Main Street Pilsner has found a new home but it cant move in until next summer.
It was called the Ye Old Brewery Garage its possibly the oldest brewery in existence in Vancouver, says Nigel Pike, one of five owners of Main Street Pilsner. Theres a bit of grey area but we believe it existed from about 1912 to 1920. Its that big yellow building it looks almost like a Mexican church. Well have a restaurant on one side and a brewery on the other side its a pretty exciting project.
Pike is sitting in one of the large, soft booths at his restaurant, The Cascade Room, on a warm Saturday morning. He rotates his Macbook to show images of the renovations taking place at the future home of his popular beer.
Its such an amazing building and it has such great bones, he says, flipping through the photos. Everytime I go in there, I get goosebumps. Its pretty phenomenal.
For the time being, the pilsner is being produced by Russell Breweries in Surrey. Pike and his partners spent about a month tasting more than 30 different varieties of pilsners, lagers from all over the country, identifying any flavor profiles they enjoyed such as bitterness acidity levels. From that process, the group worked with a brewmaster to come up with the accessible recipe that they use today.
Its styled around a Czech pilsner [that uses Czech noble hops], Pike says. The IBUs (international bitterness units) are a lot lower, but we are going to increase them a little bit now that people are starting to notice it. Its very drinkable. Theres none of that finish you get with the likes of the Heinekens and those style of beers where you get a bit of skunkiness at the back end of it. It is very clean and sharp at the end.
Pike says the culture around his beers namesake has played an integral part in both his business and his personal life after moving to Vancouver 13 years ago from the UK.
There is this huge historical side of Mount Pleasant, he says. I dont think people realize how much it was part of the city and how the growth of the city stemmed from this one little area. Whether it was the tanneries or the slaughterhouses or the soda factories, you name it, it was here. It was really exciting to start digging and talking to people and having the opportunity to bring that back. I think being a part of the neighbourhood here is the best. We built our business around the neighbourhood and I love this neighbourhood. I really feel at home here and its a really great creative, supportive, kind of a family dynamic, which is really weird to say for a street. It felt like walking into a local pub in the UK thats what it was for me moving to this street.
