brews. 
Now remember, this was my perspective and I know it may ruffle a few feathers, but I was not alone in thinking this way, having met many others who voiced similar thoughts. Whether this was true or not, this was one opinion of CAMRA that was out there in Vancouver, but because of the hard work done over the past few years and the explosion of the craft beer scene here in BC, this negative opinion held by some about CAMRA is fading away rapidly. And, in my opinion, rightly so, as CAMRA Vancouver is definitely moving in the right direction and truly organizing a campaign that is helping local craft brewers find their rightful places in the pubs, restaurants and liquor stores of our province giving local craft beer lovers more access and opportunity to consume local craft beers.
Vancouver Craft Beer Week (VCBW) co-founder, beer writer and former CAMRA Vancouver President,  Rick Green, agreed, at least in part, with my view of CAMRA Vancouver, past and present, when I queried him recently about his thoughts in regards to CAMRA's growth. 
"When I joined CAMRA in 2006, it was very much a beer appreciation group hanging out at (former brewbup/restaurant) Dix, really only trying to pick up new members from the low-hanging fruit at Caskivals," said Green, who included himself as one of the low-hanging fruit.
"In 2007, I decided to take over the CAMRA Secretary position from Jack Enright who, as a service to the membership, sent out an irregular e-mail with the latest news about casks, new beers coming out, events, etc. Considering that CAMRA was supposed to be a campaign, I thought that if we were going to be anything of the kind, we needed to increase the membership and communication."
Green, who comes from a multi media background, felt the best way to increase membership and communication was by publishing a regular e-newsletter that anyone, not just members, could subscribe to.
"If the quality of the information was sufficiently high, those who like good beer would probably forward it to their cohorts and our subscriber base would grow. We would then have a better means of converting those subscribers into members if they could be shown the value of doing so. The strategy succeeded and we saw our membership grow significantly."
Today the CAMRA Vancouver Weekly Newsletter, overseen by Ryan O'Connor, is sent electronically to approximately 900 people on a weekly basis, according to CAMRA Communications Director, Monica Frost's report at the AGM. Of those 900 people, approximately 50% are opening the letter weekly and nobody knows how many of those people are forwarding the newsletter to friends and associates who drink craft beer. The newsletter has recently made some major improvements and regularly lists craft beer events, such as weekly cask nights, beer festivals, food-beer pairings and beer tours, that are independant of CAMRA. The newsletter also supplies information about new arrivals at local liquor stores that feature craft beers and has links to many local beer bloggers such as myself.
CAMRA Vancouver's efforts to reach more people, has grown beyond their weekly newsletter. Anyone who has a Twitter (CAMRA_YVR) or Facebook account can follow CAMRA Vancouver and they have done an excellent job utilizing social media to promote all things relating to local craft beer. As well, CAMRA Vancouver has brought in Brooklyn Galloway to act as a Creative Design Director and as a result their website has more professional and polished look about it.
"Our overall image has been taken to the next level of professionalism with our new website," states Frost. "We are also very active in giving updates and communicating through our social media outlets, such as Facebook, our Weekly Newsletter and Twitter."
Another focus of CAMRA Vancouver, dating back to the Rick Green days, has been to focus on organizing and sponsoring events to try to promote the cause. According to Green, who became president in 2007, he and his executive decided to try to bolster the membership and encourage local businesses to feature craft beers by this means.
"We also put a concerted effort into supporting events and hosting beer events as another way to attract new members and to demonstrate to other establishments what could be done to better serve their customers," states Green. Althought organizing beer festivals pre-dates Green's days with CAMRA, organizing and sponsoring events took on a more significant role during his era and has continued to grow in importance and popularity. Last year CAMRA Vancouver really came into their own as far as events go with their final event, The Winterfest of Ale, held Dec 4/10 at St Augustine's, selling out well ahead of time, leaving many disappointed. In my opinion, it was one of the best CAMRA festivals in quite some time, with the event attracting an eclectic, cross-section of craft beer lovers to sample the impressive line-up of beers. As well as hosting and sponsoring a festivals, CAMRA supports the local cask nights, which are held almost every night of the week around the Lower Mainland and and various other beer events such as beer-food pairings, Vancouver Craft Beer Week and BeerTourist,  helping them be successful by promoting them and getting the word  out there and them.
