Beachfire Brewing Company
When this brewery in downtown Campbell River finally opened in 2016, local hopheads could only wonder – what took so long?
This cozy brewery is the passion project of business partners Darrin Finnerty, Matthew Fox and Laura Gosnell. They chose everything – from the beer and the menu to the handcrafted furniture and local artwork. The taps feature year-around brews like High Tide Pale Ale and Ember Red Ale, as well as small-batch offerings – this week it’s Dill Pickle Sour – and Seasonal beers like Super Trendy Hazy IPA.
The menu changes frequently and focuses on tapas and small plates for sharing around the long wooden tables. House-made salsas, pasta, bread and crackers keep it fresh.
Devil’s Bath Brewing Company
Yup, northern Vancouver Island is remote. Sometimes trends take a while to catch on. That’s why Port McNeill residents thirsty for new beers eagerly anticipate the opening of Devil’s Bath Brewing Co. in late June, the North Island’s first craft brewery.
The family team behind the brewery, brothers Aaron Battaglio (manager and head brewer), Jason Battaglio, Morgan Barratt and mom Sharon, have worked on it for three years.
Located in the renovated, former Shell gas station building, the waterfront brewery will open with five taps – Hazy Pale Ale, Golden Ale, Irish red, South English Brown Ale and American IPA – and a menu featuring charcuterie, artisan pizzas, tacos, and a rotating fresh sheet. The brewery is named after The Devil’s Bath, one of the island’s most unusual geological features. Known as a cenote, this large sinkhole just southeast of Port Alice is as deep as a 10-storey building and has a circumference of 360 metres. Cenotes are formed when limestone bedrock collapses due to natural weathering leaving behind a large hole in the ground.
