I stumbled upon the Ale Trail brochure this past summer while in Penticton and while I have been a regular user of the Growler Magazine for a while I liked this concept of doing a self guided tour of local breweries.
I must confess that I have family roots in the Okanagan so I was already tapped into the scene there a bit and have been familiar with Cannery Brewing for its famous Naramata Nut Brown Ale.
The breweries I visited were as follows: Bad Tattoo Brewing Company, Cannery Brewing, Highway 97 Brewing Company, and Slackwater Brewing.
The Ale Trail brochure lists The Barley Mill and Tin Whistle Brewing as two other spots as well as several additional local bars to try.
I won’t get into an extensive explanation of beer tasting 101 here but have included a video from YouTube on some things to look for in beers.
Cannery Brewing
Cannery offers a great room with a nice patio as well as live music. You can find a complete list of their beers over on their website.
My list of samples at Cannery included the Naramata Nut Brown of course, Sunblink Berry Sour, and Hop Chowdah IPA.
The Hop Chowdah IPA is a stretch for me as the hazy New England style beers are not a favourite of mine. Glad I tried this one though to expand my horizons.
Highway 97 Brewing Company
Like the name says Highway 97 is right on the highway as it bends through town and into Penticton. It ultimately becomes Eckhardt Avenue.
Highway 97’s sampling room and brewery are all together as seats overlook the production floor the brewery.
I tried their Amber Ale, Dirt Road Double IPA, and Salted Choc Porter.
The Salted Chocolate Porter was my favourite and I took home a 6 pack to sample over the next few weeks.
Slackwater Brewing
Slackwater Brewing
Lager
Pale Ale
Porter
Cherry Sour
Bad Tattoo Brewing Company
While I enjoyed them all my favourite has to be Bad Tattoo. Their unique marketing and style of brewing coupled with their delicious pizza and great beer menu has made them someone whose beer I get when I can. I bought their 8 pack of tall cans back. That pack had the Vagabond Pilsner, Los Muertos Cerveza Negra, Tramp Stamp Pale, and seasonal Kolsch. Below is a beer list of brews I tried at Bad Tattoo.
Melon Gose
Bike Barn ISA
Kolsch
Blackberry Sour
Hang Ten Hefe
Vagabond Pilsner
Los Muertos Cerveza Negra
Tramp Stamp Pale
West Coast IPA
My favourite is Los Muertos Cerveza Negra. I’ve gotten more into Dark Lager’s over the years and flavour profile of this beer immediately appealed to me.
It’s a dark coloured lager made from a mix of Pilsner, Crystal and Munich malts. It is reminiscent of a light German Bock, but with a Mexican twist.
I do have an additional brewery in Firehall Brewing in Oliver added to my list that isn’t obviously on the Penticton Ale Trail but it is definitely worth visiting if you want to drive south