Lundy Dale, who stepped in for Green as president in 2010, believes that supporting events is a key way to reach out the the general public, to promote craft beer and build CAMRA's membership. 
"While Rick Green was aboard as president, his strength was media and he was great at getting the word of CAMRA out there. My strengths lie in organization and events. Our membership increases with every event." This combined effort of supporting and sponsoring events and reaching out to the membership, and beyond, utilizing social media and the internet, is paying off and helping expose CAMRA to a wider audience. 
"In the past year we have been actively engaging members, supporters, the general public and bloggers in a movement towards supporting craft beer and specifically the local community," explained Frost. "Our growing member and corporate support base is an indication of some success with that (strategy) but also the fact that at our events, the number of non-members to members is usually split evenly at about 50%. That tells me that our social media efforts are being seen and we are drawing new people in. One of our focuses for 2011 is converting that interest to memberships which in turn raises the volume of our voice in the community."
Even though CAMRA's individual and corporate membership is growing, their events are selling out and their support is bringing more and more people out to events independent of CAMRA, they are not about to sit back and admire their handiwork. CAMRA is now looking to broaden their role and try to encourage their members to really effect change in the craft beer industry by becoming more educated about the issues in order to act as a credible lobby group.
"Every time there is a change in executive, things change," explained Dale, who is moving on serve as president for CAMRA BC. Dale went on to say that when she took over for Rick Green  as CAMRA Vancouver President in 2010 and Martin Williams took on the roll of VP, there was another slight shift in focus towards becoming a more vocal consumer advocacy group.  
"Martin has the passion and the energy to get the word out there and make things happen," says Lundy. "I am looking forward to working with him on a number of projects that will be suitable for all of CAMRA BC."
As mentioned above, Williams would like to see a more active and vocal membership. His belief is that CAMRA really should be greater than the sum of its parts.
"I'd like to see CAMRA become a research machine," says Williams. "We should know all the rules as they apply to our beer, what their intention was when they were being implemented, and whether the current situation has evolved from then.
"I do want to see CAMRA having a more active voice. Our voice should have weight. We should be referenced whenever beer policy is concerned. However, as I said as the AGM, we have to have something behind the mouth before we open it. If CAMRA is to be credible, what is says must have value, have a basis in reality and ring true. That can only come if we understand the questions, our goals and the goals of those who would have craft beer, and the enjoyment of it, out on the back shelf. That all might sound very heavy, but changing policy, dealing with political issues is heavy, and mostly boring details."
It is this kind of energy and purpose that lured me into the fold of CAMRA Vancouver and has me putting fingers to keyboard to tap out this blog. I want to be involved and have my voice heard. I no longer see CAMRA as just a beer appreciation group, even though all involved certainly do appreciate good beer. It has turned in to something more and if people like Williams have their way, CAMRA will become the voice of change in the future. But as Williams pointed out to me, even though Vancouver's carft beer scene has exploded, we have a long way to go.
"Even today, though the population is close (in numbers), Washington (State) has 150% the number of breweries than BC," says Williams. "I needed to play a role in changing that. The first step was joining CAMRA Vancouver.
"The second step was getting involved."
So if you are sick and tired of seeing the ridiculous price we pay for beer here in this province, or annoyed that your craft beers get served in frosted glasses that taste like soap, or that your local pub/restaurant/liquor store does not offer local, craft beers maybe, like me, it is time to get involved and make your voice heard. If enough of us shout at once, in unison and with something informed and intelligent to say, maybe someone else will take notice. 
Even though Williams is dead serious about trying to organize to shake up the status quo, he still keeps things in perspective.
"In the meantime, we can drink fine ale while we work, laugh some and enjoy some good comradery, as we fight the good fight," says Williams. "We have the right to drink good beer, made by the traditional methods, served as we like it.
"It is a right worth fighting for."
Now that sounds like a campaign I want to be apart of.
If you want to learn more about CAMRA Vancouver, check out their website where you can get all the information you need, subscribe to their newsletter and join the ranks.


