Bench Brewing Comes to BC

BC has a wealth of excellent breweries, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t strong competition coming from out of province.

Enter Bench Brewing, a brewery that was founded on the principal of brewing great beer in the heart of wine country in Ontario. We’ve been watching the brewery since their opening, and are excited to see a steady lineup of their beer coming out west.

Their approach is certainly worth paying attention to. They take classic farmhouse techniques and apply them to the abundant supply of wineries around them. By utilizing both the land, and the supplies nearby their beers take on characteristics not found elsewhere.

While they are fairly new, Bench has already won a number awards, including most recently three medals at this year’s US Open Beer Championship. Their Strawberry Grove took Silver, while their Plum Grove brought home Bronze in the Belgian Style Fruit Beer category.

Early on Bench plans on releasing a few of their core and specialty beers including:

Jordan Harbour Belgian Pale Ale: Belgian-style Pale Ale with delicate aromas of grapefruit and spice, with a dry, slightly bitter finish.
Henry No. 2 on Twenty Valley Montmorency Cherries: Second release from their foeder series. A soft and complex Brett Saison aged in a Henry foeder for eight months, before being refermented on Montmorency cherries sources from their Twenty Valley neighbours and bottle conditioned for another eight weeks. Aromas of bright sour cherries and fruity funk, with a light acidity and dry finish.
Rose Wildwood: Rosé Wildwood is a golden sour ale aged in oak foeder and refermented on Twenty Valley Pinot Noir wine grapes and strawberries. With bright aromas of strawberry and grape, this beer displays a tangy acidity and brettanomyces character that will continue to develop with
time.
Short Hills East Coast IPA: A hazy East Coast IPA boasting juicy aromas of tropical fruit with a soft, round body and light bitterness.