Photos: Vancouver Craft Beer Week 2015 festival at the PNE

by Carolyn Ali on June 10th, 2015 at 12:11 PM

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The sixth annual Vancouver Craft Beer Week wrapped up last weekend with the signature festival on Saturday and Sunday (June 6 and 7).

With over 100 breweries pouring up to 400 beers, there was plenty to take in--both in terms of beer and entertainment.

I attended on Sunday as a guest of the fest. It was a perfect summer day, with highs of about 25 degrees Celsius. This was the first time the fest took place at the PNE fairgrounds, and I really liked the venue.

Vancouver Craft Beer Week at the PNE grounds

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The outdoor booths were spread throughout a wide area from the Renfrew entrance to the Agrodome.

Brewer Matt Stanley from Spinnakers in Victoria is ready to tap the keg.

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Nanimo's Wolf Brewing Co. was at the festival.

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The Stihl Timbersports stage provided a welcome diversion from serious beer-tasting, and a nice shady place to sprawl out and relax.

Vancouver Craft Beer Week at the PNE grounds

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There was plenty of room to relax in front of the Stilhl Timbersports stage.

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Plus, watching Timbersports is just fun! There's something particularly indulgent about watching others give it their all with an axe while you lie back and drink beer. (Yeah, we could do that if we wanted to.)

Timbersports provided a lot of action.

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More Timbersports action.

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Vancouver and B.C. breweries were well represented from 33 Acres to Fuggles & Warlock to Hoyne.

I checked out a few that are relatively new to the scene, such as Doan's Craft Brewing Company, which opened a mere month ago at 1830 Powell Street. That's the former location of Powell Street Brewing, which has moved to a larger spot at 1357 Powell Street.

Vancouver's Doan's Craft Brewing Company, which opened a mere month ago, was pouring a rye IPA and more.

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North Vancouver's Hearthstone Brewery came to the fest: (from left) Darren Hollett, George Woods, and Mike Alderking.

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Frank Luca (left) and JP Lancaster from Kamloops's new Red Collar Brewing company, which opened in November 2014.

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It took me a while to figure out that 28 of the American breweries were grouped together in one area.

I enjoyed trying breweries I didn't know about, such as Sound Brewing from Poulsbo, a cute, Norwegian-influenced town in Washington State. Their award-winning Sound Sommerweiven was unique and pleasant with notes of banana and clove.

Wander Brewing, which just opened a year ago in Bellingham, had an interesting Global Mutt Baltic Porter, made with fair trade cocoa nibs from the Democratic Republic of Congo and chocolate from Theo’s in Seattle.

Wander Brewing owners Colleen Kuehl and Chad Kuehl came from Bellingham, where they opened their brewery in May 2014.

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Brewer Ryan Hilliard was at the helm of Hilliard's Beer from Ballard, Washington.

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Elsewhere, breweries from provinces like Ontario and Quebec were pouring, along with the odd cidery.

Quebec offerings included the Shawinigan Handshake from that city's Le Trou du Diable brewery.

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Merridale Cider was pouring amid the craft beer stalls.

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A laidback vibe defined the festival, which never got too crowded the Sunday I attended. There was plenty to do while drinking beer, depending on your energy level.