Need something to do this weekend? In honour of our craft beer issue, here are five craft breweries where you can find some of the city's finest suds.

Brassneck Brewery, 2148 Main Street

Brassneck is all about keeping it intimate. Filling up faster than its hot-off-the-shelf growlers, the brewery’s tiny tasting room holds just 50 people and often has a lineup outside the door. Don’t be put off—it’s worth the wait. Open for just two-and-a-half years, Brassneck has become one of the city’s most prolific beer curators. Current on-tap treasures include Old Money, a four-percent traditional English mild; Passive Aggressive, a dry-hopped pale ale; and the aptly named “Inertia”, an imperial stout weighing in at a respectable nine percent. Aiming to keep things cozy, Brassneck recommends arriving in groups of around six. We suggest you leave two of those drinkers at home. Providing a unique take on the flight concept, Brassneck’s Brass Bat offers four glasses on one easy-to-carry paddle. Repeat: just four glasses. Trust us—when the beer’s this good, you won’t want to share.

Off the Rail Brewing Co., 1351 Adanac Street

It might be a little premature to call it Beer Row, but any bike-riding commuter will tell you that Adanac Street between Clark and McLean is an oasis of hoppy sanity in an ocean of being yelled at by assholes in cars. You’ve got your Bomber Brewing on one end of the street, an early adopter in Vancouver’s beery renaissance, and the younger and more Turk-like Off the Rail at the other. Launched by the former owners of the late, lamented Railway Club, Off the Rail offers a surprisingly elegant and intimate tasting room along with the most decadent snack ever invented—the bacon-cheese twist. But you’re here for the beer, aren’t you, in which case let’s recommend the shapely Psycle Path Lager as your mid-journey thirst-quencher. Why? Because it has a very clever bikey name; you got there on your bike; bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes; and because riding a bike just rules, generally, especially after a swift pint or two and with no helmet, like in civilized countries. 

Strange Fellows Brewing, 1345 Clark Drive

Like its name suggests, Strange Fellows Brewing keeps things weird—and we mean that in the best way possible. Just take a look at the brewery’s East Vancouver tasting room. From the lopsided signage to the papier-mâché animal heads to the backward lettering that spells out the brewery’s offerings behind the bar, the industrial, wood-infused space is equal parts warm and wacky. Strange Fellows even operates an in-house art space—the Charles Clark Gallery—which showcases monthly exhibits that coincide with the brewery’s celebratory Strange Days. Think performances, BBQs, and other events that justify gratuitous imbibing in the name of some arbitrary superstition from across the globe. Strange Fellows’ suds, of course, are just as offbeat: the Goldilox is an Old World–inspired Belgian strong with a sweet-spicy kick, while the Guardian White IPA straddles the line between a wit and an IPA in a way that should win over hopheads and neophytes alike. Our go-to, however, is the Talisman West Coast Pale Ale: a low-alcohol, dry-hopped beer, with refreshing hints of tropical fruit, that doesn’t overwhelm. (Even Strange Fellows brewmaster Iain Hill touts it as his all-time fave.)

Parallel 49 Brewing, 1950 Triumph Street

As far as the setting goes, Parallel 49’s tasting room isn’t going to make the pages of Better Brew Pubs and Gardens; as beautiful as the long wooden bar might be, there’s a vague high-school-cafeteria vibe to the room. And that’s perfectly okay, because it only drives home the point that beer is the focus. And good God, what amazing beer it is. Hit the right day (i.e., today) and you’ll find on-tap seasonal offerings ranging from the Tricycle Lemon Radler to the Apricotopus Sour Saison to standbys like the wonderfully nuanced Salty Scot Scotch Ale and Filthy Dirty IPA. All are available in sleeves ($3) or as part of bargain-priced flights of four ($4). Don’t miss the essential daily infusion beer, in which Parallel 49’s lagers are combined with everything from espresso beans to cranberry and lemon, to pineapple and coconut. Yes, sometimes taste trumps all.

Four Winds Brewing Company, 4–7355 72nd Street, Delta

We know what you’re thinking: why the hell would I make a trip to Surrey for beer when there are about a million different craft breweries right here in Vancouver? For one, field trips are fun; and, two, a venture down the industrial wasteland that is River Road will just make you appreciate Four Winds’ brilliant lineup of brews that much more. Being outside the city has its perks: cheaper rent means a sizable (and beautifully designed) tasting room, and a brewhouse with space to boot. With a whopping 12 taps, there’s certainly no shortage of selection either. (By our math, you’d have to have 3 flights to try it all.) Brewmaster and production manager Brent Mills and his pops opened the joint in June 2013. In less than one year, Four Winds won the silver medal in the American-Style Brett Beer category for their Juxtapose Brett IPA, and in 2015 it was named Canadian brewery of the year at the Canadian Beer Awards. In addition to Juxtapose, Mills says, Nectarous, the brewery’s unmistakable sour, is one of his favourites. “We call it food for the gods,” he told us in an interview back in November.  According to Mills, the ‘four winds' that inform this brewery’s beer production means they like to create beer of all styles: North American, Belgian, German, eastern European, and more. If that’s not a good enough reason to make the trip, we’re not sure what is.