We already knew about East Van's remarkable rise as a craft-brewing centre, but it's nice to see it acknowledged south of the border.

The fourth-largest circulation newspaper in the United States, the Los Angeles Times, has declared that "Yeast Van" is Canada's capital of craft beer.

Writer John Lee explains why in a tour of a bunch of East Side breweries, including Off the Rail, Bomber Brewing, Callister Brewing, Powell Street Brewing, Doan's Craft Brewing, and Real Cask Brewing.

The rise of tasting rooms is helping drive the industry, as are the Alibi Room, Darby's Public House, Brassneck Brewery, Sunset Grill Tap House & Whiskey Bar, and other outlets. The proliferation of breweries has also spawned several local tours.

Lee refers to one of the industry centres, Hastings-Sunrise, by the newer term "East Village", which will drive some of the oldtimers a bit crazy.

The NDP MLA for the area, Shane Simpson, has long been extolling the craft-beer industry as a magnet for tourism.

Simpson isn't mentioned in the article, but he'll no doubt still be delighted by all the trip-planning information at the bottom of the Los Angeles Times piece. It even mentions some of the most popular restaurants in his constituency: Tacofino Commissary, Red Wagon, and Campagnolo Roma.

Tourism Vancouver also gets a plug.