First released last fall in honour of the firefighters and emergency service workers who helped fight the fierce 2009 Okanagan Valley fires, the beer now pays tribute to those who fight all Canadian wildfires.

Wildfire is a black IPA described as “intensely dark and smooth” with “complex hops that rage through to the finish.” It’s available now in 650 ml bottles at the brewery, and in select liquor stores and bars & restaurants.

What does a hop-happy brewery get themselves for their ninth anniversary? A nine-megaton hop bomb that outdoes last year’s anniversary explosion of hops. Following in the footsteps of Phillips Crazy 8s Annu-ale, we’re happy to announce the coming of the 9 Donkeys of the Hopocalypse. “9 Donkeys?” you say? Well, the number nine refers not only to the different hops used in this perilous 9% brew (Amarillo, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Hallertauer, Millenium, Palisade and Simcoe), but also to our ninth year of brewing and the Hopocalypse detonation level. The donkey part, well, we’re not sure exactly, but there sure are a few asses around the Phillips epicentre.

9 Donkeys of the Hopocalypse is available in 650ml bottles at at the brewery and select cold beer stores. A small amount has also been set aside for draught accounts, and for growlers at the brewery.

A high gravity pumpkin ale brewed with barley, fresh roasted pumpkin, hops, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, water and yeast. It is one of the local seasonal favourites. This beer is produced in very limited quantities each fall as part of the John Mitchell series.

As a malty spiced ale, it goes well with both savoury and sweet items. Try it with cheese, nuts, and of course pumpkin pie!

Pumpkineater Imperial Pumpkin Ale is an 8% abv beer, and it will be released in 1L swingtop bottles next Wednesday, September 1st.

VICTORIA, BC

Every ingredient used to craft this refreshing beer has travelled 24 miles or less from farm to brew kettle. First, water from the Sooke reservoir is blended with barley, grown and malted locally by Mike Doehnel. Then we added a pile of Cascade hops from Vic Davies Saanich farm and fresh blueberries from Farmer Phil. All this deliciousness was activated by Yeast Wrangler Ben’s unique house-strain of ale yeast and you are off to the flavour races. You might want a bib for this one, as there is a certain shirt-staining potential from all those berries.

In keeping with the local theme, Twenty-Four Mile Blueberry Pail Ale is available only a select beer stores in Victoria, as well as at the brewery.

The beer was made using “a puree of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries in a wheat beer,” and is described as “a 5% wheat ale with a dry tart taste. A great light summer refreshing fruit beer to be enjoyed in the summer heat and sun splashed evenings.”

Howe Sound Bumbleberry Ale is available now on tap at the Howe Sound brewpub.

In Victoria, The Moon Under Water Pub Brewery is aiming to be open by late September or early October. In a recent profile in Monday Magazine, owners Bonnie and Don Bradley reveal that the establishment – which is named after the famous essay by George Orwell which describes his dream pub – will be true English-style pub, featuring bar service only, and food that is “locally sourced, impeccably fresh and of high quality.”

The beer at the Moon Under Water will be brewed by Don and nephew Ron Bradley, with a permanent line-up of three English-style ales, all at a “session ale” strength 4.5% or less and with strong hop profiles in keeping with the style popular in the Pacific Northwest. The bar will also feature a number of other locally brewed beers, as well as local wines and a good selection of whisky.

Also opening soon will be The Noble Pig Brewhouse, located in the Thompson Hotel & Conference Centre in downtown Kamloops. According to its Facebook page, it will be “an unpretentious neighborhood spot (with) a welcoming, comfortable atmosphere”, and a menu that “combines house made craft brewed beer and a unique beer fusion cuisine”, as created by brewer David Beardsell and chef Darcy Bolger respectively.

The first is Our Emily Summer Ale, brewed in honour of celebrated artist and writer Emily Carr. Spinnakers owner Paul Hadfield described the beer to the Victoria Times-Colonist:

“It’s very light, very pale and very typical of the German-style beer that would have been around Victoria during Emily’s time,” said Hadfield. “With just 3.9 per cent alcohol — about half [the strength] of what we’re used to making — it’s a summer ale that’s meant to be quaffed.”

Our Emily Summer Ale is available in 650 ml bottles at BC private liquor stores, and on tap at the Brewpub.

Also unveiled last week was Lion’s Head Cascadia Dark Ale, a beer made by Spinnakers especially for the Lion’s Head Pub in Robson, BC.

And plans are set for the Spinnakers Fall Firkin Festival, taking place on Sunday November 21st form 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and featuring at least 20 casks from around BC and elsewhere.

In a press release from the brewery, the beer is described as follows:

This crisp Raspberry Wheat Ale was created with the flawless combination of malt, water, hops, yeast, and the perfect amount of Fraser Valley raspberries. With a refreshingly light, fruity taste, this craft-brewed ale provides unique summertime refreshment.

Granville Island Raspberry Wheat Ale will be available in 650 ml bottles at select lower mainland BC Liquor stores and in the Granville Island brewery retail store. 50 cents from each bottle sold will be donated to the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers.

Owner Lance Steward tells the paper that he “hopes to break ground on the operation by fall, and be selling beer in about four months.”

Steward initially plans to bottle and sell the four regular beers from the brewpub line-up – Arbutus Pale Ale, Cowichan Bay Lager, Mt. Prevost Porter and Shawnigan Irish Ale – and may add others to the line-up later.

In terms of jobs, the report notes that “Steward expects to put three new employees in the brewery, another in the bakery, and as many as six or seven new employees in the catering business, depending on how rapidly it grows.”

Our award winning unfiltered wheat ale starts with with pitted local cherries folded into the mash tun. BC organic wheat lends citrus notes in initial aroma, and the cherries and wheat produce rosy opaque body with a velvet mouthfeel. The finish is fresh and bright, and compliments both cherry and citrus highlights. A summer refresher garnished alone, with a lemon or orange slice, or a sprig of BC cherries for the adventurous!

Whistler Cherry Wheat is available at the brewery as well as on tap at several bars and restaurants in Whistler and Vancouver.