Craft Beer – Tofino Brewing Company

Finding New Brews
On recent trips we have started looking for local breweries in addition to our regular hunt for local wineries. On our March trip to Tofino we headed to Tofino Brewing Company in search of our definition of a great Craft brewery – relatively local, sometimes family owned or with a great story, sustainable and rooted in their communities. We also like good brew pub food. Tofino Brewing Company does not have a pub but it does have great beer for sale at its brewery.

Sustainable Brewing
Tofino Brewing Company as developed a water recovery system that recaptures all of the water used in the heat exchange process for use in subsequent brews. They also save all of their spent grain for use as livestock feed at the Collins Farm in Port Alberni. For locals refillable glass 1.89 litre Growlers are available. “Recycling’s never tasted so good.”

 

Our Favorites from Tofino Brewing
Options for purchase at the brewery are 500 ml bottle, 1.89 litre refillable growler and keg. The 500 ml bottles are only available as a 4 pack – but you can mix and match. You can taste before you buy so of course we tasted all 5 of the beers available at the time we visited.

Tofino Brewing Blonde Ale
We both liked this one so it made up 2 of the 4 bottles we purchased. It has a pale, straw colour, earthy hops and a crisp finish with 5.5% alcohol. It is available year round.

Tofino Brewing Tuff Session Ale
This was Jeff’s favorite. It is a pale ale with a copper color, medium body and dry finish.  They use Pacific northwest hops in the brewing process.  It has 5% alcohol and is available year round.

Tofino Brewing Hoppin’ Cretin IPA
My favorite was this India pale ale with a golden color, lots of hops and hints of citrus. It has 7.5% alcohol and is available year round.

There was also a Kelp Stout and a Coffee Porter available for tasting and purchase at the time.

The 4 pack case was a nice touch and we liked the design which we assume is from a local artist. The tasting room and store is open 7 days a week from 11am to 9pm. It looks like a metal barn but is located right on Tofino’s main road and the sign is easily visible. It is worth a visit.

 

We, Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other a Biz Blog where we comment on business best practices and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf Solutions for 7 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. We DO NOT get paid for ANY of the blogs on our website. These are the places we visit and the things we do because we want to. When we say that we like or dislike something or have a good or bad experience this is our opinion and the truth as we see it. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us anytime.