-Becky Hay, Vancouver Island Brewery
Searching for the perfect pint? This book is the ultimate beer lover’s guide to Western Canada. It is packed full with tasting notes on more than 300 beers. It features maps, descriptions and directions to 70 brewpubs, pubs, microbreweries, and lounges all serving great beer. To provide some laughs on your travels it also features hilarious beer quotes and facts. To make your hard earned dollars last a little longer, the book contains over $700 in great coupons to use at the fine establishments featured inside!
The book pocket-sized for easy travel and is arranged into three sections: the first section is an introduction to beer and expands a little on the brewing process, different styles of beer, and suggests some techniques for tasting and critiquing beer. Next is the guidebook section; the largest part of the book. Here you will find “snapshots” of cities and neighbourhoods, and reviews of the featured businesses located in each of them. The reviews include everything you’ll need to decide on which pub, brewpub, or microbrewery to visit next and all about the beer you’ll taste when you get there. At the end of the book is the little pot of gold you’ve been waiting for: the coupon section. Each featured establishment has included a discount coupon to welcome you in through their doors and make your vacation or leisure time more fun and less expensive.
Now in its 3rd year of publication, Passport to Beer is a revolutionary travel guidebook for beer enthusiasts. Unlike any other beer book before it, Passport to Beer combines the best of two worlds: a traveler’s guidebook (Lonely Planet™ style) and discount savings book with hundreds of dollars in savings (like the Entertainment® Book).
The material is written to be both informative and entertaining; it’s perfect for travelers, road-trippers and weekend warriors alike. With micro-brewed beer as the focus of the guidebook, Passport To Beer is designed to help you make the most of your precious leisure time and ensure you spend it drinking only the finest brews that Western Canada has to offer.
The guidebook opens with an introduction to the brewing process, tasting notes on an assortment of beer styles, and what makes each of them different. We then walk you through an in-depth 5-step tasting and critiquing guideline, so you can get as much out of your beer “research” as we did out of ours. A lot of this could be review for the serious beer lover, but can be an invaluable reference for many... others. The following pages are dedicated to the beer festivals of Western Canada that Passport to Beer attends every year. Attending these festivals are the best way to sample many great beers that are all within walking distance of each other and we highly recommend that you go. Of course, don’t forget to stop by our booth and say hi!
So you always know when you’re close to one of our featured businesses, we’ve organized them into the cities and neighbourhoods that they’re located in. Each of these areas has a brief write-up with basic history and facts, and interesting anecdotes. We’ve also made some suggestions on what time of the year or the day to visit, some great places to go, and things to do while in the area—just in case you need something... to do while you wait for the pub to open.
Next there are write-ups and maps for each of the featured businesses in the area. Each write-up starts with the basics such as the address, phone number, and hours of operation. Included as well are icons that let you know important details such as: if they have bar sports, a patio, TV’s, parking availability, and if they’re family friendly. The reviews describe the business with a bit about the... ownership, the building, atmosphere, décor, and the history of the establishment. The maps are close-ups, so you’ll know exactly where to go—because sometimes an address just isn’t enough if you’re in an unfamiliar city.
In each review of an establishment that serves food and drink, we’ve made some suggestions from the menu that we think you’ll like. For places with an onsite brewmaster, we tell you a little about their training and brewing philosophies. Last, but in no way least, the beers each establishment brews and/or serves. If the review is on a brewpub or microbrewery, we have also included brief tasting... notes for the beers that they usually have on tap, as well as some of their regular seasonal beers. These notes are there to help you select which of their fine beers you would most likely enjoy. We encourage you to taste all of them for yourself and make your own notes so that you remember which ones you can’t wait to drink again.
This guidebook is so much more than just a simple guide. It is also packed with money-saving coupons valued at over $700! You’ll be able to experience and enjoy more of everything in the guide by using the coupons at more than 80 fine establishments. You must be thinking “Wow! $700 worth of coupons in a $20 guidebook? It must be too good to be true.” Nope. We’ve grown great relationships with...these establishments, which enable us to pass savings onto you so that you may enjoy and learn everything you can about the great beer and Western Canada.