   

What the Hell is it That Makes a Beer a Craft Beer?

When sitting around with my friends, chewing the fat over a few pints, inevitably the topic of craft beer comes up. We all pontificate at length about which craft beers we like, which craft beers we don't like, what breweries are producing the best craft beers and where the best places to drink craft beer are, but one topic is usually avoided like the plague, that being, what exactly makes a beer a craft beer.

Sierra Nevada is the 6th largest
producer of beer in the US,
yet considered a "craft brewery"

It is a question that, on first blush, seems simple and should be fairly easy to answer. Surely somewhere, someone has created a definition or laid out criteria that helps us understand which beers are craft beers and which are not. People are quick to categorize beers, labelling them as "mainstream", "mass-produced", "domestic", "specialty", "premium" and "craft", to mention a few categories I have used and heard and often these labels carry positive and negative connotations. For example the categories of mainstream, mass-produced and domestic beers often carry negative connotations and are thought to be drank only by lager louts and those with little or no discerning tastes while premium, locally produced and craft beers are considered by many to be superior products and drank by connoisseurs and beer aficionados. But often the lines that define these categories are blurry and overlap making it difficult pigeonhole a beer into one specific category. And because of this blurring of the lines, I find that is almost impossible to figure out what categories of beer are going to produce great beers and which are not.

Take Sierra Nevada Brewery for example, which, according to CNN.com, is the second-ranked craft brewery in the USA, but which is also ranked as the sixth largest brewery in regards to production by Beer Info. So, at first glance, according to being ranked as the sixth largest beer producer in the USA, Sierra Nevada appears to be a mainstream brewery that mass-produces beers, yet the beers they produce are considered to be among the best craft beers available in North America. Martin Williams, Vice Presient of the Vancouver chapter of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), states he still considers Sierra Nevada a craft brewery "because of their dedication to traditional ingredient quality" and their practice of not compromising taste and quality by using such ingredients as corn syrup and has no problem with Sierra Nevada being a highly thought of craft brewery despite them being a very large brewery as well.

Lets look locally at Granville Island Brewery, considered a craft brewery, yet many of their beers, such as their lager, honey lager and pale ale, are middle-of-the-road and, in my opinion, if not mainstream, then just one step above mainstream beers and should not be considered craft beers. Having said that, their is no doubt their Brew Master, Verne Lambourne, is a craft brewer and produces some excellent seasonal craft beers, which are limited releases, such as the pumpkin ale, which was available around Halloween and their winter ale, now on tap around the city.

But I have rambled off the point somewhat, so lets get back to my original question: what the Hell is it that makes a beer a craft beer? I posed this question to a few people whose knowledge about beer I respect and not surprisingly the answers were varied. To add some more mud to the all-ready cloudy waters, I also asked if mainstream breweries that produce large volumes of beer can produce craft beer.

Mainstream beer
brewed by a
craft brewery?

Lets begin first with The Brewers Association of America (BAA) which has attempted to define what makes a beer a craft beer. According to their web site, "the hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation." They further stipulated that craft beer often combines "traditional ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness" that enable craft brewers to "interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent". So, at least according to the BAA, craft beer should use both traditional and non-traditional ingredients and be creative interpretations of historic styles of beer, which through innovation and daring, create new styles and tastes for those brave enough to venture into the unknown with the brewer.

Fellow beer blogger, Bier Festen, states he believes "craft beer is a beer that helps transform knowledge of beers to another level". This supports the BAA's opinion that craft beers should be innovative and creative and that craft brewers should push the envelope in creating new tastes and styles of beers. Beer Festen also supports that mainstream breweries can produce craft beer, using Okanagan Springs and their Reserve Porter, which he classifies as a craft beer produced "by a big production brewery" and a product that gets overlooked because it has been put out by Okanagan Springs. Anthony Frustagli, co-owner of St Augustine's, where you will find 40 taps of "craft beers" on offer, believes that ingredients are the key to defining craft beer and "loosely defines (craft beer) as any beer whose very ingredient is used to enhance flavor and not lighten flavor".  So again, no precise definition but an emphasis on quality ingredients added with the purpose of flavor and distinctiveness. Anthony adds that he does not consider a brewery a craft brewery if they make decisions solely based on accountants needs rather than the brewer's needs. He also supports the idea that bigger production breweries can produce craft beers, using Surrey's Russell Brewing and their Brewmaster Series of limited release beers.

Finally, I asked Storm Brewing's owner/brewmaster James Walton his thoughts. James is a craft brewer in every sense and has created some of the most innovative and unique beers, like his Basil IPA and Insane Fruit Lambic beers, to name a few. James, as he is like to do, took a very complicated and complex issue and beautifully simplified things stating "just don't let the accountants be the brewers...any brewer can brew (craft) beer".

So, as you can see, what makes a beer a craft beer is not as simple as it first appears. And it is apparent from the examples given above that it is not possible to label a beer by the brewery it comes from or judge whether a beer is going to be a craft beer or not based on the size of brewery it comes from. All in all, I think, that you have to be the judge of what beers you like and what beers you don't and be daring to try different styles and types of beers to find what it is that pleases you, whether that beer comes from a mass-producing brewery or your neighbour's basement.

I'd like to hear others opinions on this subject. Please feel free to comment here on on my Facebook page VanEast BeerBlog..