They came in droves and they came thirsty Saturday night, all for a taste of some of the region's best craft beers, not to mention a good cause.
The 3rd annual Steveston Beer Fest, hosted by O'Hare's Gastropub at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery raised in the vicinity of $12,000 for the Richmond Christmas Fund, as libation-seeking lushes paid for an all-access pass to about 40 tasting booths of regional craft breweries or beverage importers, including some from the United States.
The event appears to be putting the village on the craft beer map.
"It's about recognizing Steveston as a craft beer savvy place. Almost all the attendees are from the village," said event organizer Grant Bryan.
Befitting of the local event, Richmond's first, planned production brewery, Fuggles and Warlock, took first prize for the best summer ale competition.
Fuggles and Warlock plans to open near Ironwood this November, producing its six beers, complete with a tasting room (pending a city permit).
"There was no presence of a local brewery here yet, and (Richmond) is close to the distribution network and it's a growing market for sure," said Fuggles and Warlock owner Glen Hutton.
The best beer, as voted by the masses, was the company's The Last Strawberry ale, whereby each batch (4,400 litres) uses 500 pounds of Fraser Valley berries.
Berry infused beer was all the rage at the event.
As distributor Brian Berry noted, B.C. has all the fruit needed to make the specialty brew work well.
"This year we turned to fruit beers and, you know what, it's fun," said Berry.
While Richmond is the second lowest per capita purchaser of alcohol — based on school district boundaries — according to 2011 government data, craft beers have become increasingly popular in Metro Vancouver, with many small breweries bubbling up in East Vancouver, in particular.
"It's an exciting and evolving industry, not driven by guys in the boardroom. It's moving fast," exclaimed Berry.
While city councillor Bill McNulty sold the 50/50 raffle tickets, the holiday charity's chair, Wayne Duzita, took in the event, which he said is one of the fund's biggest contributors.
"The crowd that comes out to the beer fest is a totally different crowd than what you see in Richmond …It's a young, upward-mobility, kind of crowd, turning that corner of life and career — I call it the no-wrinkle crowd," quipped Duzita, who mingled amongst the historic setting, which many noted provided a unique background for the event.
"This (festival) feels like a real community, which is nice," said Berry.
Also at the event was local beer and wine steward Ryan Lewis.
"Steveston is full of people who are real savvy with their beer and wine. People were fighting to get tickets; it's a very well attended event," said Lewis of the sold-out festival.
The event included some import brews as well, including one from the label TXOTX (cho-ch), a Spanish cider import, which provided a funky, sour, and yeasty profile.
Many of the products available at the festival can be found at local restaurants, particularly in Vancouver. Meanwhile O'Hare's keeps all of them in stock and a few of the larger breweries are stocked by BC Liquor stores.
One brewer described the micro/craft brewing business in Vancouver as "collaborative, not competitive."
For more information on the fund, go to RCRG.org.
