From Gastown to Granville Island, the brewpub trail is hopping with high-quality beers that take the fizz out of the canned stuff.

It’s astonishing how many Vancouverites who drink great wines will settle for the blandest gnat-piss fizz of a beer. This might have been understandable a couple of decades ago, but the city now boasts a handful of establishments that make high-quality brews on the premises, fresher than anything you’ll ever drink from a bottle or can.

To discover the world of craft brewing, follow the brewpub trail—a serpentine three-kilometre ramble, jog, or crawl from Gastown to Granville Island. For each stop along the way, we’ve asked the head brewer to recommend some brews and describe their subtle charms.

Start on the Gastown waterfront at Steamworks (375 Water Street). This restaurant pub offers several different settings for the drinker—streetside café-style terrace, bookcased study, and flagstoned corner overlooking the port, reached by descending a spiral staircase. Conrad Gmoser has refined his brewer’s art here since 1996. To fortify yourself for the trail, he recommends the flair and sophistication of Coal Porter.

“Porter is a broad style,” he explains. “Our brew is made from a lighter roast of malt than you find in a stout, the best-known variety of porter. It’s mellower and very drinkable, with a dry, roasty character that’s reminiscent of chocolate.”

Gmoser also flags his Sour Cherry Ale, a beautiful example of a seasonal fruit beer, made from cherries grown in a family orchard near Aldergrove. Don’t let the sweet-and-sour taste trick you into thinking it lacks punch. “Cherries yield more flavour when the alcohol is high, and this is nine percent. Sour cherries have more acidity—and much more aroma—than eating cherries, which gives the refreshingly tart finish. We also add the pits for a hint of almonds.”

From Steamworks, navigate east and south to Dix BBQ & Brewery (871 Beatty Street), where the genial Derek Franche concocts a range of throat nectars. The bar area is long and spacious, the food smoky and lip-smacking, and six brews are on tap at any given time. Franche recommends three selections for the trail.

“We always have an India Pale Ale here. Sometimes it’s a double IPA and sometimes it’s a lower-alcohol one for session drinkers, but it’s always hoppy. Red Truck is a North American–style pale ale that’s available year-round and acts as an entry-level ale for lager drinkers that we hope leads to more unusual brews. Like this Scottish Ale, which is produced seasonally and is low on hops and high on delicious English crystal malts.”

Now head south along Beatty until you reach the False Creek sea wall at the foot of Davie Street, where you can catch the Aquabus or the False Creek Ferry to Granville Island.

Granville Island Brewing (1441 Cartwright Street) claims to be Canada’s first microbrewery, dating back to 1984. Its taproom is, in essence, a pub, and despite the 12-metre-high ceiling, it has an intimate, welcoming feel. One wall is made of glass, revealing the conditioning tanks and other vessels of the pilot brewery where Vern Lambourne plays with yeasts and malts. He divides his choices along gender lines.

“For the girls, I recommend our newest limited-release, the Wit, a very refreshing Belgian-style wheat beer made with pale malts, a little bit of oats, and spiced coriander and curaçao orange peel. It’s a straw colour and unfiltered, and supplies should last a couple of months,” Lambourne says. “The guys should go for the Brockton, an English-style India Pale Ale. It’s the bitterest beer the brewery has done, I’m proud to say, though it’s not extreme. The Cascade hops have a lingering bitterness and a hint of grapefruit.”

Finally, lurch along Cartwright Street to the Granville Island Hotel, home to the Dockside Brewing Company and Dockside Restaurant (1253 Johnston Street). The spacious waterside patio is the perfect place to relax at the end of the trail. Brewmaster Peter Haupenthal, who is originally from Germany, offers eight beers. On tap this summer are five lagers, two ales, and a Hefeweizen (a style of German wheat beer). He also suggests brews according to the drinker’s sex.

“For the man I would choose the Johnston [Street] Pilsner,” Haupenthal says. “It’s more of a European-style beer, made with pilsner malts and Czech hops, and has a clean, bitter aftertaste. For the woman it would be the Jamaican Lager. I used to work for many years in Belize, where I brewed a fruit beer using hibiscus concentrate from Mexico. It [the lager] has a reddish colour and sweetish aftertaste. I’ve been brewing it here for five years and it’s become very popular.”

Take the trail while the days are long and warm, and let Vancouver’s master brewers lead your dusty palate to a new heaven. Cheers!